Kay7979
FANTASY NOVEL AUTHOR
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2004
- Messages
- 2,196
Day 4 was another sunny, 80 degree day. We are loving this unseasonably warm spell! Today we are on a mission to check out more Disney Resorts, hopefully with Christmas decorations. We start out by driving over to Port Orleans French Quarter. There food court with the lively New Orleans theme is a casual and fun place to have breakfast. Of course we have to have an order of the famous beignets along with our omlettes. We wear a lot of the powdered sugar but manage to get most of the sugar inside rather than outside. There's a TV on showing classic Disney cartoons while we eat. We finish eating and get a couple cups of hot chocolate and slip out the back doors so we can sit and enjoy the cocoa at one of the wrought iron tables outside overlooking the park. It's a good spot to relax and do some people watching. After awhile we walk the picturesque avenues and enjoy the architecture of the buildings with their variety of styles and wrought iron railings. We check out the dragon theme pool, and take some pictures of the buildings and grounds before heading along the river toward Port Orleans Riverside. The Magnolia buildings of Riverside soon come into view, and make formore wonderful photos. One of the boats that run between POR and POFQ and DTD comes by,and the captain throws us a few purple and gold New Orleans coin tokens which we pocket as a souvenir. This is a great walk while the weather is still coolin the morning, and once we get to Riverside we head over to their marina and wait for the next boat back to the French Quarter. The captain loads the boat and does a great job narrating details about both resorts as we cruise along the river back to French Quarter.
From FQ we pick up our car and drive over to the BoardWalk resort. The Board Walk Inn is absolutely charming and does have a distinctive New England seaside atmosphere. We take some pictures around the resort, and yes the Christmas tree and wreaths etc. are still up. The boardwalk shops are colorful inside and out, and it's fun walking along in the early morning sunshine while there are no crowds. It's an easy and pleasant walk around Crescent Lake to the Yacht Club. There, they are taking down the Christmas train and village setup that was on display in the lobby, but enough remains that we can tell both children and adults must have enjoyed it durring the holiday season. We check out the ship drawing and paintings on both the first and second floors and look down from the second floor into the lobby where it appears some businessmen or conventioneers have gathered to talk. It makes us very glad that we are here on vacation and don't have to work!
The pool, Storm-Along-Bay is under renovation but is still a great pool. We walk along the pooland check out the ice cream parlor. We have heard about the famous "kitchen sink" sundae, but it's too early to think about ice cream just yet. The Beach Club has a wonderful decor. You can almost feel the sea breezes as you stand in the lobby. We wander around a bit and stumble across the restaurant where they are hosting the character breakfast. The breakfast is winding down but we see some happy families with Goofy and Minnie.
Back outside again we decide to take the boat around Crescent Lake just for fun. We manage to sit outside in the sun. The motor is a bit noisy but it's too nice to be inside as we make our way around to MGM studios. We make the circuit and decide to get off at the Swan/Dolphin and walk back to the BoardWalk.
By now we have worked up an appetite for the lunch we have planned at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge. The dining room overlooks the Lodge's spectacular lobby and it's fun to people watch while we wait for our orders. The servers are up to their usual antics and start the entertainment by asking people to do bird calls and animal sounds. It only took a few people brave enough to get the crowd going, and soon we had parrot calls, dogs barking, wolves baying, monkeys chattering, and lots of applause for the participants. The servers brought our drinks and straws (sissy sticks) and large portions of food followed by decadent desserts followed promptly. We stuffed ourselves and had a great time.
After lunch we headed back to Old Key West. Their theme pool was stillclosed for renovation, so we got our suits and sunblock and took the boat up the river to the new Saratoga Springs resort. They have a nice zero entry pool and a great slide built among rock formations. The resort is large and still under construction. We swim some and enjoy the slide, walk around a bit and check out the buildings, then take a break to lounge in the sun for awhile.
After a couple of relaxing hours we walk from the resort over to Downtown Disney. It is a bit of a hike, but we need the exercise after that meal, and we need to burn off enough calories for some more free samples of Ghiradelli chocolate. We brouse around DTD for awhile then take the boat back to Old Key West. Back "home" we grab some magazines and head over to one of the quiet pools for some lemonade and a lounge chair by the pool. We have no further plans for the day and spend some time poolside before heading back to the condo to cook a quick meal with groceries we picked up on our arrival in Orlando. The rest of the evening is spent between a liesurely dinner, another relaxing hour in the whirlpool, and some "couch potato" time in front of the TV. We have to save up some energy for tomorrow which is our day at the MK and "extra hours" in the evening!
From FQ we pick up our car and drive over to the BoardWalk resort. The Board Walk Inn is absolutely charming and does have a distinctive New England seaside atmosphere. We take some pictures around the resort, and yes the Christmas tree and wreaths etc. are still up. The boardwalk shops are colorful inside and out, and it's fun walking along in the early morning sunshine while there are no crowds. It's an easy and pleasant walk around Crescent Lake to the Yacht Club. There, they are taking down the Christmas train and village setup that was on display in the lobby, but enough remains that we can tell both children and adults must have enjoyed it durring the holiday season. We check out the ship drawing and paintings on both the first and second floors and look down from the second floor into the lobby where it appears some businessmen or conventioneers have gathered to talk. It makes us very glad that we are here on vacation and don't have to work!
The pool, Storm-Along-Bay is under renovation but is still a great pool. We walk along the pooland check out the ice cream parlor. We have heard about the famous "kitchen sink" sundae, but it's too early to think about ice cream just yet. The Beach Club has a wonderful decor. You can almost feel the sea breezes as you stand in the lobby. We wander around a bit and stumble across the restaurant where they are hosting the character breakfast. The breakfast is winding down but we see some happy families with Goofy and Minnie.
Back outside again we decide to take the boat around Crescent Lake just for fun. We manage to sit outside in the sun. The motor is a bit noisy but it's too nice to be inside as we make our way around to MGM studios. We make the circuit and decide to get off at the Swan/Dolphin and walk back to the BoardWalk.
By now we have worked up an appetite for the lunch we have planned at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge. The dining room overlooks the Lodge's spectacular lobby and it's fun to people watch while we wait for our orders. The servers are up to their usual antics and start the entertainment by asking people to do bird calls and animal sounds. It only took a few people brave enough to get the crowd going, and soon we had parrot calls, dogs barking, wolves baying, monkeys chattering, and lots of applause for the participants. The servers brought our drinks and straws (sissy sticks) and large portions of food followed by decadent desserts followed promptly. We stuffed ourselves and had a great time.
After lunch we headed back to Old Key West. Their theme pool was stillclosed for renovation, so we got our suits and sunblock and took the boat up the river to the new Saratoga Springs resort. They have a nice zero entry pool and a great slide built among rock formations. The resort is large and still under construction. We swim some and enjoy the slide, walk around a bit and check out the buildings, then take a break to lounge in the sun for awhile.
After a couple of relaxing hours we walk from the resort over to Downtown Disney. It is a bit of a hike, but we need the exercise after that meal, and we need to burn off enough calories for some more free samples of Ghiradelli chocolate. We brouse around DTD for awhile then take the boat back to Old Key West. Back "home" we grab some magazines and head over to one of the quiet pools for some lemonade and a lounge chair by the pool. We have no further plans for the day and spend some time poolside before heading back to the condo to cook a quick meal with groceries we picked up on our arrival in Orlando. The rest of the evening is spent between a liesurely dinner, another relaxing hour in the whirlpool, and some "couch potato" time in front of the TV. We have to save up some energy for tomorrow which is our day at the MK and "extra hours" in the evening!
