Disneysteve's Day 5: 8/18/09 - Airboat, Mouse Surplus, Poly, Contemp, Bay Lake Tower

[disneysteve]

Cast: Me (45), DW (45) and DD (13)
My 27th visit, DW's 20th, DD's 15th

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Another non-park day today. First destination was Boggy Creek Airboat rides on Lake Toho in Kissimmee. They are located about 20 miles from Disney and are very easy to find – just one turn off of 192 and follow the road until it dead ends.

A 30-minute ride was $24.95 and we had a coupon for $4 off from one of the tourist magazines that was good for rides before 10:30am. We got there just before 10 and were given tickets for the 10:10 ride. The airboat has 3 rows of seats (not stadium seating like some of the other companies, so that’s one downside, but it was easy enough to see everything) and each row holds about 6 people. The ride was fun. We got to see one gator, egrets, herons, wild turkeys and other assorted stuff. If you’ve never done this, it is worth a trip.

From there, we went in search of Mouse Surplus. That is a warehouse store that sells all kinds of old Disney stuff including furniture, linens and fixtures from Disney resorts and shops, theme park items like banners, signs, store displays, items from attractions, posters, buttons and pins, cast member items, etc. They’ve been open for about 2-1/2 years. The place is great! Absolutely worth a trip for any Disney collectors out there. It was like stepping into Disney World’s attic. We saw furniture and fixtures from the hotels, items from Disney restaurants (like the whole Toppings bar from Cosmic Ray’s) or a light up sign for the old Disney Handwich – remember those? Parts from rides like some giant leaves from the Teacup ride or a Fastpass sign from Disneyland’s Small World or cars from the old Living Seas ride and one from Horizons. There were all kinds of banners from movies and park promotions including Disneyland’s 50th and the Disneyana Conventions. They had a few cast member costumes. There were lots of buttons and pins, mostly from special events and cast member only items. There were also a lot of decorative items from stores on property including character figures and other pieces. There was a van the Toy Story green army men used in MGM and the plane from the safari at Animal Kingdom. My daughter bought a copy of a Ralph Kent sketch of Chip and Dale for a friend of hers. I picked up several old pin-back buttons (I collect those). We didn’t buy any of the big, one-of-a-kind items, but they were really neat to see. All that stuff brought back a lot of memories from days of Disney World past. Some of the items went back many, many years.

On our way to Mouse Surplus, we passed a sign for Florida’s Natural orange juice factory visitor center, so as we left, we headed toward that in Lake Wales, about 10-12 miles south of where we were. Unfortunately, when we got there, there was a sign that the visitor center was closed for the summer and would reopen in October. Bummer. So we turned around and headed back. On the way, we had also passed a place advertising jellys, marmalades, fruit and citrus candies, so we stopped there on our way home. It was Davidson’s of Dundee. A very nice and pretty large store, where we also got to watch them making jelly candy and got to sample a lot of their products. We bought some citrus candy and a jar of tangerine jelly.

We headed back to our house. DD and DW went in the pool for a while and I got online to check mail and type this report.

After our break, we had to decide where to have dinner. We had thought about walking around Celebration but there was a storm brewing with thunder and lightning so we opted for an indoor locale and headed over to the Polynesian. We ate at Captain Cook’s and then browsed the shops there. We saw a sculpture we liked at the Wyland gallery but since it was $2,400 we just admired it and went on our way.

We hopped on the monorail and went to the Contemporary. We knew a lot had changed there since our last visit. The Fantasia shop was under construction last time so we got to see that. Bay Lake Tower wasn’t there before either. We walked across the walkway and checked out that property. It is very pretty, classy looking, though I really don’t like the appearance of the whole building as I think it totally detracts from the Contemporary. Before, the Contemporary tower really stood out since there weren’t any other tall buildings around. The garden wings were only 3 stories high. Now, Bay Lake Tower is about the same height as the hotel.

We rode the monorail back to the Poly and headed back to our house for the night.

[OhMari]

I heard about the Citrus Farm, when we went to the Airboat ride, we tried to find the place, but we didn't. We actually went over to the coast to watch the Space Launch that evening. But I wish we would of found it, we would of had plenty of time to tour the farm.

[Aimeedyan]

Steve - I'd love to visit the Mouse Surplus place. Do you know how long it takes to get there from the WDW resort area, and about how long you'd give to wander it?

Thanks for the info on the airboat as well - something else we haven't done yet!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aimeedyan

Steve - I'd love to visit the Mouse Surplus place. Do you know how long it takes to get there from the WDW resort area, and about how long you'd give to wander it?

Thanks for the info on the airboat as well - something else we haven't done yet!

I'd guess about 30 minutes from the Disney area. We went to the airboats first and went to Mouse Surplus from there, so we weren't coming directly from the Disney area.

Boggy Creek airboats is simple to find. You take 192 to Poinciana Blvd, turn right and just stay on that road until just before it dead ends at the lake. It is about 19 miles from 192.

Mouse Surplus is a little more involved but they have a map and directions on their website.

ETA: I realized I only answered half your question. I'd give yourself about an hour to wander through Mouse Surplus. How long you spend there will partly depend on how much you are into seeing old Disney stuff. We are collectors and frequent visitors to WDW. We remembered (or at least I remembered) nearly every item displayed there. DW and I were telling DD stories about the old stuff and what they came from. And we spent some time talking to the guy working there, asking where they get all the stuff, how business has been, etc. Other people may zip in and out of there a lot quicker than us.

[Aimeedyan]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I'd guess about 30 minutes from the Disney area. We went to the airboats first and went to Mouse Surplus from there, so we weren't coming directly from the Disney area.

Boggy Creek airboats is simple to find. You take 192 to Poinciana Blvd, turn right and just stay on that road until just before it dead ends at the lake. It is about 19 miles from 192.

Mouse Surplus is a little more involved but they have a map and directions on their website.

ETA: I realized I only answered half your question. I'd give yourself about an hour to wander through Mouse Surplus. How long you spend there will partly depend on how much you are into seeing old Disney stuff. We are collectors and frequent visitors to WDW. We remembered (or at least I remembered) nearly every item displayed there. DW and I were telling DD stories about the old stuff and what they came from. And we spent some time talking to the guy working there, asking where they get all the stuff, how business has been, etc. Other people may zip in and out of there a lot quicker than us.

Thanks! I've been to the CM store where they sell a lot of old stuff but they don't have as much of the memorabilia that you are describing. Might be fun to stop in there next trip.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aimeedyan

Thanks! I've been to the CM store where they sell a lot of old stuff but they don't have as much of the memorabilia that you are describing. Might be fun to stop in there next trip.

Nothing like the CM store (I assume you mean Property Control). That is all recent stuff. Mouse Surplus has stuff going back years and years. I think Prop. Control is all regular merchandise, too. Mouse Surplus is mostly stuff that was never available for sale, to the public or CMs.

[Lauralee131]

Oooh! Mouse Surplus! Love those guys! I have bought so much cool stuff from them over the last few years! One of these days I hope to spend a day there just wandering around...