Originally Posted By DisneybyMark Ah, I remember the days back in 1975 of that sleepy little village on a back road to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. They called it “Lake Buena Vistas Shopping Village” it was mighty peaceful, in fact it was too peaceful for some folk. So it was decided to change the name of the place to “Walt Disney World Village” in the hope of drawing better crowds. Here we have two maps. One from the fall of 1975 and another from the summer of 1978. <a href="http://www.disneybymark.com/2011/07/24/a-journey-back-lake-buena-vista-village/" target="_blank">http://www.disneybymark.com/20...village/</a>
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I remember that. I have a picture at home taken from the high floors of one of the nearby hotel. The trees were EVERYwhere.
Originally Posted By ChiMike Not only was the village way nicer than what we have today, the hotels like the Palace offered really great accomodations with great service. They couldn't keep up with time, progress, and disney's own competition
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA We were just reminiscing about The Disney Village... Thanks for the photo. I visited WDW for the very first time in 1986, and the Village was still quaint and sophisticated and in a neat, out of the way location. Sort of like what Hilton Head was like 20 years ago.
Originally Posted By ChiMike That's a great analogy Jim. Just like the hotels, the villas surrounding the golf course really added to the Hilton Head like vibe. I was never really big about spending time there, but one time a group I was with stayed at the Palace because the Polynesian was booked, and the Village shopping area certainly help compliment the stay across the street. Like a lot of coastal Florida, the Village was something high-class (with local flavor) for the time period, but has been over-run by an overpowering amount of tacky and commercial commerce.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^^Indeed, Mike. Somewhere along the line, the 'go-go-go' mentality in entertainment superseded anything else. A slow paced, casual shopping experience is now looked upon as out-dated and even corny. That, and the constant 'profit center' overview -- that every, frickin' square inch of property has to make money. In a recent Time magazine article they blamed all the MBAs for that type of thinking. In essence, you want to run a shoe company? Be sure you have someone who knows shoes running the company. Preferably even someone who has made shoes. But I digest...
Originally Posted By Rsey103 I worked at WDW Village in the 80's--both in mdse in the shops and in foods at the Lake Buena Vista Club. That corner of the World has been subject to the most change over the years---and not for the better. I think it was orginally designed with the locals in mind, but the tourists liked it too. An interesting thing about the Village is there was NO character merchandise there in the beginning! Can you imagine? Then, for a long time, character merchandise for the entire Village was limited to ONE RACK of product in the It's A Small World children's clothing store. You could say it grew from there... <ha> When I worked there, our shop had large windows that offered nice views of the promenade, the Empress Lilly, and the lake. In 2010, I stood at those same windows and could not even see the lake because of the many kiosks hawking this and that on the walkway... And Buena Vista means---GOOD VIEW. (Don't get me started.) I have fond memories of the annual art show and boat show---and of the days when the Village offered merchandise that you could not find anywhere else on property. I worked at the Lake Buena Vista Club the summer of 1982. That was interesting because it was the leadup to the opening of Epcot and many Disney Imagineers and executives from Ca. lunched there daily. I met John Hench. I remember Ward Kimbal coming in with those big round eyeglasses and silver hair---wearing boots with mud on them from the Epcot construction site. I remember the day Card Walker came in for lunch and everyone in the dining room stood up until he was seated. I remember the terrific French onion soup we had on the menu there.. I remember overhearing one gentleman say, "He thinks he's the next Walt Disney."
Originally Posted By ChiMike Great thoughts Rsey! Thanks for sharing them. >>In 2010, I stood at those same windows and could not even see the lake because of the many kiosks hawking this and that on the walkway...<< This was my absolute biggest turn-off. In fact, one of my biggest turn-offs in the parks too. On a crowded night, nothing is worse than those tacky carts. I feel I am in some hellish Chicago mall. They don't sell anything of value and are only there to create impulse purchases from ADD tourists. There is enough retail and dining square footage across property to effectively extract money from tourists. These ODV carts are simply lazy, easy ways to do it in a less than Disney fashion. Disney doesn't even need to expend any effort in providing a shopping experience with nice stores, nice staff, nice merchandise. It's really troubling when you go near a World Showcase or MK store that is now shuttered and repurposed to only see 3 or 4 ODV carts in the vicinity. Last time I was at MGM, you know that park that everyone says is so small that it is a 'half-day' park? Well, there were three active DVC kiosks. THREE! In MGM. Talk about throwing mud against a wall to see where it sticks.
Originally Posted By tonyanton Loved the Village as a kid on my first trips to WDW...The Empress Lilly is sorely missed! I don't know if I'll even bother to go to Downtown Disney on my upcoming trip....what shopping is there that I can't get in a million other stores on property?
Originally Posted By Bolna Even though I cannot add anything to this topic since I have never experienced LBV, I just wanted to say that I appreciate it very much when those who have share their stories from the past. I really enjoy reading your tales!
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 The Village back then was very cool. It's been about 4 years since I was last there.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Another contrast between then and now… Then--- We were always busy…and sometimes very busy…selling merchandise in the Village---from the time we unlocked the doors at 10 in the morning until closing at 10 in the evening. I remember one day we had so much money in the cash registers the drawers wouldn’t close. We had to call in people from other offices to help count the money and get it locked in bags and dropped in the safe. When the safe filled up and we couldn’t drop any more bags in we had to call for a truck to come and get it. Now--- When I walked through the shops in 2010 I consistently observed cast members standing around talking to one another and telling guests where the restrooms were. Cash registers sat idle. Merchandise that you could find anywhere was piled to the ceiling. Guests were looking and walking out… It didn't used to be that way.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Does it have to do with unless it's a speciality store you can find most of this stuff at your hotel or in the parks?
Originally Posted By tonyanton Rsey...when did you work there? I remember going during early visits in '81 and '83 and having a great time (and I was a kid!). The character shop was very small (Pooh's Character Shop) with a "floating" on balloon Pooh inside. I think in '86 was when the first "big" character shop opened, but there was still mostly non-Disney merchandise shops along with more trees, shade, and water features.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Yes, the Character Shop was where I worked. Then, I was one of the 'leads' who helped open the expanded Character Shop in what was the old Port of Entry space.
Originally Posted By standor I remember going to Chef Mickey for breakfast and the atmosphere was great. Every once in a while the wait staff would give a show. The would sing the Mickey Mouse Club song and dance and have fun with the kids. I loved the archiecture of the buildings and how relaxing it was sitting on a bench near the lake. Empress Lilly was a great restaurant. Why did they ever build Downtown Disney? It's like shopping at a local strip mall.
Originally Posted By PotNoodle I miss it as well. I remember eating in the Empress Lily, too. I was 10 at the time and remember feeling disappointed finding out that the boat was stationary. I also remember it was the first time I'd tried shrimp-flavored rice crackers from the Gourmet Pantry--heady stuff for a young girl from the Midwest. It was a calm and understated place, lots of unique little shops. I haven't been in about 6 years. We used to pop in for food at the Earl or Sandwich before going to the airport. We stopped going; it's too ugly and the stores are the same ones I see at every mall, as others have said. It's just garish, loud and tacky. It's no longer worthy of my consideration.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney In 1983 I went to WDW with my family. There is very little I remember except: We stayed at the Palace, which I loved! We at at a character breakfast on a riverboat on the lake and got a mickey head balloon. I gave my balloon to a small child who was crying in the line to get into MK. My brother and I took an ecology class where the teachers drove us through an area with a lot of alligators, and we went to an island that had birds. I remembered EPCOT the most, but don't remember doing any shopping in this village. Is the Palace in this picture? We didn't go to Downtown Disney on our trip last year, even though we had never been, because it looked very similar to the DTD here in CA.
