Greg K.
Happy DVC Member, DIS Vet, and Catholic Deacon
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 1,788
Found this on the wire a short time ago...very interesting, I thought!
---
BC-War-Disney-Military Resort, 1st Ld-Writethru,0604
Plenty of guests staying at a Florida military resort that serves soldiers and families
By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - While Walt Disney World hotels brace for fewer guests due to the war, one resort at the theme park is expecting business to be brisk for the next several months.
Reservations at Shades of Green have been brisk. It's one of four places where the U.S. Army runs resort facilities that cater to military families. Others are in Germany, South Korea and Hawaii.
"We're seeing the reverse, people saying, 'I may be deployed in a couple of months. I'd like to take my family on vacation before I go,"' said Melissa Colvin, director of hotel operations for Shades of Green.
The guests are acutely aware that their friends and relatives are fighting in the Iraqi desert or are on ships in the Persian Gulf. And some of the guests could be shipped off soon as well.
"It's hard when they're over there and I'm here," said 2nd Lt. Bryan Brady, 33, a platoon leader with the Army National Guard in Pennsylvania who was staying at Shades of Green with his wife, Regina, and 5-year-old son, Ian.
Shades of Green has an occupancy rate of more than 95 percent. By contrast, other hotels in the area of Walt Disney World had average occupancy rates of 71 percent in February, a 10 percent decline from the same time last year, according to Smith Travel Research.
Current Shades of Green guests are staying in temporary housing while the resort undergoes a $90 million expansion to double its size. The renovated resort will have 586 rooms and is scheduled to reopen in December.
The resort opened in 1994 to the families of any member of the armed services, the National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, military retirees and civilian employees of the Department of Defense.
It offers cut-rate prices for luxury hotel rooms and discounts on theme park tickets. Everything is tax-free and lower-ranking visitors pay cheaper rates.
Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and there typically is a six-to-eight-month waiting list at any given time. None of the resorts' operating costs come from taxpayers.
Although the resort gives soldiers and their families a place to escape the worries of the conflict, the war does come up.
"Some people have a general sense of guilt because we're here on vacation," said Lisa McCann, whose husband, Chris, is a chief petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard in St. Petersburg. The couple stayed at Shades of Green with their 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
The U.S. Army got into the resort business after World War II when U.S. soldiers confiscated Nazi properties in southern Bavaria and turned them into hotels. In 1972, the U.S. Army opened the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii, and the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul opened in 1990.
By the early 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, Army officials decided it was time to build a resort in the continental United States. Orlando was the top choice in a market survey of soldiers.
---
On the Net:
http://www.shadesofgreen.org
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
---
BC-War-Disney-Military Resort, 1st Ld-Writethru,0604
Plenty of guests staying at a Florida military resort that serves soldiers and families
By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - While Walt Disney World hotels brace for fewer guests due to the war, one resort at the theme park is expecting business to be brisk for the next several months.
Reservations at Shades of Green have been brisk. It's one of four places where the U.S. Army runs resort facilities that cater to military families. Others are in Germany, South Korea and Hawaii.
"We're seeing the reverse, people saying, 'I may be deployed in a couple of months. I'd like to take my family on vacation before I go,"' said Melissa Colvin, director of hotel operations for Shades of Green.
The guests are acutely aware that their friends and relatives are fighting in the Iraqi desert or are on ships in the Persian Gulf. And some of the guests could be shipped off soon as well.
"It's hard when they're over there and I'm here," said 2nd Lt. Bryan Brady, 33, a platoon leader with the Army National Guard in Pennsylvania who was staying at Shades of Green with his wife, Regina, and 5-year-old son, Ian.
Shades of Green has an occupancy rate of more than 95 percent. By contrast, other hotels in the area of Walt Disney World had average occupancy rates of 71 percent in February, a 10 percent decline from the same time last year, according to Smith Travel Research.
Current Shades of Green guests are staying in temporary housing while the resort undergoes a $90 million expansion to double its size. The renovated resort will have 586 rooms and is scheduled to reopen in December.
The resort opened in 1994 to the families of any member of the armed services, the National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, military retirees and civilian employees of the Department of Defense.
It offers cut-rate prices for luxury hotel rooms and discounts on theme park tickets. Everything is tax-free and lower-ranking visitors pay cheaper rates.
Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and there typically is a six-to-eight-month waiting list at any given time. None of the resorts' operating costs come from taxpayers.
Although the resort gives soldiers and their families a place to escape the worries of the conflict, the war does come up.
"Some people have a general sense of guilt because we're here on vacation," said Lisa McCann, whose husband, Chris, is a chief petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard in St. Petersburg. The couple stayed at Shades of Green with their 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
The U.S. Army got into the resort business after World War II when U.S. soldiers confiscated Nazi properties in southern Bavaria and turned them into hotels. In 1972, the U.S. Army opened the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii, and the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul opened in 1990.
By the early 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, Army officials decided it was time to build a resort in the continental United States. Orlando was the top choice in a market survey of soldiers.
---
On the Net:
http://www.shadesofgreen.org
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
I thought SoG was closed though?
, I am amused at the CR being referred to in that manner. At least this time around, I know my temporary housing will be awesome!!
!
