Pop Century Legendary Years Questions

[evnted]

Alright a bit late but with the opening of the Cars and Nemo sections at AoA I began to recall the Legendary Years section. I believe that the LY and CY (classic years) began construction at around the same time and construction with the LY was halted because of 9/11 (meaning a drop in attendance.) I also am aware that around 2005-6 area they considered resuming construction at one point (because I believe 3 exteriors and Legendary Hall were at least partially done at that point) but wanted to change the design a bit (diverting from a copy of the CY layout) due to problems with namely parking, scenery, and even security. My two main questions are 1) if the two were begun at the same time, why was CY opened? why would that have been prioritized? because it is easier to theme or more relatable to guests? and 2) why did we go to Art of Animation? If they wanted to rearrange the design of the CY and go with family suites, why was the idea of LY dropped altogether?
Thanks.

 

[evnted]

Shameless bump. Disboards are moving fast today. This thread cannot die like the Legendary Years.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Those are very good questions and I also would like to know the answers. Honestly.. I wish Disney went ahead and finished the Legendary Years. I would really love to see how it was back in those decades during the time when my parents were growing up. I would have loved the two sides LY and CY to have come together and they will be sister resorts. I would have rather see AoA built somewhere else and the design and the layout would be different from the other value resorts.

 

[prfctlyximprfct]

I remember staying at Pop and looking across and seeing those brown buildings with the large decade numbers on them. I was so excited to see how the legendary years were going to turn out. It's ashame it's only Pop half-century. I think the theme of the legendary years could have been amazing... I wanted to stay in the 20s or 30s! It's sad to think as we progess further into the 2000s, many Disney guest will not have lived through the 50s and 60s etc. Will they eventually re-theme Pop??

 

[martinp13]

I was at Pop post-Thanksgiving-week 2008. I went across the bridge to the fence, and checked out LY. It was like a ghost town... buildings mostly finished, buildings barely started, but even the most completed building still had wooden safety scaffolding around the side, and that wood was falling apart. It honestly looked like one of those sci-fi movies where one moment there were people working, and the next they had been beamed up. Cool but creepy!

Even if they began the two hotels at the same time, they never finish at the same time. Something affects one of them and it gets delayed. Or they just haul off and quit one of them. From the wiki page: "The resort was originally planned to open in 2001, though the opening was eventually delayed to March 2002. It was delayed once more before accepting reservations on April 22, 2003, and opening on December 13, 2003." I think they just needed more cheap hotel space, CY was further along (and would appeal to more guests) and it was all they could justify.

To answer your question, why did we get AoA instead of LY, I think the answer is Pixar and family suites. The family suites were a success at ASMu, and if you're going to build a 'family suite hotel', what type of theming do you want? Family suites guarantee kids, so theming based on the 20s and 30s will be completely lost on them. Me too, and I'm a child of the 60s. Aim for the kids and you can't miss. Toy Story is already at ASMo, so that's out. But look what they chose: Mermaid (movie about family), Nemo (ditto), Lion King (ditto), and Cars (hottest theming available). Combining animation and family, wrapped up in a nice bundle. I personally think it's a brilliant move, and from the pics I've seen of the Cars area, it looks better than Radiator Springs in Disneyland!

 

[evnted]

Even if they began the two hotels at the same time, they never finish at the same time. Something affects one of them and it gets delayed. Or they just haul off and quit one of them. From the wiki page: "The resort was originally planned to open in 2001, though the opening was eventually delayed to March 2002. It was delayed once more before accepting reservations on April 22, 2003, and opening on December 13, 2003." I think they just needed more cheap hotel space, CY was further along (and would appeal to more guests) and it was all they could justify.

To answer your question, why did we get AoA instead of LY, I think the answer is Pixar and family suites. The family suites were a success at ASMu, and if you're going to build a 'family suite hotel', what type of theming do you want? Family suites guarantee kids, so theming based on the 20s and 30s will be completely lost on them. Me too, and I'm a child of the 60s. Aim for the kids and you can't miss. Toy Story is already at ASMo, so that's out. But look what they chose: Mermaid (movie about family), Nemo (ditto), Lion King (ditto), and Cars (hottest theming available). Combining animation and family, wrapped up in a nice bundle. I personally think it's a brilliant move, and from the pics I've seen of the Cars area, it looks better than Radiator Springs in Disneyland!

Thanks for the answers. It just seems so odd that they completely dropped the idea as opposed to reloacting AoA but obviously that would take MUCH more work to do. I kind of liked the idea of the Coke bottle, Rocket, and Route 66 pools and that giant monopoly board.

 

[cinderwannabe]

I had seen a special at some point that explained that there was no "happy" themeing that could have come out of those legendary years. It was a time period of war and depression. This was the original thinking that started the shift towards a new theme...AoA.

 

[glenpreece]

I had read some time ago a Disney exec explaining that ASMo was always the most popular value resort so they wanted to make more value space available with a distinctive Disney theme where you felt like you staying in an actual Disney movie so they wanted to do a resort themed specifically to the characters hence AOA. I think it's a great idea. i want to go to Disney and stay in Disney and see Disney etc etc. I like Pop for it location not really the theme. They need to update it to incorporate it into AoA or rename it Pop Decades instead of century since it's only 50 years.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Perhaps it was like the backtracking with Imagination.. But seriously, its kind of similar. They decide to do something totally new, then realize halfway through "Oh crap, we made a bad decision" and they change it.

I liked the idea of the LY but really, what could they have been? I can't fathom anyone clamoring to be in the Prohibition building. I think it was just the perfect storm of circumstances, a reason to back out and reevaluate before they went through with things.

 

[Zandy595]

I don't think kids would have any interest in LY. I didn't think it was a good idea when I first heard about the theme. It would mainly appeal to people born before the 50's.

AoA is MUCH more fun, IMO.

 

[luvmylatte]

I had seen a special at some point that explained that there was no "happy" themeing that could have come out of those legendary years. It was a time period of war and depression. This was the original thinking that started the shift towards a new theme...AoA.

Funny you should say that. I once read the theming would have to be prohibition, the depression and bathtub gin. If they were in keeping with the decades some could not have running water. Wow those really sound like Happy Disney themes.
As many good things that came out of some the early years (music,dance iconic flappers)....those decades are not remembered for fun, fun, fun.

 

[*Fantasia*]

The The Legendary Years doesn't have to remind us about the wars and depression. There are many other things that went on during the first half of the century. I am very quite sure with Disney's imagineers, they can make the place kid friend. What I would love to see is the clothes and shoes people used to wear, as well as accessories. I would also like to see their hairstyles. I would like to hear the music they used to listen to and how they dance and what kind of fad words they used to say. I would have liked to see some black and white.. just to kind of bring us back in time when they probably didn't have colored TV back then nor colored newspaper.

I wanted to see Century completed! I love the "Generation Gap Bridge." It is perfect for transition from the Legendary Years to the Classic Years. I would have rather have them build the AoA somewhere else.. Disney is going to build more resorts.. AoA will not be the last. So what I am trying to say is that.. Disney should have just finished building POP Century the way it was planned.

40s
Polaroid Camera was invented.
Mount Rushmore Completed.
Bikinis Introduced.
First Non-Stop Flight Around the World
"Big Bang" Theory Formulated

30s
Air Conditioning Invented.
Amelia Earhart First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic.
Loch Ness Monster First Spotted
Cheeseburger Created
Hoover Dam Completed
First Commercial Flight Over the Atlantic
Helicopter Invented

20s
First Commercial Radio Broadcast Aired
The Reader's Digest Published
Talking Movies Invented
Time Magazine Founded
First Olympic Winter Games
The First Talking Movie, The Jazz Singer
First Mickey Mouse Cartoon
Penicillin invented
Car Radio Invented

10s
Boy Scouts Established in U.S.
Halley's Comet Makes an Appearance
Ernest Rutherford Discovers the Structure of an Atom
Oreo Cookies first introduced
Parachutes Invented
First crossword puzzle
Henry Ford Creates Assembly Line
First Traffic Light

00s
First Trans-Atlantic Radio Signal
First World Series
First Popular American Film
Kellogg's Starts Selling Corn Flakes
First Electric Washing Machine
Ford Introduces the Model-T
Plastic Is Invented.
First license plate issued
New York City Subway Opens

 

[CanadianGuy]

I was fascinated with the 'half built' Legendary Years and took photos over a series of trips between 2006 and 2010.

This shows the state of what is now the Little Mermaid buildings at the time.

You could see this door was left open:

Even the main building was further along than you might think..

Ultimately, I've heard several stories but the most prominent was that Disney's CEO (Iger) had some concerns with ignoring the world events around the Depression and WWII years ... and if they didn't ignore them, they're not exactly 'fun themes' .. nor should they be used as such.

At the same time, the initial test of family suites had been successful and I think they saw the opportunity to rebrand in a new direction and solve the issue over troublesome decades ..

Ultimately, I think I agree with that decision.

 

[EpcotBill]

*Fantasia* lists a lot of interesting things that happened in the first half of the 20th century. Disney could have made LY work if they wanted to. It wouldn't have to have been about prohibition, depression and war.

In the Classic Years section there's no reference to the Korean War, Vietnam, gas rationing, assassination of public figures, civil rights violations, Kent State, Patty Hearst or skyrocketing inflation and recession. But all of that and more happened in the second half of the century.

I'm not buying that they would have to reference WWII or The Great Depression. If that's true than the 50s would have Korea, the 60s would have Vietnam, the 70s would have Disco, oh wait, ok so they do reference some bad things that happened in the Classic Years.

 

[cinderwannabe]

I wonder what led to the decision to build indoor hallways when the buildings were already set up for outside ones?

 

[EpcotBill]

I wonder what led to the decision to build indoor hallways when the buildings were already set up for outside ones?

The buildings that were partially constructed are the Little Mermaid buildings. They have exterior corridors.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Ok ok..I think we might be exaggerating a bit with the prohibition and whatnot but I still say the challenge of figuring out how to make that part of history fun and entertaining to the point of "Hey I want to stay there" was unachievable. Especially if you consider how the values compare to the moderates and the deluxes. The deluxes have luxurious subtle theming, and the values are bright/loud and the moderates are kind of that half step between. They probably could have gotten away with a turn of the century moderate theme but I really think there was no way for the LY to ever live up in theming to what's already been established with the values.

 

[jojomoore]

I was at Pop post-Thanksgiving-week 2008. I went across the bridge to the fence, and checked out LY. It was like a ghost town... buildings mostly finished, buildings barely started, but even the most completed building still had wooden safety scaffolding around the side, and that wood was falling apart. It honestly looked like one of those sci-fi movies where one moment there were people working, and the next they had been beamed up. Cool but creepy!

Even if they began the two hotels at the same time, they never finish at the same time. Something affects one of them and it gets delayed. Or they just haul off and quit one of them. From the wiki page: "The resort was originally planned to open in 2001, though the opening was eventually delayed to March 2002. It was delayed once more before accepting reservations on April 22, 2003, and opening on December 13, 2003." I think they just needed more cheap hotel space, CY was further along (and would appeal to more guests) and it was all they could justify.

To answer your question, why did we get AoA instead of LY, I think the answer is Pixar and family suites. The family suites were a success at ASMu, and if you're going to build a 'family suite hotel', what type of theming do you want? Family suites guarantee kids, so theming based on the 20s and 30s will be completely lost on them. Me too, and I'm a child of the 60s. Aim for the kids and you can't miss. Toy Story is already at ASMo, so that's out. But look what they chose: Mermaid (movie about family), Nemo (ditto), Lion King (ditto), and Cars (hottest theming available). Combining animation and family, wrapped up in a nice bundle. I personally think it's a brilliant move, and from the pics I've seen of the Cars area, it looks better than Radiator Springs in Disneyland!

I agree!