Was the original game room and food "court" in the Contemporary in the basement?

[dismoose23]

Wow! This brings back some good memories when I had my first visit to Disney World at age 5. I think my parents still have the caricatures of my 2 older sisters and I from that trip.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

I’d say the Wave ‘feels’ like a basement as it has no windows/feels very ‘interior’ so to speak.

And you take the escalator down from monorail level if I remember correctly. So it would feel as if you are going into the basement. I THINK

 

[GADisneyDad14]

And you take the escalator down from monorail level if I remember correctly. So it would feel as if you are going into the basement. I THINK

Yeah, you take the elevator from the monorail platform to the 4th floor “Grand Canyon Concourse” - and from there can take more escalators or the elevator down to the ground floor/lobby/Wave area.

 

[Micca]

I remember both the buffeteria and the Concourse Steakhouse. They were our arrival day picks for dinner as they were easy to get into.

 

[beccasmom]

Our first visit was in June 1981 and I remember that it was located on the first floor near the restrooms (where The Wave is now). I also remember they sold terrible hot dogs - why that sticks in my mind I can’t imagine!

 

[Disneytam]

It would be rare for any place in Florida to have an actual basement.

Isn't the fast food place at the Dolphin in the basement? My husband and I had a quick dinner there one night and I seem to remember being told that it was in the basement. Open twenty four hours as well.

 

[Jennasis]

Isn't the fast food place at the Dolphin in the basement? My husband and I had a quick dinner there one night and I seem to remember being told that it was in the basement. Open twenty four hours as well.

If you're referring to The Fountain at the Dolphin, I don't think it is. I haven't been there but I see windows in this photo so i'm assuming it's at least ground floor?

 

[Disneytam]

If you're referring to The Fountain at the Dolphin, I don't think it is. I haven't been there but I see windows in this photo so i'm assuming it's at least ground floor?

No I think the name was Picabo 24/7. I just remember walking down stairs and then a ramp to find it, but then again it was really late at night and we were the only ones there except for the really friendly woman behind the counter. We took our salads back up to our rooms since it was a really dark area that was not inviting at all to stay and eat at. It didn't look at all like this picture. For late at night the salads were pretty good though.

 

[Figment Mom]

Sure, just found on a retro WDW site. Those are great resources!

It is amazing, why the heck do I remember that spaghetti so well!

Yes! I think we ate spaghetti at the Buffeteria every trip!

 

[DISNEY1975]

I also liked the shooting arcade in the back and the air hockey.

I was addicted to the shooting arcade! I got in a lot of trouble one year because I went to the front desk and charged 2 rolls of quarters to our room so I could play!! We also got caricatures every trip!

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

I was addicted to the shooting arcade! I got in a lot of trouble one year because I went to the front desk and charged 2 rolls of quarters to our room so I could play!! We also got caricatures every trip!

View attachment 390082

I am pretty sure I have caricatures also. Have to dig through my old photos, etc.

 

[writerguyfl]

No I think the name was Picabo 24/7. I just remember walking down stairs and then a ramp to find it, but then again it was really late at night and we were the only ones there except for the really friendly woman behind the counter. We took our salads back up to our rooms since it was a really dark area that was not inviting at all to stay and eat at. It didn't look at all like this picture. For late at night the salads were pretty good though.

Picabo is actually on the ground level, not the basement. Although, it makes sense that you'd think it's the basement. It's an interior room without any windows to the outside. At night, it would probably feel a bit like a dungeon.

It's a big difficult to describe, but the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort is built into a tiny elevation change. (It's not big enough to call a hill.) The main lobby is located on the third level. To get to Picabo (or to the walkway where you get board the boats), you go down an escalator from the lobby level.

I believe most of the ground floor is taken up hotel facilities like mechanical areas and laundry. Only the small portion of the ground floor along the water is accessible to guests. Basically, when you're up in the lobby, almost everything under you is the "backstage" area for the hotel.

(I tried finding a photo online showing the difference between the lobby level and the ground floor. I didn't have much luck, however. The elevation change is probably 10-20 feet, so it's not really noticeable on satellite photos on Google or Bing Maps.)

 

[DISNEY1975]

From the back of the building, the restaurants are on the bottom floor of the annex. If you come through the front of the building (green triangle building), ground level would be on the 1st fl. You walk into the lobby from the front, but from the back you need to go up an escalator.