Lightning, Electronics, and your Villa Rental

It was 3am and a thunder rumble near our upstate New York house woke us out of our deep slumber. We know what to do, we know the routine. We quickly hand out assignments and get to work - everyone running around the house to unplug our electronics so they won't be effected from an electrical surge caused by a nearby lightening strike. Microwave, TVs computers, and more. If we can reach the power outlet? It gets unplugged.

Florida is the lightning capital of the world, yet, when we are in Florida we don't unplug electronics. There is a thunderstorm almost every afternoon in the summer. The villa instructions for thunderstorms is to simply avoid using electronics during a storm. What is the difference? Why is Florida better at lightning protection than my New York house?

You shouldn't be responsible if a lightning strike damages something in the villa. You should be concerned, however, for the electronics you brought with you. Perhaps you are recharging an iphone, have kid's games, or brought a laptop. Those could all be victims to a thunderstorm.

If you are renting a villa, you should ask the owner or management company whether the villa is equipped with whole house surge protection. Whole house surge protection is installed above the electrical box at the service entrance. While it won't protect against a direct lightning strike (that is unlikely) it will protect against a surge from a nearby strike (much more likely).

Even with a whole house surge protection, some dirty electricity could get into the house. That is where  surge protectors plugged into electrical outlets are useful. These are not the cheap power strips, but are the $20-$50 surge suppression power strips. You can either bring a power strip with you, buy one when you arrive, or ask if they are available within the Villa.

The combination of a whole house surge protection system and surge protection at the outlet will not help during a direct lightning strike, and will not protect under every situation, but it is some of the best protection for offering peace of mind at your Florida vacation villa. Of course, nothing will ever be as sure as unplugging a device, but surge protection is a good option.

2015 Magic Bands

Our 2015 Magic Bands arrived!!!

The 2014 magic bands are well used - around 40 days of park use. We probably could have used them this summer too, but new ones are free.

Five Must Do Tasks when you arrive at your villa

You have just arrived at your vacation villa after a long journey. All you want to do is rest and relax. Before you do? Here are the five must do activities.

1. Inspect the Villa - I have previously written about the importance of a thorough inspection of the villa.

2. Mattress covers - This will cost around $10 per bed, and might be the best $10 you've ever spent.

3. Wash the linens - There is an excellent chance the bed sheets were washed before you arrived. Maybe. Or maybe not. To play it safe, I recommend stripping the beds and throwing them through the washer and dryer. Most Villas leave some sample detergent that you can use for this purpose. Alternatively, you can do what I do: I bring my own linens from home.

4. Move breakable decorations - The villas are usually decorated wonderfully. There may be plant units on coffee tables, vases, and other various items. Those decorations are in danger if you have children, and you'll have to pay for any damages. I recommend collecting decorations and putting them away someplace safe. I usually take pictures so I know how to put the items back in their original locations when I leave.

5. Wash The Dishes - You don't have to wash every dish in the cupboard. Just the ones you plan to use. There is no guaranty that anyone washed the dishes before you arrived, and, you don't know how long those dishes have been sitting in the cupboard. Simply load up the dishwasher and let it run. Most villas will leave some sample dish washer detergent that you can use for this purpose.

That's it! Do these five steps and then you are ready for some rest and relaxation!

Matress Protectors for Villas

So, you are renting a vacation villa. Congrats! Now, what will you need? Let me suggest that you invest in matress protectors. These are vinyl water proof cases that bed mattresses go into and then get zipped, sealing the matress.

When we arrive in Florida we stop by a Walmart and pick these up. We just buy the cheap ones - around $10 each.

These are a good idea because you don't know who has used these beds,  what they have done with them, nor how the matress was taken care of. God forbid there could be bugs in the matress! By sealing the matress in a protector, you will have nothing to worry about!

Next, bed mattresses are very expensive. I recently bought a new matress for my bedroom and it was so expensive that I had to pay for it in installments! 

When you are renting a villa, you are financially responsible for any damages to the villa. That includes damaged to the beds.

Spill a drink? Have a child have a bathroom accident? Or any of the thousand other possibilities and your security deposit could be looking at a very expensive fee for matress replacement.

$10 per bed is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

When you get ready to leave, you can take the matress protectors with you and use them next time. Instead, we leave the protectors. They are only $10, we are usually staying for a long time, and we consider that we are paying it forward.

So my advice? Use matress protectors.

Touring the Disney Resorts

I love touring the Disney Resorts. I came across the following Disney Resort Touring Itinerary posted by Kat_Cubs_Fan on tripadvisor:

Here's one route I take starting from Downtown Disney, but this one takes a long time:

1. Take a bus from DTD to Wilderness Lodge and tour that resort.

2. Take a boat from Wilderness Lodge over to Magic Kingdom OR

Take a boat from Wilderness Lodge over to the Contemporary resort and start your monorail resort tour from there instead of going to MK first.

3. Head for monorail station and take resort monorail around to the three monorail resorts: Contemporary, then Polynesian, then Grand Floridian and have look around all of them.

4. Head back to MK and catch a bus over to either the Boardwalk or the Yacht and Beach Club or even Hollywood Studios park.

5. Take the Friendship boats that run between Epcot and Hollywood Studios and tour the resorts around those two parks: Yacht and Beach Club, Boardwalk, and Swan/Dolphin.

6. Wind up back at Hollywood Studios via the Friendship boats and take a bus from there over to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

7. Finally, head back to DTD from AKL via bus.

8. If you still have time once back at DTD or are not too exhausted, take a boat from DTD over to the two Port Orleans resorts (French Quarter and Riverside) and see them as well, catching the boat back to DTD from their docks.

A similar route can be done beginning at Ft. Wilderness instead of DTD using the internal bus system there. Take a boat from Ft. Wilderness over to Wilderness Lodge and follow the same route from that point.

Just remember busses do not go to theme parks from DTD...only to resorts. Also, busses do not regularly go from resort to resort..only from resort to theme park/water park or resort to DTD.

Bug Free In The Villa

Florida is known for bugs: everything from giant spiders to roaches, Florida has it all. But just because you are visiting Florida, it doesn't mean you need to put up with them! In this post, I am going to give you some tips to be bug free.

Tip #1: Before selecting your villa, understand what is done for pest control. Make sure they use a professional for pest control that sprays at least monthly, and is available to return if you have any problems. During your stay, don't hesitate to call the management company about pest concerns.

Tip #2: Love the geckos. You are going to find these little lizards scampering everywhere. They are a natural protection against bugs. The more geckos, the more bugs the eat, and the fewer bugs you need to deal with.

Tip #3: Clean up after yourself. Do not leave food crumbs, spilled beverages, or anything that many attract a bug.

Tips #4: Dry out the shower. Bugs might be attracted to warm moist areas. You can prevent this by simply
drying out the sink and shower after every use.

Tip #5: Vacuum often. I know, you are on vacation. The last thing you want to do on vacation is house work, right? Every villa has a vacuum and we get in the routine to vacuum every day. I usually make it a chore for one of the kids. Vacuuming is important because not only will you capture any bugs that may be roaming around, you'll clean up anything that might attract a bug.

Tip #6: Bag your food. If you open something, seal it into a plastic bag. If you don't seal it? You are inviting critters to come eat your food.

Tip #7: Store items in the microwave. The microwave can be a great place to store fruit such as bananas, or other items that you don't want to put in a plastic bag and that you don't want to put in the refrigerator.

Tip #8: Keep the garbage cleaned up. We take the garbage out every day when we leave for the parks. We also wipe the floor around the kitchen garbage just in case a child missed the garbage can when they threw something away. Leaving the garbage is a fast way to attract bugs.

Follow these tips and you should have a comfortable bug-free villa stay.

Security Deposit for a Villa

I feel uncomfortable calling a Villa owner or management company and giving them my credit card number.

Who knows how they are handle my number? They might scribble the number down on a notepad and then leave it sitting on their desk. They might fill out a form and put it in a filing cabinet for anyone to later retrieve. They could have a theft that steals the credit cards. Or, the individual could be less than trustworthy and could use my credit card number to order a new 80 inch TV.

I often tell people "Buyer be ware". You don't really know what you are renting nor who you are dealing with. Be careful, do your homework, and protect yourself!

I like using my credit card to pay through Pay Pal. Using this method, the Villa representatives never see my credit card number. I also protect myself by using a credit card should I need to dispute the charge later on. I never send my credit card number through email because email is not encrypted - sending it through email is allowing anyone who wants to get my credit card number to do so. I also do not like writing my credit card number and faxing it - who knows how long my credit card number is going to sit on the fax machine for everyone to see? Finally, I don't like reading my credit card number to someone over the phone for reasons already mentioned.

One year, I was working with a management company that I had never worked with before and I was very concerned. They accepted my payment through PayPal, but the required my credit card number for a $300 security deposit. According to their policy, I needed to put the credit card number on a form and fax it to them. That violates my rules, however, the management company refused to negotiate on this issue.

I developed a creative way around the problem. I purchased a credit card gift card for $300 at Walmart. There is a small fee for a credit card gift card, but I considered the fee was worth the security. I provided the credit card gift card onto the form and faxed it. If my credit card number was going to be misused either immediately or years into the future, my exposure was only $300.  

After my stay and after a positive Villa inspection, I took my gift card to the store and spent it.

That was my creative solution to the credit card issue. Some might argue that if my credit card had been misused, FCBA limits exposure to $50, and I increased my exposure by using a $300 gift card. However, claiming loss is a lot of work, something I didn't want to deal with while on a vacation, and is something I have to watch for years. Also, most villa security deposits will place a $300 lock on your credit card, but will charge whatever they want to cover whatever damages they believe you caused. Through my method, the management company would need to contact me to discuss any damages beyond $300 rather than automatically charging me.  The $300 gift card was a great alternative and worked perfectly for me. It allowed me to comply with the Villa rules without risking credit card compromise.