January Florida Road Trip Itinerary/Suggestions?

Well I leave Friday January 2nd for my Florida Road Trip. I have tried to make it as much of a Tiki Road Trip as my wife would allow. I am traveling with her and my two sons (7 months and almost 3 years of age). I can’t exactly stop at every Tiki bar from here to Orlando, but I did talk the wife into stopping by Trader Vic’s for a Mai Tai by Joel. Any suggestions are appreciated. Here are the current plans:

Leave Maryland for Atlanta--
*Trader Vic's - Atlanta GA, 30303
Leave Atlanta for Orlando--

While in Orlando I plan to visit:
*Disney's Polynesian Resort
*Big Bamboo Lounge
*Tiki Island Golf
*Magic Kingdom (Enchanted Tiki Room)
*Margaritaville
*Weeki Wachee -Weeki Wachee, FL

I want to go to a Luau, and looking at two possibilities:
*Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show (leaning toward this one)
*Makahiki Luau @Sea World

I will be visiting some relatives who live on Merrit Island so I thought I may stop by:
*Tiki Bar, Fawlty Towers Motel Cocoa Beach FL

[ Edited by: TikiGoon on 2003-12-26 08:15 ]

If your in Merrit Island you can shoot over to Cocoa Beach to see Wayne Coombs at the Mai Tiki studio and gallery.
Also on your way home you can stop into the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona, they have a polynesian show and there's Witco in the hotel.

Original Art by Flounder

http://www.flounderart.com

[ Edited by: FLOUNDERart on 2003-12-28 16:05 ]

There's a Hilo Hattie's in Festival Bay mall near the Attractions. Stop by there if you want to pick up a Tiki Farm mug or two or a Hawaiian shirt.

I went by there today to get a Hothead mug but they were all out. I got a set of Martiki's though. A Christmas present to myself. This time I went into the mall through Ron Jon's Surf Shop (has some tiki items but too expensive) and was surprised to see that the entrance to Ron Jon's is flanked by two giant 12+' tikis. Yeah, they're made out of some hollow non-natural substance but it was a cool surprise nonetheless. I've never been to Ron Jon's in Cocoa Beach, do they have large tikis there as well?

As I write this I am supping a fine dirty martini from my new martiki glass. The garlic stuffed olive's pretty old so I may have a violent gastrointestinal reaction. Let's hope not.

FYI, Weeki Wachee is a good two hour drive from Orlando assuming no traffic snafus.

Though a longer drive from Orlando (about 3 1/2 hours), I'd strongly recommend trying to fit the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale into your schedule. It's truly a mindblower and pretty much the most tiki thing you're gonna see east of the Mississippi. Definitely something to make a long-lasting impression in the minds of your wee ones! My wahine didn't really get my tiki facination until we went to the Mai Kai for Hukilau - now we're talking about converting the garage into a tiki hideaway room/bar.

Do it at the end of your trip then you can just zoom up I-95 for your return trip home.

Thanks for the suggestions! Now to work on the wife.

Visiting Florida and not going to the Mai Kai is a sin. It has to be seen to even begin to fathom it's sheer splendor and excess. Over the top is a complete understatement. It's the greatest in the country, period, not to mention the largest.

OK, I am back and didn't make it to all the locations I wanted to, but did find one that was not on the list. Here are some pics:
Trader Vic's Atlanta

[ Edited by: TikiGoon on 2004-01-22 08:39 ]

Tiki @ Disney's Polynesian Resort
(Ohana)

Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

Fountain Tikis by the Enchanted Tiki Room

We did the Spirit of Aloha show at the Disney Resort

[ Edited by: TikiGoon on 2004-01-23 08:42 ]

Our first week we stayed at the Cypress Pointe Resort in Orlando. The weather was great the first two days of our stay so we got use the very cool pool with the water spurting volcano.

Found a very cool minature golf course on 192 called Hawaiian Rumble Adventure Golf. There was a volcano in the middle which shot flames, at least 10' in the air. The tikis were scattered all over the place. I believe most if not all were Wayne Combs creations and beared the Mai Tiki Logo.

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The second week we stayed at Orange Lake Country Club and they had a Luau on Thursday.

I was lucky or unlucky enough to be selected from the audience to shake with the hula girls.

I made it over to the Big Bamboo Lounge around 12:30 on Saturday. There was a car out front, but the door was locked and nobody was answering. Another guy pulled up and knocked on the door while I was getting this picture taken. Anyone from here?

And last, but not least a picture from my "Retro" trip to Weeki Wachee.

Tiki Goon, how was the show at Disney??? I understand it has changed from the show that ran for years. It used to be very much like the Mai Kai's show but what is it like now??? Did you like it???
Also, what is the price of admission/show/dinner???

Oh yea, I almost forgot my Small World Tiki Pics. Please excuse the quality. I took them with my phone:

On 2004-01-23 08:52, Tiki Bree wrote:
Tiki Goon, how was the show at Disney??? I understand it has changed from the show that ran for years. It used to be very much like the Mai Kai's show but what is it like now??? Did you like it???
Also, what is the price of admission/show/dinner???

I enjoyed the show and my 3 year old stared with eyes as big a pancakes. I never saw the original show, so I can't compare. The new show has a story line which is about a girl from the islands who had moved away and forgotten her island ways. I think the story line was hokie, but all the dancing including the fire dancer was top notch.