Polynesian Garden

         The loss of the garden waterfall in the Great Ceremonial House at the newly renamed Polynesian Village Resort was lamented by many individuals including me, of course.  Now that it is gone for good, I wanted to take a look back at the last time I was able to experience the lobby before I would return to find a walled off, crazy , Epic Mickey version of the Great Ceremonial House during my next visit.
        I have not experienced the new lobby in person yet, and look forward to the eventual completion of the re-imagineered area to be able to pass complete judgement.  The only way I will be able to form an honest opinion is to visit in person and see if I feel what I felt all the times I stayed at that resort, as well as the many times I made the trek over because I love it so much. 
       Many of the additions are a big plus to this resort, including Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, the new pool area (even though it will be gated off to the non resort guest) including a hot tub, and hopefully the reopening of the Tangaroa Terrace in some way.  I just hope all the good will out way the things I feel detract from what the resort used to represent.  
      Today was the day I actually came to the realization that I will never have the opportunity to stay at the resort that I grew up loving so much again.  I have been completely priced out of the resort I gerw up staying at most of my childhood.  The Polynesian was synonymous with Walt Disney World for me.  Even when I was was older and had to make my own way to Walt Disney World, I made it a point to spend the extra money and stay where I loved, when I could.  Now with discounts few and far in between, only the families with a significant disposable income will be able to afford even the lowest priced rooms, which is a real shame.
     Anyhow, enjoy my last trip around the Great Ceremonial House with me and store it in your memory banks because that, and youtube, are the only places to see it anymore.  Thanks for watching!

Polynesian Concierge

    
      The Polynesian's concierge lounge had been located at the Great Ceremonial House in the King Kamehameha room since it's inception in the early 1990's.  This was the first Disney resort to offer concierge services to it's guests.  The room was fairly small, and included a few desks with cast members there to make dinner reservations and cater to the guests needs.  There were a couple couches and chairs to rest your tired feet.  The food options were minimal with pastries and coffees and such during the morning, cookies as well as various sweets and beverages available throughout the day.  This service was available to all the Lagoon view rooms at the resort. The King Kamehameha lounge does not exist anymore as it was swallowed up by the sprawling Boutiki gift shop.

    In July of 1994 the concierge lounge was relocated to the Tonga (now called Hawaii) longhouse, which required major modifications to the building.   The west end of the building was remodeled to include a three level "wing" with desks on the lower level for guest services.

  
    A second level that housed the kitchen area and main seating area as well as a big screen tv,  before big screens were the norm.  I watched many a Super Bowls here as that was the time of year that we would head down.  My family would usually stay in some other longhouse and my grandfather would somehow get us access every time we went.  A smooth talking son of a gun.

I swear there used to be a bigger tv than this

   The third level was a more quaint area that included a seating area with books to read and a couple of tables with checker games set up that used shells as chips.

     This area also had a single men's and women's bathroom located upstairs, which was very useful when you had a family of five and only one bathroom in the room.

     The food options were vast throughout the day.  Breakfast included many pastries, muffins, breads,  cold cereals, fruits, juices, and coffees.  Lunch was more snack like options and small sandwiches.  And for dinner they expanded to include many different options that varied day to day.  Sometimes there was sushi other times there was chicken wings.  Foods that were pretty filling and you could substitute for a meal if need be.

      In the evening there were also adult beverage options for a little night cap.  Or come down and have a drink before you head out for the night.  Maybe off to Pleasure Island to celebrate the New Year?  Options included beer, wine, and various liquors.

Dick, the famous personality of many years.On the left.

    I feel like the concierge experience used to be an added bonus to your stay at a nice resort.  Now it seems like people are trying to "get their monies worth" when it comes to this offering, which has lead to more of a cafeteria experience than a "lounge" experience. There have been many changes to this area since these pictures were taken, and I hope to document them on my upcoming trip for reference.  Disney has added more table seating and removed the couches to allow for more families to eat their breakfast and get to the parks and spend more money.  The food offerings seem comprable to what they used to be, but the atmosphere is definitely lacking compared back in the late '90's when I actually used to hang out here and watch old Donald Duck shorts.  Or the great programming that used to be shown on the Disney Channel.  I am glad I got to enjoy these offerings when it was in its prime.    Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to get a lot more of my WDW info and pics out to the masses soon. 

 

Thunder in Paradise Filming at Grand Floridian

     About a year ago I posted some pictures from the set for Thunder in Paradise located at the Grand Floridian.  It has been by far the most visited post that I have written so far.  This was a great time to be in Walt Disney World. Back when The MGM Studios actually had filming taking place, and all the tours were really detailed and incredibly interesting.  As well as being able to see things that were completely relevant and you might see on television or in the theater one day. That being, I think all of you who enjoyed my picture will thoroughly enjoy this as well. This is a quick companion post with some video that was taken when we visited the set while staying at the Polynesian.  Enjoy!

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20th Anniversary Surprise Celebration Parade

    The 20th anniversary surprise celebration at Walt Disney World was a 15 month long campaign which began in 1991.  The celebration included a daytime show at EPCOT Center called Surprise in The Skies, the debut of Spectromagic, as well as a new daytime parade that took place in the Magic Kingdom. Guests would also be randomly surprised with 20th anniversary themed merchandise.

    The Magic Kingdom parade had it's origins beginning at Disneyland.  The parade was called Party Gras, and ran for about 11 months for the 35th anniversary of Disneyland.  This was a hugely popular parade and was arguably the most popular part of the 35th anniversary celebration.  The parade only ran for less than a year during 1990 because of the incoming Celebration USA parade.

   This parade was pretty much just sitting unused in California.  So in typical Disney fashion, why not haul the parade over to Walt Disney World to be used during the 20th anniversary celebration.  The only problem with this was that the themes of Mardi Gras and Carnival did not entirely gel with the theme of the "surprise" celebration on the east coast.  But they went along with it anyway being that this was the most economically feasible option.

    The parade featured massive character balloons that stood around 40 feet tall.  These balloons featured the Fab 5 as well as Roger Rabbit.  The floats did receive some aesthetic upgrades and an entirely new Mickey balloon for the stint at WDW.  The Disneyland version portrayed Mickey in his sorcerer garb.  

Cinderella and Snow White Graced this float

   The parade also featured characters from Pinocchio and the Jungle Book.  As well as Chip and Dale in their own individual mini floats and various dancers and unique costumed characters.

    Although the parade did not have all the fantastic elements that made the Disneyland parade so popular, it did have enough staying power to last for almost 3 years. This parade ran throughout the celebration and for a couple years after, until the ever popular Mickey Mania parade replaced it in 1994. 

Drinks of The Past part 3

        This is the third part of my drink recipe posts from the past at Walt Disney World.  Here you can find Part 1 and Part 2.  These recipes are from the Cooking Around Our World  cookbook from 1986.
 
        Not all of the beverages in this cookbook contain alcohol.  For example, the Tavern Lemon Sherbet Punch is from the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom, which of course does not serve alcohol.  The drink includes lemon juice, lemon sherbet, club soda, and strawberries. Blend with ice and enjoy.

         A lot of the places where these drinks were served are either not in existence, or operate under a different name.  The Coconino Cove was an oyster bar located at the far southern end of the Grand Canyon Concourse in the Contemporary Resort.  The sprawling Chef Mickey's now occupies the space where it was located.  Chef Mickey's also swallowed up the Contemporary Cafe, as well as the Pueblo Room.

     There seemed to be many more places to eat and drink in the original hotels before the massive expansion of hotel rooms on property beginning in the eighties.  Which led to many of the small establishments closing as demand was spread around property.
   
     I hope some of these drink recipes will take the heat out of the summer, and make lounging on the patio a lot more enjoyable.  While, of course, dreaming of Walt Disney World of yesteryear. The next part in my recipe series will start to focus on the appetizers served in the restaurants around Walt Disney World.  Enjoy!

The 15 Years of Magic

       The 15 years of Magic celebration ran from October 1st, 1986 through September 30th, 1987.  At this time in Walt Disney World history there were still just two parks in existence.  Both parks celebrated the milestone with entrance displays unique to the park in which it resided.  The logo that was developed for this celebration combined both parks icons.  Spaceship Earth and Cinderella Castle combined to form this iconic logo.  The anthem for this birthday celebration was "Only Just Begun".  Which is a pledge that there is much more magic to come in the future.