No Vacancy: Asian

"The Asian hotel will be strongly Thai in its motif. A theme restaurant and lounge at the top of its 160-foot tower building will provide an enchanting setting for nighttime dancing and stage-show entertainment."

Approximately two-thirds of the 600 rooms would be constructed on the water with the remaining rooms in the tower building, overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon and recreation facilities. Included in the design were plans for 50 suites, decorated in royal Thai decor.

The planned convention facilities were to be underneath the main hotel facilities to separate them from the public resort areas.

No Vacancy: Persian

"Stepping right out of The Arabian Nights is the Persian resort which will reign like an exotic far-Eastern palace on the Northwest shore of the lake. Jewel-like mosques and columns will rise above landscaped courtyards, while terraced sundecks offer sculptured swimming pools and 'old Persian' dining facilities."

The 500 rooms of the resort were designed to radiate out from the central lobby, which was to be crowned with a huge dome. Restaurants and swimming pools could be found on terraced decks, overlooking landscaped courtyards.

"Guests will practically be able to sail to their own rooms through a sheltered marina."

No Vacancy: Venetian

"At the Venetian resort, an enclosed small boat harbor and intricate system of waterways will recreate the old world charm of the famed Italian 'City of Canals.'"

The 500-room Venetian was to be designed to resemble St. Mark's Square. The 500-room hotel would feature a 120-foot campanile which would toll the time. The glass-topped lobby would create a "brilliant, sunlit atrium effect indoors."

Shopping would be a unique experience as guests were to have ridden gondolas through waterways flowing under ornate bridges, linking various sections of the resort.

No Vacancy

As we all know, Walt Disney World opened in 1971 with two theme resort, the Contemporary and the Polynesian. These resorts were designed to handle the crowds at the Vacation Kingdom during the first few years, but they were not expected to handle the growing crowds by themselves for very long. Three other theme resorts were on the drawing board from the start and, as Walt Disney Productions President Donn B. Tatum explained, would "be ready to meet the demands of our audience as experience dictates." These resorts were the Asian, the Persian, and the Venetian.


But before we get into the new hotels, lets take a step back and look at the idea of theme resorts. Theme resorts were not at all a common thing. In fact, Disney had to take care to explain the concept as it was releasing plans for its Florida destination.

"The hotel 'theme resorts' -- so called because each is being planned around a single theme that represents a culture or architectural style around the world -- will offer far more than simply convenience of location to the new 'Magic Kingdom' and its attractions. In design motif, food specialties, recreation activities, convention facilities and even the type of entertainment to be presented, these major hotels will complement each other and the attractions of the theme park."


With the idea of theme resort, Disney began work with Welton Becket & Associates, a former partner who helped design show buildings for the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. Two of Walt Disney World's flagship hotels were completed, but the other three were met with challenges that ultimately led to the demise of the plans.


In the photo above, taken before the Walt Disney World was complete, you can see that site prep had already been started for the additional hotels. A pad was built into the Seven Seas Lagoon for the Asian. Land was cleared for the Persian. Tests were performed on the eastern shores of the lagoon to determine the feasibility of constructing a hotel on that land.

Before the end of the planned five-year "Phase One" which would have brought these hotels to life, the US economy took a hit. With inflation and an energy crisis, tourism dwindled and Disney was not in a position to invest in new hotels.

Ultimately, the Grand Floridian took the place of the Asian hotel. We never did see a resort on the north shore of Bay Lake. But we did get a hotel near the planned location of the Venetian. But why on Bay Lake rather than the Seven Seas Lagoon? The land on the lagoon was not solid enough to hold a building. Test pylons that were built on the site continually sank into the ground. The land to the east of the original site was deemed suitable and there today stands the Wilderness Lodge.


I came across some interesting pictures while researching these hotels. The one above shows Richard Irvine, John Hench, and Card Walker overlooking an early model of the Walt Disney World property. What caught my eye here was that the Asian, Persian, and Venetian hotels, as well as the campground, are all on the map, but the Polynesian and Contemporary are missing.


This graphic was widely circulated, but has some interesting details. First is just the general skyline that was on the drawing board in 1971. We see all five hotels. The Polynesian is still the old-style main house, before the design of the realized Great Ceremonial House was conceived. The monorail cars are all red, and the monorail track goes right through the Magic Kingdom on its way to the Persian hotel. Also, Space Mountain is represented by the old Space Port concept. Finally, Discovery Island obviously has some construction on it.

Stay tuned for my next few posts which will detail the three resorts that were left on the drawing board.

EPCOT 1978: Magic of Morocco

Rather than the Restaurant Marrakesh that we know today, the Morocco pavilion was to have a dinner show called Magic of Morocco. The pavilion would welcome guests with exotic plants in the Hesperides Gardens and jagged rock formations in the Hercules Grotto.

Past the Medina would be the Southern Morocco sector. "Here, lunch can be enjoyed in a desert kasbah where scenes of the Moroccan landscape pass before the diners. Later in the evening the kasbah features the 'Magic of Morocco' dinner show. This presentation combines live action with a panoramic background. A storyteller appears on the stage and begins to relate tales of Morocco. Scenes from his stories appear behind him, and he turns and seems to step into the film itself. He guides the guests through the setting and comes upon a troupe of dancers and acroboats. They, in turn, step out of the film and onto the stage to complete their performace."

EPCOT 1978: Space

Long before Gary Sinise led trainees into a journey at the International Space Training Center, the Imagineers had devised a different journey into space. Rather than boarding X-2 Deep Space Shuttles, guests would enter a twelve-story high gantry and board the Leviathon.

This ship would blast off from Future World, zoom around the earth, then head out into deep space. The attraction would create "the feeling of actually leaving EPCOT and flying through deepest space, complete with the sensation of zero gravity."

It took an engineering feat to bring zero-gravity to Epcot guests in 2003. We can only imagine how Disney designers would have pulled this off with a 768-seat theater, rather than a forty-seat centrifuge.

EPCOT 1978: Israel

For many years, plans for an Israel pavilion were on the drawing board. Even after EPCOT's opening in 1982, Disney advertised that Israel would be a future addition to the World Showcase.

Guests would be welcomed to the pavilion by the ruins of an ancient minaret. Past an entranceway of olive and cyprus trees, visitors would find a delicatessen and a convenience shop offering native publications, books, and films.

Further into the grounds, rising walkways would lead to a bazaar-styled marketplace. Here guests could purchase things such as tapestries or custom wood and brass items. The theming would reflect both new and old styles of Israel.

Finally, guests would pass through an archway and into a covered amphitheater. Here Israeli musicians would perform classical and traditional folk music.

EPCOT 1978 - Life and Health Pavilion

Original EPCOT Center plans called for a Life and Health pavilion to be included in Future World. When the pavilion was finally realized in 1989, many of the ideas survived, but in altered form.

"The Life & Health Pavilion will give guests a new awareness and appreciation of themselves. In the 'Joy of Life,' the beauty, dignity and strength of man from birth to the golden years is dramatized. The Incredible Journey Within is a thrilling trip exploring the inner workings of the fascinating, complex human machine. Along the 'Great Midway of Life' a whimsical series of experiences will involve guests in the lesson that good health is based, more than anything else, on their own personal responsibility and behavior."

The Incredible Journey Within was ultimately realized in two forms -- Body Wars and Cranium Command. The former provided a ride that transported guests inside the human body, while the latter served as more of the educational tool in understanding how the body works. In place of the Great Midway of Life, the Wonders of Life pavilion had the Fitness Fairgrounds.

EPCOT 1978 - Model

Here we see a photo of the EPCOT model, circa 1978. There are several interesting things to note about the model.

First take a look at Future World. Spaceship Earth is not as we know it today. It is an earlier design that featured a smoother surface, and it does not appear to be raised above the landscape.

The six Future World pavilions are laid out differently than was finally realized. Notice that The Land is on the east and Space (which will become Horizons) is on the west. Also, The Seas is not in its final place. Further, the Imagination pavillion is not yet on the map, but Life & Health is sitting in its place.

Looking into the World Showcase, we quickly see that the American Adventure is front and center on the north side of the lagoon. It is hard to make out much detail on the other pavillions, but if you look at the eastern side of the lagoon, you can see what appears to be the Sydney Opera house, which would suggest plans for an Australia pavillion.

Imagineering the Magic

Disneyland recently began selling a park-exclusive, two-disc DVD set called Disneyland Resort: Imagineering the Magic. This set has about 90 minutes worth of interviews with imagineers where they explore the history of the Disneyland Resort and specific lands and attractions.

The first disc contains the main feature, "Imagineering the Magic of Disneyland." This 60-minute piece is a collection of interviews with imagineers such as Marty Sklar, Tony Baxter, and Tom Fitzgerald. They discuss the how Disneyland and imagineering came to be. The whole feature is strewn with old and new photos, videos, and concept art. For a few brief moments it feels a bit like a Travel Channel special, but for the most part the imagineers stick to stories about how Walt came up with different ideas and how the imagineers have transformed those ideas through the years.

The feature is split up as a general history of the park, and then deeper dives into the individual lands and some of the more popular attractions. Interspersed throughout the feature are various videos of Walt, often featuring famous quotes, used as segways between the various topics. There are also several clips from various television appearances by Walt as he discusses the Tiki Room, It's a Small World, and other attractions.

There were some nice gems in here -- video of the Country Bear walk-around characters dancing and the Tower of the Four Winds; an old Disney home video; and telling how they put an actual teacup from the ride onto the track in one of the dark rides in order to get a feel for how the spinning cabs might work in the Roger Rabbit ride.

The second disc contains several shorter segments. First is a featurette about California Adventure. This is more of an informational piece that explains the theme of the park. There really aren't any imagineering insights. Oddly, they present MuppetVision and Tower of Terror as if they were originally designed for the California park.

Next up is "What is Imagineering." My favorite part of this segment is a quote from Marty Sklar. He says that a blank sheet of paper is "the most frightening thing in the world because you have to make the first mark on it" but it is also "the greatest opportunity in the world because you get to make the first mark on it."

The DVD also contains a trivia section with about 10 or 15 questions to test how well you paid attention to the first few features. You are presented with various multiple choice questions that were directly answered in the dialogue earlier on the discs.

The final two featurettes are "Imagineering New Attractions" -- which looks at transforming Tom Sawyer Island's Fort Wilderness into the pirates lair and creating the Nemo submarine voyage -- and "Imagineers on Imagineering" which contains rapid-fire soundbytes of the imagineers talking about their jobs.

Overall, this was an interesting collection. There was not any information on the disc that isn't already available in literature or on fan sites. But this does serve as a great introduction to the history of Disneyland and many of the attractions. Any fan of theme park history would do well to pick up a copy.