Contemporary North Wing Demo Pics - 3/4

enough

enough

Well-Known Member
seeing those pictures makes me think that we must've stayed there during my first trip to disneyworld that I remember. We were back at the room and it was dark out and I remember these things floating by in the water that were all lit up - literally a floating parade float.

this would've been back in the early 80s.

was there a water parade that happened out in the lake way back when and were the floats stored behind the contemporary?

am i making this memory up? someone help!
 
B

beachclubbasics

New Member
Yes the electrical water parade..still there in 2005 at least. We had a lake side room in the North wing in 2005...air conditioning didn't work, same hallway carpet from 1971 (I've stayed at the Contemp over 20 times since 71), patio door fell off, drawer fronts were falling off....if they didn't tear it down it needed one heck of a refurb! we watched the parade every night from our room though I usually ended up falling asleep on the daybed by the patio door.

We usually went with the standard parking lot view because what's directly across from the parking lot??? MK!

On the bright side, the lake view was a free upgrade and we saw the discovery space shuttle lauch from across Bay lake !
 
jasondiff

jasondiff

Member
The Electrical Water Pageant is still around and runs nightly on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon.
In fact, here is a picture I took just last week of the floats moored on the canal between the MK and Grand Floridian.
2007_03_02_disney_018_edited-1.JPG
 
VoiceGuy07

VoiceGuy07

Active Member
Has anyone stayed at the Contemporary recently? We're staying there in June and wondering how the makeover is impacting the resort: parking, accessibility, etc.
 
jasondiff

jasondiff

Member
We were there last week, not staying but eating and shopping. There is a large part of the parking lot in front of the north wing blocked off as you can see from the pics. Parking wasn't a problem for us but June is more crowded so it will likely be worse. Other than that, I don't think there will be much impact, as all the demolition is confined to the north wing area. Walking to the MK is not blocked. You probably can't even hear any noise from within the tower. So I wouldn't worry too much about anything. Unless you requested a room in the north wing, that is...
 
jcldtrek

jcldtrek

Active Member
It clearly must be just a regular hotel room tower going up after the demo. AKL announced about the DVC Villas and they didn't even start construction yet. if this was going to be DVC, i'm sure they would have already announced this ahead of the demo of the old north wing. All they've shown aso far is just a new tower. Should be interesting to see if this holds true or if they make more announcements
 
F

flscooman

Member
Of course, one thing to mention being a DVC member myself is that DVC has announced the new Animal Kingdom Villas building & savanna extension which are not yet under construction.
Actually they are way into construction. In the Lodge itself The entire 5th floor Zebra side is down. And in the new wing, footers are in for the farthest building. If you go outside at the end of the Kudu Trail you can see constuction is well under way!
 
J

Jose Eber

New Member
Do remember, a building deconstruction 16 story tower construction does take time. . . .per that permit that's been floating around the internet, it seems that the idea of a DVC is fairly sure. Not official, but if you've read the download -- looks pretty legit, and recent.
 
jasondiff

jasondiff

Member
jcldtrek said:
It clearly must be just a regular hotel room tower going up after the demo. AKL announced about the DVC Villas and they didn't even start construction yet. if this was going to be DVC, i'm sure they would have already announced this ahead of the demo of the old north wing. All they've shown aso far is just a new tower. Should be interesting to see if this holds true or if they make more announcements
Click to expand...

If it is "clearly just a regular hotel room tower" then why do the permits refer to it as "villas"? Villas are not regular hotel rooms.

They haven't announced it yet because:
1) they don't want to detract from SSR and AKV sales, and
2) they could always change their mind. Once they announce it they can't (at least without a lot of bad press) change their mind. And since AKV gives them several years of product to sell, there's no reason to announce it yet.
 
scottnj1966

scottnj1966

Well-Known Member
More demo pics from March 16th. its almost gone

contempdemo03-16-2007(1).jpg


contempdemo03-16-2007(2).jpg


contempdemo03-16-2007(3).jpg


contempdemo03-16-2007(4).jpg


I sent many more pics to Steve. I am sure he will share them with everyone very soon. I just wanted to show you a few before that happens.
He will also have some video to share from me. I will post her a small clip of it also.

Enjoy....Very sad to see it go. A building I actually stayed in, 1998
 
Robfasto

Robfasto

New Member
Time wise Disney could have anything they wanted built in a 1-1.5 years starting for scratch. There average build time for an entire theme park is 3 years....

Epcot - Started October 1, 1979, Opened October 1, 1982
Animal Kingdom - Started August 1995 April 22, 1998
Disney-MGM Studios - Annoucned in 1985, Opened May 1st, 1989
 
lpet11984

lpet11984

Well-Known Member
Those pictures are both depressing and exciting...sad to see it in it's current state but exciting because the new building will be really nice when it's completed.

Thanks for posting the pictures!
 
JikoMarie

JikoMarie

New Member
I always find it kind of creepy and depressing to see buildings being torn down. As I was watching the video, I was thinking that it's hard to believe that people used to be standing in that building. It is neat to watch though. Those bricks look like lego blocks from that view.
 
scottnj1966

scottnj1966

Well-Known Member
lenshanem said:
Wow, thanks for sharing the pics and video! It's moving right along... :eek:
Click to expand...

I was hoping to stick around for the last wall to coem down but it started raining and they stopped for some time, then it was lunch time.
So it probably wont be down until Monday or sometime next week.
 

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