FASTPASS TO THE PAST: THE THEME PARK HISTORY PODCAST

Season 2 
Episode #13: The 5 Lost Resorts of Walt Disney World


Opening: 
Welcome to Fastpass to the Past. The Theme Park History Podcast. Episode 13. 
Have you ever wondered what is the origin story behind your favorite attractions and theme parks?
Well, you’re in the right place. However, today, as is often the case, we’re
going to talk about hotels that never quite made it off the drawing board in this new take on our classic Lost Lands series.
Introduce Yourself: 
Hello I’m your host, Austin Carroll.
I am a history nerd
a former Disneyland Cast Member 
And a current annual pass holder at the Disneyland Resort. 

Episode Introduction
Thank you so much for listening to this podcast! Today we are going beyond the theme park and taking a gander at the original plans for Walt Disney World’s Seven Seas Lagoon and the stunning plans for unique resorts that never came to fruition. 

As Fastpass-listeners know, the history of the Walt Disney World Resort is littered with great what-might-have-beens stories. Terrific sounding attractions that never quite made it off the drawing board. Entire resorts that were all planned & ready to go, only to suddenly fall out of favor & never be constructed. That’s what we are going to be talking about today. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t admit I wasn’t slightly inspired to look into canceled hotel plans by the recent announcement of a four-star hotel at Disneyland’s Anaheim property, the subsequent closure of the majority of Downtown Disney... and then the abrupt cancelation of the project. Some of the original Walt Disney World hotels we will be looking into today have similar quick ends as the Walt Disney Company struggled to enter the hospitality industry with new concepts that would appeal to their Florida theme park guests. After all, if you recall, The Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim was not owned by Disney until 1988.

Teaser: So, without further ado, let’s go ahead and take our deep dive into the Walt Disney Company's archives to take a look at five, yes five, ‘lost resorts’ of the Disney empire.  

Part #2: The Existing Hotels 

Nowadays, you can take a grand circle tour on the monorail around Magic Kingdom. The Resort Monorail stops at Magic Kingdom park, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. While on the elevated train you can stare out in wonder at this massive feats of engineering and architecture rising up around the Seven Seas Lagoon. If you have enough money, you can even stay in these so-called ‘Deluxe’ resorts and enjoy the easy and speedy access to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot - the two original planned phases on property. 

Although it may seem like these resorts have always been there, Walt Disney opened in October 1, 1971 with just two resorts – we know them today as Disney’s Polynesian Resort and Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Of course, earlier in 1969, Disney had announced a more ambitious plan for five ‘theme resorts’ to open with Phase One of the Walt Disney World project. Classic Disney move.  

Why did these never make it off the drawing board? Well... for once, Disney seemed to underestimate just how long it would take to build loggings for their weary guests. Construction began on Disney’s Polynesian Resort in February 1971, less than eight months before the first guests were scheduled to arrive. The Imagineers had also altered the concept significantly from what was originally announced. The early concept art featured a 12-story tower, a bold design that might have looked more at home among the luxury hotels on Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach. However, as we all know, what was eventually built was a more architecturally authentic “village” layout, much of which remains today. 

Disney’s Polynesian Resort and Disney’s Contemporary Resort were designed by WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering), the California architectural firm of Welton Becket & Associates and United States Steel Corp. Each was built with a unique and unusual process called “unitized modular construction.” This is basically a fancy way of saying that once the central elevator shaft went up for the Disney’s Contemporary Resort, the crews created a 150-foot-high skeleton around it using steel a-frames. Remember how I said the US Steel Corp was involved? That’s where they came in. 

A few miles away, workers built rooms for both resorts on an assembly-line, averaging about 40 rooms per week or 15 rooms per day. Each room was a free-standing unit complete with air conditioning, bathroom fixtures, sliding-glass doors and groovy mid-century decor. After being trucked to the nearby construction sites, the nearly nine-ton rooms were slid into the building frames by crane, like dresser drawers. And no, despite a widely believed legend, they were never meant to be removable for future refurbishments. 

To help learn the hotel business, The Walt Disney Company leased the Hilton Inn South in Orlando, Florida, which opened in May 1970, and used the 140-room hotel as a kind of living laboratory, developing everything from training manuals to restaurant menus that they later used in its own resorts. Although, I don’t think Trader Sam’s made an appearance just yet. Haha. 

The remaining “Phase One” resorts, inspired by Asian, Venetian and Persian motifs, never made it off Imagineers’ drawing boards. Four decades later, these lost resorts remain tantalizing examples of what might have been and I cannot wait to share a little bit of the magic with you in this episode. 
 
Part #3: Disney's Venetian Resort

After a long day at the theme park, imagine taking a relaxing boat ride back to your colorful hotel inspired by the canals and culture of Italy. Luckily, now you can… at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, which opened as part of a major resort expansion that included Islands of Adventure and Citywalk in 1999.

However, the Venetian-concept was originally intended to reside a few miles down-the-street as the third hotel along the Seven Seas Lagoon to open in Phase One of Walt Disney World back in 1971. The towering centerpiece of Disney's Venetian Resort would have been a 120 foot tall replica of the original campanile in St. Mark's Square in Venice. Conveniently, a rendition of that same bell tower, although one that is only 83 feet, can now be seen at Epcot’s World Showcase in the Italian pavilion. The hotel would have also included multiple buildings connected by bridges and channels, where guests could ride on in traditional gondolas. 

If it would have been erected in Walt Disney World, the topiaries along World Drive would have had to find a new home. The land earmarked for the hotel was located on the stretch between the Contemporary Resort Hotel and the Ticket and Transportation Center. Had the hotel been completed, it would have had a dedicated stop along the resort monorail track. Additionally, there were plans for a Venetian-inspired boat ride connecting the hotel to Magic Kingdom and the Ticket and Transportation Center. 

Years after the Venetian Resort was shelved, plans came up in the 1990's to build a hotel in the same spot. The Disney's Venetian Resort concept drawings were revisited to create the plans for Disney's Mediterranean Resort. Since the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa was only a four star hotel, it was important to create a true luxury hotel (with luxury prices) on the lagoon. Venice was out in favor of Greece in these plans for a five-star resort to complete the monorail circle in the late 1990’s. Unfortunately the swampy side of the Seven Seas Lagoon proved to require more work to build upon than the company was willing to invest. As is, the land was too boggy and swampy and would not be able to support the building without an extremely deep (and expensive) foundation. Originally planned on the monorail track between the Ticket and Transportation Center and the Contemporary Resort, you can still see an empty plot of cleared land where the majestic Mediterranean Resort was once planned to prevail.

Although it would be impossible to determine where the shelved plans for the original Venetian-inspired hotel and the Mediterranean Resort ended up, many theme park enthusiasts cite the similarities between the Hotel MiraCosta at Tokyo DisneySea, and the original concept art of Walt Disney World’s Venetian resort as proof that the Imagineers plans were eventually realized in 2001. 

Hotel MiraCosta gains the distinction of being the only hotel in the world which is entirely placed inside a Disney theme park and it is officially themed after the ports of Portofino and Venice. Just like the original concept art for the Walt Disney World hotel, guests can enjoy gondola rides through Venice just outside of the hotel’s entrance at the Mediterranean Harbor land in Tokyo DisneySea. 


Part #4: Disney’s Asian Resort

For the fourth planned phase one resort, another country across the seas provided the much-needed inspiration for a grand hotel with the name, Disney's Asian Resort. Inspired by the architecture and beauty of Thailand, this fourth hotel was to also be built on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon. In fact, prior to Walt Disney World’s opening in 1971, the plans for this paradise even appeared in promotional material for the new Florida project. 

According to concept art, the hotel would have featured Thai furnishings and cuisine. Like the Polynesian Village Resort, there would be a main center building with guest rooms arranged in a square around the perimeter. The large center building would have been more than 160 feet tall with a restaurant on top, similar to the design of Disney's Contemporary Resort. The 600 room resort would have also included a convention center and a station connecting it to the monorail. Now, for something really exciting, fifty suites would have been deluxe rooms themed after Thai royalty. 

Construction of the hotel was scheduled to start in 1974 with rooms opening by the end of the year. Disney's 1972 annual report stated that architectural designs were soon starting. Several models were built and land surveys were conducted. The construction was planned to take place three years after the Walt Disney World Resort opened, in 1974 with rooms opening by the end of the year. However, despite Disney’s 1972 annual report stating that the architectural designs were soon starting, the construction never began. 

The site, which was cleared and visible along the monorail track for some 17 years, eventually was utilized for the larger Grand Floridian Beach Resort, now Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, on June 28, 1988. Inspired by the Victorian era beach resorts built along Florida's east coast during the late 19th century and early 20th century, and bearing a striking resemblance to Hotel del Coronado in California, the Grand Floridian is a far cry from the Asian Resort meant to occupy the space. 

Part #5: The Cancellation 

Although there is not an ‘official reason’ for these resort’s resting place in the Lost Resorts archives, it is believed that the hotel’s cancellations were the result on the dual oil embargos in the 1970s. The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo that was targeted at nations perceived as supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. In addition to the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were also targeted. Suddenly, the price of oil shot up to over $12 a barrel in the United States. As automobile arrival was the main method of transportation at the time, Walt Disney World suffered a huge decline in visitors. After a brief respite in the mid-1970s, the 1979 (or second) oil shock came along in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. There was a widespread panic and the price of oil flew higher than ever. 

So, not only was there no longer a need for all four planned resorts in the 1970s, profits were also scarce. Hence, these ambitious hotel projects were shelved… permanently. 

Part #6: Disney's Persian Resort

Although a decline in tourism dollars likely lead to the shelving of the Venice and Thailand-inspired resorts, this third resort brought about their cancellation status as a result of significant political upheaval. 

Named Disney's Persian Resort, this hotel would have actually been located on Bay Lake, just north of Disney's Contemporary Resort. Like Disney's Asian Resort, despite its name it would have been themed around one country, Iran. 

Early drawings and descriptions show that the buildings would have been made to look like ancient mosques with tall, white columns and a large 24 foot blue dome centerpiece. The resort would have also been connected to the monorail system through a separate loop that connected at Tomorrowland. It would also have had a marina.  Like the Asian Resort, it would have also had a four story main building that included restaurants and shops while the guest rooms would be in separate buildings circling the main building.

Rumor is that the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi offered to fund some of the project's construction and operation (similar to how some countries funded their pavilions as Epcot was being built) in 1978, but the 1979 Iranian Revolution caused the project to be shelved - due to the 1979 oil crisis, the loss of additional funding, and the association with Iran. Today, the land earmarked for construction is still covered by natural Floridian flora as it was never cleared. 

Part #7: Disney's Fort Wilderness Junction Resort

In addition to the Mediterranean Resort, Disney's Fort Wilderness Junction Resort, also sometimes called Buffalo Junction, was conceived during the “Disney Decade" of the 1990's. The idea was actually very similar to Disney's Boardwalk Resort, which opened in 1996, but themed like the Old West.

The hotel would include a shopping and entertainment district including an arena that would have shown Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, which was already popular in Disneyland Paris. The entire area would look like an old fashioned Western town with dusty roads and horses.

"And just what was Fort Wilderness Junction supposed to be like? Well, let's take a look at the Wilderness Lodge. A high end resort that caters almost exclusively Walt Disney World visitors with fairly deep pockets. Now let's take a look at the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. A nice little spot that appeals to those Disney World visitors who are working with a somewhat smaller budget.

Between these two resorts is a stretch of cypress forest ... as well as a large group of potential customers. People who don't necessarily have a whole lot of money to spend. But who'd still like to stay in a nicely themed hotel during their Disney World vacation.

Well, it was just this group of potential visitors that the Imagineers wanted to reach in the 1990s. Which is why Walt Disney Imagineering spent the January of 1990 creating plans for that piece of property that lies between the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground & Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Those two resorts were supposed to be the book ends for the story that the Imagineers wanted to tell next.

The Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground -- with its rough hewn Pioneer Hall & Crockett's Tavern -- was supposed to be where this tall tale started out. The United States during its frontier period. Those rough and tumble times.

Whereas the Wilderness Lodge would have represented the end of the story. When the U.S. had finally gotten smart about conserving its natural resources and originally developed a network of National Parks.

Now, as for that stretch of cypress forest between these two resorts ... This was where Fort Wilderness Junction (also called Buffalo Junction on some versions of this plan) was going to be built. A highly themed, moderately priced 600-room resort similar to Disneyland Paris' western-town-inspired Cheyenne Hotel complex.

That was not the only idea the Imagineers stole from Euro-Disneyland, there would also be a  large frontier rodeo-type structure built to house the Disney World version of the Eurodisney import, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show." This is likely where the secondary name of the western Walt Disney World resort came from. 


Walt Disney Imagineering also hoped to use the construction of the Fort Wilderness Junction Resort as a reason to revive Fort Wilderness' late, lamented scenic steam train. The undersized railway operated on Disney World's campground area from 1973 to 1977 and had been dormant ever since. The idea was that this steam train would make three stops. One was in the campground area, another at the Wilderness Lodge, while the other would be located right in the center of Fort Wilderness Junction.

Fort Wilderness Junction came pretty close to really happening with the land along Vista Boulevard cleared back in the mid-1990s. However, as it was intended to be a ‘second phase’ project, construction had to wait until the opening of Wilderness Lodge - which opened late in May of 1994. 

However, by then, management had shifted their priorities again towards the popular timeshares market. The money that had originally earmarked for construction of Fort Wilderness Junction quietly got shifted over to the Villas at Wilderness Lodge project, which opened to Disney Vacation Club members in November of 2000.

Legacy  (Disney’s Cypress Point Hotel) 

I know, I know, I wish these amazing resorts would have been built. Although… I likely couldn’t afford them. Shh….. 

However, if you are longing for some of these forgotten resort concepts, don’t despair, as not all hope is lost. Unlike the theme park attractions and lands we’ve covered during our Lost Lands series, sometimes enduring hotel concepts do make it off the infamous Imagineering drawing board. In the early 1980s, with the opening of Epcot and the end of the oil crisis, the vision for Walt Disney World shifted again to a destination resort. More guests were expected to be staying in or near Orlando Florida now once the new park was open. Roy Miller, having taken over the Disney company, set about announcing yet another three new resorts for the Walt Disney World property: the Grand Floridian resort, the aforementioned Mediterranean resort, and the Cypress Point Lodge. 

Cypress Point Lodge was originally intended to a medium-sized ‘value’ resort located near the Fort Wilderness campground that would be inspired by the National Parks and great outdoors. The hotel rooms were desperately needed with the Epcot expansion and the proposed easy access via boats to the Magic Kingdom made this resort an attractive proposition. It looked as if The Cypress Point Lodge would certainly great guests and the proposed construction site had even been cleared and surveyed way back in 1970. 

However, that all changed in 1984, when Michael Eisner and Frank Wells took over the Walt Disney Company. Even though the announcement of three new resorts was made just a few years earlier, Eisner and company had different plans which would lead into the Disney Decade of the 1990s and that plot of land that was meant for Cypress Point Lodge. In 1992, The Wilderness Lodge opened on the same spot with a ‘deluxe’ take on that original National Park-theming of Cypress Point Lodge. Just with a different name!  

The ‘Thanks for listening’ close. 

I hope you enjoyed this look into some of The Walt Disney World’s lost resorts. It really breathes new life into the Seven Seas Lagoon resort area we all know and love today… looking back at what could have been along that famed monorail track is like stepping into a time machine.  

I’ll close this chapter with one fun fact I uncovered during my research. Believe it or not, The Seven Seas Lagoon was originally configured for artificial waves, tall enough to allow surfing. The machine began operation with the opening of the the Polynesian Village Resort in 1971. However, it was soon disabled after causing severe beach erosion to the Polynesian Village Resort. 

Thank you so much for listening and your continued support of Fastpass to the Past! 

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