Review of the 2016 trip

As we get ready for the 2017 trip, it makes sense to review the 2017 trip. We kept a summary of everything we did on a calendar.

Windsor Palms Review

Windsor Palms is a development in the Famousa Gardens area of Kissimmee. It is perfectly located just minutes from Disney (15 minutes from driveway to Parked to Animal Kingdom parking lot). 

The development includes many one story and two story pool houses, and two different styles of condo buildings. While Windsor Hills, a resort built after this one, has pool houses designed for short term renters, Windsor Palms pool houses are designed more like a residence and has more of a home style appeal.

The gated community includes a guard house manned 24x7. There are over 3.5 miles of sidewalks for walking, jogging, or bike riding. 

The club house is a real gem. It includes sundry shop with basic groceries and souveneers. An arcade, gym, showers, and sitting area. A pool bar serves drinks and food. The movie theater sits fifty people and guests can select movies from a large library. There is a large pool area with plenty of deck area and deck furniture. The club house includes basketball courts, tennis, and a sand volleyball court. All services can be seen by watching the community's TV station channel 998.

The community has daily trash pick up by a "garbage barge" (a golf cart pulling a trailer).  All lawn are maintained by a work crew so there won't be concerns if a neighbor neglects their property.

Negatives? The resort offers bus rides to the parks for $13 per person, that seemed expensive. The resort also backs to a water reclamation area with a giant water tower. 

If you visit the community, you might wonder why there are two guard houses: one by the bridge entrance, and one unused except by the facilities crews. It turns out that the bridge crosses a highway that was build after the resort was built. The highway was built around 2005 and blocked entrance into the resort. To fix the problem, a bridge was built over the highway, requiring a new guard house.

We had a great time at the resort and wouldn't hesitate for another opportunity to stay there.

The Last night's meal

Every year on the last night on Florida we have a huge smorgasbord of all our left over food that we can't take home.  We did pretty good this year! Dinner is two hamburgers, a box of waffles, some cheese quesadillas , and some ice cream Sundae cones. 

We are taking home with us 2 cases of water, some gator aid, Smirnoff, and potato chips

We threw away a dozen eggs, blue berries, Some slices cheese, partially used salad dressings, half a loaf of bread, and some jumbo hot dogs that weren't all that good tasting.

Compared to previous years, this year was the most successful at managing our groceries and not over buying.

Disney's Backside

Sometimes, we like to live on the wild side. Thug life. Be on the edge. Do wild a crazy things. And then sometimes we just like to go drive around the back side of the Magic Kingdom. Yes, that's right - there is a (somewhat) secret back lot tour of the Magic Kingdom that I bet you didn't know existed. And... as long as you don't get caught? It is F R E E !!!

Simply go to the toll booth for Magic Kingdom parking and tell them you are going to the Contemporary Hotel. Instead of taking the road that goes into the Magic Kingdom parking, you'll be told to follow a road all the way on the right. Follow that road until you see the contemporary hotel on your right, and then keep going straight past it! You should see Space Mountain directly in front of you and the Train Station off to the left.

Keep following that road, avoiding any turn offs the head off to the right. You'll know you made it all the away around when you pass by the entrance to the Floridian.

Honestly... you aren't going to see much. Just a bunch of pine trees. But that isn't the point! How many people can brag that they have driven around the back side of the Magic Kingdom? Not many!

As a disclaimer: This is an employee only access road and it isn't intended for guests. As long as you aren't causing problems, getting out to take pictures, etc - I don't think anyone will bother you. I don't think this is a security hazard either because there is a tall fence with barbed wire along the road.


You can see part of the journey with this video.

Disney Springs: Portobello

We ate at Portobello's at Disney Springs, an Italian restaurant, today. I made reservations for 7pm, arrived at 7pm, and was promptly seated.

We were seated at a table that had two chairs and a bench. The bench was long and supported six tables, all close enough together to get to know your neighbor's fairly well.

The restaurant was well themed for an Italian restaurant. My view of the restaurant made it look like a sun porch with a nice view of Disney Spring's outside. My wife's view was of the bar and the Italian styling of the restaurant.

Our server brought us drinks and bread. The bread was a focaccia style bread with an oil and garlic dip.

For an appetizer, we got cheese balls - a fried breaded cheese and rice ball served with marinara sause. These were excellent.

Next was a Ceasar salad for $8. The salad was had an excellent rich tasting dressing.

For the entre my wife and I both ordered Spaghetti and Meatballs for $22. A few minutes after ordering, the waitress returned and asked if my wife ordered spaghetti and I ordered the Chicken Parm. I told her no, we both ordered Spaghetti. 

A few minutes later the food arrived and a Chicken Parm was placed in front of me. I decided not to complain - I like Chicken Parm but was looking forward to meatballs.

The Chicken Parm was very large and surprisingly filling. The Chicken laid atop spaghetti and was drown in baked mozzarella. The spaghetti was dry with just enough sauce to have once lightly coated the noodles. Here is my recommendation: order it with extra marinara sauce!

The Chicken Parm was good, but was not the best I have ever had, but was probably the most expensive I have ever had.

My wife received the Spaghetti and Meatballs. As with the Chicken Parm, the spaghetti was void of sauce. The meatballs had a mushy texture and a mushy taste. After trying some of a meatball I was happy I had received the Chicken Parm by mistake! My wife didn't like the meatballs and finished her dinner with them uneaten. 

The bill arrived and I had been charged for what I had ordered: spaghetti with meatballs instead of the $2 up charge for Chicken Parm.

The restaurant was a nice experience. Given the options available at Disney Springs I believe this is a better choice for a couple's night out. The food was, for the most part, very good and the service was, for the most part, excellent.

Balloons and Pictures: What to expect when dinning off property

Choosing to dine off Disney property can save you a lot of money and get you a better meal. For the cost of that same counter service hamburger at Disney World you might get you a steak at a local eatery. There is plenty of choices whether you are looking on Internal Drive, Iro Bronson, or other locations, almost every imaginable restaurant chain can be found (except Dicky's BBQ - you have to go clear out to the east side of Orlando. What's up with that?).

If you are dinning at a sit-down restaurant there are two things you need to be prepared for: Balloons and Pictures. You will find that these table side activities are tip based instead of fee based. That's because a tip is like a donation where sales tax doesn't have to be charged. That means the entire amount of money goes to the artist. If they are honest? They'll pay income tax based on their tips, but at least there won't be sales tax too. The problem with tips based activities is that it can be difficult to know how much to pay and it can be easy to insult the artist with a poor tip. Let me prepare you.

First, balloons. There is likely to be a balloon artist that will offer to make creations for your kids.

They don't do this for fun. They do it for the tips. They expect that if they bring a smile to your child's face, you'll bring a smile to theirs with a comfortable tip.These guys live off their tips and they put a lot into their costumes, supplies, and their craft. They can make anything from simple animals, hats, swords, to even more complex creations with different colored balloons all twisted together. Expect to tip $2-$4 per balloon art.

Next is the pictures. Like the balloon artist, photographers will come around to take your picture and then sell you the picture in a key chain, Christmas ornament (my favorite), or standard print outs. Expect to tip $5-$8 per key chain.

You might find other table-side entertainers (like a mariachi band) but that would be rare. These two are the most common and appear almost everywhere you'll go.

New Security Measures At Disney World

Security is an ongoing fear at Disney World. After the terror attacks in 2001, Dusney initiated bag checks. If you have a bag? A security officer must search it before you are allowed to enter the park.

I notice two additional layers of security this year.

First, there is an armed Sherif's Deputy standing guard at the entrance. In the past we would occasionally see police, especially at the front entrance to Epcot. But now we see them at every park. Disney has set up facilities to help keep the officers shaded and cool, so, I believe this is a permanent addition.

The next thing we noticed were metal detectors.

Security officers will randomly pick people to go through the metal detector. I imagine, eventually. Disney will have enough metal detectors to require everyone to pass through them.

These additional measures are welcomed because we all want to be safe in the parks. It is a bit of a hassle to go through the metal detector, but I packed a positive outlook at considered it to be like winning a prize of something to get selected. 

Hopefully these additional security measures keep Disney being a safe destination for the entire family!