DOWNTOWN DISNEY AREA



Outside a Disney Christmas shop.  Lots of statues like these around the east end. Lots of Disney stores also.

 Lots of pretty flowers all around

Spring is here!  Redbud blooming

Another tree in bloom.  See flower next picture.

Pretty flowers on this tree.  Wonder what it is.

2011 Tues. Feb. 8
We went to Downtown Disney this morning and had lunch at Captain Jack’s restaurant right on the water. A little cool, so wore sweatshirts today. At least it was very sunny. We had always seen a resort across the water, but never had walked over there until today. I didn’t realize how huge it is, because we only see a few of the buildings that border the lake. The resort is called Saratoga Springs, is one of the newest Disney resorts, and has some actual springs. We walked along the lake front, then went back and walked through Downtown. At the east end are lots of shops to buy Disney things, lots of pretty flowers, and several interesting restaurants and snack shops. The middle and west end is more shopping and restaurants for adults, and at the far west end is a big building with a permanent Cirque de Soliel show inside. Near it is a theatre multiplex, and after having a Wetzel’s cinnamon pretzel and coffee, we went to see The Black Swan. Quite an experience - can’t say it was enjoyable. We had heard from friends that it was a dark story, but it was BLACK! Portman should get the Oscar for best actress - I think she was in every scene of the whole movie, and did a great job with a difficult part. Home for supper.


FL WEATHER: High 67, low 43. Cool, sunny & breezy all day.


FL NEWS: Disney profit leaps 54 percent:
A rebound in its theme parks during the final three months of 2010 helped propel the Walt Disney Co. to 54 percent quarterly profit growth, the company announced Tuesday. Disney said it made $1.3 billion for the three months that ended Jan. 1, the first quarter in the company's fiscal year, up from $844 million a year earlier. Companywide revenue rose 10 percent to $10.7 billion. The results easily topped Wall Street expectations. "It's a great start to a new fiscal year," Disney Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said. Disney's theme-parks business, often viewed as a bellwether for the U.S. economy, turned in its strongest performance since being dragged down by the recession three years ago: The unit posted a 25 percent increase in operating profit — to $468 million — on sales growth of 8 percent — to $2.9 billion. It was the first quarterly profit growth for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in two-and-a-half years. The improvement was driven primarily by gains in guest spending, as Disney continued to pull back the discounts it had used to sustain the business during the recession, and guests bought more souvenirs and food. Combined guest-spending at Walt Disney World and Disneyland climbed 8 percent for the quarter. But attendance also perked up, by 2 percent, between the two coasts, despite disruptive weather during the quarter that included heavy rains in Southern California and a post-Christmas blizzard that grounded air travel across the Northeast.