Epcot's Restaurant Marrakesh

Located in the Morocco Pavilion of Epcot's world showcase, the Restaurant Marrakesh offers authentic Mediterranean cuisine in an exotic atmosphere. With a live band and the occasional belly dancer--kids are even invited to practice a dance step or two--there is enough activity going on in the restaurant to keep young patrons entertained while they await their meal.

Moroccan favorites such as mint tea (served hot or cold), shish kebabs and couscous are on the menu, along with other chicken, lamb, and beef dishes prepared with Moroccan herbs and spices. Although the portion sizes are hearty the prices are "Disneyfied" a bit, but the Restaurant Marrakesh is the closest thing to an authentic taste of Morocco in the Orlando area.

One interesting bit of trivia that is noted on the Restaurant Marrakesh's menu is the fact that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as an independent nation in 1777 during the American Revolution, making this North African nation the oldest ally of the USA.

For reservations, call (407) WDW-DINE

Discount for One Way Car Rental

Can I still use a discount code or a coupon code for a one way car rental?

If you're planning on using a car rental coupon, first check the terms and conditions. You will usually see a statement that the coupon is not available or not valid on a one way car rental. If you don't see this statement... give the coupon a try, for sure!

When you're checking a price, you can pretty much always use a discount code .... that being said, you may not always get a discount or the same amount of discount every time... the amount of discount you get with any car rental discount code can vary by company, car size, whether or not it's a one way rental, etc. I checked 3 different companies for random dates and times on a one way rental (I made up the cities, dates, times, etc) and checked rates with and without a discount code. In all cases, the one way rate was discounted, when I plugged in a code.

Hope this helps!

You may also want to check out:


Tips to Save Money on One Way Car Rentals

Discount and Coupon Tips

Listings of over 300 Car Rental Discount Codes

All About Car Rental Coupons

Typhoon Lagoon The Geigel Way

Typhoon Lagoon, smaller than the competing water parks still holds its charm and a lot of fun. The main attraction, of course, the the tidal wave which is awesome. Disney veterans Nelson Quinones, Karla Geigel, and Natalie Geigel, spent 4 enjoyable hours at the park. Lines are short, the day was hot, and the water refreshing. The Geigels actually bought annual passes for the Disney Water parks and these have already paid for themselves. The pictures, however, reflect the premium price Disney puts on everything else as it cost $14.95 to download a 4x6 image. The refills of soda were not inexpensive either and the soda fountain we used was flat all the way across. Not the usual attention to detail you find at the main Disney parks. This blogger appreciates Orlandoescape.com and their sister websites floridaescape.com and hotelsescape.come as pioneering leaders in Florida vacations and owner of the new innovative online magazine website egruve.com

Gelati I Have Known

These are a few of the gelati I have had the pleasure of getting to know better during these hot summer days in Stresa:

My first, chocolate and raspberry. Maybe he's my favorite.

Peach and pineapple, he was smooth...

But I also liked mango and lemon, so sweet...

And how could I resist chocolate and caramel?

L'Angelo del Gelato, in Piazza Cadorna, Stresa.

All of these gelati are from L'Angelo del Gelato, which is found on Via P. Tomaso, where Piazza Cadorna begins. The piazza is the heart of Stresa, filled with shops and restaurants. We'll visit it soon in another post. There is plenty of seating outside the gelato shop. My small cup, ask for a piccola coppetta, cost 2 euro. I suggest that you get to know as many gelato as you can while you are here. Have a favorite flavor? Tell me, maybe I'll try it...

Downtown Orlando dining: Citrus Restaurant

Citrus Restaurant in downtown Orlando (not to be confused with the members-only Citrus Club, also in downtown Orlando) is a popular lunchtime destination for the business crowd, and an excellent choice for a romantic dinner as well. Citrus Restaurant was voted Best New Restaurant in 2008 and Best Power Lunch in the 2008 and 2009 Orando Magazine Dining Awards, featuring regionally inspired cuisine with a Latin flair.

Located on Orange Avenue in the emerging Uptown district, Citrus Restaurant combines casual elegance and impeccable service, with an impressive wine list that complements the Caribbean inspired menu. Instead of bread rolls as a precursor to the main meal, Citrus Restaurant serves up seasoned fried plantain chips. Seafood dishes are a specialty (blue corn fish tacos are popular for lunch or dinner) and there is even a lime chicken dish named for Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer.

As the name suggests, Citrus Restaurant serves up the best of Floridian cuisine--fresh seafood, Latin flavors, unique desserts, and plenty of urban chic that is a far cry from dining at the attractions.

Big Boi Meets a Penguin at Seaworld Orlando

“What’s cooler than bein’ cool? Ice cold!” Big Boi, also known as Antwan Andre Patton, one-half of the Grammy Award-winning duo OutKast, found out first-hand this week as he spent some time inside SeaWorld’s chilly Penguin Encounter. Penguin Encounter is home to hundreds of penguins. The air inside is a chilly 30 degrees Fahrenheit and the water is an icy 45 degrees Fahrenheit. A total of 6,000 pounds of snow fall daily inside. Big Boi was in Orlando this week, vacationing with his family.

Family-friendly casual Italian dining at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando

Trattoria Del Porto is a great place for children to have fun in the play area with toys, games and large screen TV while mom and dad relax during dinner.

Pasta Cucina All-you-can-eat interactive kitchen experience. Create your own recipes from a selection of your favorite pastas, savory sauces and dozens of fresh ingredients. Includes salad.
Fri, & Sat. 5:30-11:00pm. Adults $18.50; children $9.95.

Pasta Family Night Choose from spaghetti & meatballs or fettuccini alfredo, served family-style along with garden salad.
Sun., Mon. & Thu. 5:30-10:30pm. Adults $15; children $6.

For reservations and information, call 407-503-DINE (3463).
Restaurant open daily for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Closed for dinner Tue. & Wed. Call for hours of operation. View Orlando Restaurants to view a selection of restaurants

Car Rental Underage Fees in New York

I hear different information from different people about the age to rent a car in NY city. Some people say 25, some say 23 and some say 21. But I thought I'd heard that you can rent at a lower age in New York. What's the right answer!! I'm 19 years old, I have a credit card, and I'm looking for a rental car this summer. Thanks.

There are generally lower underage requirements in the city of New York. Here's a breakdown for you of the mininum age requirements for New York, as well as the extra underage fees that are charged for each day of the rental, over and above the cost of the rental car itself:

Alamo

The minimum age for NY is 18 years of age, subject to car rental underage fees of up to $70.82 per day.

Avis

New York State has a minimum age of 18 to rent, with a $52 surcharge per day for renters age 18-20 and a $35-per-day underage surcharge for renters age 21-24.

Budget

In New York State at corporate-operated locations, the minimum rental age is 18 with a valid, acceptable credit card and driver's license, and an additional $52-per-day underage surcharge for drivers 18-20; $35-per-day for drivers 21-24 years old will be applied.

Dollar

In the state of New York , Underage surcharges are:
Drivers 18 to 20 years - $72.99 per day
Drivers 21 to 24 years - $42.99 per day

Hertz

In New York, renters age 21-24

Economy, Compact, Intermediat, Standard and Fullsize Card, Intermediate Sport, Economy Special, Fullsize Sport -- $ 35/day extra underage fee

Other Car Classes (some models excluded) -- $45/day extra underage fee

In New York, renters age 18-20

Economy, Compact, Intermediat, Standard and Fullsize Card, Intermediate Sport, Economy Special, Fullsize Sport -- $ 51/day extra underage fee

National

The minimum age for NY is 18 years, subject to a per day surcharge, up to $70.82 per day.

Thrifty

For New York State renters under 25 are subject to a surcharge as follows: Renters 18-21 an extra $95.00 per day and ages 22-24 an extra $50.00 per day.

Hope this helps!

Read more at:


Policies Index

Age Requirements for Car Rental

Car Rental Underage Fees

The Roof Of Rinascente In Milan

When Giuseppe needs to go into Milan for business I am like a golden retriever who knows she's going to go for a fun ride in the car. I can't wait to get there... And because I've been many times, I don't feel the need to always do something touristic. I've long ago figured out what I like to do, and I know how to 'do' Milan, my way, on about 10 Euro, piu o meno, more or less... Here's my routine:

My days in Milan always start in Centro, in the middle of it all, near Via Dante and il Duomo. I start with cappuccino like all other days, but cappuccino in Milan has an Old World style and elegance all its own, even if, wonderfully, that cappuccino costs the same 1.30 Euro as elsewhere.. And the selection of brioche is much, much better. Add another Euro if you'd like a brioche... how about one filled with Nutella?

For another 1 Euro, if I want to, I take one of the old orange trams and ride around the city just sight- and people-seeing. This is Milan after all, fashion capital of the world, and beautiful-people-watching is as much a part of the scene as anything else. I stay on the trams, maybe reversing direction to return to my starting point, or disembarking at any other point I'd like to stroll back to the Duomo from. I have not yet been able to decipher the Milan tram system.



Then, my secret, favorite spot. There is the department store, Rinascente, directly across from the north side of the Duomo. Rinascente is upscale enough to be filled with beautiful people and goods, but not so expensive or exclusive that I can't shop there. Anyway, perlopiu, mostly, I just window shop. So far I've only spent about 4 Euro today after all... I'll look around for a while on the 7 levels of the store, but the whole point, eventually, is to make my way to level 7, the top. Here, one finds the food shops and the restaurants. There are several, the sushi bar, the panini shop, the romantic bar with sofas and lounge chairs. But I go directly outside, onto the rooftop terrace.




Here, one is at the same height as the top spires of the Duomo, and only some meters away. The view provides a backdrop unlike any other for an aperitivo. My prosecco costs a bit more than Stresa, but less than other places in Milan. For 7 Euro I enjoy a tall champagne glass of prosecco, which arrives with a platter of olives, nuts and chips. If it's not busy there, if my table isn't needed, I'll usually stay there as long as I can, reading or watching the sun set, waiting the phone call telling me it's time to jump back into the car, tired but refreshed, and with only 11 Euro less in my pocket.

From this very central area it is easy to reach many of the main sites in Milan, such as the Castello Sforzesco and its beautiful park, La Scala Opera House, and the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele. All of these can be seen, and walked through to some extent, for free, but all also offer more extensive, longer, behind-the-scenes tours. For example, you can spend another 5 Euro to climb to the top of the Duomo, my other favorite rooftop, which I wrote about in the previous post here. That brought my total for that day to 16 Euro spent. I'm not suggesting that you be as frugal as I've been, I write about this only to show that it doesn't need be expensive to enjoy an afternoon in a city like Milan. If you do want to spend money, the food shops at Rinascente are a good place to start, and I'm sure you won't have trouble finding other ways as well.

Epcot's Biergarten Restaurant

Visitors to Epcot’s Germany Pavilion can get a taste of Oktoberfest any time of year at the Biergarten Restaurant. The restaurant is housed in a traditional Bavarian style building that is reminiscent of 19th century Germany, but the food and festivities inside the Biergarten Restaurant reflect the annual Oktoberfest celebrations that lure millions of visitors to Germany every year.

The food is served buffet style with family style seating, which means that much like the real Oktoberfest, diners could be sharing their tables with visitors from another part of the country—or the world. The Central European “pigs and potatoes” diet is well represented here, with a selection of wursts (sausages), weinkraut, red cabbage sauerkraut, breads, cheese, schnitzels (a very thin breaded and fried meat cutlet), spaetzle (a starchy side dish made out of flour, eggs and water) and assorted salads. Desserts are also a big hit at the Biergarten Restaurant, with German Chocolate cake, apple strudel, and Bavarian cheesecake. There are a number of German beers and wines to choose from

Besides the frosty beverages, the main attraction is the live music, which is performed at scheduled times. With musicians dressed in lederhosen and dancers in dirndl skirts, the crowd is encouraged to sing along and join in the festivities by coming out to the dance floor. Between the buffet style dining and the live musical entertainment, even the youngest guests will enjoy what might be their very first Oktoberfest.

For reservations, call (407) WDW-DINE.

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Grant $700,000 To Help Protect At-Risk Animals

Endangered species and habitats under stress will get a much-needed lift this week thanks to $700,000 in grants being awarded by the non-profit SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund to wildlife protection projects in Florida and around the world.

The Fund’s board of directors approved grants to 83 projects, including seven Florida-based projects, that include wildlife rescue and rehabilitation efforts, research of little-known species, protection of critical habitat and grassroots education efforts aimed at increasing awareness and changing behaviors.

Some projects, like Sea to Shore Alliance’s sea turtle lighting survey, look at things from the animals’ point of view to gather new information.

Sea turtles hatch from their beach nests at night and depend on the glow from the horizon to guide them to the ocean. Lights on nesting beaches can disorient baby turtles and lead them away from the ocean where they fall victim to predators, vehicles or exhaustion. With support from the Fund, Sea to Shore Alliance will provide Florida’s first statewide assessment of beach illumination from the sea turtles’ perspective. Biologists will fly aerial surveys at night to collect video images and record beach lighting levels using special light measuring equipment. These data will be linked to GPS information allowing wildlife managers to quickly and easily compare, observe and locate areas with excessive beach lighting.

“We hope the information we gather on beach illumination will identify critical sea turtle-nesting areas in need of additional management," said James Powell, executive director of Sea to Shore Alliance. "This grant from the Sea World & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund will allow us to better monitor beach lighting and the effectiveness of new lighting technologies- an important step in the conservation of endangered sea turtles."

The Fund’s grant selection process is highly competitive and involves months of scrutiny, research and review by both internal and external animal experts.

“We zero in on the projects with the greatest potential for conservation impact,” said Virginia Busch, president and chairman of the board of the Fund. “The challenges and pressures facing wildlife and entire ecosystems are greater than ever. We receive significantly more grant requests than we can support, so we make every dollar we grant work as hard as possible to protect animals and habitats in need.”

While the Fund’s scope of projects is diverse, it continues to focus its support on core areas of concern: ocean health, human-animal conflict and the illegal wildlife trade. Examples from the 2009 grant awards include community-based restoration of Tampa’s estuaries, monitoring the migration paths of endangered right whales and their calves off the east coast of Florida and providing long-term care for animals confiscated from illegal situations. Through projects like these and others, the Fund is working to make a positive difference in the lives of both people and animals.

For more information on the Fund, including a complete list of this year’s grants, please visit www.swbg-conservationfund.org.

The Roof Of Il Duomo di Milano

Milan's cathedral, senza scaffolding. For 5 euro you can sit on the peak of the triangular roof.

For 5 Euro one can gain access to the roof of il Duomo di Milano, Milan's famous cathedral. Begun in 1385, but not completed until 1805 when Napolean Bonaparte ordered that the facade be finished, this is the fourth-largest cathedral in the world, and arguably one of the most beautiful. It's been hidden under scaffolding and wraps for some years as repairs and renovation and cleaning have taken place, but finally, it has been unveiled and it is ready to explore, inside, outside, and up on the roof.

Rows of spires and buttresses cover the roof.

A few days ago I climbed the 170 stairs up to the roof. It was the hottest day in some days in Milan, 34 degrees C, (mid 90s), but the cool stone, the shade offered by the hundreds of spires, and the breezes blowing through them kept the heat manageable. The tight staircase in the stone tower (watch for people coming in the other direction), leaves one standing on the north side of the lower level of the roof. As far as I can recall, there are very few additional safety barriers added, or necessary, as the construction and design of the roof offers its own barricades and railings.

Up here, it's all about the details, details, details.

And the view down into the piazza isn't bad either...

Up top, one can focus on the details, the interplay of the spires, the repetition of the design, the complexity of the details, all that is invisible from the ground. Walk along a natural walkway beneath a row of buttresses, this brings you to the southwest corner. Here, another short flight of 40 stairs or so takes you to the very peak of the roof. Steep inclines on either side slope down to the edge of the roof, but the tall wall of spires all around provides natural protection.

We're not really that high up at the peak of the roof, but it's possible to feel like you're on top of it all.

There's not much to do up there, except to just 'be', and people seem to do that for a very long time. I found myself a shady spot on one slope, took my shoes off (so much easier to walk on the slippery marble roof with bare feet rather than heels), sat myself down, and I pretended I was a very content pigeon, for quite some time.

See that building across the way in the photo below? The one with the greenery and the umbrellas? That's the rooftop terrace of the Rinascente department store. That terrace is my other favorite rooftop in Milan, as well as my favorite secret spot. The combination of these two activities, rooftop and Rinascente, makes for an enjoyable, simple, and inexpensive afternoon in Milan. Let's climb down from the cathedral roof now, and let's go to the rooftop of Rinascente.

Want To Meet Shamu or a Sea Lion

Now you can during the all-New Experience at SeaWorld Orlando Animal Shows and Photo Experience

SeaWorld offers guests an exclusive opportunity to come face-to-face with the stars of SeaWorld’s most popular shows. During this thrilling 5-hour adventure, guests will sit in priority reserved seats to experience world-class shows -- the “Believe" Shamu show, Blue Horizons whale & dolphin show, and Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island sea lion & otter show.

Immediately following each performance, guests will pose with Shamu, a dolphin and a sea lion or walrus at the respected stadiums. Plus, guests will get up close and personal with a penguin and a Clydesdale. Each participant will receive a photo CD filled with their unforgettable and memorable SeaWorld experience.

Dallas Friday Gets Towed

Professional wakeboarder and four-time X-Games gold medalist and ESPY recipient Dallas Friday gets towed to shore by Hutch, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at Discovery Cove. She took a quick break from her hectic tour schedule to relax at the all-inclusive park where guests can swim with dolphins, snorkel with rays and fish, hand-feed exotic birds and relax on pristine beaches. To discover more, visit Discovery Cove

Special Room Rates at Gaylord Palms Resort

Gaylord Resort Orlando extended the $119.00 per night deal for the following dates.

$119 Dates

July – (7/23 – 7/28)

Aug – (8/1 – 8/10; 8/13 – 8/16; 8/18 – 8/27; 8/30 – 8/31)

Sep – (9/1 – 9/2; 9/6 – 9/16; 9/18 – 9/20; 9/25 – 9/27)

Nov – (11/22 – 11/30)

Dec – (12/1; 12/11 – 12/25)

$129 Dates

Oct – (10/2 – 10/5; 10/13 – 10/18; 10/23 – 10/24; 10/29 – 10/31)

Nov – (11/3 – 11/7; 11/12 – 11/15)

Dec – (12/2 – 12/5; 12/9 – 12/10; 12/26 – 12/27)

Gaylord Palms Resort Reservations