2011 Thurs. Jan 20

Lunch here, then we went to Disney’s Boardwalk. There is no entrance fee or parking fee, and we enjoy spending an afternoon there. Boardwalk is actually one of the Disney resorts, but it does have a boardwalk around a small lake. The area by the resort has shops and restaurants in the lower floor of the resort, and I’m sure that’s why they let outside people come in. We just tell the man at the gate we want to walk and shop on the boardwalk, and he tells us what lot to park in.

On the other side of the lake are two very nice resorts called Beach Club and Yacht Club. They are huge and very nice. (See the picture. Let me know if you want to see more pictures of this trip.)

 

Beach Club has a terrific swimming and play area for kids, with waterfalls, sandy beaches, and more - not just a pool. Also, a large sand beach on the lake. The lake has canals that come into it, and we walk along one of the canals to an Epcot Center entrance -it is not very far.

We always walk around the lake, sit on a bench near the resorts in the shade, watch the activity, look at the pretty flowers, and before we go home, we always go to the ice cream shop in the Beach Club. [$5 for a root bear float, but it is good on a warm day.]
  

 
You can ride a free boat shuttle to the Swan and Dolphin resorts, or further to an entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studio, or to the Epcot Center.

We always go for a boat ride just for the fun of it - again, there is no charge. If we go all the way around, it takes about 45 min. or so - it makes several stops on the trip. We usually do this after we are tired of walking! Home by five, supper here, including some strawberries we got at a road-side stand - they are so much better than from the grocery store.

FL WEATHER: High 82, low 61. Warmest day yet for us. Chance of rain tomorrow, in the 60’s until Monday.


FL NEWS: Disney aims to keep it fresh for cruisers:
The new Disney Dream can carry 4,000 passengers, about 50 percent more than its older sister ships, the Magic and the Wonder. But that increased capacity also increases the need to keep customers entertained. The company uses and reuses spaces and attractions to keep experiences fresh for the duration of the Dream's journeys from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas. "We want to make sure there are many, many things to do," said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs while aboard the Dream on Thursday. Sometimes a mere change of scenery does the trick — even if it's just a virtual change. In the Skyline lounge, large screens capture the skylines of vibrant metropolitan cities. Sitting at the Skyline's bar, guests feel as if they're looking down on a teeming city with its twinkling lights and moving cars. On some visits, it will be a daytime scene. Later, it might be nightfall in Paris, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The music and bar-food menu shift with the cities. In the hallways and other public areas of the Dream is artwork with a Disney twist. Suddenly — and randomly — the scene starts animating. Within these frames known as Enchanted Art, an octopus dances to "Under the Sea," pirate ships battle, Thumper gets the giggles with Bambi or Walt Disney starts drawing Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie. What happens the next time passengers pass by may be entirely different. And Disney plans to personalize it even more. Eventually software that Disney is perfecting will recognize a guest's face and avoid repeating an Enchanted Art sequence. That way, when they go back, it will do something different.