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Entries by Fritz (42)

Sunday
Jul222012

WDW Construction: Polynesian Village Resort

Join us as we take a step-by-step look at the unusual construction of the Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World.

The Polynesian was originally named the Polynesian Village Resort Hotel but was renamed Disney's Polynesian Resort sometime in 1985. Here we start with the foundations of the resort as well as the lake dock and some Monorail beams.

From further north we see the progress. At this point we are already in the year 1971. Let's hope we are ready for October. What's that rectangle of land in the foreground?? That's the site of the never-built Asian Resort!! This is a rare look at the land that eventually housed Disney's Grand Floridian.

The Great Ceremonial House begins to take shape.

Meanwhile at a facility on the east end of Walt Disney World property, U.S. Steel workers assembled hundreds of rooms.

Today the building still stands at 1500 Live Oak Lane, Orlando, FL 32830. If you've ever driven "the back way" to Magic Kingdom via Highway 535, you've seen the softball field.  The facility was just south of that.

Location provided by Twitter follower @SimonTravels

That's right, these modular guest rooms were assembled, finished, and furnished on an assembly line of sorts before being trucked over to the Poly construction site. A very similar process took place with the Contemporary Resort rooms.

A scale model shared by a couple of US Steel executives.

The rooms then get stacked into place. This was slightly different than the modular Contemporary Resort Hotel rooms which were "slid" into the various slots of the large a-frame structure.

Roof framing begins to take place.

The Monorail station also comes about.

The roofs are completed along with the rest of the guest buildings. Landscaping comes next.

 

Related posts:

WDW Before Opening Day 1971
Poly
nesian Village Resort- 1985
Polynesian "Nanea Volcano Pool"- 1985
WDW Construction: Magic Kingdom
EPCOT Construction from the Air
EPCOT Center Construction Photos: Future World

 

Friday
Jun012012

Big Thunder Mountain Model

We've got lots of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad love for everyone. This marvelous 1/4" = 1' scale model can be seen in the lobby of the "Frontierland Tower" at the Disneyland Hotel. It's the wildest model in the wilderness!

 


Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Origins

Young Imagineer Tony Baxter had recently worked on the install of some Magic Kingdom Fantasyland attractions prior to Walt Disney World opening. He landing work in the model shop and was working with Marc Davis on plans for Thunder Mesa and Western River Expedition. The area would have included a train ride and a very elaborate boat ride sometimes explained as “Cowboys of the Caribbean” or “Pirates of the Caribbean with Cowboys and Indians”.

Rising 1970s gas prices, lower-than-desired park attendance, and guests expecting a pirate ride ultimately led to the management-promoted idea of axing Marc Davis’ Western River Expedition and the entire Thunder Mesa complex in favor of Pirates of the Caribbean at a fraction of the cost.

Baxter himself was not very happy with the current state of his mine train ride concept. “It has no story, no theme. It’s just a train rolling across a hillside, nothing more.” The train wasn’t very thrilling until later in the ride. Baxter pitched to executives his ideas of a bat-infested cave, an earthquake, and a more thrilling experience starting from the beginning of the ride. Card Walker told Baxter to start work on a stand-alone E-Ticket runaway train thriller, independent of Marc Davis’ project.

Meanwhile the concept of Space Mountain was becoming more and more attractive to Magic Kingdom management. America had recently landed on the moon, people were more interested in space flight than the Old West, and the park needed its first “thrill”. Space Mountain became top priority amongst Imagineers at W.E.D. Space Mountain opened in January 1975 at Walt Disney World. Shortly after construction started on an entire Space Mountain complex at Disneyland which opened in May of 1977.

Everyone in both parks had thrill fever– guests and management alike. Disneyland management had grown tired of Frontierland’s great Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland and it’s high maintenance costs. They wanted yet another thrill. Tony Baxter’s mine train now had new potential. Would his Florida concept fit in MTTNW’s location? Plans were “flipped” and the more-fitting rock style of Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park was selected. The style was to allow for a nice transition between this part of Frontierland and the very nearby Fantasyland.

Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened September 1979. The name “Big Thunder” came from a large waterfall in Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland. Magic Kingdom wanted a thrill for its west side and debuted their Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in November of 1980.


Thoughts

I, for one, love the Big Thunders. They are very well crafted, have great layouts, a touch of thrill without being obnoxious, and are super immersive. As nice as it would be to ride Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland (it was like three time larger in footprint than its replacement) Big Thunder Mountion wonderful. It lacks a lot of the "nature" of Nature's Wonderland and it's difficult to watch any animal for more than a few seconds (many of which were originally in Nature's Wonderland!). It lacks that charming ride narration and the ride ends much much sooner than the original but really it's a gem.

 

Related posts:

The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland [ PART 1 ]
The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland [ PART 2 ]
Buena Vista Street Model
Swiss Family Treehouse Model
Disneyland 1955 Model Close-ups
Mars and Beyond Robot


Tuesday
Mar202012

Florida Orange Bird

 

Take a look some never-before-posted photos of the Florida Orange Bird. Join us in our hunt for additional photos. We know they’re out there!

We’ve had a blast looking at all the great photos people have sent in as part of our Photo Hunt. We were thrilled to receive the following three photos of the Orange Bird costumed character in Adventureland. Notice the two different costumes. One with a smooth head and one with a fur-covered head.

An air vent?

Jennifer Jones submitted this wonderful shot from 1979. And look at that old “Exit Only” Tropical Serenade sign in the background.

When was the costume changed? Or were there always two? Or more? I am led to believe the first lasted until some point between 1974 and 1977, based on the few photographs that exist on the web. It was probably replaced at that point with the second costume– the one with the fur-covered head and the shiny yellow feat. This second version very well could have been a modified version of the original costume.

Meanwhile, the Florida Orange Bird spread his wings in places other than Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland. An additional Orange Bird costume, which most-likely never set foot in Walt Disney World, attended special citrus-related events.

Miss Florida Citrus 1984, Lori Schirard Grubb, was kind enough to send us the following two fantastic photos of herself with the Orange Bird.

Here Lori poses with an inflatable Orange Bird.

Miss Florida Citrus 1986, Rosemarie Payne, sent us this great photo of herself with the same Orange Bird costumed character. Was this taken at a county fair perhaps? Maybe some sort of citrus fair?

Back in Adventureland the Orange Bird and Florida Citrus Queen 1977, Lisa Maile, enjoy the Sunshine Pavilion. Look at that cool Orange Bird lapel pin. "Disney World Plans Citrus Celebration". Do we know anything about that??

Lisa poses with... wait, is that the same inflatable Orange Bird? 7 years earlier?

A big thanks to LuAnn Mims, College Archivist, Florida Souther College and Brenda Eubanks Burnette, Executive Director, Florida Citrus Hall of Fame and everyone who shared photos.

For a comprehensive history of the Florida Orange Bird at Walt Disney World read the Sunshine Tree Terrace page over at the unparalleled Widen Your World.

As indicated above, go find your old Orange Bird photos and send them our way. We promise to make great use of them and share them with lots of fans like yourself. If you find photos of the animatronic version of the Orange Bird you get extra special props. Only one photo of the little robotic bird has ever surfaced on the internet. Read about it on the Widen Your World link above. It's from Ed Barlow who happens to be a fan of this blog too. Hi Ed! 

And remember to stop by the Sunshine Tree Terrace and enjoy the recent return of the delicious Citus Swirl.

[Part 2] now available.

 

Related posts:

Florida Orange Bird [Part 2]
Frito
 Kid and Deeee-licious Fritos!
Frito Kid Mysteries Continue
WDW Before Opening Day 1971
THEN AND NOW: MK Adventureland [Part 1]
What Disney Characters Love
Swiss Family Treehouse Model
Photo Hunt Update