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News New lobby layouts coming to Disney's Old Key West and Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
cranbiz
Well-Known Member
While I believe the Disney of old would have done a far better job, I instantly got SSR just from the first picture. However, I did not get OKW from the first picture.
Also, I have never been in either lobby. Been by each of the buildings thousands of times, in them, no.
Also, I have never been in either lobby. Been by each of the buildings thousands of times, in them, no.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
Saratoga gives me a bit of hope. I also wonder that now with the buildings getting older more of the budget is being spent on the bones of the structure leaving less money for finishes? I am crafting an email right now to voice my concern over the lack of feeling these renovations have, maybe if more people wrote in the message will get through.
I’ll see the OKW lobby in person next month, or I’ll at least make it a point to go in sometime, we’re only there for one night.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
These are new. I like the idea they were going for. If all the furniture wasn’t from wayfair I don’t think they’d stick out as much, but together makes it feel cheap.
rkleinlein
Well-Known Member
You don't have to be a professional interior designer to see that these new lobbies have very little theming and look like generic lobbies of generic hotel chains. And these aren't one (or two) offs. The Riviera is just as bad. Marshalls and Home Goods is the new aesthetic for Disney hotels.
Theming aside, they don't even look like lobbies for particularly nice hotels even though these are part of Disney's most expensive, deluxe tier accommodations. They look not just generic, but cheap. We've all seen Marriott Coutryards and Hilton Garden Inns that look nicer than these.
In case you haven't, here's a pic of the lobby of first Marriott Courtyard that came up in a search (Nashville). To my untrained eye, this is so much nicer than what Disney is doing and it's just a Coutryard, not even a true Marriott. If Courtyard can do it why doesn't Disney? (Of course we know the answer to that question.)
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
WHY? All of this is just unnecessary junk that has nothing to do with the resort. We couldn’t find a horse statue? A nice potted plant? A table/hutch/buffet whatever this is That actually fits the time period? If I was the resort GM Id tell them to take all this stuff back and just leave an empty wall. I’d prefer that over this junk.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Yes, I have the same feeling. Generally I understand how some of the 1990s-era theming might need to be streamlined for 2020s tastes. The problem is that Disney's hotels are increasingly not even furnished like particularly nice hotels. They certainly don't seem special in the sense that the furnishings look like things we could all find in retail stores and, if we can afford to stay at the hotels, could probably easily afford to buy.
Something strange is going on with the hotels. Whether you liked the old theming or not, they always seemed quite unique and somewhat lavish in their furnishing. Now they just seem cheap and generic. The worst offender is the porte cochere of the Polynesian, which is and looks like it's made out of painted metal in place of wood with some cheap light fixtures meant to vaguely resemble glass floats. That they are happy with that standard for what is one of their most expensive deluxe resorts suggests quality is not a priority for the resorts.
Completely agree. Virtually everything in this picture looks bad. Even the table/sideboard thing looks pretty ugly and synthetic sitting on its clear plastic legs.
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
This looks like something you'd see in the lobby of an office building. Something they just grabbed and threw in so it wasn't empty space.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
Exactly. I’m curious to see what this looks like in a couple months and if WDI gets any pushback from resort leadership. If it is not adding to the story then why have it?
Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
Honestly, it just feels very outsourced. Here's a budget and a general idea. Get it done to feel "faux nice" and call it a day. The resorts are almost feeling like an after thought, because they feel they have the audience. So why bother. (And, given the internal spend overrun, I can see some reason why there.)
I just think about something like the lobbies and entries of the Lodges. To this day, some of the most spectacular entries to any hotel I've been in. The juxtaposition there isn't flattering.
I just think about something like the lobbies and entries of the Lodges. To this day, some of the most spectacular entries to any hotel I've been in. The juxtaposition there isn't flattering.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
I still have hope that those balloons at poly are a placeholder for the real glass ones seen in the rest of the resort, but I agree that it feels like WDI outsourced the lobby designs and it’s not turning out well.
DisneyNorthFan
Active Member
I'm not saying I love the furnishings in these new lobbies, although they are certainly more practical than what was there before. Objectively, there is no comparison between the prior SSR lobby and the new one, which in fairness was a low bar. Also, while not an excuse for the lobby not to be better, but the focus of Disney resorts has always been on the larger grounds and amenities vs. "just" the lobby. Comparing the lobby of a chain hotel to the SSR is missing the bigger picture comparison, where it would be hard to argue that SSR isn't more immersive overall.
DisneyPete19
New Member
The OKW renovation looks horrendous! Looks like they joined the lobby & the breakfast room at the Holiday Inn Express close to the airport in Trinidad & Tobago. This has completely destroyed the theming of my home resort. The theme was supposed to be early 20th century OKW, how is this supposed to resemble any of this?
SS looks like they've kept most of what was originally there. I'm more ok with what they did with it.
Looking at the comments in here rationalizing these changes, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if people here start asking for a retheming of MK's main street because the theme of a romanticized late 19th century/early 20th century Marceline, MO is too old and stale and needs to be "modernized" to reflect current day "sensibilities".
SS looks like they've kept most of what was originally there. I'm more ok with what they did with it.
Looking at the comments in here rationalizing these changes, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if people here start asking for a retheming of MK's main street because the theme of a romanticized late 19th century/early 20th century Marceline, MO is too old and stale and needs to be "modernized" to reflect current day "sensibilities".
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Look, maybe the posters who say some guests just want bland, vaguely classy surroundings are right. Fine. Let’s give them what they want, but let’s compromise and draw a clear line. The Hilton Garden Inn crowd can have Riviera, Caribbean, Saratoga, Key West, either the Yacht OR Beach, and one of the Seven Seas resorts - let’s give them the Poly, which may already be beyond saving. Those places can be decorated with wire sculptures, or whatever that thing is pictured above. All the other resorts stay or are returned to a state of being heavily, thoroughly, uniquely themed. Draw up a contract and let’s make this thing legally binding.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
That picture of Maximums (the horse from Tangled) reminds me more of when Donkey becomes a horse in Shrek 2.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
Yeah that looks ridiculous. You have to wonder how some of these furnishings will look after a few years of guests using them too. I don't like the lighting fixtures in the SSR lobby either. While the old lobby could use work for sure it was at least evocative of a time and place, late 1800s Saratoga? This is evocative of nothing, same problem I have with Riviera.
jmuboy
Well-Known Member
SSR only evokes nice apartment complex to me and always had. This lobby redo is a net 0. At least the pink is gone.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Yeah, SSR’s theme has always been “Disney Institute didn’t work.” Of course, it’s hard to imagine what successful theming would look like. I have a fairly deep knowledge of history and, particularly, the history of tourism, and if you asked me to describe the essence of a Saratoga Springs hotel, I’d just stare at you. I’m familiar with the inspiration for pretty much every other Disney hotel but - what is distinct about Saratoga Springs architecture?
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
I always felt in the past that the DVC hotels were largely interchangeable in their design and the only meaningful thing that separated them was their location. The only exception being the lodges.
I think because DVC is a timeshare, the thinking was that people would want to buy into something that was standardized and familiar, so that you knew what to expect with your home resort.
Ironically, some of the buildings on WDW's Main Street are based on ones that existed in 19th century Saratoga Springs, but they have nothing in common with what Disney built for the SSR hotel. It's just another "seaside cottage".