Rumor The Wave to become an 'Incredibles Steakhouse'

[Jon81uk]

These are supposed to be luxurious, immersive properties. You don't put your fast food joint front and center. Form and function should be balanced. Contempo Café drives me nuts because having that smack dab in the middle of your grand atrium just reeks of economy lodging.

Most really luxury hotels don't offer any quick service food, you are expected to dine at the restaurant or order room service. But I have stayed in a lot of mid-range hotels (Marriot, Hilton that sort of thing) where there is a coffee shop or similar grab and go offering very obviously in the lobby. The quick coffee offering is often very central as people are getting quick coffee on their way out of the hotel in the morning.
I do sort of agree with you that a fast food place doesn't look great right in the middle of the hotel, but having some kind of grab and go food offering in a central area near the exit (in this case the main exit could be seen as the monorail) is probably the right thing to do.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I don't see how anyone calls this far-fetched. The Contemporary is the only place on property that fits the Incredibles mid-century modern aesthetic. Heck it even has a MONORAIL ROLLING THROUGH THE CENTER OF IT! Of course something as minor as a restaurant refresh could become Incredibles-themed. A whole hotel retheming wouldn't seem off-base to me.

This goes right in line with the Incredibles themed kids zone thingy they converted the Contemporary Arcade into earlier this year. Of course it's back to an Arcade now.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

These are supposed to be luxurious, immersive properties. You don't put your fast food joint front and center. Form and function should be balanced. Contempo Café drives me nuts because having that smack dab in the middle of your grand atrium just reeks of economy lodging.

On that I disagree. If you want an luxurious, immersive property, that is the Four Seasons, not the Contemporary. While the Contemporary is a Deluxe Disney resort, I don't think it screams luxurious, nor do I think it tries to. It is the closest resort to the MK, arguably the most kid friendly/younger skewing park. From all the times I have spent there (and with having our two young boys, we have chosen the Contemporary as our "home" resort due to its walking distance to MK) the hotel guest all generally appear to fit into family with younger children demographics. If that is your target, you absolutely do put your QS and your character dining restaurant front and center. You want every parent heading for the monorail to run into the Café for juice, or bagels, or fruit, b/c their kids said they were hungry as they walked by to the escalators to the monorail. You want all the families as they come off the monorail from their days at the park to pull in for a cheeseburger or pizza because the kids are "starving" and can't wait to go back to their rooms, or wait for a sit down meal. You also want the kids to see the characters at Chef Mickey, and for them to be bothering their parents "can we eat their with Mickey" in the hope of filling any empty non-reservation dining spots.

 

[lindawdw]

The Wave has been a favorite of our for many years and I would be so disappointed if they changed it to this character dining experience. Disney World already has enough of these types of dining venues, I hope they leave well enough alone!

 

[Bocabear]

plus the fact that they have Chef Mickey's Character dining already...No resort has 2 character dining venues ( Polynesian Luau excluded)... And for the prices etc, the Contemporary should be more luxurious... and when it was built, it was considered luxurious...
The Grand Canyon Concourse now looks like a preschool... all of the original decor is long gone with bad already-dated remodels... They should strip out the whole thing and start over...Do it the right way so that things like Grab and Go and fast food are there but not so cheap looking and not the first thing you notice in their grand atrium. The store in the middle of the concourse is a HUGE eyesore...there is a store right next to it making it not necessary. There is plenty of space for everything without temporary structures like this...It just needs to be re-thought by a designer whop understands the original intent and history of the structure... I personally would love to see the giant lucite trees return, The large real trees and some beautiful new lighting... Also a cocktail lounge that is worth visiting...an uber-cool futuristic sci-fi version of Trader Sams.

 

[Minthorne]

plus the fact that they have Chef Mickey's Character dining already...No resort has 2 character dining venues ( Polynesian Luau excluded)... And for the prices etc, the Contemporary should be more luxurious... and when it was built, it was considered luxurious...
The Grand Canyon Concourse now looks like a preschool... all of the original decor is long gone with bad already-dated remodels... They should strip out the whole thing and start over...Do it the right way so that things like Grab and Go and fast food are there but not so cheap looking and not the first thing you notice in their grand atrium. The store in the middle of the concourse is a HUGE eyesore...there is a store right next to it making it not necessary. There is plenty of space for everything without temporary structures like this...It just needs to be re-thought by a designer whop understands the original intent and history of the structure... I personally would love to see the giant lucite trees return, The large real trees and some beautiful new lighting... Also a cocktail lounge that is worth visiting...an uber-cool futuristic sci-fi version of Trader Sams.

What I marked in Red - I kept saying the exact same thing when I was there in May!

 

[Bocabear]

It went from a rich sparkling and unique environment to...

All the charm of an airport terminal... and still manages to look cluttered and awful on the shopping side.

 

[solidyne]

View attachment 379495
It went from a rich sparkling and unique environment to...
View attachment 379505
All the charm of an airport terminal... and still manages to look cluttered and awful on the shopping side.

Yep. And it's not "just nostalgia" or "being old" to think this way. Everywhere you turn in the parks and resorts there is one (easily preventable) letdown after another.

 

[MisterPenguin]

View attachment 379495
It went from a rich sparkling and unique environment to...
View attachment 379505
All the charm of an airport terminal... and still manages to look cluttered and awful on the shopping side.

I wouldn't call either picture 'charming.'

 

[Bocabear]

I wouldn't call either picture 'charming.'

Maybe you had to see it in person...the giant chrome umbrellas of lights, the vivid colors of the Grand Canyon Concourse Mural repeated in the Lucite trees. The lucite trees outlined in Tivoli lights adding more sparkle to the overall... It was color and whimsy blended with a modern (for the time) style... It was breathtaking, and not just for the shape of the building and the monorails passing through...it was everything.... Now it is just patches on top of clutter...No unifying theme, the architecture is a mismatched footnote in the interior-scape rather than the centerpiece of the design as intended...

 

[Rider]

View attachment 379495
It went from a rich sparkling and unique environment to...
View attachment 379505
All the charm of an airport terminal... and still manages to look cluttered and awful on the shopping side.

I know it looked modern 40 years ago but that same lobby today would be hilariously dated. It just screams 70s office building.

 

[Bocabear]

I know it looked modern 40 years ago but that same lobby today would be hilariously dated. It just screams 70s office building.

It was beautiful and much more dramatic than any office building I knew of in the 70s... but yes, things must be updated but in a way that maintains the design integrity. Current interior design teams working for Disney don't seem to understand what the intent was and seem to be trying to homogenize these special spaces... Using unremarkable furnishings and lackluster designs, they are devolving these landmark buildings into current pedestrian hotels and restaurants.

 

[Rider]

The idea of "Contemporary" is always changing. The "design integrity" was never to keep the hotel looking like the 70s forever. What is "modern" is always changing.

It's OK to be a big fan of the 70s aesthetic. It's also OK not to agree with the direction that management has decided for the hotel. It's not OK to attack the hardworking employees who put so much of their time and effort into their work because you don't like that management wanted to move away from a dated design.

 

[ABQ]

Agree @Rider . I think what might get lost in the gray matter over the years is that, at least from my own point of view, when I was a child and first visited the Contemporary I was wide eyed and awe struck. However, if I were seeing it for the first time today, and if it looked as stunning now as it had in the 70's, I may not be as awe struck. Not because it would be dated, lets play the hypothetical game that it was brand new and the style was still "modern" But having traveled more over the year and seen other grand hotels and over the top builds it just isn't wouldn't stand alone. It would stand out, it still does, imho, but the world has just gotten smaller over the years, the ease of travel makes it impossible for WDW work in a vacuum as it once did.

 

[Bocabear]

The idea of "Contemporary" is always changing. The "design integrity" was never to keep the hotel looking like the 70s forever. What is "modern" is always changing.

It's OK to be a big fan of the 70s aesthetic. It's also OK not to agree with the direction that management has decided for the hotel. It's not OK to attack the hardworking employees who put so much of their time and effort into their work because you don't like that management wanted to move away from a dated design.

I agree things must change and evolve, I do not agree that things must go from original and custom to plain, cluttered and off the shelf. The things that made all the Disney hotels unique decades ago was the time and care spent on the design...The custom created furnishings, art and decorative objects....Even in the 90s when building new restaurants like the Flying Fish and Citricos, everything was custom and unique... It is unfortunate that remodeling now seems to be done from standard catalogs with rather lackluster results...do the new interiors look nice? yes...they are fine, but they are not groundbreaking like they once were... they do not inspire...they are remarkably safe and as unique as a Panera or Chipotle...

 

[aladdin2007]

I agree things must change and evolve, I do not agree that things must go from original and custom to plain, cluttered and off the shelf. The things that made all the Disney hotels unique decades ago was the time and care spent on the design...The custom created furnishings, art and decorative objects....Even in the 90s when building new restaurants like the Flying Fish and Citricos, everything was custom and unique... It is unfortunate that remodeling now seems to be done from standard catalogs with rather lackluster results...do the new interiors look nice? yes...they are fine, but they are not groundbreaking like they once were... they do not inspire...they are remarkably safe and as unique as a Panera or Chipotle...

...or Marriott and the list goes on....spot on entire post. Rooms are starting to look like dorm rooms etc and that is not worth the money for what they charge, use to be something called a Disney difference, that is long gone now.... I cringe to think what it will look like when the wilderness lodge rooms get a makeover.

 

[easyrowrdw]

At some point, I think they'll have to bite the bullet and embrace its 20th century modernism as a theme. Just like how the Disneyland Hotel has leaned into its 50's DL heritage. Might not happen until the 2030's or 2040's. But in time, no amount of new paint or carpet will be able to justify calling it "The Contemporary Resort" anymore.

This is exactly what I've thought, with the success the Polynesian Village and the Disneyland Hotel leaning into their decades of origin. Especially with the way the Disneyland Hotel is a tribute to Disneyland itself, the Contemporary could become a tribute to the Vacation Kingdom era of Walt Disney World.

I like that. I stayed at a hotel in Nashville recently that was modeled after 60s/70s styling. It was very nice and didn't feel "dated." Surely they could do something similar with the Contemporary. We really like the Polynesian and never felt like we were staying somewhere old. It's just fun.

 

[Bocabear]

Cabana Bay which is purposely styles to mid century modern Miami Beach looks fabulous. The colors are appealing, it feels special, immersive and very themed.,,While the Contemporary would not necessarily be the place to do the same thing, the decor could lean more toward that 1969 Modernist aesthetic... Jonathan Adler-esque luxe modernism....Unique and wow-inspiring...

 

[mikejs78]

Has anyone besides clickbait corroborated this? Given his recent batting average, I wouldn't trust him as a reliable source.

 

[wannabeBelle]

And the VO5 shampoo and the zest soap in the rooms crack me up!! Great touches of a throwback to that era. Marie