MORE PICTURES FROM DISNEY'S BOARDWALK

Lost of beautiful cyclamens all around the boardwalk resorts

(and one pretty lady!)

Also, lots of beds of violas

Looking back across the lake at the entrance.

The tower in the middle is where you walk in from parking.

From a bridge, looking along the canal that goes to an Epcot entry.

You can see the boat landing on the far left and the walk on the left.

The dolphin hotel.  Just south of it is the swan,

which has huge swans on top, like this fish.

Inside the lobby of the Beach Club resort (our favorite one,

and not just because it has an ice cream shop!)

A small part of the beach in front of the Beach Club resort.

The walk is behind it, and behind the walk is the swim-play area.

Behind that is part of the resort.

2011 Fri. Jan 21


Lunch here, then we went to Downtown Disney to go see the movie “The Fighter”. It was excellent, although kind of rough. Lower class people struggling with complex problems of family, drugs, etc., and the ‘f ’ word multiple times in every conversation. However, it was a great story, based on fact, and had some great acting in it. Christian Bale will be a contender for an Oscar, I predict. Even though you know the ending, it still is very captivating. I recommend it highly, but you have to know it’s not a Mary Poppins kind of movie! I’ve been wanting some good seafood, so for supper we went to Landry’s Seafood House. Nice place, great food, a little more than we usually spend, but sometimes it’s worth it. I had ½ dozen oysters on the half shell and a bowl of clam chowder. Linda had broiled scallops, and we shared a little - 1 oyster for her but several scallops for me! All of it was excellent, and we were stuffed when we left.



FL WEATHER: High 66, low 50, very cloudy with misty rain off and on. Most of the day was without any rain, and it never did rain big drops. Forecast next Tues. to be 75 with thunderstorms.



FL NEWS: Wizarding World sends Universal attendance through roof in 4th quarter:
Universal Orlando ended 2010 with its best fourth quarter on record and its highest annual attendance since 2004, thanks to the success of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Attendance at the resort's two theme parks skyrocketed 46 percent during the final three months of the year, according to a report filed Friday with federal regulators. The combined fourth-quarter head count jumped from 2.3 million in 2009 to 3.3 million. Universal’s corporate parent, General Electric Co., announced that its entire theme-park business had a record year in 2010. The big gain in year-end attendance capped a banner year for Universal Orlando, which on Thursday handed out bonus checks to thousands of employees to celebrate Wizarding World's success. Since debuting June 18, the more-than-$200 million collection of rides, shops and eateries based on the wildly successful Harry Potter books and films has drawn enormous crowds to Universal and fueled massive souvenir sales — more than 1 million mugs of butterbeer alone. The themed area and its centerpiece ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, have also won multiple industry awards.  Attendance at Universal Orlando for all of 2010 totaled approximately 11.2 million people, up 20 percent from 9.3 million the year before.