Polynesian Beach

One of my favorite places to visit on Disney property is the beach at the Polynesian resort. 

The beach offers a great view of the Magic Kingdom and Space Mountain. You can also see the train station overtop the trees.

 It is great to get a drink from the bar and a chair on the beach and just hang out. The beach was more fun when the sand went all the way to the water. Unfortunately, there was a terrible accident at a Disney resort involving an alligator attacking a small child. Today, there is a rope fence along the shore and warning signs telling people to stay away from the water.

The views from the beach are spectacular.

Every few minutes a boat comes to the Poly to dock and pick up passengers on their way to the Magic Kingdom or other resorts.

And, of course, this is a perfect location for watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Watching the fireworks from inside the Magic Kingdom is good because you can see the video projection on the castle, but it can be difficult to full appreciate the fireworks. From the Poly's beach, you can see the entire spectacular fireworks.

The next time you visit the Magic Kingdom, take some sun screen and bug spray and spend some time relaxing on the Polynesian beach!

Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

We did the Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show last night at the Polynesian. This is an all-you-care-to-eat, Hawaiian themed dinner and stage show.

The stage show has changed over the years to include more of the music from Stitch, and less audience coming up on stage. The story, though, is pretty much the same. One of the cousins is leaving to go to the main land, so Aunty is throwing a luau and your invited. Another story line is a tom boy that becomes a blossoming flower. And the third story line is Aunty, teaching everyone about the traditions of Hawaii. Those traditions are demonstrated through song and dance.

The show is not cheap (but what is at Disney?) at around $62 per person for sitting in the back section. Luckily we got a nice discount for being annual pass holders. Unfortunately, that discount was erased when we ordered drinks from the bar.

We arrived and the appetizers were waiting, served family style. That included salad, noodles, rolls and pineapple. The main course included veggies, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, and rice. Desert was a coconut and pineapple moose cake. Everything is served with Hawaiian flavors (coconut, pineapple, etc). Most drinks are included, including soda, beer and wine. But if you wants a fancy drink? That's $12 plus $2 gratuity for your drink served in a souvenir class.

We discovered from the staff that they consider the meal to be half the price, and the entertainment to be the other. So, to be fair, this meal was $31. There is plenty of food, all you can eat, and you are sure to find something you'll like.

We arrived starved and started digging into the salad while the show started. It had the initial feel of sitting at home eating dinner in front of the TV while watching a sitcom. But then the actors took a break to let us eat. They came back out before desert, took another break, then returned for the rest of the show.

I'll tell you what I thought of the food (for what it is worth). The salad was incredible - I ordered more of that. The coconut flavoring the in the rolls was nice, got more of that. The noodles were like an odd pasta salad - not a huge fan. And the pineapple was.... pineapple.

The main course: rice was excellent, the pulled pork was salty but good. The ribs were meaty and the chicken (with a sweet BBQ) was good. I ordered more pulled pork and rice.

The desert was different this year. It was... not to my liking. It was a small square of pineapple with coconut chunks in a pudding consistency. You can have as much cake as you want, but, my small piece was plenty.

The entertainment was worth $31, especially if you've never been to a luau, or, haven't been in a very long time. Especially considering the fire dancer - that was very cool.

Was the food worth $31? Taking into consideration that it was all-you-can-eat, and everything at Disney is more expensive? I'd still have to say "no".  I'm sorry if you love this place, many people do. But for $31 I had better eat something that is going to knock my socks off.... and I didn't. Wildside BBQ on Rt.192 has better BBQ for a fraction of the cost. But then again... Wildside BBQ isn't at Disney in front of a stage show.

I'm not in a big hurry to return to this show. I would someday, but, I have to get over the sticker shock versus the food.

Bed Bugs

My Daughter spent a week in Ft Lauderdale before coming to spend a week with us. Unfortunatly, the hotel room she stayed in had bed bugs! And she didnt realize it until the third day of her stay.

Bed bugs can be in dirty hotels and clean. They hide in folds and crevices and come out at night to feed. When they emrge, they can travel 15 feet and move quickly across the floor. They feed by sucking on your blood, and they can live for up to a year without feeding.

To prevent renting an infested room, you must pull back the bedsheets and look at the edge of the bed and matress. Bed bugs will poop out black dots that will be found in these areas. If you find bedbug poop? Move to another room or hotel.

If you do stay in an infested room, the solution can be fairly easy in Florida during tbe summer time. Killing bed bugs and their eggs requires 115 degrees for a minimum 30 minutes. The inside of a car can easily hit 120 degrees during the summer. Just lay all your stuff out on the dash and seats and park your car in the sun.

Something else you can do is to throw your clothes in a dryer set on high for 30 minutes. Just make sure you don't contanimate anything during the process. Bed bug eggs are the size of a grain of sand. They stick to your clothes and belongings. You dont want to take any home nor infest your villa.

Everything needs the heat treatment: clothes, suitcases, stuffed animals... everything.

We took a different approach for luggage. We went to Lowes and bought a bed bug kit made for king size matresses. We put all the luggage in the huge plastic bag, put bed bug poison in the bag and sealed it for 7 days. We then put the bag in our villa's garage, which gets very hot.

Coming across bed bugs is unfortunate. But it is manageable. I hope I have provided some ideas that will help.

Beef o Brady

Beef o Brady is a restaurant on Rt 27 in Davenport. We have visited this restaurant for three years and my opinion of the place has changed over time. Three years ago, I was blown away by how incredible it was. Then, last year, the place resembled a road side burger dive and I was very disapointed. This year they have remodeled and revamped thw menu and now I am over the moon about how incredible this place is!

Hamburgers, fajitas, tacos, salads, fish fry, and more! Home made potato chips, curley fries, onion rings. A full bar. I could eat here every day for a month and never eat the same thing twice!

With that said, there is a problem. My rule is: you can usually tell everything you want abouy a restaraunt by looking at their testroom. The restroom is painted and decorated well, but the floor is disguistingly dirty, the toilet appears it hasnt been cleaned in a week, the seat is sliding off, and it is gross beyond belief.

Hmmmm. How could such a fabulous restaurant have such a poor restroom? Very concerning. But not concerning enough to scare me away. I will be back!

Coin Laundry on Rt192

We have a washer and dryer in our house, but we had a need to get done an enormous amount of laundry very quickly. We decided to give the Coin Laundry (Laundromart) on Rt 192 (next to Publix, near Rt 27) a try.

It has been a long time since I last went to a laundrymat, and the ones I have went to are not the kind that you every would want to go to. You had to go to it for whatever reason. Laundromart is the kind of place you would want to go to do your laundry.

You can either run the machines yourself, or, pay by the pound for the attendees to do it for you. When we were there it had three attendees who were cleaning the machines and were very helpful. There are several different kinds of washers and dryers to use depending upon how much laundry you need to do. Some of the machines could hold eight loads of laundry!

All of the machines accepted either cash or credit cards. The store has TVs on the walls to give you something to watch while you wait. There is also arcade games and vending machines.

I found the Laundromart to be excellent, and I wouldn't hesitate to return.

Long Wait To Leave Magic Kingdom

From the park exit until I reached my car in the parking lot? One hour.

As I talk with other Disney enthusiast, they know it takes an hour and they have accepted it. I don't accept it. Not at all!

We wait for the crowds to die down (wait until 30 minutes after park closing) and then head out the gates. Everyone I have talked to says it doesn't matter whether you take the ferry, the monorail, or try the buses - the time is the same: an hour.

We took the ferry. Twice it took as an hour to get to our car. Once it took 75 minutes. This last time they had two ferries running, both using the same dock! So one ferry has to sit in the middle of the lake waiting for the other ferry to leave. And if the electric light floats go by? The ferries have to wait for the floats to pass.

We spend the day giving all our vacation money to Disney, and then we are treated like cattle, left to stand at the crowded hot docks with tired grumpy parents and crying children waiting for the slow moving ferry to make its 8 minute journey across the lake, unload the passengers, and then return (20-25 minutes round trip). When we arrived in line there were easily 2400 people waiting for the ferry, a ferry that can only hold around 600 people.

Once the ferry gets you across the lake, you then hike to the tram station so you can wait for a tram to take you out to the parking lot. At this point, most people are tired and pissed and just walk out to their car.

I was given a tip for speeding things up a little, although I haven't tried this. When exiting the park, walk over to the Contemporary Hotel and board the monorail from there. Several people have told me this is much faster.

A few others report that waiting 30 minutes past park close isn't long enough. Wait an hour and the lines will die down.

But most people told me to accept it. It is an hour, so, plan for it and make the best of it.

Have a nice trip, see you next fall

Some people can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Some people can't walk and talk on a cell phone at the same time.

We were on Tom Sawyer Island heading to the rafts so we could leave the island. I walked over to the raft captain and was having a conversation. Little did I know that my wife who was behind me talking on her cell phone didn't see the stairs leading down to the raft.

She didnt miss one stair. She didnt miss two stairs. She missed all three, dropping over the staira ans landing on her knees.

Her first thought was "there are children near me... don't swear. Don't swear!"

One of my sons says "Uhm, Dad. Mom just fell.

I turned and found her kneeling as if she were praying. At first she didnt want to get up because she was in too much pain. But before long, we got her to her feel.

Her knees are bruzed a d ahe is sore, but thankfully she is OK.