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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE THREE MISSING DISNEY WORLD RESORTS

By Jim Korkis

In 1970, the Disney Company announced its hotel plans for soon-to-open Disney World:

“The hotels are called ‘theme resorts’ because everything from interior décor to employees’ costumes and dining room menus will carry out an overall theme. Two hotels, the Contemporary-style and the Polynesian, will open the first year. The Asian, Persian and Venetian will follow later in the Phase One plan.”

The Phase One plan for Walt Disney World was that not everything could be built and operational by October 1971, but rather was planned to be added in total within the first five years.

The Disney Company was very specific what the Asian, Persian and Venetian hotels would be like:

“The Asian hotel will be strongly Thai in its motif. A theme restaurant and lounge at the top of its 160 foot tower building will provide an enchanting setting for nighttime dancing and stage show entertainment. Each of its 600 rooms, including 50 elegant suites in royal Thai décor, will look out on the lagoon or a central recreation area.”

The Asian resort hotel was scheduled to open by 1973. Land had been cleared and prepared where Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa stands today.

A square plot of land prominently jutted out into the Seven Seas Lagoon and the nearby road had been dubbed “Asian Way”. There were also plans to have large meeting rooms under the guest area of the resort for conventions.

Design for the Asian resort went as far that a sample interior for the rooms was completed and approved, and elaborate Oriental gardens had been designed by landscaper Bill Evans. Guest rooms would have been arranged in a square around the perimeter, with two-thirds of the guest rooms having beautiful garden or lake views. The remainder of the rooms would have been in a tower building providing a view into the central recreation area that would probably have featured a themed pool.

“At the Venetian resort, an enclosed small boat harbor and intricate system of waterways will recreate the old world charm of the famed Italian ‘City of Canals’. Shopping will be a unique experience as guests travel by gondola along ‘streets of water’ and under ornate bridges linking various sections of the resort. The style is reminiscent of St. Mark’s Square, complete with a 120 foot campanile which will toll the time. The entire lobby will be glass-topped, creating a brilliant, sunlit atrium effect indoors.”

Intended to be located between the Contemporary Resort and the Ticket and Transportation Center on the Seven Seas Lagoon, the Venetian would have resembled the current Italian pavilion at the World Showcase at Epcot in terms of architecture and style.

“Stepping right out of The Arabian Nights is the Persian resort which will reign like an exotic far-Eastern palace on the Northwest shore of [Bay Lake]. Jewel-like mosques and columns will rise above landscaped courtyards, while terraced sundecks offer sculpted swimming pools and ‘old Persian’ dining facilities. Guests will practically be able to sail to their own rooms through a sheltered marina.”

Intended to be located to the north and slightly east of the Contemporary Resort on Bay Lake, the Persian would have been laid out in a circular pattern with a large central building featuring a twenty-four foot blue dome. Smaller blue domes would have highlighted the white columns and buildings.

After a stop at the Contemporary, the monorail would have journeyed to the Persian. From there, instead of the current route, the monorail would take a short detour through nearby Tomorrowland, just like the monorail at Disneyland, to offer park guests a glimpse of the highway in the sky in the future.

These unbuilt resorts were meant to create an exotic and unique experience for WDW guests from the seven seas of the world. That’s why it is the Seven Seas Lagoon.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! None of these were built–partly because of the 1973 oil crisis, and partly because attention (and capital) turned to Epcot. As Jim noted, the location planned for the Asian hotel was filled by the Grand Floridian in the late 80s.

Disney comes back now and then to the Venetian resort location, which would be on the monorail and is classed as a suitable site for development on Disney’s land-use plans. (Red circle on the map below, cut and pasted  from this.)

However, apparently the soil characteristics make it very expensive to build there.

The site for the Persian, circled in gold, is now classed as “Marginally Suitable,” which is defined in the land use plans as areas where development “is strongly discouraged and would require mitigation of wetland impacts.”

Come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis.

In the meantime, check out his books, including The Vault of Walt, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?, and The Book of Mouse, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

MORE DISNEY WORLD HISTORY POSTS FROM JIM KORKIS

• “Summer Magic” on Main Street
• Muppets and Mama Melrose
• Peter Dominick and the Wilderness Lodge
• Dixie Landing and Port Orleans Riverside
• The History of Splash Mountain
• The First Disney World Hotel
• The “Sharing the Magic” Statue
• The First Disney World Monorails
• The Water Park River Country
• The Epcot Fountain
• The Fireplace at the Wilderness Lodge
• Sid Cahuenga at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Spaceship Earth
• Downtown Disney
• The Missing Resorts
• Echo Park and Echo Lake
• Typhoon Lagoon

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: JUNE 20 TO JUNE 28, 2015

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the image, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on June 2015 at Disney World, click here.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20/-6/28/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-12MN 6/20 and 6/21, 8a-12MN 6/22 and 6/23, 8a-1a 6/24, 9a-1a 6/25 and 6/26, and 9a-12MN 6/27 and 6/28

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-10p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-7p 6/20, 9a-6p 6/21, 9a-7p 6/22, 9a-8p 6/23 and 6/24, 9a-7p 6/25 through 6/27, and 9a-6p 6/28

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20/-6/28/2015

Saturday 6/20 Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 6/21 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 6/22 Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 6/23 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 6/24 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening:  none

Thursday 6/25 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Friday 6/26 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Saturday 6/27 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 6/21  Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20/-6/28/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p every night

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20-6/28/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p every night

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9 and 10.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20/-6/28/2015

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/20/-6/28/2015

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest

DISNEY WORLD 2016 SUMMER CROWDS: THE PRINCIPLES

Walt Disney World summer crowds are governed by two factors:

• Public school summer break calendars, which have start and end dates more varied than you’d think
• The beginning of the peak of the hurricane season, in mid-August

Pretty much all kids are off all of July. As a result, July is the busiest summer month, and during it, the week that includes the 4th of July the busiest week.

Varied dates for when summer breaks begin means June can start well, and then build to high crowd levels.

August has the opposite pattern, beginning with high crowds, but, through the combination of a trickle turning to a flood of back-to-school dates, and savvy travelers avoiding the peak of the hurricane season, it ends quite un-crowded.

Families that can only visit in the summer (for example, school teachers) should go as early in June or as late in August as their schedules permit. [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD PRESIDENTS DAY CROWDS

Based on the comments I get on this site, year after year one of the things that most surprises people is how crowded the week of Presidents Day is at Walt Disney World.

Most schools just have one day off–the Monday holiday.

However, even so lots of other school kids have a four day weekend (Friday-Monday or Saturday-Tuesday).

Even more have the whole week that includes Presidents Day off. Most of the latter are from the Northeast, and really, really need a break from the snow and cold…and thus the massive crowds that week at Disney World!

See the right side of chart, which shows the weighted proportion of the 12.4 million kids in my 2015-2016 school year calendar database with more than a three day weekend over President’s Day:

In 2016 Presidents Day is February 15th, shown in red.

Breaks begin the Friday before, continue at high levels through Tuesday, then stay at medium-high levels the rest of the week. As a result, crowds peak through Tuesday but are at high levels through Saturday the 20th.

In my 2016 crowd calendar I have the week that includes Presidents Day rated as 10/higher crowds.  By day, expect 11/highest crowds Saturday through Tuesday, and 9/high crowds the rest of the week.

MARDI GRAS CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Mardi Gras, on the left side of the chart, is the opposite. My comments worried about it tend to come from the few southeastern areas that have a multi-day holiday around it. But hardly anyone else does.

So Mardi Gras has little effect on February crowds unless it falls (as it did in 2015) the day after Presidents Day, in which case it makes a lousy week even more horrible.

In my 2016 crowd calendar I have the week that includes Mardi Gras rated as 5/moderate minus. This rating combines low crowds early in the week and high crowds later. Expect lower crowds through Wednesday the 10th, building crowds Thursday, and highest crowds Friday and over the weekend.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

DOWNTOWN DISNEY: IN THE BEGINNING

By Jim Korkis

The Downtown Disney area used to be very much different than what it is today and even more different than what will become Disney Springs, with its new eateries, shops and parking garages.

Walt Disney World actually has two small communities on property, Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, as a way—along with the Reedy Creek Improvement District—for it to control rules and regulations affecting its property.

The former Blake Lake was renamed Lake Buena Vista in 1969 with incorporation of that town of the same name just up the street. (This lake still borders the Preview Center building, which is now the home of the Amateur Athletic Union on Hotel Plaza Boulevard.)

The name Buena Vista was chosen for its Disney connection not only to the name of the film distribution company that released the Disney films but also the name of the street in Burbank where the Disney Studios and corporate offices are located. Buena Vista is Spanish for “good view.”

The canal system here was widened into a large lake, called the Village Lagoon, and in 1974, just a few years after the opening of the Magic Kingdom, the Disney Company built in the area a collection of vacation villas, treehouse villas, and a golf course that became the Disney Village Resort.

The area would later evolve into the Disney Institute and now the Disney Vacation Club’s Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.

Right across the Village Lagoon from the Disney Village Resort was a small shopping area.

When it opened on March 22, 1975, The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village was immediately popular with guests, locals and business people as a location where they could purchase Disney merchandise and enjoy the Disney magic and quality service without having to pay to get into the Magic Kingdom or stay at one of the Disney resorts.

It was a quiet, soothing small-town atmosphere where visitors could leisurely dine and shop and be entertained. It was a charming retail community surrounding the lake with a barber, post office, art gallery, pottery shop, candle shop, and pharmacy, as well as other simple businesses.

Eventually it was renamed the Disney Village Marketplace and then it became the Downtown Disney Marketplace with the 1989 adjacent expansion into Pleasure Island, a location that mimicked the popular downtown Orlando Church Street where themed restaurants and clubs operated.

The Pleasure Island area has since been shut down, and is now being transformed as part of the redevelopment of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs.

The original Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village had four places to eat: Lite Bite, Heidelberger’s Deli, The Village Restaurant and Cap’n Jack’s (named after Disney Legend Jack Olsen who had a fondness for sailing and fishing and was instrumental in the development of Disney theme park merchandise beginning with Disneyland in 1955). All of these locations no longer exist.

Guests could also take a boat from Cruise Dock West to the Lake Buena Vista Club, where they could enjoy breakfast, lunch, and brunch, as well as French cooking at night.

The Downtown Disney area was meant to be a quiet friendly oasis in the hectic and sometimes chaotic world of Disney. However, today it is as active and often as crowded as any of the WDW theme parks–and under extensive construction.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim!

Come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis.

In the meantime, check out his books, including The Vault of Walt, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?, and The Book of Mouse, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

MORE DISNEY WORLD HISTORY POSTS FROM JIM KORKIS

• “Summer Magic” on Main Street
• Muppets and Mama Melrose
• Peter Dominick and the Wilderness Lodge
• Dixie Landing and Port Orleans Riverside
• The History of Splash Mountain
• The First Disney World Hotel
• The “Sharing the Magic” Statue
• The First Disney World Monorails
• The Water Park River Country
• The Epcot Fountain
• The Fireplace at the Wilderness Lodge
• Sid Cahuenga at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Spaceship Earth
• Downtown Disney
• The Missing Resort Hotels
• Echo Park and Echo Lake
• Typhoon Lagoon

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: JUNE 13 TO JUNE 21, 2015

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the image, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on June 2015 at Disney World, click here.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13/-6/21/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 9a-12MN 6/13 and 6/14, 8a-12MN 6/15 through 6/17, and 9a-12MN 6/18 through 6/21

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 8a-10p 6/13 and 6/14, and 9a-10p 6/15 through 6/21

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-6p 6/13 and 6/14, 9a-7p 6/15, 9a-8p 6/16 and 6/17, 9a-7p 6/18 through 6/20, and 9a-6p 6/21

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13/-6/21/2015

Saturday 6/13 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 6/14 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 6/15 Morning: none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 6/16 Morning: Epcot Evening:  none

Wednesday 6/17 Morning:  Animal Kingdom Evening:  none

Thursday 6/18 Morning: Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Friday 6/19 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Saturday 6/20 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 6/21  Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13/-6/21/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9 and 11p every night

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13-6/21/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p every night

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9 and 10.30p every night

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13/-6/21/2015

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 6/13/-6/21/2015

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest