When I went as a "kid"--from 1980-92 or so, we had "key" cards--credit card type things, kind of like the room keys they have today, but with impressed numbers. You used them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, little speed boat rentals and to get into the parks.
Gosh! Do I ever remember Key Cards!
All of my visits to the Contemporary during the 1980's were accompanied by Key Cards.
My nephew (more like a little brother, as he's only 3 years younger than me) and I used to go all over the park by ourselves with those Key Cards.
We'd "ditch" the parents, hop on the monorail or a Disney Bus and hit the parks. At lunch time, we'd head over to the Empress Lilly River Boat and each of us would order an appetizer, a salad, soup, an entree (always Lobster Tail...for like $40 each) and a huge dessert. We had our choice of beverages. Decadence!
The CM's would smile (maybe because we were all of 14 and 11 years old and ordering lobster tail) and when the check came, we'd hand over our Key Card and not only would the meal be covered with no charge to our room, but the server would get a 15% tip, too.
Then we'd head back to the Contemporary Resort and take out a mouseboat (in those days, I think they were called Water Sprites). Then, we'd spend several hours zipping around Bay Lake.
Gosh, the Key Cards were wonderful. Back then, they came with something called THE PLAN. And being "on the plan" SAVED MONEY.
We had our room in the Contemporary Tower, unlimited admission to the parks, unlimited use of water craft (even water skiing was absolutely free), unlimited meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner (with appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert and beverage...at ANY RESTAURANT in the World), and unlimited tours & classes.
I took a great class with a behind the scenes look at entertainment in the MK (tour of the underground, etc.). I received this neat hardback book with information to help me decide if I wanted a career in the entertainment industry and had the opportunity to visit the Diamond Horseshoe Revue and meet with the stars. My nephew took the Disney Animation class and met with animators. It was a hoot!
I remember going to the Empress Room aboard the Empress Lilly River Boat and at the end of the meal, our server brought us the check. My brother-in-law almost had a heart attack, because for the 5 of us, it was $450 (before the tip...which I think 20% was included with the plan for the nicer restaurants like this one). I remember him telling my sister, "We're going to get a bill for this when we get home, this can't be legal." But it was. All of it was included in THE PLAN.
However, the five of us probably gained 10 pounds each in the space of nine days. We'd never eaten so much food in all our lives. Thank goodness we were walking a lot, too.
The cost of the plan was so reasonable back then. We got our Key Cards for just a little more than the price of the room and theme park admission.
One last memory! Does anyone remember the Gulf Coast Room at the Contemporary Resort?
It was such a nice little restaurant. Reminds me somewhat of Victoria & Alberts. We used to visit once or twice on every trip.
Our favorite server carried two polaroids in his pocket of his "pride and joy"...one picture was of a box of Pride Detergent and the other picture was of a bottle of Joy Dishwashing Liquid.
He made such a big deal about showing us these two pictures of his PRIDE AND JOY that when he finally did show us the pictures it was a riot. He had other corny jokes too. I wish I could remember them.
You would think his humor would stick out like a sore thumb in such a formal restaurant, but it was wonderful. I think he serenaded us with a violin, too. Wish I could remember for sure.
Does anyone remember this restaurant? I still have my book of matches (wood grain background with a pink rose and gold stem).
Ahhh...the memories.
