Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=73749" target="_blank"><b>Latest: 2719Hyperion: The Lake Buena Vista Story 1975-1982</b></a> <p>Learn more about Walt Disney World's early history as 2719 Hyperion takes readers back to the development of the Lake Buena Vista region in a multi-part series.</p>
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Very interesting reading and finally some proof (to me anyway) that there really was a firm intent to bring the monorail over to Downtown Disney. Considering the traffic and congestion one runs into on a regular basis there it seems that NOT following through has been a bit of a mistake. Imagine what they could do over there if they even got rid of half the parking places that are currently there.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Great stuff ... I actually have some of that art (including the model with the monorail) from some 1970s company pubs. Can't help but think that version would be better than the current one.
Originally Posted By MPierce What a great read. I some how missed this when it was first posted. Everyone interested in WDW history should read these articles. A couple of things really jumped out at me. >> Disney themselves certainly never made too many claims that the actual experience of the rooms in their resorts was much to write home about, and priced them competitively in the 1970’s to make staying on property not only convenient but affordable. << What happened to this concept? >> “But what [Walt Disney] really wanted to do [in Florida] was develop an area where all types of corporations, governments, and academia could come together to really try and solve some of the problems that exist in the world today. We started with the recreation area, and then began the community, which is Walt Disney World Village, and now we’re building the center … Epcot Center, and we’re going to connect it all with the monorail system. […] In addition, we have some dreams for the Walt Disney World Village. From the Empress Lilly, we’re going into a New Orleans street, and you’ll walk right into a beautiful New Orleans hotel.”<< >> To this end, in 1981, Disney began to purchase extra monorail beams and pillars from Morrison-Knudsen, a concrete manufacturer, who had also supplied the beams for EPCOT Center at a very reasonable price. Since 1977 Disney had been publishing and promoting a little model showing an expanded Walt Disney World Village, complete with a fully realized office complex, an expanded shopping village, and a monorail and peoplemover running through it – yes, a Peoplemover. As of 1976 the Lake Buena Vista Land Company had begun to plan for a Peoplemover to bring guests from the Motor Plaza hotels into the Village, stopping at the Pottery Chalet, and then moving on. On to where? Well.. “Future plans in the commercial area include a two million square foot office park to be developed in the next ten years. The project is contemplated as the headquarters offices for major financial institutions as well as for local professional business. The shopping village will be expanded in the next ten years to approximately 300,000 square feet. A multi-modal station will become the focal point for both the city [Lake Buena Vista] circulation system and the regional transportation network. There will be medium to high density living units constructed near the village lake front to create the balance of day and night activities in the commercial center.” This multi-modal station would comprise bus, taxi, monorail and peoplemover transportation. According to “Lake Buena Vista Peoplemover”, a project proposal published in 1976 and from which the above is quoted, the station would link in with city and regional transportation with the aim of developing a city center “completely void of the private automobile”. This is a manifestation of Disney’s then-commitment to working with the state of Florida, which even in the early 1970’s was rapidly becoming one of the most quickly growing urban areas in the country and much of the local government’s interests at the time were geared towards reducing vehicular congestion. Interstate 4 was online as early as 1957, and in 1971 Disney had quickly constructed a “STOLport”, a small landing strip meant for intra-state commuter planes, another ambitious attempt by then Florida governor Reuben Askew to alleviate traffic congestion. The Florida state flight industry dried up before it even got started, and today the Walt Disney World STOLport sits abandoned. But a transit hub is undeniably a cornerstone of a growing community, which is what Lake Buena Vista was going to be. According to Disney’s plan, the Lake Buena Vista Villas was phase one of an elaborate four-community vacation community, comprising recreation themed communities – golf, tennis, boating and horses – and a transient population of 30,000! A transient population of 30,000? A peoplemover through a downtown area of shopping and dining? Commercial highrises? Monorails? Modern homes situated in grassy, pastoral suburbs along cul-de-sacs instead of grids? Haven’t we heard this before? That’s right, it’s nearly every component of Walt Disney’s Progress City – only spread out across a huge area instead of the compact circle Walt Disney was envisioning in 1966. Disney was building a community – a real community – or at least trying to. << Has Disney lost the vision?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Has Disney lost the vision?>> Not at all. The vision has just changed. Imagine in the 70s or 80s talking about Disney being a huge player in the sleazy timeshare business? Imagine in the 70s or 80s Disney opting to spend millions on smog-belching, road-clogging buses instead of expanding monorail and watercraft transport? You can on and on (I usually do) ... but the vision of WDW in Burbank and at TDO has changed profoundly since those plans were talked about. It certainly doesn't make everything they've done bad. But the vision for today is much more Walmart and much less Nordstrom ... and it shows.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I honestly thought everyone knew all this but just didn't care...?>> Most folks don't know about WDW's early history and plans, even on a site like this. And on other sites (like the one you used to post on)? VERY few people have a clue.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Well if some people weren't so busy undermining my efforts to undermine them then there'd be a whole lot more knowledge out there, wouldn't there?
Originally Posted By Manfried You can either undermine, or find a positive proactive way to effect change. That's why I rail about Al Lutz. That type of negative writing has a bad effect, just like my negative posts about Al do. I think that a better way to get those monorails or people movers out is to do a 10-year cost analysis. Include the cost of replacing the buses, the labor, etc. Do the same for monorails. Would be an interesting comparison.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I also thought this was a very interesting read. I know a decent ammount about the history of the parks in WDW, but it's pretty tough to find information about the Village area. The most I knew was that there was a shopping area there that eventually morphed into DTD, and a residence area that became the Disney Institute and later Saratoga Springs, but with little more detail than that. I'm looking forward to the next installment to find out more about the Disney Institute, since all I really know is that it was there, they had some artsy-type classes, and it failed miserably. "...spend millions on smog-belching, road-clogging buses instead of expanding monorail and watercraft transport?" Because the watercraft don't pollute either? Those engines put out far nastier stuff than the busses, but they're just infrequent enough that it mixes in with the fresh air around them so you don't notice it as much.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I honestly thought everyone knew all this but just didn't care...? << Well Merf, most of my life I spent either trying to make a living, meet girls or abusing my body with decadent worldly pleasures. Disney took a back burner to everything else going on in my life. So the article was interesting to me.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Not at all. The vision has just changed. But the vision for today is much more Walmart and much less Nordstrom ... and it shows. << I think I liked the old vision more.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Well if some people weren't so busy undermining my efforts to undermine them then there'd be a whole lot more knowledge out there, wouldn't there? << I'm confused once again. Exactly who is undermining you, and who are you trying to undermine?
