Olde Mystic Village

Thank goodness for this restroom, but it sure takes a beating! In the summer during the height of tourist season you will stand in a line that snakes out the door and down the sidewalk of this popular tourist attraction. Conveniently located just off Interstate I-95 right next door to Mystic Aquarium and up the street from Mystic Seaport Museum, Olde Mystic Village is a scenic walking mall of diverse and interesting shops including a movie theater that attracts large crowds of people year round. My visits there usually occur during the summer and height of tourist season when the restroom is experiencing its highest volume of traffic. Don't wait till the last minute!

The ladies room is usually crowded and is set up in a way that is efficient in getting people in and out with two facing rows of stalls and the bank of sinks and hand dryers funneling traffic toward the exit. The place is old and not pretty, but I figure the condition is expected considering the constant stream of women and girls from the time the place opens until it closes in the evening. The counters around the sinks are always wet with puddles and dripping soap from the dispensers. Puddles are common on the tile floors from messy patrons in a rush. These are summer inconveniences that all popular tourist establishments probably expect.

However, I was there this weekend and it was quite crowded with families enjoying the Easter egg hunt, but I was disappointed to find that the ladies room was just as messy with puddles around the sinks, a dirty floor and soap foam puddles under the dispensers as it was during the summer. I had on a long coat and found that the stall I entered didn't have a coat hook so I had to drape my coat over the stall door to hang it. There was no way I could sit on the toilet with the coat on without having it hit the dirty damp floor. The water from the tap was freezing when I washed my hands.

Good points were the plumbing worked, it's family friendly with a diaper changing station, I could warm my hands after the cold water with the nice Xelerator hand dryers and best of all, it was there in my time of need!

The Great Garde Arts Center in New London

I say the Great Garde Arts Center not only because the theater is an absolute jewel in the city, hosting wonderful shows, musical acts, ballets, operas, you name it, but they may have one of the best ladies rooms around. The floor and stalls are so clean and bright, they shine. The tile floor is so beautifully polished that it gleams. There are paper toilet seat cover dispensers in every stall and easy-to-use sliding security bolts on the doors. The seat cover dispensers, toilet paper, soap and hand towels are well stocked. The lighting is just right and there are so many stalls that there's not a long wait. In fact, I was there last weekend for George Thorogood and the Destroyers where quite a bit of beer was being consumed and used the ladies room after the opening band finished their set. I expected to have to wait in line, but there was no line at all! From what I observed the crowd was mostly middle-aged men and women so most of the women must have used the ladies room at least once, especially the beer drinkers.

I didn't count the stalls, but I'd estimate there are at least ten. A nice bank of sinks are available near the entrance, set inward so you're not blocking the traffic area while you wash and dry your hands. This is a very inviting and comfortable ladies room.

Digiplex 12: Now Carmike Cinema

I used to really love this ladies room, but conditions had been in decline for some time. One of the Xlerator hand dryers that I had loved so much died. Having only one dryer, even though it was an Xlerator, was kind of inconvenient. Months later, the hand dryer was still out of operation. Also, the soap dispenser on the left of the two sinks was chronically empty and the general cleanliness of the room was disappointing. Like I mentioned in my first review of this ladies room, when one of them is empty you must reach in front of the patron using the other sink to access the dispenser on the right. This also went on for months.

Then I learned that Digiplex was bought by Carmike Cinemas. The dead Xlerator has been replaced with a paper towel dispenser! This helps a lot. It's much better than having to wait your turn for the hand dryer. Apparently, the Xlerators do a fast and thorough job of drying your hands, but the life-span of the machine is pretty short. I've also noticed that the overall cleanliness of the ladies room has improved as well.

Mystic Outdoor Art Festival 2013

I was very disappointed with the restroom facilities this year. The Mystic Outdoor Art Festival (MOAF) and New London's Sailfest are my two favorite summer destinations. For at least the last two years Mystic has had a couple of portable toilets set up near the permanent restrooms off Cottrell Street near the Mystic River Park and I never had to wait in line in the past. I felt confident drinking a large diet Coke in the car on the way to the art show knowing I could use one of the portables without fear of having an embarrassing accident. WRONG! 

Normally, the use of a portable toilet is the last resort, but in an emergency you just hold your nose, try not to touch anything and get in and out as quickly as possible. It's better than nothing, which was almost the case in Mystic this year-nothing. Needless to say, I had to stand in the line that snaked outside the permanent restroom with a lot of disgruntled women for at least fifteen minutes even though the ladies were considerate and moving along quite quickly. To add insult to injury there was a sign over the entrance that warned that the entrance is monitored electronically. It made me imagine people in a comfortable air-conditioned security room laughing at all the ladies huffing and grumbling over the inadequate facilities.

Due to the constant traffic, the ladies room was a filthy mess with toilet paper all over the floor of the two tiny stalls. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that there was toilet paper and soap considering the high amount of traffic in the small dark restroom. The hand dryer was inadequate in its drying ability, but better than nothing. It's what I call "whisper dry" when the force of the air from the dryer is so weak it seems to whisper air onto your dripping hands.  The instructions for whisper dryers are to shake excess water off hands, rub briskly under light whispery air and complete the drying process by wiping your hands on your clothes.

Unfortunately, the anxiety over finding a restroom and getting to one of the toilets before an embarrassing accident occurred took a lot of the fun out of the art show. There were businesses open that have restrooms available for paying customers and if that were my only option I would have patronized one of those businesses; however, as a permanent resident of southeastern Connecticut and as a general rule I only patronize Mystic businesses during the off season when all the crowds of tourists are safely home and I can almost feel as though I have the picturesque village all to myself.

Take heed ladies and never assume there will be a relief station where you saw one in seasons past!

Digiplex Lisbon 12

Digiplex Lisbon 12 Theater is one of my favorite places to go for entertainment and to escape the stress and worries of daily life. Just driving into the parking lot knowing I'm going to have a couple of hours of freedom and distraction perks me up. Because of the plush stadium seating, you almost always have a clear view of the huge screen unless you arrive after the majority of the theater is full and have to sit in one of the floor seats, which are way too close to the screen.

Regardless of the seating situation in any of the 12 theaters that make up the Digiplex, the ladies room remains to be a ready haven for relief. Unless a very popular movie has just let out like when the Twilight movies were opening, there is not usually a line. There are multiple stalls in the main restroom located in the center of the building so it's equal distance from both wings of the building. There is a small one-seater at the end of each wing as well. The restroom is usually very clean and  well stocked with toilet paper and soap-the foamy kind! The only complaint I could have after a few visits is that the soap dispensers are located at the sides of the two sinks instead of over the sinks under the mirror. It becomes awkward when one soap dispenser is empty and you have to reach across possibly in front of someone using the other sink to obtain soap.

Happily, though, when you need to dry your hands you're greeted by not one, but two Xlerator Hand Dryers!

http://www.restroomdirect.com/xlerator.aspx?gclid=CO7ntZfohLkCFRGi4AodRxEAWQ

Having one of these raises the value of any restroom, but two is even better. You may have to wait to gain access to a sink, but drying your hands takes mere seconds. 

Ladies, you can have any of the large selection of beverages at the Digiplex in Lisbon and feel confident about a restroom being available for your immediate use.

Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun has to be my first restroom review because this is the only place I know where I can go and feel secure and confident that I will not be in danger of having an anxiety attack over finding a restroom or having to wait in a long line. I don't gamble but there are lots of other things to entertain you at Mohegan Sun. No, they don't pay me to say that! There are good sized restrooms in intervals all around the perimeter of the gambling floor that are plainly and clearly marked for those who are new to the place. There are restrooms in the shopping mall area and just outside the cabaret theater. Restrooms are also plentiful within the arena, with convenient beer stands just outside! I did have to wait in a line in the arena during a Fleetwood Mac concert but only for a minute. The regular paper towel dispensers were out of towels but the two dispensers at the enter/entrance doors were still full. Just the fact that the restrooms are plentiful and fairly clean are fine by me, but here's how the restrooms measure up according to my criteria list:

Cleanliness: Clean and well tended.
Nice soap and well stocked towels.
Many rows of stalls in working condition. 
Stalls with working locks and hooks for hanging belongings
Nice design and decor that flows well into the color scheme of the casino.
Saving the best feature for last: Plastic automatic seat covers!! Just wave your hand in front of the green button on the wall behind the toilet or press the green button on the toilet and the seat cover changes itself! 

My favorite place at the Mohegan Sun Resort is the Arena and the Wolf Den because I'm a music lover and they have great concerts and it's only 15 minutes from my house! There's a ladies room just inside the door past the coat check when you park in the Winter Garage or in the lot outside the garage.  There's a small, but multi-stall ladies room just outside the Wolf Den. I can only imagine the hotel, the spa and the VIP areas have ladies rooms that must be slices of heaven, but I work for a living and haven't been beyond the general public areas.

Mohegan Sun Resort

 

Intro and Criteria

Almost everywhere I go, I need to use the ladies room. This maddening need began in my early 30s when I was pregnant with my two youngest daughters who are 19 months apart. Knowing where the ladies rooms were and what conditions to expect from each one became useful, if not essential. My need for public restrooms continued during potty training, a bout with irritable bladder syndrome and the onset of middle age symptoms of sudden frequent urination and slight occasional incontinence. I used to make light of it by saying that I knew every public ladies room in southeastern Connecticut and beyond. For the past year or so in an attempt to keep my spirits up and not get down on myself for having to make a pit stop almost everywhere I go I started making mental evaluations and comparisons of all the ladies rooms that I visited. One day I was thinking about how much the area relies on tourism for economic success and thought that I could share my knowledge with women who aren't as familiar with the area as I am. The condition of a ladies room or a lack of adequate facilities can definitely play a role in whether I choose to patronize a particular place or take my business somewhere else. It's rare that I would refuse to go somewhere without facilities or because of a bad experience using their facilities, but it has happened.

There are certain criteria that I use to judge each place:

Cleanliness
Hand soap (I prefer the foam)
How many stalls (One seater, two seater or multiple seater)
Hand dryer (I prefer the Xcelerator) or paper towels
Privacy (functioning locks on doors)
Flushers (self or automatic) I hate the push button flushers!
Paper seat covers or not
Hook on the door for coat, handbag, etc.
Design and decor
Location
Baby Changing Station (I obviously won't expect these in a bar) 

Now we're ready to visit our first restroom!