Summer land mini golf

It isn't a trip to Disney without some miniature golf! There are many miniature golf options around Disney World. The choices in Disney World are Fantasia and Winter/Summer Land. 

The Winter/Summer, next to Blizzard Beach, land has two miniature golf courses: Summer Land and Winter Land. Winter Land is fun because it is winter in Florida and is usually the course we select.

This year, we selected Summer Land. Santa Clause is taking a vacation, and you get to golf through sand castles and beaches. 

If you are staying at a Disney Resort, you can take a bus to Blizzard Beach and then take a short walk down the path to the miniature golf.

Mini Golf while on vacation is a must-do. It doesn't matter if you are a good golfer or not  - it is all about having fun and being with your family. If you have some non-park time in your vacation, I highly recommend seeking out a course.

The Disney Rash

You have probably heard of or experienced The Disney Rash, as it is known. This is a red rash that occurs on the lower park of the leg, just above the socks. What is it?

This is known as a leg heat rash, or, Golfer's Vasculitis. All of the Disney walk ways are black asphalt. The sun light hits the black surface and gets reflected back up, striking guest's legs. For a variety of reasons, some guest's legs respond by producing a red rash.

I am not a doctor, and you should be cautious about taking medical advice over the Internet. With that said, this heat rash is temporary. It can be helped with a cool bath, elevating the feet, and applying cool wet towels after a day in the park. While in the park, take walking breaks often and get out of the heat. Keep socks dry and even consider taking an extra pair to change during the day. 

Not everyone gets the rash. From what I have researched, Determining who gets it is often a function of age, condition, exposure, temperature, and what is being warn.

The heat rash is not fun, but luckily it is temporary and usually goes away after a few days.

NASA

We decided to do something a little different for our 2015 Florida trip: NASA!

My wife and I had visited NASA in the early 90's, but have never returned. Our friends recommended we return, so, we decided to make a day out of it.

The entire facility is incredible and we even had a chance to talk with an engineer! A bus took us from one facility to the next. 

The most awesome facility was the Space Shuttle facility. We entered and watched a movie about the Space Shuttle Program. When the movie ends, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is presented, looming in front of us. That was very awesome.

There were many activities to do at the Space Shuttle facility and a lot to learn. There were even parts of destroyed space shuttles. 

If you are really into science and space travel, you'll love this. If you are, on the other hand, more into Sci Fi? You may find that our present state of space travel is a little disappointing and boring. Nevertheless, we had a great trip and will return again perhaps in a few years. 

Boardwalk Bikes

We love to visit the Boardwalk every year we can. The boardwalk has shops, a bakery, several restaurants, and some entertainers. But best of all, the Boardwalk offers free parking and a short walk into the back of Epcot!

We didn't go to Epcot this trip. Instead, we decided to just enjoy the boardwalk. The boardwalk offers a walking area that goes from the boardwalk, over to the Swan and Dolphin hotel, past the back Epcot entrance, and then back to the Boardwalk.

While it is fun to walk the path, we decided to rent the surrey bike to do the lap. It takes most of the 30 minute rental to make it all around the lake - especially with navigating other tourists and not running them over. We found it very difficult to pedal the bike up several steep hills. So, instead, my son jumped out of the bike and pushed us up the hill!

The ride was a lot of fun. Certainly something we will do again. The bikes are very popular and there can be a long wait for one to become available (especially if you want the four seater) so arrive early.

Splendid China Remains

Once upon a time (1993), China opened a $100M theme park outside of Disney World to show case many of the popular locations within China. The park lasted ten years and closed in 2003. All that remains is a white wall at the intersection of Funie Stead and Farmosa Gardens, behind which is an overgrown and vandalizes mess. The land was recently sold to a developer who is in the process of cleaned off for new vacation home development.

Other than a white wall along a street, is there any other evidence that a great theme park once existed in this area? In turns out - there is.

At the corner of Rt. 192 and Formasa Gardens is a plaza that was park of the land owned by Splended Chine. Within the plaza is a grocery store. And if you visit the grocery store, you can see that this store was once connected to the park. The first third of the store (produce and meat department) still have many of the original decorations.

There was once a river running to a fountain, and a bridge that went over it. That lead to what is now the magazine area within the store.

If you have an interest in exploring the history of this old park, I recommend visiting this grocery store to see all that remains.

Willis Clan

Our original plan was to leave Florida and go to Lousiana to the home of Duck Dynasty. Lousiana is a long ways from Florida, so, we thought of an alternative plan: go to Tennessee to see TLC's Willis Clan: a family of twelve children who sing, dance, and perform with an Irish themed show. They are probably best known for performances on America's Got Talent.

Unfortunately... The Willis Clan travels a lot during the summer. When I checked their schedule I found they were playing at the Troy Fair in Pennsylvania. We weighed our options for several weeks and then decided to do the Willis Clan show.

The Troy fair is a classic country fair except nearly everyone at the fair has a disgusting cigarette hanging out of their mouth. We really weren't expecting the plume of second hand smoke that hung over the fair grounds.

We left our hotel and arrived at the fair in time to see the Willis Clan's 4:30 show, then stayed to see the 7:30 show too. Inbetween, we got to meet the family and I talked with their mother (who plays guitar in the band). The "kids" (four of the twelve are between 19 and 23 years old) are enthusiastic, friendly, and outgoing when talking with fans. 

When not dealing with fans, they are completely normal. Several times while walking around the fair we would turn to see a Willis Clan member standing or walking near us at the fair as if unaware of their stardom.

The family was exactly as shown on the TLC show. Everyone was easy to identify. We arrived early enough to see them set up the stage: no roadies! The family members do all the heavy lifting.

They played many songs from their new album (something they are shown to be working on during the TLC seven episode series), as well as songs from their other albums and from America's Got Talent.

It was a great time and well worth the trip. We hope the Willis Clan great success.

As an additional bonus, when we left the fair, we turned out of the parking lot and drove right behind their tour bus. That was a great send off for us.

Vacation Villa White Glove Clean

If you are renting a Villa and expecting to find a house that is white glove clean? You will need to adjust your expectations. Management companies are only given a few hours to prepare a house for the next guest. That time is used for repairs, wash, cleaning, and more. Imagine if you needed to fix all the problems in your house in just a few hours - could you do it?

Rather than fight it, we accept it. In addition to the regular activities everyone should do when arriving at their villa, we go through the house and wipe down all surfaces with a cleaner. Sometimes we'll also run the vacuum. And if we are really adventurous, we'll move out the furniture and vacuum under the beds. It is amazing the things we fine (both odd and creepy).

You are probably thinking: I am on vacation, I don't want to clean a house. If you think like that, then you think like most people who rent a villa, and that is fine. 

You should be able to expect a minimum level of cleaning of the villa. There shouldn't be food crumbs on the floor and hair in the shower, etc. There are lines and your comfort level is different from the next persons, but there are some basics for everyone.

If you have higher expectations for cleaning, discuss with the property owner about costs around a more thorough cleaning. Some villa owners might entertain having the cleaning person do a more thorough job if you are willing to pay for it.