colleen costello
DVC Fan
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2002
- Messages
- 3,229
December 26th was my 20th wedding anniversary. DH and I are in Florida for the holidays with my parents who live an hour from Mickey. They watched the kids for us that evening and we spent some time at the Contemporary.
We hung out for a while before heading up for a wonderful dinner at the California Grill. The whole place is looking so much better after long-overdue TLC. The main entrance still needs upgrading but once inside things are much improved. Check-in is just inside the entrance now, and the whole area has new paint and carpet. We noticed that the Pinocchio Christmas scene is no longer there -- it is up in the Concourse now.
We went up to the 2nd floor to see where we would check in for Cali Grill, and this area was loking very nice as well. New geometric-print carpet and paint in muted colors is everywhere. The area was rather deserted as I guess there are no conventions going on right after Christmas.
Next we headed up to the 4th floor Concourse. It was bustling with activity. The new arcade was very busy and the center gift shop -- which you enter at either end by walking under GIANT Mickey heads -- was full of shoppers. This central store has all the goodies that used to be in the shop where the arcade is now. Across the way, what used to be Bayview Gifts -- maybe it still is? -- looks about the same. This store has lots of clothing and a great line of kitchen stuff, and they have added a shiny candy counter that offered chocolates and fudge.
A nice CM explained that Chef Mickey's will soon expand sort of "sideways" toward the lounge, and the lounge and Concourse Steakhouse will go down in the basement level where the arcade used to be. Part of the existing lounge is now serving as the "grab and go" food area and this results in the whole center of the Concourse smelling like burning pizza. This quick-food place will ultimately be where the steakhouse is now, according to the Cast Member.
The most exciting thing for me was the HUGE building that is obviously Contemporary DVC. What a thrill to see a building that CLEARLY matches the artist rendering that was posted here "way back when" after some serious sleuthing on the Internet... The building is now a solid 3 stories tall, with huge cranes towering over it to build upward. It is definitely a crescent shape, with the inside of the curve facing the lake. My favorite thing to see was the pylons for what will be the walkway from the new building into the Concourse -- you can clearly see them! I did not realize that so much building would go on with no formal announcement, and seeing the poor woman at the DVC desk dodging repeated questions about "What is THAT?" was pretty funny. One man who came up got downright angry with her -- saying "Well how stupid is it to not tell people what that HUGE thing is when it is obviously RIGHT THERE?" The building is like the 500-pound gorilla that no one can discuss! I laughed and told that man all the details I heard HERE - -I said "Hey, I can talk about it; I don't work for Disney!" Later the DVC woman laughed that they had all been threatened that if they discussed it AT ALL they would be immediately terminated... DH and I found this kind of sad and commented to her that the hours spent at this DVC kiosk must be a real pain because you look like an idiot saying "Can't discuss it" when the new building is right there -- but they all rotate locations so no one sits at that desk all the time. She later said she felt DVC was about to "explode" because they are hiring tons of new reps and said we should all stock up on DVC logo merchandise as "The name is about to change" to DVC "worldwide" or DVC "global" (or something like that -- I remember it was a real mouthful) that represents the new focus of the club with locations ALL OVER. She also said the new logo had "no mountains." We'll see!
Being at the Contemporary was very exciting that evening. I really did feel like I was in "the middle of the action" and it will be very cool when they finally DO announce the project and share some details. We had a wonderful dinner at California Grill, with Holiday Wishes unfolding below us as we enjoyed dessert, and I thought about how wonderful it will be to stay there someday. We wondered just when this place would actually OPEN -- we figured about 2 years from now? Something special to look forward to!
Also, off topic, for those of you who have not yet seen the new Christmas lights on the Castle... It is beyond description, breathtaking. The lights seem to shimmer and it is more "glowing" than lit up. Make plans to visit WDW at holiday time and I assure you that those lights could beat the Scrooge out of anyone.
Happy New Year to everyone!
We hung out for a while before heading up for a wonderful dinner at the California Grill. The whole place is looking so much better after long-overdue TLC. The main entrance still needs upgrading but once inside things are much improved. Check-in is just inside the entrance now, and the whole area has new paint and carpet. We noticed that the Pinocchio Christmas scene is no longer there -- it is up in the Concourse now.
We went up to the 2nd floor to see where we would check in for Cali Grill, and this area was loking very nice as well. New geometric-print carpet and paint in muted colors is everywhere. The area was rather deserted as I guess there are no conventions going on right after Christmas.
Next we headed up to the 4th floor Concourse. It was bustling with activity. The new arcade was very busy and the center gift shop -- which you enter at either end by walking under GIANT Mickey heads -- was full of shoppers. This central store has all the goodies that used to be in the shop where the arcade is now. Across the way, what used to be Bayview Gifts -- maybe it still is? -- looks about the same. This store has lots of clothing and a great line of kitchen stuff, and they have added a shiny candy counter that offered chocolates and fudge.
A nice CM explained that Chef Mickey's will soon expand sort of "sideways" toward the lounge, and the lounge and Concourse Steakhouse will go down in the basement level where the arcade used to be. Part of the existing lounge is now serving as the "grab and go" food area and this results in the whole center of the Concourse smelling like burning pizza. This quick-food place will ultimately be where the steakhouse is now, according to the Cast Member.
The most exciting thing for me was the HUGE building that is obviously Contemporary DVC. What a thrill to see a building that CLEARLY matches the artist rendering that was posted here "way back when" after some serious sleuthing on the Internet... The building is now a solid 3 stories tall, with huge cranes towering over it to build upward. It is definitely a crescent shape, with the inside of the curve facing the lake. My favorite thing to see was the pylons for what will be the walkway from the new building into the Concourse -- you can clearly see them! I did not realize that so much building would go on with no formal announcement, and seeing the poor woman at the DVC desk dodging repeated questions about "What is THAT?" was pretty funny. One man who came up got downright angry with her -- saying "Well how stupid is it to not tell people what that HUGE thing is when it is obviously RIGHT THERE?" The building is like the 500-pound gorilla that no one can discuss! I laughed and told that man all the details I heard HERE - -I said "Hey, I can talk about it; I don't work for Disney!" Later the DVC woman laughed that they had all been threatened that if they discussed it AT ALL they would be immediately terminated... DH and I found this kind of sad and commented to her that the hours spent at this DVC kiosk must be a real pain because you look like an idiot saying "Can't discuss it" when the new building is right there -- but they all rotate locations so no one sits at that desk all the time. She later said she felt DVC was about to "explode" because they are hiring tons of new reps and said we should all stock up on DVC logo merchandise as "The name is about to change" to DVC "worldwide" or DVC "global" (or something like that -- I remember it was a real mouthful) that represents the new focus of the club with locations ALL OVER. She also said the new logo had "no mountains." We'll see!
Being at the Contemporary was very exciting that evening. I really did feel like I was in "the middle of the action" and it will be very cool when they finally DO announce the project and share some details. We had a wonderful dinner at California Grill, with Holiday Wishes unfolding below us as we enjoyed dessert, and I thought about how wonderful it will be to stay there someday. We wondered just when this place would actually OPEN -- we figured about 2 years from now? Something special to look forward to!
Also, off topic, for those of you who have not yet seen the new Christmas lights on the Castle... It is beyond description, breathtaking. The lights seem to shimmer and it is more "glowing" than lit up. Make plans to visit WDW at holiday time and I assure you that those lights could beat the Scrooge out of anyone.
Happy New Year to everyone!
no mountains? mountains are symbolic both @ DL & WDW parks, mistake imo
