Question for the WDW historians (or older folks)

R

retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
I have some questions regarding the 1970 version of what is now Hotel Plaza Blvd as well as the Preview Center that is now the AAU building. What was that road called back then? And could this road take you all the way to MK, or did you have to go back toward 535 and take I-4? Or did 535 even exist back then??

Also, were there other buildings along that road that have since been torn down and rebuilt? The few videos I've seen seem to show other small facilities but I have no idea what they are.

Also I would love to hear personal experiences from anyone who actually visited the Preview Center before MK opened and can describe the general area of Hotel Plaza Blvd/535 around that time.
 
Djali999

Djali999

Active Member
Hey there, I'm the author of Passport to Dreams. I followed your link here from my blog traffic stats.

Preview Blvd, as Hotel Plaza Blvd was once known, opened October 1, 1970, and dead ended directly at the Preview Center. When the WDW Preview Center closed on September 30, 1971, there was little reason to use Preview Blvd for several months. Although Disney intended to get the four "Motor Inn" hotels open in October 1971, they ended up coming online one after another during the summer and Autumn of 1972, where they joined the original Vacation Villas and the Lake Buena Vista Preview Center as the start of Lake Buena Vista. At this time, an internal access road was built, Buena Vista Drive, which heads north, connecting with SR 535 and the "east service area". From the east service area, cars may drive west along unmarked roads to find Fort Wilderness and eventually the Magic Kingdom. These roads were never meant for direct access to the vacation kingdom, and few guests ever drive them although they are technically open to the public. Until Old Key West went up, the official way to get in or out of Lake Buena Vista was by getting on I-4 and driving back into the main World Drive entrance.

The original four Motor Inn hotels were:
- TraveLodge (now Best Western)
- Royal Inn (now Royal Plaza Hotel)
- Howard Johnson's (now Holiday Inn)
- Dutch Inn (now Windham)

The buildings along Preview Blvd have grown more than they've shrunk. In the mid-80s, the Buena Vista Palace and Hilton were added, and what is now Doubletree Suites was added in, I think, 1989, as a "Pickwick Hotel" or something similar.

You can see some photos of the original 1972 hotels and the way the road looked here: http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2010/07/host-community.html

535 existed long before Disney came, although it has always led to what's now Reams Rd and eventually the "north service area" behind Magic Kingdom. In 1971, the Lake Buena Vista/535 exit off I-4 was the official "employee entrance", and what was essentially an unlit, winding two lane country road was now carrying thousands of employees a day, often traveling well in excess of the speed limit. Disney told the state of FL they had to redevelop the road to meet their needs, Florida responded that since Disney created the need they needed to contribute to the renovations. Disney responded by launching a massive local negative publicity campaign, putting up billboards next to the cast parking lot in the service area proclaiming "Congratulations! You Arrived Alive on SR-535!". Disney published photos of crashed cars in employee newsletters and encouraged cast members to write to their congressmen. They even cut a folk single called "Can You Arrive Alive on 535?" and put it on rotation in local Orlando stations.

Disney won that one.
 
vonpluto

vonpluto

Well-Known Member
Djali999 said:
The buildings along Preview Blvd have grown more than they've shrunk. In the mid-80s, the Buena Vista Palace and Hilton were added, and what is now Doubletree Suites was added in, I think, 1989, as a "Pickwick Hotel" or something similar.
Click to expand...


Doubletree opened as the Picket Suites Resort in March 1987, became Guest Quarters Suite in 1990 and Doubletree in 1995.

On our first trip in 1985 the Preview Center was called the Reception Center, and was used for initial guest check in. The building housed the Walt Disney Travel Co. in the mid to late seventies(before it relocated to the Sun Bank building), was also used as a post office, check in for the Resort Villas,and RCID HQ before the AAU moved in.

:)
 
Djali999

Djali999

Active Member
Pickett Suites, thank you. My reference materials taper out starting around 1983 so I never really bothered to figure out what the deal with that place was. :)

The actual tenancy of the Preview Center has been difficult to pin down conclusively. It was used to house an LBV model / concept art showroom in 1972, and that space was then subdivided to also include Buena Vista interiors and the Travel Company. The "Preview" section then appears to have closed by 1977, at which time the Post Office migrated from the Village and the Villas check-in kiosk was removed and both of these combined into the LBV Reception Center. At the same time the Travel Company moved to the SunBank building in 1977, and Buena Vista Interiors moved to the Village, closing by 1980.
 
R

retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
Djali999 said:
Hey there, I'm the author of Passport to Dreams. I followed your link here from my blog traffic stats.

Preview Blvd, as Hotel Plaza Blvd was once known, opened October 1, 1970, and dead ended directly at the Preview Center. When the WDW Preview Center closed on September 30, 1971, there was little reason to use Preview Blvd for several months. Although Disney intended to get the four "Motor Inn" hotels open in October 1971, they ended up coming online one after another during the summer and Autumn of 1972, where they joined the original Vacation Villas and the Lake Buena Vista Preview Center as the start of Lake Buena Vista. At this time, an internal access road was built, Buena Vista Drive, which heads north, connecting with SR 535 and the "east service area". From the east service area, cars may drive west along unmarked roads to find Fort Wilderness and eventually the Magic Kingdom. These roads were never meant for direct access to the vacation kingdom, and few guests ever drive them although they are technically open to the public. Until Old Key West went up, the official way to get in or out of Lake Buena Vista was by getting on I-4 and driving back into the main World Drive entrance.

The original four Motor Inn hotels were:
- TraveLodge (now Best Western)
- Royal Inn (now Royal Plaza Hotel)
- Howard Johnson's (now Holiday Inn)
- Dutch Inn (now Windham)

The buildings along Preview Blvd have grown more than they've shrunk. In the mid-80s, the Buena Vista Palace and Hilton were added, and what is now Doubletree Suites was added in, I think, 1989, as a "Pickwick Hotel" or something similar.

You can see some photos of the original 1972 hotels and the way the road looked here: http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2010/07/host-community.html

535 existed long before Disney came, although it has always led to what's now Reams Rd and eventually the "north service area" behind Magic Kingdom. In 1971, the Lake Buena Vista/535 exit off I-4 was the official "employee entrance", and what was essentially an unlit, winding two lane country road was now carrying thousands of employees a day, often traveling well in excess of the speed limit. Disney told the state of FL they had to redevelop the road to meet their needs, Florida responded that since Disney created the need they needed to contribute to the renovations. Disney responded by launching a massive local negative publicity campaign, putting up billboards next to the cast parking lot in the service area proclaiming "Congratulations! You Arrived Alive on SR-535!". Disney published photos of crashed cars in employee newsletters and encouraged cast members to write to their congressmen. They even cut a folk single called "Can You Arrive Alive on 535?" and put it on rotation in local Orlando stations.

Disney won that one.
Click to expand...

Fantastic info! And wow great blog, not sure how it took me this long to discover it, but I'll definitely be checking it out frequently. I especially love the music related stuff.
 

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