A visit to Weston just outside of Fort Lauderdale, FL

Vacation Rick sends his greetings once again. Saturday we left the beautiful white sand beach of Fort Meyers Beach. We had a good time and enjoyed the week at the Lahainna Inn Resort. The water was beautiful, the weather was warm and pleasant, very low key, and a time of reflection and connection. The only complaint was voiced by Wendy, it had to do with my smelly watershoes I used to stand in the water as I surf fished. It was a legitimate complaint. Salty wet shoes have a unique disgusting smell about them. Enough said about that.
The drive across Florida to Weston(declared the best kept secret of South Florida, or at least that is what we were told), just outside of Fort Lauderdale, on the edge of the Everglades, was pleasant. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes. On arriving we looked for a place to eat lunch. We pulled into a beautiful shopping center called The Weston Town Center. Very classy upscale stores. We found this Italian ristorante and pizzeria called Tarantella's. The pizza was very good and Wendy’s salad was excellent. She gave the dressing high marks. The service was equal to the food. If you are ever in the area it is worth a visit.
Time to check into the Vacation Village, a time share resort on Racquet Club Rd. just off of Bonaventure Blvd. Typical check in. Welcome you, explanation of the amenities and offers, solicit an appointment for a free breakfast and time share tour with a gift offering for a down payment of twenty dollars, your choice of either tickets to a restaurant or a dinner cruise or a seventy-five dollar gift card. A few other offers and discounts and enough of this, finally on our way to our condo. Settled in and went to Publix for the weeks groceries. Checked out the pools and where things were located in the resort.
Sunday was a day of relaxation. Warm and sunny, a good day to spend at the pool and surfing the internet. In between caught some quarters of the NFL football games for the day. New England, what a blowout. Great game for the Titans. The Browns, nothing to cheer about there.
Monday morning we went to Everglades Holiday Park for an airboat guided tour of the everglades. Typical tourist trap, the airboat ride was nice and somewhat informative, we did see one alligator and plenty of iguana, which I did think was unusual. The iguana were as big as the alligator. We skipped the alligator show, not interested in seeing someone annoy the alligators. The rest of the day we spent at the pool and played cards.
Tuesday arrived and the dreaded time share tour. The breakfast was okay and then, the torcher began and lasted for over three hours. We wanted to be polite but, wanted the gift card even more. The sales person went on and on. I told Wendy, "It comes to the point where a person can talk themselves out of a deal and that is where this salesperson has arrived." We looked around us, the room was filled with people in agony as their personal salesperson barraged them with their presentations. The moment arrived for the heavy handed representative to move in. We had enough and before they could speak I said, "We have been here for over three hours, we have to go, our answer is no." "You don’t want to hear the excellent offer we have for you, just two thousand dollars?" "No we don’t!" It finally ended and we got the gift card. Lunch at Pineras, played cards, read books, and watched television. It was basically cloudy and cooler so, it wasn’t a good pool day.
Wednesday it rained off and on. We took a drive to Fort Lauderdale Beach. The surf was rough, a lot of wind. We had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. by the Boardwalk. Beautiful view of the beach. Spent some money at the stores nearby. Returned to the resort and played cards, surfed the net, and whatever else to fill the time. Hopefully tomorrow the rain will clear out.
Thursday the sun finally made its appearance. Played "Spite and Malice" in the morning and then went to the pool for a farewell dip and final rays of sun before seeing the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" around 4:00 pm. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie and we could tell the audience enjoyed it too. An older woman sitting next to me at the end asked me if that was a true story or just story from a book. If it was a true story it certainly would be a curious case. I told her it was a story from a book. Tomorrow we will be leaving early in the morning returning to our home in Charleston, SC.
Have a great day!!!-Vacation Rick

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Lahaina Inn Resort-Fort Meyers Beach, FL

Aloha from Vacation Rick at Fort Meyers Beach, Estero Island, FL. We are staying at the Lahaina Inn Resort for this week. Beautiful location, right on the beach, can see dolphins swimming by right from the porch of the condo. The resort could use some upgrades, but you can't beat the location if you like the sun, the beach, and fishing. Excellent for beach walkers and joggers. The pools are small, just good for a quick dip to cool off from the hot sun.
The first night we were here, Friday, we ate at the Fish House in the Fishtale Marina with the Jones'. The drinks were good, they didn’t skimp on the alcohol like some places do. The food was, read between the lines, very pricy. Although, my wife said her steamed oysters were very good. Wish I could say the same for the grouper. The evening progressed into cards and conversation. Since the Fish House, it has been just good old condo cooked meals and a couple of barbecues.
Saturday and Sunday there were showers off and on. Our check in on Saturday wasn’t until 3:00 in the afternoon so, to kill some time, we took a walk in a new park and saw the local wildlife, aligators and such. On Sunday, we went and saw the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still". What a mistake. I liked the old movie. They should have stuck with the original story line. The weather has been beautiful since.
Every Monday morning the resort prepares a breakfast for all the guests, nothing big, just scrambled eggs, ham, pastries, and juice. Wednesday we went to The Olive Garden. I always enjoy their Belini peach iced tea. Good service and descent food.
Fishing has been good. I have caught a variety of fish. The tan is well on its way. All in all, it has been mainly sitting in the sun, dips in the pool to cool off, walks in the surf, sudokus, and fishing. Throw in there a couple of rented DVD movies from Blockbuster. Side note, waiting on Wendy hand and foot. Ha! Ha!
That's all for now. Our next stop is Weston, Fl. We will be staying at the Vacation Village at Weston. We will catch you later!
Do you have vacation plans, check out Vacation Rick's travel site.

Group RCI, Disney Vacation Club Announce Multi-Year Affiliation Relationship!

Group RCI, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, and Disney Vacation Club, a vacation ownership program that helps families with flexibility and savings on vacations, have announced a new multi-year affiliation relationship. This new agreement allows subscribing members access to several vacation opportunities.
Effective January 1, 2009, RCI will become the third-party exchange provider for Disney Vacation Club, enrolling Disney Vacation Club’s member families into RCI's global exchange network. RCI is considered within the timeshare industry as the global leader in vacation exchange.
Disney Vacation Club members will be able to take vacations at a variety of destinations across six continents and 25 countries, and will have access to more all-inclusive options as well as more nightly exchanges and a selection of high-end fractional properties.
RCI’s members will now also enjoy the opportunity to exchange into Disney Vacation Club resorts and may rent at Disney Vacation Club resorts throughout the year. RCI has more than three million members worldwide, who enjoy dream vacations at RCI's over 3,700 affiliated resorts.

Go to Disney Vacation Club for more information on what it has to offer.

Go to Group RCI for more information on what it has to offer.

For information on travel options and travel packages go to Charleston Travel-Vacation Rick.

Disney Magical Places-Win 1,000,000 Instantly!!!

In these uncertain economic times winning $1,000,000 would boost your spirits and add security to your bank account. Disney is offering you the chance to win that $1,000,000 security. If you buy Disney DVD's or Blue-ray Disc's, the chance to win instantly comes with it.
All you have to do is buy one of the selected Disney movies and inside the cover you will find a Magic code. Enter the Magic code at DisneyMovieRewards.com and continue your journey to magical places.
Magic codes on these selected movies may be worth an instant $1,000,000 in the Disney Magical Places One Million Dollar Sweepstakes. Every eligible Magic code entered between October 1, 2008 and January 31, 2009 gives you a chance to win instantly. The more codes you enter the more chances you have to win.
Want more information, go to DisneyMovieRewards.com. The Selected Disney Movies here.

Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa-Scheduled to open the summer of 2009!

Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will mark the newest phase of what has become the largest Disney Vacation Club resort. This new phase will revive Walt Disney World "treehouse living," a cherished tradition from 1975-2002. While crews are replacing villas of the '70s with brand-new vacation homes, Imagineers took special care to honor the original octagonal design. As a result of replacing the old villas, 5,178 tons, or 65.22 percent, of materials from demolition were recycled, including concrete and metals.
Each stand-alone Treehouse Villa will come together like a giant 3-D puzzle to ensure both superior quality and environmental sensitivity making this phase unique as respects its contruction process. Great "lengths" have been taken to ensure every vacation home runs smoothly. Consequently, there are 87,858 lineal feet, or 16.6 miles, of wire for fiber optics, copper, telephones and CATV.
The Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will give guests the opportunity to experience "glamping" or "glamorous camping" with stand-alone vacation villas. All of this is just around the corner from Disney Downtown. Highlights are as follows:

• 60 three-bedroom homes, elevated 10 feet off the ground on pedestals and beams.


• Offer modern luxeries such as cathedral ceilings, a full kitchen, granite countertops, flat screen TVs, and even a whirlpool tub.


• Will sleep nine.


• Three bedrooms and two baths.


• Master bedroom-queen. Second bedroom-queen. Third bedroom-bunk. Living room-queen size sleeper sofa and sleeper chair.


• Interesting fact: Disney Vacation Club has doubled its membership since 2004 to include more than 350,000 individual members from each U.S. state and approximately 100 different countries.

Disney Deal-Buy 4, Get 3 Free

These are tough times, even for Disney. Bookings are down the lowest they have ever been in three decades. Disney is digging deep into its bag of offers to make it easier for us Disney lovers to keep coming back. These are the deals for 2009:

• Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts-Buy a 4-night/4-day package and get 3 nights FREE including Theme Park tickets! Package for most nights between January 4 and June 27, 2009. Example package: A studio room at a Disney Deluxe Villa Resort priced at $2288 for a family of 4 — that's like paying only $80 a night per person.


• Disney Value Resorts-Buy a 4-night/4-day package and get 3 nights FREE including Theme Park tickets! Package for most nights between January 4 and June 27, 2009. Example package: A standard room at a Disney Value Resort priced at $1271 for a family of 4 — that's like paying only $46 a night per person.


• Plus, when you travel between 1/4/09-3/29/09, you'll also get a $200 Disney Gift Card. The Disney Gift Card will be provided at time of check-in.

Disney Resort Planned for Hawaii!

Looking ahead with Disney’s future plans. Disney plans a Hawaii hotel complex to be completed in 2011 at the Ko Olina resort in West Oahu.
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts' first venture in the islands will add 830 hotel and vacation time-share rooms, a fantasy-laden water play area and an 1,700-square-metre spa to this rapidly expanding resort area. A detailed scale model of the complex was displayed at a news conference with Disney officials and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
It'll be the first such complex for Disney away from a theme park, combining a 350-room hotel with 480 vacation villas on one of Ko Olina's four man-made lagoons, which already feature a Marriott hotel and timeshares, a luxury condominium project and wedding chapels.
"We plan to offer the opportunity for our guests to vacation in a completely new way, very different than they do at our theme park resorts, when they come here to Hawaii - to be surrounded, to discover Oahu, to discover the Hawaiian Islands," said Disney resorts chairman Jay Rasulo.
The resort is expected to hire 1,000 "cast members," Rasulo said. Many will come from Oahu's relatively low-income Leeward Coast.
Disney has several themed resort hotels near Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida, but has never built a hotel and time-share complex that will stand on its own. Rasulo had said there were no plans to expand the resort into a theme park.
The timeshare units will be part of the 350,000-member family-oriented Disney Vacation Club, which has eight other resorts.

T-REX Cafe' is now open-Disney Downtown

T-REX: A Prehistoric Family Adventure, A Place To Eat, Explore and Discover is now open at Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.. Landry’s Restaurants and Schussler Creative combined in developing this concept for a new dining and retail experience in an interactive prehistoric environment. Guests visiting T-REX will be greeted with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, bubbling geysers, a fossil dig site and much more.
"T-REX will attract visitors of all ages with its mix of delicious food and unique entertainment," said Tilman Fertitta, president, chairman and CEO of Landry's. "Downtown Disney is the perfect location for this innovative concept."
"T-REX is the perfect place to uncover never-before-known dinosaur facts and let your imagination roam wild," said Steve Schussler.
Some of the highlights are as follows:

• A large excavation pit with replicas of fossil bones waiting to be uncovered by would-be paleontologists to practice their skills
• The Geode Splitter breaks up geodes to display hidden minerals.
  Pan for precious stones, gems and fossils within Discovery Creek.
• Expand your knowledge of the dinosaur era and play one of several family-friendly games on the interactive Paleo Screens.
• T-REX greets visitors with a skeletal version of a 125-foot long replica of an Argentinasaurus and an animatronic Tyrannosaurus.
• T-REX also greets guests with a giant animatronic octopus sitting on top of the Shark Bar, motioning guests in for a specialty drink and a view of a 5,000-gallon shark tank.
• A 30,000 sq. ft. restaurant seats 600 guests and is divided into several separate, distinctive dining rooms, each with its own theme and animatronic dinosaurs.
• Areas include the Ice Cave, Fern Forest, Coral Reef Dining Room, Sequoia Room and Geo-Tech Room.
• An amazing meteor shower travels across the dining room ceiling every 20 minutes.
• Food facilities are cutting-edge. The Kitchen of Fire offers an open kitchen with a giant rotisserie that allows visitors to see meals being prepared.
• Dishes including Triassic Tortellini, the Bronto Burger and the one-of-a-kind Boneyard Buffet.
• The Dino-Store where you can shop for exciting dinosaur-related apparel and gifts. Young dinosaur fans will especially enjoy the chance to take home their own personal dinosaur at Build-A-Dino.

Sounds like a lot of fun for everyone!

Disney's Pleasure Island phased out-New Attractions Planned!

Pleasure Island of Walt Disney World that caters to young and restless clubbers, has been phased out and is being retooled or "reimagined."
The Downtown Disney area will have new shopping areas, eateries and other attractions.
The 8 Trax, The Adventurer's Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, BET Sound-Stage Club, Motion and The Comedy Warehouse are now closed.
New features are being added, including attractions such as a hot-air balloon and a dinosaur-themed area. But mostly, Pleasure Island will be changed into an eating and shopping area.
A Disney spokeswoman said, "It's been a very smooth transition. We made the announcements early enough in June to provide pass-holders a long enough time to make arrangements."
The changes are based on surveys taken where people responded with a desire for more broad-based dining and retail opportunities.
Attractions being tweaked or added include T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure, scheduled to open late 2008. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve lunches and dinners featuring life-sized animated dinosaurs.
Several new restaurants opening early 2009 in Downtown Disney will feature Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along a lake waterfront.
All of this is being done to introduce more family oriented entertainment.
Pass-holders to Pleasure Island have can get a refund on their passes, a prorated amount. Go to any guest relations location or vacation planning booth at Disney World or call (407) 827-2281.
Holders of premium annual passes will be able to play a round of golf at Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course for the inconvenience. To make tee times, which are required, premium pass-holders can call (407) 939-4653 or go to http://www.disneyworldgolf.com/.

Disney Update: New Attraction!

New atracttion at Disney's Hollywood Studios-Toy Story Mania. This is an interactive ride you and your family will immensely enjoy. It is inspired by Disney Pixar's Toy Story film. The lines are long so get a FastPass. If you decide to wait in line you will have plenty of time to do some people watching or engage in some light conversation. Close to the end of your wait you will be entertained by a robot Mr. Potato Head who will talk to you and even ask you questions. Finally, your wait is happily coming to an end and it is now time to get ready to board the ride. You will grab a pair of 3D glasses before boarding the 4D attraction ride vehicle that will take you through a series of midway-style games. Highlights are as follows:

• Games are hosted by your favorite characters including Woody, Buzz, Rex, and Hamm. Your spring-action shooter will launch virtual darts at balloons, rings at aliens, eggs at barn-yard targets and more!


• Certain targets trigger fun surprises.


• You compete for high scores.


• Its never the same experience twice and is another great reason to visit during the Year of a Million Dreams!

Click on this link http://toystorymania.com/, you and your kids will have fun with this site!

Disney Update: American Idol coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2009!

The American Idol Experience will provide guests the opportunity to watch, vote and perform at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming part of the American Idol phenomenon, then “Welcome to Hollywood!” You can live the dream at The American Idol Experience!

Click on the link below for more information and interactives:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/americanIdol/?id=AmericanIdolExperiencePage

Long weekend at Disney!

Long does not mean time dragged on as in "It was a long day." Long refers to more than a two-day weekend. Any long time spent at Disney is fun time. Of course, this is from Vacation Rick's perspective. Disney is kind of a family tradition for us.

We stayed at The French Quarter in Port Orleans with a river view this time around. Everyday walking to and from our room we were greeted by the scent of jasmine that covered the landscape along the walkways. The accommodations were pleasant and comfortable. The pool was simple. The restuarant where we got the quick meals could improve on their service. I will cut them some slack since they deal with alot of people in a typical morning on a holiday weekend. It was just one morning where the servers were somewhat rude and unfriendly, but everyone has an off day once in awhile.

Our first day we went to Animal Kingdom. Highlights: Expedition Everest and Killmanjaro Safaris ride. We didn't stay long, took in what we wanted to and went back to The French Quarter and swam in the pool and enjoyed the sun. Time for dinner, we went to the new restuarant in Contemporary called The Wave. Excellent choice. At night went to Magic Kingdom because it stays open the longest. Highlights: Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the Monsters Inc. Laugh floor attractions. Always enjoy the Monster Inc, very funny.

Second day weather started out good, went to Blizzard Beach to spend the bulk of the day in the water and on the slides. Highlight: Summit Plummet. This was the very first attraction we went to. Stood in line for a long time, but was worth plunging 120 ft almost straight down at 55 mph covering a distance of 360 ft. Next was Teamboat Springs. Twelve hundred feet of white water and rushing waterfalls make the twisting, turning journey from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Alot of fun for the family. It was on this ride storms began to move into the area. Then we floated on Cross Country Creek, a river that flows around the whole park. This is a ride you can take your time on and enjoy the water. Watch out for the water falls and sprays, the water is very cold. It was now time for a snack and it started to pour rain with lighning and thunder. The attractions were closed and we left the park, went back to our accommodations for a few and at dinner time went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, ate at Boma, a buffet. Great place to eat. After Boma's we went back to Magic Kingdom for the evening, took in more rides. The highlight was the fireworks at the end of the night. A must see.

On day three we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios formerly MGM. It was very crowded. Twilight Zone was first on our list and then Rockin' Roller Coaster, not my choice, been on it, wanted to go on something else, but had to give in to the majority. The highlight was Toy Story Mania, a new attraction. We waited in line for over an hour because Fastpass ran out for the day. Recommend getting Fastpass for this attraction. It was well worth the wait. Great fun!!! A 4D adventure. A must do for the whole family. In was afternoon and we went to Epcot, always my favorite. Highlight: Turtle Talk with Crush. You must take your young ones to this attraction because it is the best. It is an interactive and alot of fun. For dinner we ate in England at Rose and Crown Dining Room and had fish and chips and my son had lamb for the first time. Enjoyed the meal. Next, went on Test Track and then Spaceship Earth. New features with an interactive. Finally we went on Soarin' located in The Land. You enjoy a panorama of California landscapes that gives you the feeling of flying. To close the day we watched the fireworks and laser light show. End to a great time at Disney.

We had alot of fun. Suggest getting the meal plan , it is well worth the expense. Disney is always a great experience, even greater when you share it with your loved ones. Vacation Rick is a kid at heart.
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