Disney World - Day 4 of 8

Greetings from the Beach Club Villas in beautiful Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

We've been here since Thursday night and are having a truly wonderful time. We've been on a bunch of rides, seen a bunch of shows, played in the pool, at Downtown Disney, on the Monorail and spent more than our share of money on meals and stuff. All in all, it's been very relaxing. We've been taking each day as it comes and go out to play where and when we want. If there is a line, we walk on by.

Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, we haven't had many lines. There have been several squalls of rain but they don't last long and they are warm. We can handle rain especially when it's warm. No coats, just umbrellas to keep us dry. After a few minutes, it lets up and the sun comes back out. It's really been just enough to keep the other tourists away and the lines short. We haven't had anything looking like bad weather beyond those occassional showers. Other than that, it's hot and sticky but that's just Florida in late summer. No complaints. We knew what we were getting ourselves into.

So far - our favorites are the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland, Rock n Rollercoaster in Disney/MGM Studios, Fast Track in Epcot, and Splash Mountain in Frontierland. We took the monorail over to the Contemporary Hotel (one of James' favorite places). Unfortunately, it's not so Contemporary anymore and they are in the middle of giving it a facelift. We have spent some time riding the monorail (another of James' favorite things) to Magic Kingdom as well as taking water taxis from the hotel to the MGM studios. Disney really has a world class transportation system. Cities could take lessons from them.

We're staying at the Beach Club in a condo-type Villa. It's wonderful. Nice amount of space, kitchenette, washer/dryer. This is the way to stay for an extended amount of time. We picked up a few groceries the first day and make breakfast every morning - eggs and toast, or french toast, omlets. It's amazing how many things you can make with eggs, bread, butter and cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches do the trick for those late night snacks back from the park. Peanut butter and jelly round out the necessities. Of course, we're not going without. This place teems with dining opportunities. We're trying to avoid eating away our spending money. So far, so good.

A couple of notables for the guide books - Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club. They have a wonderful seafood buffet.
We also tried the Sci-Fi Drive-In in Disney/MGM Studios. This is the 2nd busiest place in all of WDW and while we had good food, it wasn't worth the hype or the 1 hour wait they were quoting. It was good once. I wouldn't seek it out again.

When this trip is done, I should put together all my thoughts of the rides and places we've been including my review. Who knows who it might help in the future. I add it to my to-do list.