Best new airport amenities of 2018: Smart bathrooms, therapy alligators, more

In our roundup of the best new airport amenities of 2017, we celebrated perks such the 24-hour “microcinema” at Portland International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport’s introduction of “MyPITpass,” which allows the nonflying public to visit the secure side of the airport, and the opening of ROAM Fitness, an in-airport gym at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The 2018 honor roll is once again full of fresh new amenities and creative bonus activities introduced by airports, airlines and in-terminal vendors working hard to make airport dwell time less stressful, more enjoyable and, at times, surprising.

Go with a glow

Airport restroom lines get long when users can’t tell which stalls are empty. To solve that problem, in April, Los Angeles International Airport debuted a pilot program in one set of Terminal 4 restrooms using Tooshlights’ smart latches on stall doors. When a door is closed, a light over the stall turns red; when the latch is open, the light turns green. The latches are paired with the Infax smart restroom technology, which tracks usage and real-time feedback to improve restroom cleaning schedules.

In July, a set of restrooms at ATL got smart technology in a set of loos too.

More: Need the toilet? LAX bathroom lights tell travelers if stalls are free

See ya later alligator

The list of airports welcoming therapy dogs into the terminals keeps expanding and last year we applauded Denver International Airport for upping the ante by adding Xeli the cat to its Canine Airport Therapy Squad, known as CATS. This year Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport raised the bar by scheduling weekly visits with baby alligators. What’s next?

More: Therapy gators? Reptiles join the mix at New Orleans airport

Start the vacation at the airport

Airports say they’re the front doors to their cities. Louisville International Airport takes that to heart with HMSHost’s new Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen, which features more than 85 bourbons and qualifies as an official stop on Kentucky’s Urban Bourbon Trail. Travelers can pick up a trail passport and get their first stamp before they leave the airport or top off their stamps on the way home.

This year HMSHost also opened the Whisky River restaurant and bar at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, offering music six days a week, a wall covered in belt buckles and a selfie-friendly stationary bull.

More napping options at the airport

Sleepbox, which bills itself as a micro-hotel, is scheduled to open the Sleepbox Nap Lounge with 16 pods on Concourse A at Dulles International Airport by the end of December.

The micro-hotel will join Minute Suites, which currently operates napping/working/recharging pods at airports in Dallas, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta, where the company plans to add four new locations in 2019, including two that will be co-located with Be Relax Spa and Chiroport (airport chiropractor) branches.

More: Sleepbox micro-hotel set open at Washington Dulles International Airport

New ways to work & play at DFW Airport

In July, two Gameway video game entertainment lounges opened at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, by Gates B42 and E16. Each of the 36 gaming stations is equipped with a leather chair, an Xbox One loaded with 19 games, a 43-inch TV, noise cancelling headphones, charging ports and space to store luggage.

For those who need to get work done, Varidesk just launched a free, staffed co-working space at DFW (by Gate C12) with a conference table for meetings and 24 workstations outfitted with power hubs and adjustable standing desks.

Hungry gate-huggers have more options

This year OTG expanded the gate areas where passengers use iPads to order food and drinks and At Your Gate joined Airport Sherpa in offering food delivery to passengers anywhere in the airports they serve. Airport Sherpa is still only at BWI Airport, but during 2018 At Your Gate began running food and drink orders to gates at both San Diego International and Newark Liberty International Airports.

More: Gate delivery could be game-changer for airports

Early bag-drop service at Denver International Airport

Self-service bag check offers convenience at the check-in counter, but Denver International Airport is the only airport that allows travelers to drop their bags off at shuttle parking lots and the airport transit center. The drop-off service is free, but airline bag fees still apply.

Free drop-off service is available to passengers arriving at least 90 minutes before their flights and traveling domestically on Southwest, United, Delta and American. At DEN’s Pikes Peak and Mount Ebert shuttle parking lots, personnel greet arriving cars, remove luggage from the car, check in passengers and print out boarding passes. Then passengers park and jump on the shuttle to the terminal.

Phoenix Sky Harbor began offering a similar early bag-drop service back in 2013, eventually extending it to the rental car center, but discontinued the program last year.

Getting to the gate without a ticket

In what we hope may signify a trend, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just completed a pilot program that allows the nonflying public to go beyond the security checkpoints.

The SEA Visitor Pass pilot program ran through Dec. 14 and worked much like the year-round, TSA-sanctioned “myPITpass” program that Pittsburgh International Airport debuted last year. At SEA, visitors had to apply for a pass and go through the security checkpoint just like regular passengers. But once in, the pass holders could shop, dine, check out the art and entertainment, accompany a loved one to the gate, or be there waiting when they get home.

More: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport pass allows visitors beyond security checkpoints

Can’t miss airport art

The new Concourse A expansion at Charlotte Douglas International Airport is home to “Interconnected,” a giant digital artwork made up of three high-definition LED media walls measuring over 2,000 square feet. The largest public artwork of its kind in the country, the media walls display constantly changing abstract images derived from airport operations data, including flight arrivals and departures, baggage handling and ground transportation.

Bonus activities and great ideas

Once again, our list of special events, pop-ups and cool ideas is long.

In February, just in time for Valentine’s Day, a pop-up license bureau opened in the baggage claim at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas to help lovebirds streamline the process of getting married in Sin City. Couples couldn’t get married at the airport, but picking up the license at the airport meant they could skip stopping at longer line at the clerk’s office in town.

More: Las Vegas airport to get a pop-up marriage license bureau

This year New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport each welcomed their first artists-in-residence. PIT airport also introduced a six-month pop-up of the do-it-yourself paint studio called Paint Monkey. And in March, to mark what would have been Fred Rogers’ 90th birthday and the issuing of a Mister Rogers Forever Stamp, PIT Airport held an event that included red cardigan-wearing employees, complimentary red shoelaces and “You’re special, too” buttons, and a "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" memory board.

More: Pittsburgh Airport honors Fred Rogers with red cardigans and shoelaces

Also in March, San Antonio International Airport marked Dr. Seuss Day with an event that included airport and airline employees and passengers reading Dr. Seuss books to children.

On April 1, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport raised eyebrows, and dashed some travelers’ hopes, with the April Fool’s Day announcement of an aircraft viewing area with an outdoor pool.

In August, Philadelphia International Airport installed a short-story dispenser in the airport’s Virtual Library in the D/E Connector. Kiosk users press a button to request a print-out (on eco-friendly paper) of a fiction story that can be read in one, three or five minutes.

And we’re happy to report that Denver International Airport continues to make good use of the outdoor plaza between the terminal and the Westin hotel. A pop-up park, complete with native Colorado trees and plants, showed up in July; the “Beer Flights” beer garden returned in September (to coincide with worldwide Oktoberfest celebrations); and a free ice-skating rink, with free skate rentals, is open now through Jan. 6, 2019.

Did we overlook a great new airport amenity introduced this past year? There wasn’t room for everything, but please add your favorites in the comments section so we know what was missed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best new airport amenities of 2018: Smart bathrooms, therapy alligators, more