Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

For the first page of this review of the Wyndham/Wyndham Garden, see this.

THE POOL COMPLEX AT THE WYNDHAM LAKE BUENA VISTA

The pool complex at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista in the Disney Springs Resort Area is one of the top three among the seven hotels here, and is topped only by the pools at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace.

What you’ll find is one large playful pool popular with both kids and adults, a smaller and less interesting pool that attracts largely adults, a hot tub, a pool toy rental area, and a bar with an extensive menu.

The pool area is behind the accommodations buildings, and surrounded by sports courts on either side. The back border is trees.

On the left, you’ll find the bar and grill.

The menu.

Next to the bar is the larger of the two pools here.

One end of this pool has this interesting rock feature…

…which includes water sprays for kids to play in.

The other end of the large pool has a zero entry into a shallow area, with an in-water play structure. Another view of it is at the top of the page.

This image shows both features.

The larger pool at night.

An area to rent water play toys is between this pool and the bar.

A second, smaller pool is more angular and has no obvious invitations to play, so is more popular with adults.

Another view of the smaller pool.

The smaller pool at night.

Between the two pools you’ll find this hot tub.

The two pools of the pool complex at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista in the Disney Springs Resort Area nicely deliver for both kids and adults, and the bar and grill menu is one of the more extensive among these hotels. As a result, I rate the pools here as being among the top three among the seven hotels of the Disney Springs Resort Area.

MORE ON THE WYNDHAM LAKE BUENA VISTA

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a standard tower room 
• Photo tour of a Garden room
• Dining and amenities
• The pool

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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(For the first page of this review of the Doubletree Suites, see this.)

THE POOL AT THE DOUBLETREE SUITES BY HILTON ORLANDO

The pool complex at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton Orlando in the Disney Springs Resort Area provides most of what guests might be looking for, but in an uninteresting fashion, and thus falls into the lower rank among the offerings of the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels.

The offerings are behind the main building, screened from the nearby busy road (535) by a group of trees.

You’ll find this small main pool.

Another view of the main pool.

Off to one side is this large hot tub…

…and on another side is a kids wading pool with some water jets providing play opportunities. I did not see any other play options–no games, no fun water play items available for rent.

A pool bar is present, was not open when I stayed here. There’s another bar not far away inside the hotel.

Nearby is this playground…

…and behind it, between the pool area and the parking lot for the next-door B Resort there’s also a set of four tennis courts–a rare amenity among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, especially the smaller ones.

Overall this pool complex is entirely adequate, with all the basics.  But it does not compare at all well to the offerings at the Wyndham, Hilton, or Hilton Buena Vista Palace.

MORE ON THE DOUBLETREE SUITES BY HILTON ORLANDO

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a standard one bedroom suite 
• Dining and amenities
• The pool

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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

For the first page of this review of the Hilton Orlando, see this.

THE POOL COMPLEX AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

The pool complex at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista has two good-sized regular pools, a brace of hot tubs, and a kids’ wading pool–as well as an outdoor bar.

While not distinctive or particularly interesting, the pool complex at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is one of the top three among the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels–the pools at the Wyndham and the similarly-named Hilton Buena Vista Palace are also in this same group.

The pool complex framed among the mid-rise accomodations building and convention spaces. This isolates it from the nearby freeway.

There are two principal pools, one a bit smaller and rectangular, the other larger with a curve at one end.

The smaller pool.

Another view of this pool.

Next to it is this larger pool.

This pool from the other side–your rubber duckies may vary.

Between the two pools is this children’s wading pool–note at the upper right the kiosk for renting pool toys.

This fun set of hot tubs is also present (another image of them is at the top of the page).

You can also chill with some chess…

…or perhaps more likely at this pool bar.

While there’s nothing especially delightful or interesting about the pool complex at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, it has all the key features of a vacation pool complex except for a splash/spray play area, and has plenty of capacity.  This puts it into the highest rank of Disney Springs Resort Area pools.

MORE ON THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a standard room
• Dining and amenities
• The pool 

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE EPCOT SPACE PAVILION THAT NEVER WAS

By Jim Korkis

As we continue the countdown to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, it’s fun to remember that there were always plans for a Space Pavilion at Epcot. However, despite multiple attempts, Disney was unable to find a sponsor for such a project.

One version, as described by Tad Stones, who worked at Imagineering with Tim Delaney but later found greater success supervising the animated series for the Disney Afternoon block of programming: “Joe Haldeman, the Hugo Award winning science fiction author wrote a script for a pavilion. You’re inside a giant ball that is rotating and the idea was you took a 360-degree theater and turned it vertically so you’re looking up and down as opposed to side to side.

“Down below are audio-animatronics of the crew and robots. The idea is that you go through an excursion through the solar system with characters interacting and providing entertainment as well as knowledge about all of this.

From timjdelaney.com

“We found that it was unnatural to turn the theater vertically because things like looking at a planet now become distorted because of the perspective. You would be on a balcony. It would have been hugely expensive and the show would have lasted eight minutes.”

One of the designs that got as far as a three-dimensional model was the work of Imagineer Larry Gertz. It was a white domed model to simulate a base located on an asteroid orbiting the moon where mining was taking place. It was supposedly a makeshift affair built of a used space station and parts of old space craft.

The “traveler” would arrive aboard a simulated space craft. When the guest steps off the vehicle onto a ramp, he would leave behind the noises of flight behind him and find himself in utter silence.

The ramp would lead the guest to a staging area and from there allow him to enter the base itself.

The four main elements in the dome would be the space station, the asteroid honeycombed with great caverns and mine shafts, an astronaut training thrill ride, and a children’s playscape.

“You’ll be able to wander at will through the asteroid,” Gertz said in the 1980s. “It will be a visceral experience of space. You can follow catwalks through the caves.”

One of the thrill rides would be a simulator. They would represent devices down in a gaping excavation, bobbing and probing into the rock like huge, spidery mining machines.

On the lower level would be the astronaut training facility. It was actually a modified roller coaster where guests would get into a mining car. A catapult would propel the vehicle from a standing stop to sixty miles per hour in four and a half seconds, putting three G’s of pressure on the passengers. The vehicle would rocket three times around the asteroid on tracks.

“We’ve tried to create something that feels like a mining town,” explained Gertz. “We’ve also created something that might resemble the living environment in a space station. There is a general store selling all kinds of space stuff. And we’ve put in a sales lot for used space craft. You’ll see satellite communications in operation too. Lots of education in this.”

The station pavilion would be 300 feet in diameter and 110 feet high. In comparison, Space Mountain at WDW was 200 feet in diameter and 90 feet high.

What stalled this project from developing further was the lack of a corporate sponsor to foot the bill.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! I had utterly forgotten about the Space Pavilion idea. And while I grew up on classic science fiction (Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke), Joe Haldeman’s Forever War series is one of my favorites.

And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Secret Stories of Mickey Mouse, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 6 TO OCTOBER 14, 2018

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For more on September at Disney World, see this, and for more on October, this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/6-10/14/18

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 10/6, 9a-10p 10/7, 9a-6p 10/8 and 10/9, 9a-11p 10/10, 9a-6p 10/11 and 10/12, 9a-11p 10/13, 9a-6p 10/14

Epcot will be open from 9a-10p 10/6, 9a-9p 10/7 through 10/11, 9a-10p 10/12 and 10/13, and 9a-9p 10/14

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 9a-8p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 9a-8p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/6-10/14/18

Saturday 10/6 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 10/7  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Monday 10/8  Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Tuesday 10/9 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Wednesday 10/10 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 10/11 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 10/12 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 10/13 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 10/14 Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/6-10/14/18

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 2p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/6-10/14/18

Happily Every After at Magic Kingdom: 9p 10/6, 10/7, 10/10, and 10/13

IllumiNations at Epcot:  10p 10/6; 9p 10/7 through 10/11; 10p 10/12 and 10/13; 9p 10/14

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.30p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8.15p 10/6; 8p 10/7 through 10/13; 7.45p 10/14

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/6-10/14/18

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

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ARMED FORCES SALUTE RENEWED FOR 2019

Late last week my buddy Steve Bell reported that the Disney Military Salute has been renewed for 2019, and eligible dates (not all the block-out dates are out yet) extend well into December 2019, to December 19, 2019, similar to the 2018 salute.

The long duration of eligible dates in 2019 was a bit of a surprise, as there was a school of thought that an early end (e.g. September 30) would create more room for full-paying Star Wars folk once it opens in late fall 2019.

So either DIsney is intentionally not giving away it’s Star Wars opening date through the timing of this dela; by late fall opening of Galaxy’s it really means late fall (one definition of fall has it ending December 21, 2019); or–and this is perhaps most likely–one part of DIsney is not talking to the other.

As always, the best source of info on the Armed Forces Salute deal–the best Disney World deal out there, serving the best set of people in the world–is available on Steve’s MilitaryDisneyTips.com.  Start with his info on the Armed Forces Salute renewal for 2019 here.

CARIBBEAN BEACH DINING TO OPEN OCTOBER 8

Multiple sites are reporting that our long dining nightmare at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be coming to an end next week. While I have not yet seen anything official from Disney, lunch and dinner reservations at the new waterside table service, Sebastian’s Bistro, are available beginning October 8.

Other changes that may or may not happen then are the reopening of a redone gift shop and counter service area, the shift of check-in from the Custom House to the same main central building in Centertown where the gift shop and counter service will be found, and the shift of the entrance road from Buena Vista Drive to Victory Way.

Also reported is that Trinidad South will be changing its name to Barbados, and Trinidad North to simply Trinidad. In the longer term this name change, if it happens, will be a great move, especially for the dyslexic like me, but in the short term it will replace one set of confusions with another.

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