Orlando Real Estate Blog

Orlando is a great place to live, work and play in. I decided to have a boys night out with the kids and living in Orlando provides a lot of opportunities for some wholesome and inexpensive family fun. Our night started out at Downtown Disney. We stumbled upon a new restaurant that just opened T-Rex…and for my youngest son, a big dinosaur fan, this was a special treat. The line for the place was around the building so we just checked out the gift shop and poked our heads in for a peak.

The place looks awsome…fire was shooting out of a volcanic ridge, dinosaurs roared and the tropical fish provideded a good balance to the chaos by swiming peacfully at the bar. I think we know where my youngest next birthday dinner will be…

We then boarded a bus to take us to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Lodge and Campground…the first stop on the property is called “The Outpost”, this is where you would get the buses to take you to your cabin or RV spot. I simply told the driver on one of the other buses that we wanted to go to the “Campfire”…soon we arrived to the sounds of campfire songs, and the smells of hot dogs roasting. My kids…that did not know where I was taking them had smiles on their faces usually only seen on Christmas day.

Our first stop was the wagon to get some grub…ooh I mean food. And soon the movie Tarzan started and to my surprise the kids had not seen this one. It started to get a little cool, of course, our jackets are back in my truck…safely at Downtown Disney. So it seemed like a good time to get some marshmellows and sit by the fire. We could sit comfortably around the fire…roast the marshmellows and watch the movie…great set up. I don’t know what my kids liked more…eating them or watching them burst into flames.

A lot of people came to see the movie but I would say it was still very comfortable and everyone was having a good time. Next time I hope to get a cabin for a few days to really explore the property and the amenities Disney provides.  All said I probably spent less then $20, and had a great time.

Another interesting note…I spoke to the bus driver and suggested that Disney should have hybrid buses…I hear they have over 250 buses in Orlando alone.  To my surprise he said they are on order and should be arriving starting next year.  I don’t know how true this is but it sounded good and he even suggested I visit http://www.designlineinternational.com/electrichybrid.cfm Which I did. Looks like they are electric which is great and I hope this is true…to see Disney a sterling member of the community take the lead in this area is a great thing.  Now only if I could get rid of my gas guzzler…btw I paid 1.99 a gallon this weekend for gas at Sam’s…$44 to fill up is great and half of what I was paying a few months ago.

                                        This may or may not be Disney’s new Bus

                            The Jamaican Bobsled team may have selected the colors…

Instead of speaking about property values, inventories and the like, today I would like to focus on one of the many reasons my family loves to call Central Florida home. Having a young family with two great kids Nicholas 7 and Cristian 6 we really enjoy running to the beach during the summer. This past Saturday we decided, last minute, to run to Cocoa Beach. The drive took well under an hour from our home in Belle Isle, a small city just south of Orlando and very close to the international airport.

Cocoa Beach is the closest beach to Orlando. In Cocoa Beach you will find great little shops, Ron Jon’s Surf shop, many hotels and some good places to eat. Our favorite place to eat usually is the Pizza Hut right across from the beach and parking. We always get what we call a “Cocoa Retreat” which is a thin pizza with pepperoni, ham and pineapple. Taste great and we only get it when we go to Cocoa Beach hence the name. I call them from the beach on my cell phone and the pizza is ready in 15 minutes or so, which is about the time it takes me to walk and pick it up.

We park right off E Gadsden street (I believe that is right) and they have parking available for $1 per hour, bring your quarters or dimes! I perfer this location as opposed to the larger public facility at Alan Sheppard State Park due to the numbers of people that go there. It is amazing what a difference a hundred yards makes. I guess people just walk on the beach and take any open spot they can find. I recommend walking a little and finding a nice open spot and some elbow room or park at the same area we do and deal with much less people. You can visit this link to get some additional details on the areas beaches. http://www.visitflorida.com/articles/cocoa-beach-area-beaches

What a great time we had! We had our cooler filled with ice, drinks and snacks to last the day. We spent a full 7 hours at the beach or 28 quarters for parking and what an adventure. We saw several cruise ships leave port to destinations unknow, a huge military plane flying around in patterns, a few helicopters ran up and down the beach, a group of surfers hitting the waves and plenty of sail boats drifting by in the distance. A real neat thing happened when a guy brought us a horseshoe crab shell, and the kids loved it. I am currently in the process of bleaching it, and letting it sit in the sun for the kids to keep as a momento because who know what is on that shell, but it sure looks cool!

All said and done I bet we spent less then $30 dollars inclusive of the gas. It is hard to beat a great day at the beach, especially when it is just around the corner and a world away from our day to day activities. By the way, if you are going to the beach be sure to pick up one of those water proof Nerf footballs, they only cost $10 and provide hours of fun. If you are going to live in Florida, enjoy it, as I believe God spent a little extra time on our great state providing us with an amazingly beautiful playground and the perfect place to call home!

Ok, now this is a perfect day…..

Horseshoe Crab Shell free from the nice man in the green kyak!

Nicholas and Cristian digging up sand fleas…yes sand fleas (great for fishing)

Victory…a Sand Flea in hand…now what do we do with it???

Cocoa Beach Pier in the distance…the green cart coming at me is the beach patrol…quick hide the beer!