I have always been impressed with all of the little touches that the Disney imagineers have put into the buildings to make them more interesting to view. On our trip to VWL last week to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary, I discovered another one. We were assigned a one-bedroom villa on the second floor (2514). It was in the shorter wing that extends towards the main lodge. From the elevator you turn to the right, and it is the first door on the left as you go down the corridor.
When I entered the bedroom, I noticed that in addition to the patio doors there was also a small window on an adjacent wall next to the headboard of the bed. I thought this was neat and realized that we were on a corner of the building, so the bedroom had two outside walls. I parted the curtains and looked out to see the roof of the covered walkway leading into the front door of the villas.
Later, as we were heading over to the main Lodge for our special dinner at Artist's Point; I thought I would check out the window from the outside. I went out the front door onto the walkway, where I stood at the railing and looked up to the right at the second floor of the building. I could see my window with the parted curtains, but I also saw a second window of equal size over by the corner of the building. I thought I must have missed a second window in the bedroom. I did note that the second window had an unusual looking latch at the bottom that I did not see on other windows. When we returned to the room I checked our bedroom and to my surprise there was no second window. If there had been one, it would have interfered with the bedpost. After some checking inside and out, I decided that the second window was a "Disney window". It was just for show, did not extend through the wall, and could only be seen from the outside. The latch probably provided access from the outside to place the drapes that could be seen through the glass.
On further study I noted similar pairs of windows on the corner of the building closest to the main lodge and visible from the walkway. The windows closest to the corners all had that special latch on the bottom. I could see where having two windows was much more pleasing to the eye than just one. I could picture the imagineers designing the building having a discussion where one of them said that he had to have pairs of windows to make the outside look right while another who was responsible for the interior design saying "no", that it wouldn't work because there was not enough room for the headboard that would be on that wall. Then there would be that golden moment of inspiration when one of them would realize they could solve the problem by putting up what looked like a window from outside but did not extend through the wall to cause problems with furniture positioning. This is just one example of the many fine touches that makes our visits to WDW so enjoyable.
Roger
When I entered the bedroom, I noticed that in addition to the patio doors there was also a small window on an adjacent wall next to the headboard of the bed. I thought this was neat and realized that we were on a corner of the building, so the bedroom had two outside walls. I parted the curtains and looked out to see the roof of the covered walkway leading into the front door of the villas.
Later, as we were heading over to the main Lodge for our special dinner at Artist's Point; I thought I would check out the window from the outside. I went out the front door onto the walkway, where I stood at the railing and looked up to the right at the second floor of the building. I could see my window with the parted curtains, but I also saw a second window of equal size over by the corner of the building. I thought I must have missed a second window in the bedroom. I did note that the second window had an unusual looking latch at the bottom that I did not see on other windows. When we returned to the room I checked our bedroom and to my surprise there was no second window. If there had been one, it would have interfered with the bedpost. After some checking inside and out, I decided that the second window was a "Disney window". It was just for show, did not extend through the wall, and could only be seen from the outside. The latch probably provided access from the outside to place the drapes that could be seen through the glass.
On further study I noted similar pairs of windows on the corner of the building closest to the main lodge and visible from the walkway. The windows closest to the corners all had that special latch on the bottom. I could see where having two windows was much more pleasing to the eye than just one. I could picture the imagineers designing the building having a discussion where one of them said that he had to have pairs of windows to make the outside look right while another who was responsible for the interior design saying "no", that it wouldn't work because there was not enough room for the headboard that would be on that wall. Then there would be that golden moment of inspiration when one of them would realize they could solve the problem by putting up what looked like a window from outside but did not extend through the wall to cause problems with furniture positioning. This is just one example of the many fine touches that makes our visits to WDW so enjoyable.
Roger
