Walt Disney World Resort Non-Park Discussion Thread

[themeparkologist]

Disney's got issues in the transportation department. Monorail, crash with the other bus that sent 8 people to the hospital, and now this.

[kidcoaster 2]

Yeah they don't seem to be having the best of luck right now....

 

My thoughts goes out to the familes

[jray21]

They have updated it a little to mention that the kid was riding his bike with his friend.

[themeparkologist]

Gosh, I just read the comments...some people are just very rude and are blaming the parents and kids themselves for being hit by a bus. What has the world come too. Sad.

 

My prayers go to the family.

Edited April 1, 2010 by themeparkologist

[Hercules]

Disney's got issues in the transportation department. Monorail, crash with the other bus that sent 8 people to the hospital, and now this.

 

I don't really think you can fault Disney that much for something like this. They have a more elaborate transportation system than some small cities. Geeze, they are practically running a city every day their with the kind of operation they have. I think they are doing a pretty decent job with what they have at this point. There are more accidents on the streets of the small suburb that I live in than what is reported at DisneyWorld. There will always be something that goes wrong, it just makes big news when it is Disney, even when it really isn't big news at all.

 

With that said, it is very sad to hear that the child was killed. It is said when you are expecting to have a good time away from the real world, and something like this happens.

[jray21]

There may be somebody to blame in the end, but to do it this early is sad. But sometimes, accidents just happen. One of our family friends was riding his bike near a busy street, and as he tried to get out of the way of a pedestrian, he fell into the rode and got killed by a bus. We will just have to wait and see the reports.

 

^Even with the recent problems Disney has been having, overall, they are much safer than virtually every other transportation system of that size.

[Electerik]

So...this wouldn't actually be news if you removed the words "Disney World," would it?

[SharkTums]

^Exactly.

[jray21]

A little update.

 

"Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said both of the children were on the side of the road where there is a sidewalk. A preliminary investigation showed the boy left the sidewalk and entered the roadway.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The girl was not hurt.

"The little boy ... left the sidewalk and went into the southbound lanes of Big Pine Drive, struck the side of the bus and then was subsequently pulled underneath the bus and run over by the bus," Montes said."

 

^^I bet a lot of people will just read the headline and also assume it was Disney's fault again.

[sam06pr]

Disney is not having a good time....

[ECZenith]

This is very sad, and I agree there have been quite a few accidents in the transportation department recently. I'm just surprised things like this get so much attention on the news and on theme park forums. It didn't even happen inside of a theme park.

[kidcoaster 2]

This is very sad, and I agree there have been quite a few accidents in the transportation department recently. I'm just surprised things like this get so much attention on the news and on theme park forums. It didn't even happen inside of a theme park.

 

Its all about it being associated with the brand name everyone knows about...

[jedimaster1227]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/

 

A short time ago, Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort, delivered a statement concerning today’s bus incident. Here is her statement:

 

“This afternoon, we experienced a tragic accident on our property.

 

We are deeply saddened by what happened and are doing everything we can to provide resources and support to the family. The circumstances of the accident are under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol and we are working closely with them to gather the facts.

 

Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, and all of our Cast Members join me in extending our deepest sympathies.”

[jedimaster1227]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/05/disneys-art-of-animation-resort-unveiled/

 

Big news…we’ve just announced plans for a new resort at Walt Disney World Resort that’ll bring to life some of our most beloved characters and stories. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will be one-of-a-kind, featuring family suites designed around four themes: The Lion King, Cars, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid.

 

It’s a resort designed with families in mind. There will be amazing sights at the different themed wings of the resort, including a model of King Triton that’ll eventually be 35 feet tall and tower over guests. And Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will also have themed room interiors in its nearly 2,000 new units — 1,120 family suites in The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo wings and 864 themed rooms in The Little Mermaid wings. Suites will have both a living room and a bedroom, offering added space.

 

All of the themed suites and rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort (to be located adjacent to Disney’s Pop Century Resort) are expected to open by the end of 2012. We’ll have more updates in the future but wanted to share this with you first. Please let us know what you think in the comments.

 

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/05/disney-to-build-2000-room-hotel-dubbed-disneys-art-of-animation-resort/

 

Walt Disney World is about to begin building its first new hotel in seven years, a 2,000-room resort that will open in 2012. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will feature 1,120 suites with room for as many as six people each and another 864 traditional hotel rooms, with a design theme based on four of the company’s most popular animated movies.

 

Disney Imagineer Joni Van Buren sculpts a model of King Triton from the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. In its final form, the sculpture will be 35 feet tall and tower over guests at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a new Disney World hotel that will open in 2012. (WALT DISNEY WORLD)

The complex will be priced as a “value” hotel, at the low end of Disney World’s scale, similar to Disney’s Pop Century and All-Star resorts, where standard rates begin at $82 a night.

 

The announcement is one of the strongest signals yet from Disney that it thinks a sustained recovery is under way from the long travel slump brought on by the global recession. Disney executives, who have been weighing construction of a family-suites hotel for several years, finally approved the project in January.

 

But in deciding to add another lower-priced hotel, Disney also appears to be betting that travelers will continue the frugal spending habits many adopted during the downturn. Disney has been relying on discounts to sustain attendance during the past year, and executives acknowledged Tuesday that consumers are still searching for deals even as Disney attempts to return to pre-recession prices. “Quite honestly, we’re in a bit of waiting for each other to blink,” Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo told analysts during a conference call to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings.

 

The Art of Animation Resort will be built on a 65-acre plot across a lake from Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The location will allow Disney to use a pair of long-neglected, unfinished buildings that Disney originally constructed as a second phase of Pop Century but which it abandoned amid the 2001 recession. Pop Century’s first phase was completed in 2003.

 

Plans for the new resort show 10 wings of rooms and a separate building housing the check-in lobby and restaurants. The hotel wings will be separated into four distinct groups, each with a theme from a different animated movie: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars.

 

Each section will have separate courtyards anchored by icons from the movies — such as a 35-foot-tall King Triton presiding over the Mermaid section — and the entire resort will use bright-color palettes evocative of the lush scenery of animated movies. Hotel designers say they have been soliciting input from artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios on everything from building elevations to which scenes to depict at the swimming pools. “The hope is you walk into this courtyard and you’re kind of like seeing it as a character in the movie,” said Frank Paris, a senior project manager with Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s in-house attraction-design unit.

 

Because the majority of its rooms will be six-person suites, the Art of Animation Resort will have roughly the same capacity as Pop Century, which has 2,800 conventional rooms.

 

With the project, Disney is placing an aggressive bet on what it says is a growing market for affordable suites aimed at families traveling with several children or extended families. Disney World has been testing the concept with about 215 suites at its All-Star Music hotel that were converted out of about 430 ordinary rooms about three years ago. Jim Durham, vice president for resort projects at Disney Imagineering, said demand for such accommodations has risen in recent years as families have taken to traveling in larger groups. The trend became particularly pronounced following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said. “Ever since 9-11, we just see a lot more family unity,” Durham said.

 

In Orlando, the family-suites market is led by the 777-room Nickelodeon Suites Resort, which has proven immensely popular since it opened in 2005 just to the east of Disney World. The resort pairs family suites with Nickelodeon cartoon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants. By adding more than 1,000 new suites to its lineup, Disney hopes to pull more of those travelers onto its property. The conventional hotel rooms to be built as part of the Art of Animation Resort will also allow Disney to restore the room capacity it lost as part of the suites conversion at All-Star Music. Disney executives said the popularity of those All-Star Music suites convinced them that there is a substantial market for family suites. “We’re feeling very positive about the demand that is interested in both the value product and the family-suite product,” said Mark Rucker, vice president for lodging for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “The research for us is showing that the Central Florida marketplace is going to more than capably handle some inventory in this category.”

 

Disney declined to say how much it will spend to build the hotel. It expects to break ground this summer and open it in phases throughout 2012. Disney said the project will generate approximately 800 construction jobs.

Disney Imagineer Joni Van Buren sculpts a model of King Triton, who, in his final form will be 35 feet tall and tower over guests at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts newest Resort. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will be one-of-a-kind, with themed building exteriors and room interiors that bring to life The Lion King, Cars, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is expected to open by the end of 2012.

Edited October 10, 2011 by jedimaster1227

[coaster_dude2002]

I'm glad to see they will be using those buildings across from Pop Century. The larger suites sound really nice for a value resort.

[mcjaco]

^ It's about time. Very bad show.

[AndCamSS]

I was wondering if the other half of the resort would ever be finished! I'm sure this will be much more popular than rooms themed to the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s like I believe that side was supposed to be (although 50s would be cool!).

[testtrack321]

Confirms that they are making a lot of those rooms into suites, which are extremely popular with guests. This is good news, shows Disney thinks that people are starting to come back without need for incentives. I think we're likely to see some attraction announcements sooner than later too.

[mcjaco]

Confirms that they are making a lot of those rooms into suites, which are extremely popular with guests. This is good news, shows Disney thinks that people are starting to come back without need for incentives. I think we're likely to see some attraction announcements sooner than later too.

 

Because the Fantasyland Expansion isn't big enough??????

[dandaman]

I was wondering if the other half of the resort would ever be finished! I'm sure this will be much more popular than rooms themed to the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s like I believe that side was supposed to be (although 50s would be cool!).

 

They already have a 50's section; I stayed there last August!

 

Like many, I'm glad to see them finally using the buildings across the lake... of course now it's more of a permanent Pop Half-Century.

[WildStangAlex]

So it's my understanding that they never fully completed Pop Century, and this is the site where it was supposed to expand to?

[thrillrider]

I wonder if they are going to start from the ground up, or if they are going to use the half built buildings? The reason I ask, is because those buildings have been sitting over there for years open to the elements.

 

This is a great move on Disneys part. This will fill a nitch.

[WildStangAlex]

Does anybody know what resort this is? It is located due south of downtown Disney...

taken from google maps

[testtrack321]

Does anybody know what resort this is? It is located due south of downtown Disney...

 

Not a resort, it's Team Disney Orlando.

 

 

And yes, this resort is located at the old Pop Century Legendary Years location and will reuse the buildings and foundations already built. For more info and pics: http://wdwmagic.com/Resorts/Disneys-Art-of-Animation-Resort/News/12May2010-Disney%E2%80%99s-Art-of-Animation-Resort-to-open-in-2010-featuring-over-1000-family-suites.htm

[RCFreak]

I was really excited when I read the title of the thread, and then very disappointed when I read the themes. They should have made one of those buildings a classic animation building (they could even borrow a little from the Animation Buildings they have at their parks for the lobby) but oh well glad to see Disney thinks building these will be worth it, now lets just hope they're right!