resorts in order of being built-anyone know

[lomillerin]

Does anyone know what the exact order of the resorts being built is?
which is oldest, newest etc....

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

The 2 oldest are the Polynesian and the Contemporary.

The 2 newest are Pop Century and Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.

Wilderness Lodge is 10 years old.

 

[dpic]

Animal Kindom followed WL, and then came Pop Century....

 

[tlev]

The CR and the Poly were built at the same time along with Fort Wilderness. I think the Golf Resort came next, (which became SOG) and then the Grand Floridian. That's my guess. After that I'm not sure.

 

[eeyore0062]

Oct 1, 1971 Disney's Contemporary Resort
Oct 1, 1971 Disney's Polynesian Resort
Oct 1, 1971 Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground
1972 Disney's Village Resort (Treehouse and Vacation Villas)
1973 Disney's Golf Resort (later Disney Inn, now Shades of Green)
1975 Disney's Village Resort (Fairway Villas)
1988 Disney's Grand Floridian Resort
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
1990 Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts
Walt Disney World Swan
Walt Disney World Dolphin
1991 Disney's Port Orleans Resort
Disney's Old Key West Resort
1992 Disney's Dixie Landings Resort (now Port Orleans Riverside)
1994 Disney's All-Star Sports Resort
Disney's Wilderness Lodge
1995 Disney's All-Star Music Resort
1996 Disney Institute
Disney's Boardwalk Resort
1997 Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
April 22, 1998 Disney's Animal Kingdom
1999 Disney's All-Star Movies Resort
April 2001 Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
December 4, 2003 Disney's Pop Century Resort
May 2004 Saratoga Springs

 

[eeyore0062]

The late 80's and 90's can be really confusing, because they were going up so fast. Also, the ones that were there, that no longer are, such as Disney Institute, the Fairway Villas, (still there, but not used) as well as the Tree House resorts (also still there, but not used).

 

[yecats]

Go Eeyore, great job listing them all. I get a few confused in the 80's but basically know a time frame but didn't exact year more of a general knowledge of which came before the next one.

 

[shellybaxter]

Just a little trivia we learned on our Wishes cruise. The Poly and the Cont. were built at the same time, but the poly openned 1 1/2 hours earlier than the Cont, so they consider themselves the "first" Disney resort hotel. Also, did you know the seven seas lagoon was built to be a wave pool and that professional surfers from Hawaii performed at the Poly opening? I didn't. The waves caused too much irroation demage though so they can't make the waves anymore.

Shelly

 

[lomillerin]

Wow, this is great. Why wasn't there any built from the 1975 to 1988?

 

[cobbler]

Great job Eeyore! Thats really cool to see!

 

[spiceycat]

lack of leadership at Disney. plus they were working on EPcot.

 

[Taja]

Don't know when they were built, but Club Lake Villas, which were part of the Convention Center and were incorporated into Disney Institute, and Tree House Villas (dying a painful death) were in operation when I visited WDW in August/September, 1981. I stayed at Club Lake Villas, but was crushed that I couldn't get into the Contemporary.

In my three trips since (2003 and 2004), I still haven't stayed at the Contemporary!

 

[CarolA]

"Wow, this is great. Why wasn't there any built from the 1975 to 1988?"

As Spiceycat noted... lack of leadership..

If you study Disney history, this is a "dark" period. The leadership would only do what "Walt" had approved. The problem was that Walt was dead and so there were no great new ideas. For all the fussing about Eisener before he took over there as a very large potential for Disney to be bought by a takeover firm and sold as parts (ie movies, parks etc.)

 

[Tikiman]

· 1971: Disney’s Contemporary Resort; Disney’s Polynesian Resort; Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
· 1972: Disney’s Village Resort (Treehouse & Vacation Villas); Royal Plaza; Grosvenor (Dutch Inn); TraveLodge; Courtyard by Marriott (Howard Johnson)
· 1973: Shades of Green (Disney Inn 1986-1993, Golf Resort 1973-1986)
· 1974: Discovery Island; Pioneer Hall
· 1975: Disney Village Marketplace; Fairway Villas
· 1977: Empress Lilly Riverboat
· 1978: Disney’s Polynesian Resort expansion
· 1980: Walt Disney World Conference Center; Club Lake Villas
· 1983: Buena Vista Palace; Hilton at Disney Village
· 1987: Doubletree (Guest Quarters, Pickett) Suite Hotel
· 1988: Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort; Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
· 1990: Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club resorts; Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels
· 1991: Disney’s Port Orleans Resort
· 1992: Disney’s Dixie Landings; Disney Vacation Club Resort at Walt Disney World; Bonnet Creek Golf Club
· 1994: Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort; Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
· 1995: Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
· 1996: Disney Institute; Disney’s BoardWalk
· 1997: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
· 1999: Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
· 2001: Animal Kingdom Lodge
· 2001: Wilderness lodge Villas
· 2002 Beach Club Villas
· 2003 Pop Century
· 2004 Saratoga Springs

 

[wtg2000]

Why weren't any built between 1975-88? Actually, it you look around the net at Disney sites or at books about Disney, it's a pretty interesting story. I'm sure Jim Hill has written about it. Also check out the original plans which included an Asian hotel built where the GF currently is, plus hotels based on Venice and Persia.

Part of the story is that plans were curtailed after the gas crisis and recession in the mid-70s. And there were plans in the works when Eisner took over in 1984. But the story is more involved and I can't recount the details here. But there are interesting stories.

 

[Tikiman]

If you want to see photos and info about the other resorts that were going to go in go to the link.

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly1.html

The wave machine was constructed off Beach Combers Isle and only sent waves to part of the beach at the Polynesian on part of the Seven Seas Lagoon called Pepeete Bay. It was not running on opening day and in fact was delayed several times because they could not get it to work. It finally was running and was shut down shortly after because of the erosion issue.

There were no Hawaiian surfers at the opening ceremonies because the wave machine did not work and the opening ceremonies for the Polynesian were at night.

The Grand Opening celebration for the Polynesian featured a spectacular night time luau on the lagoon shore.More than 1,000 guests feasted royally on authentic island delicacies, while dozens of Polynesian entertainers performed the native dances of Tahiti, Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand and Bora Bora.
The Grand Opening celebration concluded with an "Electrical Water Pageant" serpentining across the lagoon. Accompanied by lively music, the pageant starred King Neptune and his court of sea serpents, spouting whales, sea lions, mermaids and other creatures of the deep.


Aloha

Steve

 

[lomillerin]

So, when exactly did MK open?

 

[shellybaxter]

If you want to see photos and info about the other resorts that were going to go in go to the link.

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly1.html

The wave machine was constructed off Beach Combers Isle and only sent waves to part of the beach at the Polynesian on part of the Seven Seas Lagoon called Pepeete Bay. It was not running on opening day and in fact was delayed several times because they could not get it to work. It finally was running and was shut down shortly after because of the erosion issue.

There were no Hawaiian surfers at the opening ceremonies because the wave machine did not work and the opening ceremonies for the Polynesian were at night.

Tikiman - Did the Hawaiian surfers ever come to the Poly? Because the boat driver said he'd seen pictures. I'm just wondering if he was just mistaken, or simply making up a "better story". He said a few things I knew weren't true, but didn't say anything. It was a really fun cruise, and we didn't go there just to hear his spiel. The fireworks were amazing.

Shelly

 

[Tikiman]

Shelly,

It could possibly be true that they came at some point. They did have some surfing on the waves generated by the machine so like you said maybe he made the story sound better. I am not sure who surfed the waves when the machine was running.

Was this on the Wishes cruise? Was it worth the money? Have you ever done the Illuminations Cruise?

Thanks for the info on the Polynesian opening before the CR. I did not know that. The funny thing is they started work on the CR before the Polynesian. The Polynesian was going to be closer to the MK in the original layout but they felt the location where it is today was a better view and at the time more isolated so you felt like you were on a tropical island.

Lomillerin,

The MK opened on October 1, 1971

The funny thing is that the Polynesian opened on October 24, 1971 and that is the exact day my wife was born. I knew I liked her for a reason