Boogers Found on Wall of Bathroom at Cinemark Festival Bay Movie Theater

Cinemark Festival Bay Mall
5150 International Drive
Orlando, FL USA
www.cinemark.com

Where is it?

There are several bathrooms located inside this movie theater. This one is located in the far right (eastbound?) wing of the theater itself.

To get there, enter through the lobby and, after handing your ticket to the usher, veer off to the right and down the main hallway there leading to the theaters in that end of the establishment.

As you go, you'll immediately pass the main concession stand on your left, as well as the entrances to one of the the theater's larger stadiums (there's another, similar one on the other end of the concession stand) then a small hallway leading to three or four smaller theaters (which will be on your right). Keep going straight, until you hit the back wall (you'll pass a smaller concession stand on your left as you walk, though this one is often closed), which itself places you dead center in another longer hallway, which has six or so theaters to each side.

Go left and you'll see the restroom sign hanging from the ceiling. Turn left when you reach the sign and go right for the men's room and left for the women's.

What's it like?

This is a decent, standard multiplex theater slapped at the very end of Orlando's International Drive, the city's primary non-Disney-based tourism strip. The theater itself is one of the cornerstone businesses in the Festival Bay Mall, which has several worthwhile stores and eateries (my favorite in the mall being Fuddruckers) but also houses a number of empty storefronts, which makes shopping there a touch on the unsettling side. (The mall itself is across the street from Texas de Brazil and Orlando's Prime Outlets -- formerly the Belz Outlets -- which covers several blocks of real estate with various stores.)

The theater complex itself is dimly lit and filled with golden hues and old-movie-parlor touches, even though you can tell it's a very new building in every respect. Seats are comfortable (though have a shorter back than what I would prefer) and all theaters themselves are setup with stadium seating, so you don't have to contend much with people blocking your view. Picture and sound quality are pretty good, and usually matinees are not very crowded (unless it's the opening weekend of a major release). It's also a good place to while away a few hours if you're in the area and don't feel like shopping but your friends, out-of-town visitors or guests do.

The bathrooms, upon first impression, seem pretty classy -- though that impression is ruined upon closer inspection.

At first, they are classy looking, with beige tile covering the lower wall, a wavy, textured off-white tile covering the upper wall and an ornately carved bronze-like tile forming a mid-wall divider between the two. A large-squared contrasting off-white tile covers the floor.

It's a large environment, long and stretching but not too narrow, and well-spaced. About eight or so urinals hang along the left wall (if facing the back wall), and a stretch of four or so toilet stalls stand opposite them in the far corner of the place. Brown metal dividers separate the stalls but the urinals have no privacy barriers between them, which leaves you a bit open to peepers if you're standing at them and someone comes in.

There is a multi-station vanity, with a bland brick-colored granite counter and some white porcelain embedded sinks, in the front right of the room. Three automatic hand dryers hang on the wall opposite the vanity. The vanity itself is nothing special, the same sort of setup as I've seen (most recently) at places like Animal Kingdom (at the bathrooms near the Flame Tree Restaurant, for example) and (on a smaller scale) Whole Foods Winter Park. This one has manual faucets and soap pumps though.

Spend a little time at the vanity and that classy first impression starts to waver. While I didn't find it waterlogged (perhaps because I attended the first screening of the day on my visit and seemed to be one of the first to enter the facility), I did find that one of the soap dispensers had become unglued from the stretch mirror behind the vanity and was laying dead on the counter, alongside bits of plastic that had broken off in the fall. Certainly this needs to be fixed.

The toilet stalls were clean, but the walls of the stall I entered were speckled with bits of goo, which I can only assume are boogers flicked on the wall from a previous visitor. Pretty gross.

If that weren't enough, the latches to the stall door I found myself behind was pretty greasy on the edges, as if years of finger grease has accumulated on it from people sliding it back and forth so many times.

These little things, I'm sorry to say, made the experience less than savory and made me hurry with my business, for fear of what other items the cleaning crew had overlooked might appear here.

Marks out of 10:

6. Would be an 8 if it were not for the greasy latch, felled soup dispenser and boogers on the wall.

Comments to the Management:

The soap dispenser is an easy fix -- just mount it right and move on. But the greasy latch and boogers make me think that your cleaning crew just focuses on the main target items (toilets, vanity, floor) and not the rest of the place. Time to do a head-to-toe scrubbing of the place.

Hard As It Tries, Bathroom at Encore Las Vegas Doesn't Quite Match Grandeur of Bathroom at Neighboring Wynn

Encore Las Vegas
3131 Las Vegas Boulevard S.
Las Vegas, NV USA
www.encorelasvegas.com

Where is it?

This bathroom is just past the Lobby Bar and is off the hotel's main drag. To reach it, enter the hotel through the main entrance, pass the check-in desk and walk onward, towards the hotel's casino. Along the way, you'll see the pool on your left (through windows) and the elevated Lobby Bar (a swanky cafe/bar environment filled with deep reds, plush patterned carpets and intricate glass work) on your right.

Pass the Lobby Bar, continuing in that direction (which leads to the hotel's Atrium). You will cross a pathway on your right that is just beyond the Lobby Bar; it leads to a sundries shop and the hotel's guest room elevators. Just past that is a sign for the restrooms.

At the sign, turn right and go down a hallway, about 50 feet. At the back, you'll find the bathrooms, men's to the right, women's to the left.

What's it like?

Encore Las Vegas looks very much like its sister property, the Wynn Las Vegas: Although not as tall or wide as that establishment, it boasts a similar-looking exterior composed entirely of copper-colored glass. Inside, those thematic similarities continue, especially in the place’s emphasis on curved walls, lengthy esplanades and elegant chandeliers.

But where the Wynn Las Vegas' décor takes a modern approach to art nouveau, Encore’s design takes many cues from Eastern cultures, primarily China and Thailand. Stepping through the place, you stroll under intricately carved ceiling and chandeliers containing hundreds of pieces of sparkling colored glass. You walk over floors covered with plush carpets and mosaics of dragonflies and butterflies. You pass Siamese statues, modern art paintings and found art, which pack the corridors, corners and enclave of the place. Even the staff (dealers included) come dressed in Chinese-inspired uniforms.

Encore Las Vegas itself carries a sense of intimacy that most other Vegas mega-hotels seem to lack. This is best seen in the hotel’s casino. It’s smaller than most of the gambling floors in town (it houses approximately 65 tables and 860 slots) and has been designed with high ceilings, square spaces, straight lines and natural light (let in through windows and skylights) -- a far cry from the typical Strip casino, which usually features a maze-like design, low ceilings, dim lighting and loud noises.

As a result, walking through the casino to get to the hotel’s other hot spots becomes easier and feels less stressful than expected, which in turn lets you admire the design and artwork around you all the more.

Naturally, given that this is the upscale cousin of the already upscale Wynn Las Vegas, I expected to be blown away by the design-based wonders that would no doubt be found here. I mean, Wynn Las Vegas to this point has some of the best bathrooms I've ever stepped foot in.

But while Encore Las Vegas' restrooms do offer much elegance and sophistication, the "wow" factor here falls somewhat short. More than anything, these bathrooms seem like they've channelled Wynn Las Vegas through Caesar's Palace. Pretty damn good in the scope of things, but still not earth shattering, as you might expect. The hotel itself is literally jaw dropping in its over-the-top-yet-elegant decor and design. The bathroom tries to exhibit those excesses to the same degree here, but a few missteps keep it from achieving that goal.

This is a good sized room. You enter, take a quick turn past a ceiling-high framed mirror in an entrance hallway, and find yourself facing the sink stations -- two-person vanities on each side of the room, which is long and rectangular. Think of what was at Amway Arena, scale it down to about 1/3 of the size, and you get the basic set-up of this place.

Beyond the sinks, in the main section of the bathroom, on the respective sides of the room, are lines of urinals and toilet stalls, about six or so of each. What's unique here is that the urinal stalls are floor to ceiling in height and as such provide maximum privacy. They, like the floor and walls and stall divider walls, are made of brick-red-colored granite with gold trim and are quite beautiful. A floor-to-ceiling length mirror, like the one in the room's entrance passageway, stands at the far end of the room, a sort of counterpoint to the entrance mirror. The toilets are your standard white porcelain but clean and new-looking. The urinals are also white porcelain but they also have that thick mesh in them to absorb urine and limit unintended splashing and spraying (like what was seen at the beautiful bathrooms at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare).

The stalls are roomy and secluding, though to a slightly lesser degree than the stalls at the Wynn Las Vegas. Those, set in a very noisy bathroom, made you feel like you had the world to yourself. These, set in a slightly less noisy bathroom, let in a touch of noise that isn't quite disruptive but also isn't quite expected.

The vanity is very nice but not show-stopping like the marble wonder at Wynn Las Vegas. While I liked the copper spigot-like faucets and the dark marble vanity counters, I found that by placing a box of tissues in the vanity itself (for the sake of convenience) made people want to use the tissues as towels instead of tissues, which of course causes them to disintegrate too fast and create a globby mess on the counter itself. The paper towels were located nearby to that, but at the same time the designers need to realize that people will almost always go for the easiest solution before them -- in this case, it's the tissues, not the towels. Sadly, it's one of the bathroom's major missteps -- a small little throwaway detail that seems nice at first but falls flat upon execution (reminded me a lot of the faucet SNAFU at J. Alexander's in Orlando).

The place's other big misstep is in the urinal stalls. While the dividers offer much privacy, the choice to place the automatic flush sensor on a reflective gold-chrome plate pretty much destroys that aspect. Sure it looks nice, but it's also like peeing while looking at a mirror focused entirely on your giblets -- and anyone who's walking behind you at that moment and decides to peek over can, at one angle or another, get a solid look at your goods. (You know this because you will be able to see them in the reflection off the plate.) It's a little uncomfortable, to be honest.

Yes, it's a beautiful bathroom, and very clean, spacious and elegant, but those few hold-ups keep it well short of what was experienced at Wynn Las Vegas. I was expecting a location that might equal, even top, that one, considering the brand positioning of this hotel. Sadly, I left greatly disappointed -- a real hard thing to admit considering how much I've championed Wynn Las Vegas.

Marks out of 10:

8. Missteps and all, it's a beautiful bathroom, but I just can't raise the score much higher than this, given those fallacies.

Comments to the Management:

Outside of putting a little more "WOW" into the design, and even some technology and showstopping design pieces, the least you can do is move the tissues away from the sink and replace those plates behind the toilets with something non-reflective.

Beautiful Bathroom at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare in Wynn Las Vegas

Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare
3131 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Wynn Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV USA
www.wynnlasvegas.com/#dining/bartolotta/

Where is it?

Located in the Wynn Las Vegas shopping mall (which in itself has some outstanding public restrooms of their own), this beautiful restaurant flows over two distinct dining levels. To get to the bathroom, head down the main staircase to the lower-level dining room.

Once at the bottom, resist the urge to go left (towards the waiter stations there) and spin rightward around the staircase and head towards the right side (with your back to the end of the stairs), heading all the time towards the hallway tucked into the corner there. (The set up is very similar to the Daniel Boulud Brasserie, located in the same hotel.)

Go down that hallway, which like Daniel Boulud Brasserie is a bit on the dark side, and you'll come to an enclave containing the entrances to the bathrooms.

What's it like?

This is one of the best fish restaurants I've ever eaten at -- unbelievably good. And the whole experience made for one of the most memorable meals of my life.

The place itself is a decorative wonder. The top level, where you enter, is like an upscale tavern filled with dark woods and a sprawling mahogany bar on the far left. A circular staircase fills the center of the establishment. Taking it downstairs, you find yourself in a roomy, semi-circular main dining room filled with modernist seafaring decor: Shells on monotone painted walls. Elegant chandeliers. Large windows overlooking a man-made pond set in the center of the Wynn Las Vegas, which in itself has outdoor dining cabanas and circular orbs sitting in the water.

In a way, it's all a little overwhelming on the senses, and most people who have never been here before will feel a little disjointed when they sit down at the table. The service style is that of "in the know," as in those who have been here before know how it works and those new to the place must get their feet wet before proceeding. The menu isn't as self-explanatory as one would expect: There is an abundance of service options, from price fixe menus to fish ala carte to traditional pasta and meat dishes to specialty meals created specifically for you by the head waiter and chef. And each of those items can be broken down into sub-segments as well, if needed.

Really, like Las Vegas itself, the idea here is that the customer is in control -- but that the customer doesn't realize it at first. The sooner you come to that conclusion, the sooner your meal can begin.

So naturally, having never been here before, it took nearly 45 minutes for myself and my companion to sort through our options, get advice from our waiter, chef and sommelier, and begin our dining experience. We are glad we took the time, because next time we come here we know how to get things started quicker.

We opted for a price fixe menu consisting partly of menu-suggested items and partly of items created specifically for us. The menu consisted of a first course that was an assortment of grilled shellfish, including scallops, head-on prawns and octopus. The second course was a plate of pillow soft ricotta ravioli covered in seasonal white truffles from Alba. The third was a spaghetti in red sauce with spiny lobster. The fourth was a seafood risotto. The fifth was a whole roasted sea bream covered in a spicy red tomato and garlic sauce. The sixth was a dessert assortment consisting of various house-made chocolates, tarts, ice creams and more. We were very full when we left -- four hours later.

Now, I should say that I'm a major seafood fan and I know that freshness is key to great seafood. The seafood here, according to what we were told, all comes flown in directly from Italy itself, because the executive chef (Paul Bartolotta) insists that great seafood dishes cannot be made from fish from American waters. Not sure if that is true, but given the quality of the dishes served to us and pride in which they were prepared and served, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The grilled first course was filled with briny goodness, as well as a solid grill flavor, with hints of lemon and garlic to accentuate those flavors. The spiny lobster was soft and succulent -- yet meaty enough to be distinct within the strong tomato base. The risotto was the type I'd heard about all my life but never experienced firsthand -- a risotto where the fish flavor was blended so well into the rice that it captured the essence of its ingredients without the need to show them off; no large chunks of fish and shellfish here because ultimately that would have been cloying. The bream was delicate, soft, supple -- the best fish I've ever tasted.

And the raviolis, filled with a semi-sweet sheep's milk ricotta made in house and covered with an abundance of truffles, was other-worldly. A dish so rich and refined that it left we speechless. After eating it, I could absorb nothing more than the flavors it left lingering on my tongue -- the sort of dish that tells you, "All right, you can stop eating now, there's no reason to try anything else because nothing else will get better than that."

The desserts were outstanding too, I should add, but by the time they arrived I was so full (and drunk from the wonderful wines the sommelier selected to accompany our meal) that I could barely shovel them down. Note to self: Pace yourself better next time.

Given that, you can imagine how wonderful the bathrooms are. And like the meal itself they are tops -- one of the best I've been to.

Once going down that semi-dark hallway leading to them, I thought (as said earlier) that I might be stepping into an environment similar to Daniel Boulud Brasserie. But then once I got in I was reminded of where I was -- in the glorious Wynn Las Vegas, home to some of the best bathroom's I've visited -- and realized that these toilets were more than up to par with the rest of this establishment's fine toilets. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the bathrooms are more the creation of Wynn Las Vegas than Bartolotta.

Like the dining room, these toilets work in a modern tropical feel, one that is both decorative but understated. The room itself is not large but never feels small. After entering, you'll see a two-sink vanity in the far right corner. Opposite them, to the left of the door, are two white porcelain urinals, and opposite them, against the back left wall, are two toilet stalls, both with floor to ceiling full-wall dividers (like what was seen recently at J. Alexander's in Orlando) and full wooden stall doors (a modernist spin on what was seen at Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino).

The floor is covered with tiles of that look like a mix of marble pattern and pool patio surfaces -- and with thin grout lines in between to give the allusion that the entire floor is one surface. The walls have a sheer marble tile on the lower parts and brown-maroon paint on the upper parts. Combined, it gives the place a stately yet homey feel -- like a pool bath if it were in a museum, so to speak.

The urinals are standard but have elegant marble dividers between them and framed mosaics of butterflies overhead (further proof of the Wynn's influence, I think, since the hotel is filled with butterflies). The urinals themselves have a thick mesh within them, that absorbs pee and ensures there's no splatter.

The stalls are reminiscent to the look and feel of the stalls at Wynn Las Vegas and the aforementioned Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, in that they are completely isolating and provide much privacy and good lighting.

The vanity is something special. The sinks are square shaped and short (similar to what was seen at Whole Foods South Orlando) and have automatic spigot-shaped faucets. There are two intricately framed mirrors (with frames made of medium-stained wood and colorful mosaics) hanging over each sink, with some modern metallic box-shaped lanterns in between. Paper towels and soap dispensers sit between the two.

The tile work merits special mention, as it forms both the dividing trim around the perimeter of the bathroom as well as in between the sink stations. It's festive, intricate -- almost like a modern spin on Tiffany glass, if you will. Because much of the tile work around the bathroom is stately and monotonous, the highlights here extend much personality to the place. Classy yet playful -- capturing the spirit of the restaurant outside -- yet because it forms the boundaries of the bathroom it's also functional.

As you can imagine, the place was spotless and odor free. Lighting was soft but also bright -- thanks to the chandelier overhead and those box lights. If I had to quibble about anything, it would be that the trash hole in the vanity was too full -- but I came by later for a second stop before leaving for the evening and that problem was fixed. What a place!

Marks out of 10:

11. Clearly better than perfect.

Comments to the Management:

This is heavenly -- what more can I say than that?

Amway Arena Bathroom Really Just a Cave with Lots of Urinals

Amway Arena
600 W Amelia St
Orlando, FL USA
www.orlandovenues.net

Where is it?

This bathroom reviewed here is located near the entrance to the seats in sections 103-104 and 203-204.

So to get there, find that area via the signs pointing to them, look across the hall from them -- you'll see a large tiled divider wall (almost monolithic in size, really). Go behind that wall and you'll come across the bathrooms.

What's it like?

Orlando's main arena, home to the Orlando Magic and big concert draws, this large stadium seats around 17,000 for most basketball games and concerts. It's a pleasant enough place to enjoy such an event, though the echoes and acoustics can be a bit of a strain -- as much sound seems to get stuck in its many upper corners.

Like most arenas, it has a number of attractions, from various gift stalls selling T-shirts and other wares, to an assortment of food vendors, offering an array of fast food and such. Seats are of the plastic fold-down variety -- not too comfortable, but not as bad as other venues I've been to.

The bathrooms here are enormous, multi-person and cavernous. In fact, walking in one it really looks just like a being in a cave -- only this cave is lined with urinals along its perimeter.

And it's not as dank as the cave-like bathroom at at Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, but that's only because it's much larger than that. Still, this is very much a cave and nothing else.

Essentially, the facilities here consist of one long room. A barrage of sinks (all white porcelain, with single mirrors over them) covering both sides of the walls greets you once you step inside. Beyond that is a long single room that has dozens of urinals fixed to its left and back wall and a long row of toilet stalls along the right wall.

The urinals have no dividers between them, and black metal makes up the stall divider walls. Various posters of upcoming events hang above the urinals -- which is better than nothing, I guess. The upper walls are covered in beige tile, the lower walls with a drab gray tile. That same colored gray tile (albeit smaller) covers the floors, which is also dotted with small black tiles for highlights -- similar to what was seen at Theo's Kitchen, only on a much larger scale.

What's amusing here is that a lot of the fixtures are dated. The sink faucets, for example, are the old-fashioned turn-on variety you used to see predominantly several years back. I haven't seen faucets this antiquated since visiting the Delta Crown Room in the JFK International terminal.

Also, this is the only place I've ever seen advertisement stickers placed around the piping of the toilets -- a very strange place to place an ad, I think, since you can never really see the entire ad. So far, I've seen business cards and fliers placed in the bathroom (like at that horrid CVS Pharmacy in Savannah, GA) and I've seen printed pieces of paper taped to specific areas of the bathroom (like at the scary Goyan Gip Korean Restaurant), but I never have seen stickers wrapped around piping. First time for everything, I guess.

That aside, the place was pretty clean as a whole -- though I visited during the opening minutes of a basketball game, so few had made their way to the bathroom by then. I've made other visits while attending other events and the bathroom was far messier then. For this one, I found some trash on the floor, some spilled water and pee and some foul odors in the air, but nothing too horrible. (It's been worse on subsequent visits.)

Still, outside of the sheer size of this cave, there isn't much that's memorable here. Utilitarian at best, and best experienced early on in the game than later as it gets pretty crowded during halftime and on the way out.

Marks out of 10:

6. Really a 5, but that one visit, where I was the only person in there, really added to the experience.

Comments to the Management:

Update the fixtures and keep it cleaner when the place is being swamped -- both things I'm sure you already know, though.

Bathroom in Hard Rock Casino in Tampa is Swanky, But Also Soaked with Spilled Liquids

Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa
5223 Orient Rd
Tampa, FL USA
www.seminolehardrocktampa.com

Where is it?

This toilet is on the west end of the complex, just a short distance away from Floyd's, the establishment's nightclub and late-night high-end dining spot. Best way to get to this restroom is to first find Floyd's, then with your back to Floyd's entrance go to your right, following the perimeter walkway of the casino.

Note: You can't see the entrance to the bathroom from the entrance to Floyd's because there is a wall of slot machines blocking your view, but if you follow the perimeter walkway in that direction, you'll see it as soon as you turn the corner.

What's it like?

This casino hotel has been around nearly 10 years (I think?) and in that time it has transformed itself from a kitschy Cracker-themed gambling hall and concert venue to something on par with some of the nicer-but-smaller venues in Las Vegas. On my first visit there, years back, I was mesmerized by a game in which you played tic tac toe against a live chicken in a box -- at a cost of $5. Nowadays, the chicken game is gone and a slick array of new Vegas-inspired slots fills the place, along with plenty of swanky rock and roll decor.

Sure, the place is based on the Hard Rock Cafe design motif, but here the memorabilia seems to play second fiddle to the many gaming options, which literally overstuff the gambling floor. Not that the decor isn't there -- there are glass cases and displays everywhere, don't get me wrong -- but it's not as noticeable when compared to the barrage of flashing lights that hits you from all angles.

Of course, in its latest incarnation, the place has more similarities to Vegas than ever before, from decent dining options to shows to table games (the first incarnation had only slots, and though the slots still outweigh the tables significantly, you can see the tables becoming more predominant in coming years).

It's also a somewhat smokey place -- but then, what casino isn't? Still, if you can put up with that, and the with the huge numbers of people who crowd the place (especially on weekends), then you should have a fine time here. Not exactly a place for the rock and roll historian to connect to his favorite classic groups (though there is plenty to see in terms of memorabilia) but still an enjoyable place to make a slow afternoon more exciting and lose some money quickly.

The bathrooms here seem to be modeled after a combination of several glam rock stars, like modern-day Steven Tyler and KISS, among others. Outside the entrance are displays containing outfits worn by various rockers (can't remember who, though, I'm afraid). Inside, the color scheme and design will have you thinking you've stepped into a dressing room of sorts -- it's a somewhat predictable design move but still its executed well enough that you give a knowing smile once you step inside.

These are large rooms, by the way, on par with what was seen in spots like Grand Central Station or the Paris Las Vegas. Once you walk in, the large vanity area (on par in size with the one seen at the Delta Crown Room in JFK's Terminal 2) will be on your left. This area has a multi-sink station vanity made of black marble and a large stretch mirror hanging behind it -- very reminiscent to the mirror area in a dressing room, if you think about it (like what's done at Bill's Elbow South, only on a grander and classier scale).

The sinks themselves are all automatic, as is the soap dispenser (which dishes out a lovely foam soap). Towels (plush but disposable) are dispensed via a countertop holder -- like what you would see in a classy restaurant like Texas de Brazil, among other places. The vanity counter has circles cut into it, in which you toss the towels through and into the trash cans below.

On the floor beneath the vanity is a set of plush zebra-striped rugs, which add to the glam factor. Over the vanity -- and around the rest of the bathroom -- is a highlight row of colorful tiles, which add a sense of class to the place and also proves reminiscent of the classy tile work found in places like Caesar's Palace and the Venetian, among others.

On the downside, the vanity was covered with spilled water -- the counter was literally drenched, which was somewhat offputting. Also, the floor was wet, as was the zebra rug (which I guess makes you understand why bathrooms rarely have rugs in them). Really, this was one of the wettest vanities I've seen since my trip to the Island of Adventure's Toon Lagoon. Not quite that horrific, but it was close in spots.

Of course, I understand that the casino was packed that day and that it's hard to police a bathroom effectively when there are tons of people floating in an out of it. The Port St. Lucie and Fort Drum service stations on the Florida Turnpike are further evidence of this -- just too much traffic to keep it consistently clean. Still, this is a hotel that aims to be high-end and those are service plazas, so you hope the managers notice the difference.

Anyway, to continue with the tour, the bathroom follows the design of Grand Central Station (and of the bathrooms experienced at the Philadelphia International Airport) some more in that it is a square room with the urinals set up along a center wall, which divides the bathroom into two parts (for the vanity and toilet stalls). Both sides of that wall have urinals on them. In the back section (and to the far left end) are rows of toilet stalls, maybe 10-15 in total.

The urinals are your standard white porcelain variety and they are separated by stainless steel dividers. The stalls themselves have white toilets and stainless steel walls. The stalls are of standard width but the ones I stepped into had plenty of pee on the seats -- not terribly bad, like what was seen at the Oxford Railway Station, or the O2, but still bad enough to think that the place needed to have an attendant posted inside during the busier times.

The floors here are marble tile, beige with black highlight tiles. The walls are covered in a similar beige marble tile, but have that aforementioned ring of colorful highlight tiles. There isn't much on the walls, but the bright lighting and items like the zebra rug offer enough decor -- heck, there's a whole casino outside, so I have to respect the designers in their choice to make the place both glammy and a place to step away from the glitz (if only a little) of the casino outside.

Marks out of 10:

8. Almost a 7 because of the spilled water and pee, but still nice enough for you to be able to look past those fallacies and see what a quality restroom this really is.

Comments to the Management:

It's a well-designed place. I think putting an attendant inside -- especially during peak traffic times -- would keep the place clean consistently, and also add a bit more class to the spot. Think about it.

Old World Charm Gets Lost Inside Teutonic Bathroom at EPCOT's UK Pavilion

United Kingdom Pavilion Bathroom
EPCOT
Orlando, FL USA
www.epcot.com

Where is it?

This is pretty deep inside Disney's EPCOT theme park.

To get here, head to the United Kingdom Pavilion. Once there, look for the Rose and Crown pub, which is pretty much in the center of the pavilion. When you see it, look across the street, and you'll see a quaint little English garden set before a structure that looks a little like Windsor Castle.

There's a set of archways at the far end of the garden -- the bathrooms are inside those archways. (There's also a sign on the central street there, indicating which way the bathrooms are, as well as which way the Rose and Crown Pub is, in case you need to get back there and can't quite remember where it is.... for obvious reasons, of course.)

What's it like?

Like with the China Pavilion at EPCOT, the United Kingdom Pavilion houses a small array of structures that sum up traditional English experience for the non-initiated. There's the Tea Shoppe (notice the spelling of "Shoppe" -- doesn't that scream "English?"), the Rose and Crown Pub, a fish and chips place, some quaint gardens, windy streets reminiscent of a quaint Cotswolds village and architecture that looks like it was modeled after postcards of famous castles, like the aforementioned Windsor dwelling.

The pavilion itself makes for a nice diversion, but unlike China Pavilion, there isn't any attraction here (no movie; though there is a Beatle-mania-type show a few times a day) and no fine dining restaurant, unless you count the pub here as being fine dining. (It's got table service, and it charges $9 per beer, whereas the fish and chips place is just a fast food counter.)

The bathrooms look nice on the outside -- as said earlier, the architecture outside them is reminiscent of Windsor Castle and the like. Inside, however, they are just your standard mass market multi-person toilet -- nothing special. They're very hectic and busy too because they sit in the dead center of a busy thoroughfare between the France and Canada Pavilions, both of which have great fine dining restaurants and decent attractions to see.

Of course, given its bland interior, I can't complain on its lack of ambition as the bathroom at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in EPCOT's China Pavilion exhibited too much ambition and as a result created a somewhat unpleasant toilet environment. So there is something to be said for having a straightforward practical restroom on premises.

But at the same time you're letdown by the fact that the outside of the place has lots of personality and the inside doesn't.

Anyway, this is a long, rectangular environment. When you enter, you first face an area of sinks and counter spaces (for changing babies and such). Turn left from there and you see a long stretching room with a long row of urinals on one side and a long row of toilet stalls on the back, with the handicap stalls being in the back corner. (Why they are all the way back there, since it makes it hard to get to for anyone with disabilities, is anyone's guess?)

Regular stalls are average in size and are divided by beige metal stall walls; the urinals are separated by stainless steel dividers. Because of the shape of the place, and the fact that many people visit here, anyone in the stalls will have to endure lots of noise and activity. During my visit, I encountered lots of shouted conversations and many kids, who ran around frantically, bumping into things and having water fights. This was actually what I expected to experience at the Spiderman toilets in Super Hero Island in Islands of Adventure, to be honest -- just kind of a bathroom free for all, if you will.

The sinks, urinals and toilets all have autoflush (soap dispensers are manual, as is in all Disney parks bathrooms, it seems). This isn't a bad thing to have in such a frenetic environment. The place is brimming with spilled water and paper and other trash (even though it's frequently cleaned by the crew -- just too hard to keep tip top when this many people flush in, I guess) so the less I have to touch anything, the better.

The decor is pretty Teutonic, with an off-kilter brown and white-tile checkerboard pattern on the floor and white tiled walls with a black tile highlight. Again, nothing exciting -- pretty plain Jane, like what we saw at the Grand Canyon's Desert View bathroom or at TooJay's Original Gourmet Deli in Orlando. No bits of cozy English culture, no personality whatsoever. Soulless and bland and very hectic.

A little of that would have been great -- I'm not asking for something as eccentric as what we we saw in the bathrooms outside Westminster Abbey or Bleinhem Palace, or even something as high end classy as the majestic Lumley Castle Hotel, but at least some effort to mimic the decor of the Pavilion outside would have been nice.

Marks out of 10:

5. Would have been higher had the place not been so filled with frantic children, water, and trash and shown a little personality.

Comments to the Management:

Clearly, the cleaning schedule you've placed this place on isn't enough -- you need to double the crews here to ensure it stays clean, because it's a crowded mess as is. Also, adding some decor would soften the blow of overcrowding and messiness some. Look at what was done inside the bathrooms at the Paris Las Vegas for some inspiration, or the Lost Continent Toilet at Islands of Adventure.