Monday

I'm in the middle of a two-hour session on fixed-income securities. No wonder 3 didn't want to work Municipals for Goldman.

I'm pretty sure that I've never been in Disney's Contemporary Resort before today. This is the hotel where the monorail actually goes through the main building. If you click the second pic, you can see the train arriving to the hotel.

The convention facility is off to the side of the hotel. I'm sure that the business model was to have a large convention hall to attract organizations whose members would see the destination as an opportunity to mix business with family. The time we brought the girls down here, I had a conference at one of the other Disney hotels. SRH took the girls to the theme parks while I was in session.

The one observation that I can make generally, is that the structures here are showing some age. The hotel row coming down to Disney City from the Lake Buena Vista exit on I-4 has changed little in the 20-odd years that it has been that I first came here. The properties were always a bit understated, and now with the paint fading and the stone walkways cracked or smoothed from use, I'd say that there's a need in the long term plan for some upgrades. My guess is that the kids don't mind any of this.

(I initially thought that my hotel up in Lake Buena Vista, a Holiday Inn, was a bit run down. In relation to what I have seen today, maybe it's just showing the same age as everything else around here.)

I successfully blew passed the first toll booth coming on the Florida Turnpike yesterday coming out of the airport. Not consciously, but I mis-interpreted the over-head signs for the up-coming exit, toll booth and open-road electronic lanes. I ended up in the e-toll lanes as I was trying to avoid the exit. I suppose that I'll get a "greeting" from Hertz in a month or two. Any estimates on the cost of a missed $0.75 toll?

And the grocery store at the entry to the Disney Hotels road was/is real evidence of opportunity pricing. My guess is that they basically take normal retail and add between 50-100% for anything costing less than $5. The cheapest fruit was oranges at $2.99 per pound. Ouch!

I saw a few T-shirt stores and I will be stopping to find a deal on four Extra-Larges for $10. With patches as necessary.

More later.

BCOT