Mediteranean Hotel

Marijil

Marijil

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Mediterranean Hotel

Does anyone know the story behind the Mediterranean Resort once planned, I believe, b/w the Contemp and TTC? Did it get scrapped? Is it stalled?
 
K

Kiwi Dreamer

Member
I seem to remember it being featured in Walt's original master plan, or atleast in one of the models. Would be an interesting thought however if a new hotel was to be considered, surely it could be in other places. Not that i believe that WDW requires another resort.

jonny
 
Jusjuice

Jusjuice

New Member
I could see Disney eventually building it somewhere else, but now that Universal has copied it (but way more like the hotel Miracosta at TDS) I don't think it would be built. Also, the original art I saw for the hotel looked almost exactly like the Venetian at Las Vegas, and that's so famous, I would think they would want to be different enough from that. It would seem more likely that they would eventually build a Persian-themed luxury hotel in the future........if they start filling up the hotels they have.
 
Testtrack321

Testtrack321

Well-Known Member
Things that doomed the Mediteranian:

-Land size & quality, not necessaraly bad land to build on, but not a hotel good.
-Venetian Hotel in Vegas and Universal.
-Price, the average hotel room price was too high for what they wanted to build at that time (cheap).
-Location, Disney didn't need another hotel at MK, but instead at the other two parks, MGM and Epcot.
 
EvilMortimer

EvilMortimer

Account Suspended
That's not quite true. It was looked at again just two or three years ago. Stakes were even put in the ground to monitor the building site. So they put in the stakes, left for two weeks, and came back. When they came back one stake was gone, and the other was sinking into the ground. The land is like a firm swamp there. It's very odd. But it's true.
 
sillyspook13

sillyspook13

Well-Known Member
I remember seeing a display about this resort "coming soon" at the Disney Information Center (now AAA Travel Center) in Ocala...... about 10 years ago. Seemed pretty exciting that they were to build a new resort, but I didn't hear more about it until maybe a year ago I read a rumor that the ground there was unstable.
 
no2apprentice

no2apprentice

Well-Known Member
Another monorail resort would be nice...something a little cheaper than the Contemporary would be even nicer (hey, if we're going to dream, may as well dream big!). I remember someone posting way back when that there doesn't seem to be any stable land left on the monorail loop. Don't know if this is true, but considering the Contemporary has reportedly shifted quite a bit, this may be the case. Pity.

And, I normally don't do this, but it's driving me nuts....it's M-e-d-i-t-e-r-r-a-n-e-a-n.
 
no2apprentice

no2apprentice

Well-Known Member
From my understanding (what little I have ;-) ), the original concept behind the Contemporary was to have modular rooms that could slide out of their "hole" and be replaced with updated rooms, thus making it more...well...contemporary. From what several people have reported, the foundation has shifted, throwing some parts of the structure out of square, causing some of the walls to exert pressure against each other. If any attempt would be made to remove these rooms, the walls would probably be severly damaged or destroyed.

I'm only passing on what other people have reported. Is it true? I couldn't say for sure, but considering all the reports over the years of how difficult it is to build in the soil around WDW, I tend to believe it.
 
Invero

Invero

Well-Known Member
I met someone today who headed up one of the Mediterranean attempts. A very high up within the Disney corporate ladder. According to him, "I beleive [the Mediterranean project] WILL get built."
 
colliera

colliera

Member
Doing the Contemporary Shift

I had also seen old TV shows talking about the construction of the CR and how the rooms would slide out for refirb. The rooms were constructed on site by US Steel and lifted by crane and slid into the sides of the "A" frame. I always wondered why there wasn't any information about Disney actually doing this over the years until I read a post somewhere talking about how the foundation had shifted and essentially "locked" the rooms in place because they were out of square with the frame. Neat idea but when you build on swamp land in FL you can expect that kind of thing. Same problem was the demise of Horizons.

I've even see homeowners in Celebration's forum sometimes talk about foundation problems with their homes, (see http://www.34747.org) and then from time to time sink hole stories run on the local Orlando TV stations. Back when I could get the Orlando locals as a local distant station package on Dish Network they had a big hole open up very near a condo complex that came close to pulling in one of the buildings. The developers got right on it and filled it but it took about a week and tons of concrete and fill.

As for the Med. resort wasn't that going in on that square of land that they wound up building the Grand Floridian on?
 
jcraycraft

jcraycraft

Member
T

TURKEY

New Member
Originally posted by no2apprentice
Another monorail resort would be nice...something a little cheaper than the Contemporary would be even nicer (hey, if we're going to dream, may as well dream big!).

And, I normally don't do this, but it's driving me nuts....it's M-e-d-i-t-e-r-r-a-n-e-a-n.
Click to expand...


I think that if this or any other monorail project were completed, the costs of rooms would be higher than any of the other deluxes.
 
J

JEDI1138

New Member
Re: Doing the Contemporary Shift

Originally posted by colliera
I had also seen old TV shows talking about the construction of the CR and how the rooms would slide out for refirb. The rooms were constructed on site by US Steel and lifted by crane and slid into the sides of the "A" frame. I always wondered why there wasn't any information about Disney actually doing this over the years until I read a post somewhere talking about how the foundation had shifted and essentially "locked" the rooms in place because they were out of square with the frame. Neat idea but when you build on swamp land in FL you can expect that kind of thing. Same problem was the demise of Horizons.

That was the original thought, that it could be done, but like any building, they settle over time to some degree when completed. The slide-in rooms was talked about as innovative, however in all reality it was an ends to a means. Goal, build a vacation kingdom in TWO years. To achieve this you look for ways to cut time, so you build the rooms at the same time as you build the structure and stick them together at the end, or else you build the structure then complete the rooms afterwards, which takes twice as long. What most people don't realize is that the same construction technique was used to build the Polynesian also, but nobody talks about it, because it doesn't sound "Contemporary". Later longhouses that were added were built using traditional construction techniques.

And as for Horizons, there was NO SINK HOLE! Get over it.
Click to expand...
 
tikiman

tikiman

Well-Known Member
For more info and photos of the original resorts go to my web page.

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly1.html

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly1_5.html

mapconcept.jpg
 

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