Originally Posted By Rsey103 At Saratoga, what are they now doing with the nice little theatre that was part of The Disney Institute? [In the summer of 1982 I was a cast member at The Lake Buena Vista Club---now called the Turf Club Bar and Grill, correct? Memories....]
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I believe none of the Disney Institute buildings remain. They were all bulldozed and replaced with new construction. Sorry... I guess your memories are all you'll have.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 You know what they should do? Build Treehouse Villas at DAK! I understand they closed the very popular Treehouse Villas at LBV....
Originally Posted By Rsey103 >>I believe none of the Disney Institute buildings remain. They were all bulldozed and replaced with new construction.<< The Lake Buena Vista Club (and pool)existed before TDI. It wasn't built for the Institute. It's still there, isn't it? Just with a different name? Please tell me it is.....
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<At Saratoga, what are they now doing with the nice little theatre that was part of The Disney Institute?>> It is still there. I have no idea if it is used for anything other than DVC sales meetings, though. <<[In the summer of 1982 I was a cast member at The Lake Buena Vista Club---now called the Turf Club Bar and Grill, correct? Memories....]>> Yeah. The Turf Club is one of those little unknown gems of WDW dining ... don't tell anyone or Disney will ruin it.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<The Lake Buena Vista Club (and pool)existed before TDI. It wasn't built for the Institute. It's still there, isn't it? Just with a different name? Please tell me it is.....>> The Lake Buena Vista Golf Clubhouse remains, but the Turf Club Bar & Grill is part of the new Saratoga Springs development.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<The Lake Buena Vista Club (and pool)existed before TDI. It wasn't built for the Institute. It's still there, isn't it? Just with a different name? Please tell me it is.....>> The pool is long gone, but the Club became the Institute's main lobby/checkin facility and that carried over to SS. You can't believe half of what Trippy says, he's from Minnesota. <<I understand they closed the very popular Treehouse Villas at LBV....>> They are closed to the public, but still exist. They are used to house International Program CMs.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Yeah. The Turf Club is one of those little unknown gems of WDW dining ... don't tell anyone or Disney will ruin it.>> OK, now I'm confused. Are there TWO restaurants named that? When we purchased our DVC points we toured the Turf Club Bar & Grill and it was without a doubt part of the new Saratoga Springs development.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 That would be the one, I suppose. High ceiling, wrap-around picture window views of the lake, golf course, and swimming pool that's no longer there? It's still fine dining, I hope....
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Oh, I also wouldn't call it fine dining. Nothing like the old LBV Club. It is quality, full-serve dining though. My biggest complaint is the menu is VERY limited, even by WDW standards. But everything is quite tasty.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 I met John Hench, Marty Sklar, Ward Kimball, and others while working there during the summer leading up to the opening of Epcot Center. Those were the days....
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Nothing like the old LBV Club.>> OK... so it is a new restaurant, which I figured it had to be. Is it in the original LBV Clubhouse Building? If so, the building has been totally gutted and reconfigured for its present use. And it must have been the strangest looking golf clubhouse ever built!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip OK. Once again The Spirit is right and Trippy is wrong. Disney Institute: <a href="http://homepage1.nifty.com/shippo-techi/imageinsti/institute.jpg" target="_blank">http://homepage1.nifty.com/shi ppo-techi/imageinsti/institute.jpg</a> Saratoga Springs: http://albums.mouseplanet.com/WDWSaratogaSpringsProcessed/SSR_pool_carriage_house_bennett.jpg Yes, the red octagonal tower in the background in both pictures does seem amazingly similar.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "At Saratoga, what are they now doing with the nice little theatre that was part of The Disney Institute?" My high school's bands and orchestra played there a couple years ago as part of a competetion called Festival Disney. It was just one of several that Disney was doing over the course of a couple months, along with the regular Magic Music Days.
Originally Posted By DWlover "People who absolutely refuse to work with Disney deserve whatever they end up getting. Which may be a Motel 6 down on Hwy 192." - Roadtrip Thanks for your support ROADTRIP. We have had this vacation booked for months. There are 11 of us going and we choose the AKL for its great atmosphere - a couple of us have stayed there before. We are familiar with the Saratoga Springs resort - however we had a family vacation to the actual Saratoga Springs NY last year and we do not wish to go to Florida to visit again. We have many young children in our party and staying at Saratoga Springs does not seem like a great alternative - perhaps if we had been offered Wilderness Lodge or something a little more Disney and kid friendly we would consider. We would have booked these other resorts when we first planned our vacation, however Disney was glad to take our $11,000 and sign us up for the AKL. What would you do if you were in the same situation? You seem to have all the answers.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<You seem to have all the answers.>> No, I just know you will get nowhere by being obstinate with Disney. You also might want to think about how badly you want to stay in a place that Disney originally wanted to keep open but then decided was not fit for habitation during construction. What type of units did they offer at Saratoga Springs? If they just offered Studios you might want to negotiate for One Bedroom units. If you don't like Saratoga Springs you might want to check if they have options available for Old Key West. If you work WITH them I'm sure WDW will come up with something workable for you. If you just "flatly refuse" to do so; well... you will get what you get.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<We would have booked these other resorts when we first planned our vacation, however Disney was glad to take our $11,000 and sign us up for the AKL. What would you do if you were in the same situation? You seem to have all the answers.>> I DO have one answer. NEVER book a Disney vacation where they require the entire payment up front. You should never have to pay more than a one day deposit to hold your reservation. I know this does not apply when you book though Disney Vacations or some other travel agent. So I guess a word to the wise would be to NEVER use them. You can arrange a far better vacation on your own.
Originally Posted By MPierce WDW definetly dropped the ball on this one. If you had your heart set on AKL, and you think it would spoil your trip I would request a refund immediately, and try to make the most of it. They are not moving everyone there to other resorts, so you might still be at AKL when it's all said, and done. However you might not be happy with the quality of the experience with construction going on. WDW is very protective of the animals there, so it's hard to say if you will get the full enjoyment of what AKL has to offer. I really don't think they would attempt to downgrade you to a lesser resort when you arrive. If not give SSR a try, I had friens who stayed there, and they really enjoyed it. I do understand how you fee, but SSR is a beautiful area.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 DWlover, I would call to Disney Reservations and see what's available for your dates without giving your old info ... in other words, either lie, give another name or have someone else call. Find out EXACTLY what is available for those dates ... and THEN call back to whatever person(s) you were told would move you and ask them what they can do ... be nice, but be firm. If they try and say 'well, the only thing we have available is SS' and you know that isn't true, PIN THEM ON IT. They want to put people at SS because that's where they have the greatest availablility/difficulty filling ... they may well have WL, YC, Poly or whatever open as well, but they don't struggle to fill those resorts and at rack rate. I doubt they want to give you a room at the Poly for $200 a night when they can get someone else to pay twice a s much. But that shouldn't be YOUR problem. They're inconveniencing you and screwing up your magical WDW vacation. You should be upgraded for your trouble and certainly not told 'well, it's SS or nothing' for you because there always is a way to move folks.
