One Annual pass

We are trying an experiment this year. We decided to save some money and get four 10-day Disney passes. We learned we might save even more money if we bought three 10-day passes and one annual. The person with the annual pass pays for everything and takes advantage of the discounts. So, free parking, discounted restaurants, discounts at the gift shop, and more!

Did this approach save us any money?


Annual Pass Cost $740
10 Day Pass Cost  $440
===================
Price Difference  $300

Did we save $300 by getting one annual pass?

ADMISSION
Parking was $20 x 10 = $200

FOOD
ABC Commissary, 20% = $13.34

SOUVENIRS
Sunglasses, 20% = $4
========================
TOTAL SAVED $217.34

If we could have gotten into Disney Quest, it would have save us an additional $150. We couldn't get in... so... I can't count that.

sorry - I didn't finish this blog entry. I planned to provide a detailed account of all the savings but I never got around to it. I can tell you for certain we saved more than enough to pay for the pass.

Indian Harbor Beach Club Review

We stayed for ten days at the Indian Harbor Beach Club.

The best way I can describe the Indian Harbor Beach Club is it is a  six floor building with condos that are privately owned by predominately snow birds. While the snow birds are away, the condos are available for rent.

 We rented the 1200sqft condo 301, which is a corner condo allowing us to look out the beach through the back of the condo (which is what we did primarily) as well as up the beach through the side window. This is a two bedroom, two bath condo with an open floor plan that includes a living room, dinning room, and kitchen. There is also a laundry room.

There is a large balcony with access from the living room and master bedroom. The balcony on our side of the building overlooked the pool and the ocean beyond. If I were concerned with the beach view, I wouldn't want to be on the first floor and probably not the second floor. Floors 3 through 6 would provide a nice ocean view.

 Our condo (as I suspect all of them do?) came with beach chairs, beach umbrella, boogie boards, sand toys, and pool toys. We were at the Condo in August and the beach was surprisingly empty most of the time. We could look up and down the beach and not see anyone for a long ways. There would be the occasional beach walker or jogger. And occasionally a family would pitch their umbrella in the sand or use the pool. But for most of the time it felt like we had a private beach!

 The beach is a little interesting... and since it is all sand, the beach might be different when you visit. For us, there was a large hill that the tide would reach and then not cross - even at high tide. The beach has a significant slope into the ocean, which means you don't have to go very far before being waist deep. Due to this, the waves crash shortly before hitting shore, and the waves crashes can be fairly violent. You could be knee deep and then  easily whacked by a shoulder height wave.

"Violent" is probably too harsh of a term, however, when you see the waves on cocoa beach you'll understand the difference. Because the waves hit so hard, the tend to crush sea shells. But don't worry, if you want sea shells just go north a few hundred yards and you'll find piles of sea shells that no one has touched. As mentioned, there are few people on the beach so there are few people hunting for shells.

Sea turtles nest on this beach from May through October. It was very common to awake and find sea turtle tracks on the beach. During the full moon when the beach was lit, we stayed up to 11pm and watched the turtles come ashore from our balcony! While all this is great, there are state regulations that require no lights on the beach after 9pm. That means you must either shut off all your lights or close all the blinds after 9pm. That's a bit of a hassle, but it is for a good cause: to protect the turtles.

Not every condo rental place has a pool, and I think a pool is essential. The ocean is fun, but, I don't like going in very deep because we are sharing the ocean with ocean life, some of which wouldn't mind a tasty human snack. Also, after laying in the sand and then spraying off the sand and showering off the sand, it is nice to jump in a pool to get those last bits of sand off.

The pool faces the east, which means it gets the morning sun. In the afternoon the building shades the pool, which means the pool water in the afternoon is as warm as bath water without having to be in the direct sunlight! The pool posts a maximum capacity of 15 people. And while I never saw more than five in the pool, it could easily hold much more than 15. 

The area around the condo is fairly sparce, but 10 or 15 minute drive can get you to almost anything. There are many Mexican and sea food choices, a Walmart, Lowes and Publix not far away, Cocoa beach just up the road, and Canaveral just beyond that. Other than shopping, eating, and beaching - there isn't much else to do. We found some miniature golf, a movie theater, and a 18+ comedy club. But when I compare it to the Disney area, or to Myrtle Beach - there isn't much to do. Come to this area with the intention of spending long lazy days on the beach and you won't be disappointed.

From our balcony, we were able to see cruise ships after they left Port Canaveral. They were very small on the horizon. We could also see coast guard ships and fishing ships. I have been told you can also see space launches from Cape Canaveral! This is where binoculars come in handy. Luckily 301  had a pair, but, I recommend you bring a pair for your vacation. The binoculars did much better than the 50x zoom on my camera, allowing us to identify all the cruise ships.

Condo 301 has large flat screen TVs in each room, super fast wifi, comfortable lazy boy chairs, a nice leather couch, a large master bedroom bath, high quality durable deck furniture, and updated expensive kitchen cabinetry. It is decorated superbly. The parking lot is covered to protect your vehicle form the sun and the weather.  There is an elevator to take you to each floor, along with luggage racks and shopping carts to help transport items to your condo.

There were two inexcusable situations where condo staff tried to gain access to our condo. I have all my office equipment, the kids have their video games, and we have a few valuables. When we are looking for a villa we always question who will have access to the room because we need to know how concerned to be with locking up these items. We were told no one would be accessing the condo. That wasn't true. In the first case, a maid was attempting to access because she wanted to use the dryer and didn't realize the condo was rented. A second time, a maintenance guy was replacing the air conditioning filter - and while signs had been posted that the filters would be changed, they weren't posted in advance so we could see it.  We received a sincere apology from the office.

When I do these reviews I try to be very critical. The last thing my readers need is a sales pitch. They want to know the real deal - they want to know the bad things so they can decide if they want to go there. I am struggling to come up with some bad things to report. The price was high for my taste, but as far as sea side condos go, it was very reasonable. They tried to gain access to the room, but apologized. The beach is rough compared to cocoa, but not bad and is very quite.

In the balance, I think this is a wonderful place. I would love to come back again if I ever had the opportunity.

Golf and Gator Review

We were interested in some mini-golf during our stay at the beach so we went to Golf and Gator at Cocoa Beach.

Golf n Gator offers two 18-hole golf courses that were a lot of fun. It was rather expensive at $16 per person! But if you do all 36 holes, it is $20, which is still high but a little more reasonable. The golf courses take you past a huge tortoise (who was sleeping in his house when we came buy)  and some huge iguanas in cages.  They had something unique I hadn't seen before: dials that you spin at some holes to for some random activities. See the video here.

 The mini-golf is just part of what we did. They have a gator pond where you can pay to feed the gators! You can also hold a gator or buy reptile jewelry and skeletons. They also have a small gift shop and a place to get food (but no ice cream?).

We took part in a "panning for gems" feature. You guy a bag of pay dirt, dump into into a sifter, and then wash away the dirt. What remains are colorful low value gems. The boys had never done anything like that before and enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, we picked one of the hottest days of the year to play mini-golf. The heat was sweltering at nearly 100 degrees. It was challenging to keep our spirits high and our frustration low under such conditions.

We did the Swamp Cave golf course. You can see Hole 7 (the cave) in this video: click here. 

We spent a little more than an hour at Gator and Golf, which was perfect (especially considering the heat). It might take ninety minutes to do everything including both rounds of golf. If you are looking for something a little different and don't mind the price? This might be a nice place to stop at.

Board Walk Surrey Bikes

We started a tradition a while back to do an annual bike ride at Board Walk.  The surrey bikes come in two flavors: two seats and four seats. There are no passengers on this ride, everyone pedals.

The rental covers 30 minutes, which is enough time to make two laps around the lake in front of the Board Walk.

The path takes you toward Epcot, then turns past the yacht club, past the Swan and Dolphin hotels, and then back down the boardwalk.

There are three hills you have to go over. The first hill is hardly noticeable. The second hill is a small hill that takes you up onto a bridge. There is plenty of space to build up speed. The third hill goes up on a bridge too, but his larger and there is less area to build up speed.

Watch this video to see hill three: click here. 

And you can watch most of the ride : click here. 

Solanas Resort Review

Solanas is a subdivision of vacation villas located on Rt 27 in Davenport. Depending on your destination, Solanas is 20-40 minutes away from Disney.

 This is a gated poolhouse community. There are a variety of house sizes including one and two story. There are some permanent residents, but most of the properties are rentals, which means the area is usually quiet.

Gaining entry is through a guard house that is loosely controlled. There is always a guard present, but I think they would wave pretty much anyone through.

The community is encircled by Solanas Circle, a one mile road that goes around the perimeter of the property. Streets cross the circle containing pool houses whose back yards back up to each other. The problem with that? It may feel like you are swimming in your private pool with your neighbors because they are very close.

There is a club house that features miniature golf, public pool, and an exercise room. They advertise a pool side bar, but it was usually closed when we visited. The bar contains bottled beverages, chips, and some grill items. We have seen some better pool side bars, however, this doesn't get a lot of business so it isn't going to offer great meals and mixed beverages.

 The clubhouse has an arcade, but most of the games were broken. There is a playground and a sand volleyball court.

 We enjoyed our stay at Solanas. I would stay in this community again if given the opportunity.

Villa Pool Privacy

VRBO and Homeway are perhaps the most popular sites to find a villa (house or condo) for your Florida vacation. When you look for a pool house, the owner will likely post pictures using clever angels that hide how close your pool is to the neighbor's pool. In most cases, you're pool is going to be surrounded by neighbor pools that are as close as twenty feet. You are practically in the same swimming pool with your neighbors!

In Salona, for example, all the houses face the street and all the backyard pools are in the back. From one pool you can see all the other pools up and down two streets - especially if you are looking out a second floor window!

So, what can you do to get a little privacy? Try to rent a pool house that has shrubs around the pool.  Shrubs will block the view from all the other pools.

If you can't rent a house with shrubs? Hang beach towels along the screen.

And if you can't do either? Then don't worry about it. This is YOUR vacation. You'll never see these people again. Have fun!

Hollywood Studios: Star Wars Galactic Spectacular

The Hollywood Studios Star Wars Spectacular is arguably the best fireworks show on Disney property. I may be a little biased because I am a Star Wars fan. Whether you are a fan or not, you are going to be awed by this show!

Disney converts three large buildings into video screens. They also use columns of fire, lights, smoke projection, and lasers that shoot right over the top of your head!

New for 2017 (at least... I don't remember it in 2016) the viewing area is surrounded by fire effects. And it seems there are more explosions and more lasers.

The best place to watch the show.

There are palm trees blocking the view. I have complained about the palm trees in other forums and have been told the palm trees are where some of the shows lights and lasers are hidden. Well.... I would suggest finding a different way to "hide" lights than to hide them in view obstructing palm trees!

Watch the 2017 video here