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.

China Town Restaurant's Bathroom Starting to Show Its Age (Extremely Dusty Exhaust Fan Doesn't Help Either)

China Town Restaurant
1103 North Mills Ave
Orlando, FL USA
ctseafood.com

Where is it?

Go through the main entrance to the restaurant -- not the seafood market, which is attached to the same building but is off to the side.

Once inside, you'll see a cashier counter and an entrance to the kitchen to your immediate left, the dining room opening up straight ahead before you, and a short corridor to your immediate right. Down that hallway, that's where the bathrooms are.

What's it like?

This is one of Orlando's better Chinese restaurants, which ranks up there in my opinion with Ming Bistro and Mr. K's for offering some of the best Chinese grub in town.

In many ways, the menu here is like a mixture of those two places: You can get the more authentic/traditional stuff like Ming Bistro (fried innards, casseroles with salted fish, etc.) here as well as more standard American-Chinese dishes (beef and broccoli, pork lo mien, etc.) that fills much of Mr. K's menu. In addition, you can get some wonderful Chinese BBQ and some of the best seafood in town -- thanks to the market next door.

As a bonus, if you want, you can get go to the market, select fish and shellfish you'd like to eat, and have the kitchen in the restaurant prepare it fresh for you. (Similar to how you might pick out a specimen from the water tanks at Ming Bistro, only this has a much wider selection.)

The interior is a bit odd shaped, with the main dining room set in a sort of atrium -- high ceilings, round walls. The dining room is a bit darker than you'd expect it to be, considering how many windows are there, but it's still elegant and old-fashioned. (Having said that, the decor and furniture have aged a bit over the years and look like they may need some renovating in the coming year or two just to keep things sharp.)

Service is professional but also a touch cold at times as a result but never rude or unaccommodating. Prices are reasonable; portions could be a little larger (especially compared with what you get at those other places mentioned) but not by much. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

The bathrooms are a bit below the par set by other Asian restaurants visited over the years, including the aforementioned Ming Bistro and Pho 88. It doesn't reach the same toilet-based heights of Mr. K's either, I'm afraid.

It's a one-bagger, with a standard toilet and urinal against the far wall and a basic sink station in the upper right corner, with a mirror hanging overhead. The floors are covered in black tile, the lower walls in white tile and the upper walls in white drywall. The walls contain a few Chinese-inspired/based paintings on the walls but nothing too creative -- this isn't Oishi Ultimate Japanese Cuisine, that's for sure.

Most of the items here are clean, and the place is odor free, though like the dining room the bathroom is starting to its age. This is primarily true of the toilets, where the water stains are starting to take over the basins (the urinal was flushed, for example, but I didn't realize that at first, only after inspecting it further). Sealant is scumming up and mildewing a little. Not extensively, mind you -- proof enough that the place is cleaned well regularly -- but enough to hint that it may be time to renovate the place a little. Perhaps do it when you update the dining room some -- two birds with one stone?

Other than that, there are two oddities here: First, the exhaust fan overhead is both very loud and covered with dust (the low-end camera used to take the picture shown here couldn't pick up all the detail, I'm afraid) -- so much so that you get a little unnerved at the site of it, lingering above you. (Haven't been this afraid of dusty in a bathroom since my stop at the horrendous Southwest Indian Traders in Colorado.

Secondly, at the sink, the sensor for the automatic faucet (the only automatic feature in the facility) is turned away from the natural spot of detection. Instead of aiming the sensor to look for hands beneath the faucet, it's turned so that the sensor is looking to the left side of the sink basin. That means to get the water flowing one hand much be under the faucet, to be washed, while the other has to be off to the side. (Makes me think the person who designed the sinks for J. Alexander's Orlando has a say in the setup here.)

Also, hurts that the faucet doesn't really give out much water -- kind of a heavy trickle than actual water flow.

Marks out of 10:

5. Could be a 6 if the place were a little less dingy and the dusty exhaust fan were cleaned and the faucet sensor were aimed properly.

Comments to the Management:

Some renovation, to update fixtures and such, might be a good idea in the near future. If not, then scrub the place well as it needs some refinement. Make sure to dust the exhaust fan grate, as it's pretty gross right now, and turn that sink sensor around so it will actually detect hands where hands should go -- and maybe get a new spigot that allows for better water flow.

Cozy Neighborhood Joint Basil Offers Cozy Bathroom With Some Odd Inclusions

Basil Ristorante & Pizzeria Italiano
920 US 1
Sebastian, FL USA

Where is it?

This is a small, narrow, rectangular dining room that seats maybe 15 or so tables at most. Guests enter from the far right of the dining room (with your back to the door); the kitchen and waiter stations are opposite the entrance, along the back wall, with the proper dining room opening to the left and extending the length of the place.

To get to the bathroom, turn left from the entrance and head through the dining room to the far back wall. Once there, turn right and slip into the short hallway located just beyond the back right of the dining room. The toilets are both there, as is a supply closet and the restaurant's air conditioning system.

What's it like?

This is cozy, humble little neighborhood Italian eatery serves some delicious, well-portioned and well-priced food that's a cut or two above the standard pizza joint fare or what you'll find at Olive Garden. It isn't a flashy place: Small, reliable and friendly, with a small staff that's from Italy and family based.

The menu houses a number of familiar items, from eggplant and chicken Parmesan to various pasta dishes to pizzas and calzones to Mediterranean-inspired fish, poultry and meat dishes. I've been here a few times and each time has been very good. The sauces here are particularly noteworthy, as they incorporate a touch of peppery heat to them that you don't expect. In most cases, places like these dwell on sweeter tomato sauces; here, they offer something more nuanced and textured, which I liked.

Service is attentive and down to earth -- you get the impression, once you step through the doors, that this is a place with many regulars. And for good reason. A pleasant stop worth making if you're in the neighborhood and in the middle for decent Italian.

The bathrooms are pretty straightforward affairs here. One-baggers that are simple and non-flashy, like the rest of the place. Dimly lit, with faux brick red tile on the floor and white drywall walls, white porcelain toilet, white porcelain sink.

The walls are pretty bare, except for two framed maps (those old-looking topographic ones you see everywhere), one of Italy and one of the world. Essentially, the bathroom is about the same as what you'll find at the nearby Long Point Cafe, only that one is all white and better lit (and has a Billy the Bass talking fish on the wall).

Decor-wise, I don't mind the simplicity of the place, but I wouldn't have minded either if the designers had gotten a little more creative with things. Not necessarily to the extent of what was seen at NYPD Pizza in Orlando, but perhaps something approaching the homeyness of the Burr Trail Grill in Utah. It would certainly suit the place well, I think.

Cleanliness-wise, the place was spot on, though at the same time it's showing its age in places -- areas are looking a bit dingy in spots, like the sink and the corners. Nothing drastic though. It was clean and odor free.

However, it did have a couple of oddities.

For one, the sound of the air conditioning unit down the hall created quite a rumble inside here when it was on. Good for privacy, but also it made me think at first that I was relieving myself while an earthquake was starting up.

Secondly, I found a bunch of loose tissues placed above the paper towel dispenser. Was a box of tissues not available? I hope the managers realize this is a bit creepy, as I doubt anyone will use the items because they are placed there loosely.

Thirdly, the paper towel holder is set remarkably high on the wall next to the toilet. About two feet up from the handicap assistance bar, making it a bit of a reach for people who are height-challenged, if you will.

Not the worst place I've ever seen such items placed before (the worst would be the third-floor bathroom at Bloomingdale's in Orlando) but you'd think it would be a little easier to reach, considering the circumstances behind it.

Marks out of 10:

6. Cozy, standard one-bagger, but its oddities drop it down from the standard 7 score.

Comments to the Management:

Not sure you can do much about the rumble produced by the air conditioning unit, as it is where it is and this Florida; not even sure if piped in music will help, because it would have to be pretty loud to drown out the hum, and in that case it might disturb your diners. As for the rest: You can always move the TP holder down a little if you choose, and the loose tissues can be easily discarded -- just leave a box up there in the future.

Unpleasant Barnes and Noble Bathroom More Like Dingy Dorm Room Than Classy Bookstore Facility

Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
481 N Alafaya Trl
Orlando, FL USA
www.barnesandnoble.com

Where is it?

This store has kind of a fat "L" shape to it, with the main entrance to the back apex of the letter's shape. Once inside, you'll see the bargain books and kid's area to the far left, the fiction and music area to the far right and, behind a sea of shelves housing self-help and other thematically tied books, the pre-requisite cafe.

Go to the cafe, which is in the front apex of the "L"-shaped floor plan, and while facing it veer to the right of it. Once there, you'll see a hallway leading behind the cafe some -- the bathrooms are there.

What's it like?

This is a sad affair in terms of a book store. Sure, this location of the popular book store chain has the set-up and familiar design, including wall after all of shelves, a kiddie play area, a music and video area and a cafe, but everything feels somewhat ramshackle inside, as if planners had decided to throw everything and anything that's relevant to a bookstore into the place and hope for the best.

It's a crammed store, from the cashier area that's literally jammed with impulse-buy displays to the aisles of books, which are placed so closely together you feel like you're privacy is being invaded if someone else is in the same row as you. It's not a pleasant environment to be in. It's disorganized and filled with anxiety -- I have trouble relaxing here.

I also have trouble finding the books I want. I came in looking for a copy of Aravind Adiga's novel "The White Tiger," which I assumed would be easy to find because it'd just won the Booker Prize a few weeks earlier and was on U.S. best seller lists. I searched and searched for it but came up empty. Then I asked a clerk, thinking I was just being obtuse and it was in an easy to locate spot, but but the clerk I spoke to had never heard of it and after looking it up in the computer, she said, "Yes, we have a few copies," and then proceeded to take me down the "A" aisle for fiction, which had the book stored under the author's first name instead of his last. So it goes.

But having said that, the interior here pretty indicative of the neighborhood it's in. Orlando's Waterford Lakes region is a cluster of poorly designed traffic ways, impatient people and similar-looking storefronts, half of which are struggling to stay in business and half of which seem to not care if they stay in business or not (like this store, I'm sorry to say). If it didn't have the best Thai restaurant in Orlando, I would not bother coming to this area at all.

The bathroom here is just as disappointing as the rest of the place -- and the shopping area around it. In most cases, bookstore bathrooms are safe havens: Typically clean, quiet, civil. This place is anything but. While it is quiet, it's a smelly mess filled with water and paper, unflushed toilets and mildew-covered sinks. In many ways, coming here is like walking into a dorm room -- the people who should be cleaning it just don't seem to care enough to go through with the job and as such do their job half-assed.

The set-up is pretty standard (almost identical to what was found at Conservation Station in Disney's Animal Kingdom, only this is a tad roomier and it lacks the animal noises heard on the soundtrack to that location): A two-sink station at the front, followed by two urinals (set deep within long stall walls) and then two toilet stalls, the very back one being the handicap stall. A gray and white checkerboard tile pattern covers the floor, white tile covers the walls, except in the back toilet stall where you'll find white drywall.

The vanity is your standard Formica counter top, with bland white sinks and manual faucets and soap dispensers. An automatic air dryer is mounted just off the vanity so you can dry your hands. A ring of noticeable mildew surrounded the sealant lines of the faucets and sinks themselves -- pretty gross.

The urinals are nothing special, as are the toilets: Standard white porcelain models, nothing more. Both have manual flushes, and as such I found both the urinals and toilets in unflushed states. The floor was covered in mis-thrown and discarded paper towels, and the sinks were drenched in water.

Worse still is the stench in the place: Easily the worst-smelling place I've stepped in since visiting that horrid CVS Pharmacy on HWY 80 in Savannah, GA. Not quite as bad as that but still pretty awful; it takes a while for you to get used to it, if you do at all, that is.

Bathrooms in such locations should at the very least be manageable and reliable -- like what was seen at Rainforest Coffee Cafe, Huffkins in Witney, England, or Starbucks, (or to a greater degree, Bongo Java). Instead, we get something approaching horrific. Shameful, I hate to say it.

Marks out of 10:

3. Almost a 4, but the stench was so powerfully awful.....

Comments to the Management:

Need to patrol this place pretty regularly to keep it clean, not just at the end of the day. Also, increase ventilation and add some air fresheners. Automatic flushing systems would ensure no one has to walk in on someone else's leftovers. Use a stronger cleanser to remove all the mildew from around the sink. Bottom line: Make the place comfortable for your customers.

Restroom at Flame Tree Restaurant in Animal Kingdom is Wonderful, But Watch Out for the Birds On the Way Over

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park
Conservation Station Bathroom
660 W. Savannah Circle
Lake Buena Vista, FL USA
disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/animal-kingdom/

Where is it?

From the order counter, cross the main walkway in front of you and enter the restaurant's outdoor seating area, located across the way. Go through the sea of tables and gazebos there, walking all the while to the part of the dining room that's furthest away from the counter. (There are well-placed signs set up, leading you to the bathrooms, so it's not hard to find.)

Eventually you will veer around the back of a building and to the left, where you will see a bunch of Asian/Aztec-like ruins surrounding the entrance to the bathroom.

What's it like?

The smells of barbecue suckered me into this place.

Located in between the Dinoland U.S.A. area of Animal Kingdom and the Tree of Life, the park's central attraction, Flame Tree Grill is just a typical fast food counter-service dining spot serving barbecue, chicken and a small assortment of sandwiches.

But the park seems to pipe in the smell of BBQ into the area around the restaurant (or maybe the kitchen had fans coming out of it and pointed in our direction), making it all but impossible for anyone walking by to not think about sinking his or her teeth into some succulent BBQ.

Needless to say, I was one of its suckers. After a few hours of schlepping around the park, I found myself starving and the smells of the BBQ from this place seemed more like a beacon of joy than anything else when I passed. I gave in, ordered up a plate of ribs and chicken and took them to the outdoor seating area across the way, where I tucked in and -- ironically enough -- had to fend off a slew of birds (including ducks, gulls and a few other species) while eating. Apparently, the birds get fed so often by fellow diners that they are comfortable enough to come up to your table and snatch the food right from your plate. Talk about adventure! (And more on those birds later.....)

Anyway, what's annoying is that the BBQ isn't all that great. Not terrible (the chicken that came with the meal was pretty dry, the ribs okay, but the sauces were decent, especially their fruitier, less-spicy variety) but not nearly as good as what you think you'll be getting when you first smell it cooking from down the way. Perhaps it's because it's hard to eat it warm while you're finding a seat in the place's overcrowded dining area, or perhaps its because it's hard to eat when you're surrounded by birds. (I'll opt for the Texas-style 'cue at Cecil's next time.)

As you can imagine, after a heavy meal of BBQ and fixin's, you'll need to make some room in your gut -- especially if you plan on visiting the rest of the park (or going on any of its rides, many of which are very bumpy).

Thankfully, the restroom here is one of the best theme park bathrooms I've been to - quite a surprise, considering how crowded it is. It's right on par with the wonder toilets at the Lost Continent area of Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

This is a large facility, on par in size with the Lost Continent toilets or the United Kingdom Pavilion bathroom at Disney's EPCOT theme park. It's a roomy, rectangular space, with a row of about a dozen urinals on the left side, followed by a string of about eight toilet stalls that wrap around the back wall of the place (with the handicap stalls being on the back wall). On the left wall is a row of wash stations, as well as a baby-changing area. All the toilets, sinks and urinals have automatic flushes or faucets, but the soap dispensers are the standard side-of-the-basin variety.

The decor is very Indian (from Indian, not "Native American), with lots of turquoise, green and purple tiles on the floor and walls, as well as some basic mosaic patterns strewn about. Very playful (not as playful as the bathroom in Conservation Station, mind you, but this place is going for a different feel entirely so it's probably not right to compare the two) and inviting. A few traces of urine singed the air (which I found to be a little more comforting than having the aroma of BBQ wafting through the vents here, for some reason) but outside of that it was pretty clean here. Quite a feat, considering that it's pretty heavily visited and I'm sure I'm not the only one who had to run here in haste after eating Flame Tree Grill's BBQ ribs and chicken combo plate. A top notch theme park bathroom.

The only bad point is the trip there. Not only do you have to contend with the dozens of other people heading in the same direction but you also have to watch out for all the birds, both on the ground and in the air. At peak times, I can see this place being similar to a birdie bomb range, if you catch my drift.

Marks out of 10:

8. Almost a 9, were it not for the many birds I had to contend with on my way to the toilet here.

Comments to the Management:

Great job keeping the bathroom here in shape and clean. It's a wonderful experience once I'm inside, but outside there has to be a way to contend with the birds. A trip to the bathroom should not be there adventurous, both in terms of getting there and being there.

After receiving your food from the order counter, follow the signs to the outdoor seating area located across from the kitchen proper. Walk through the tables,