August 5, 2009

Resort Roundup: Disney's Contemporary Resort

Today we will be starting a new "series" showcaing Disney Resorts...We decided that we would start with this one because of the opening of Bay Lake Tower yesterday... I hope you enjoy...

Disney's Contemporary Resort is one of the first hotels to open at WDW on October 1, 1971. It is categorized as a 'Deluxe' Disney resort. In October 2007, the resort received designation in the Florida Green Lodging Program. The most prominent of the hotel's four stand-alone buildings is the Contemporary Tower, built as an A-frame with outer walls which slope inwards around an inner atrium. This design was a collaboration by Disney, the United States Steel Corporation, and Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. To construct it, steel frames were erected on site and modular pre-constructed rooms, designed by California architect Donald Wexler, were lifted into place by crane. Approximately 500 guest rooms line the outer walls of this building.

The Contemporary Tower houses most of the resort's key facilities, including resort registration and the guest service concierge. The main hall, named the Grand Canyon Concourse, is also located in the main Tower, and houses two restaurants and a variety of shops. Also adorning the concourse walls is a mosaic designed by Mary Blair. Which features the "hidden" Five Legged Goat, in which Mary Blair did on purpose, because she thought that no work was perfect.One three-story wing flanks the south side of the Tower and offers an additional 250 rooms. A convention center was added to the resort and opened on November 11, 1991, with more than 90,000 square feet of convention space.

In November 2006, Disney filed plans for a project on the site of the Contemporary Resort's North Garden Wing, and a construction fence was erected, encompassing the wing and part of its parking lot. On the North Wing site, Disney's Racquet Club was demolished by January 30, 2007. The North Wing itself was demolished between January 31, 2007 and April 6, 2007. Construction on the new building continued through 2007, with Disney never making an official announcement as to what was actually being built.

In February 2008, Disney won approval from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to begin selling Disney Vacation Club units at a property called "Kingdom Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort." Approval was granted for an initial sale of 75 units, with the Kingdom Tower ultimately containing 281 time-share units. The approval does not, however, state when Disney Vacation Club will actually begin selling units; it says only that they can do so. In preparation for the future sale, Disney incorporated a condominium association for the property on January 9, 2008 that will manage the units.

The project was finally unveiled in September 2008 with its official name, Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort. The units will be the most expensive yet offered by Disney Vacation Club. Some of the resort's features will include full-length windows with views into the Magic Kingdom or onto Bay Lake; some bathrooms on the Magic Kingdom side will include movable partitions to permit watching the park's fireworks displays from the bathtub.The Bay Lake Tower opened yesterday, August 4, 2009.

The tower will have a pedestrian bridge connecting to the original A-frame tower, and will include amenities of its own, such as a swimming pool with a water slide, tennis and shuffleboard courts, and a cookout pavilion.

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That is it for today i hope you enjoyed this new "series" on Disney Resorts... This being our first one, please tell us what you like about it??? Thanks... Also Please vote on the Poll on the top right of the page about the Haunted Mansion Characters...

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