CONTEMPORARY RESORT
General View from Bay Lake with Space Mountain in the background
General View from Bay Lake with Space Mountain in the background(Photos by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
Disney's Contemporary Resort was one of the original hotels on opening day at Walt Disney World Resort in October 1971. The connection with Walt Disney's original Epcot is that it's an interpretation of the central urban towering hotel and an additional building both planned for the so-called domed city.
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The original concepts
On the conceptual drawings, the urban hotel was designed as a glass tower with a transportation hub in the lower levels. The hub would have included monorails and peoplemovers.
Conceptual drawings for the hotel and underground transportation hub, 1965-66(Photo by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
With the city phased out of Walt Disney World in the late 60's, there was no need for the urban center hotel as a 30 stories tower which would have been constructed in the middle of nothing, just in a wildlife setting twice the size of Manhattan. But Disney at the time did not phased out all of Walt's early concepts.
Therefore, a building already present in early drawings and on the Progress City model was inspirational for the construction. This building is believed to have been designed originaly as a shopping complex between the city center and the green belt. It was decided to keep the very basic design of the building and to turn it into the original flagship resort hotel of the Disney property.
Conceptual drawings for the shopping complex, 1965-66
(Photo by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
The hotel, first knowed as "Tempo Bay Hotel" was to feature a modern and futuristic look and to include a transportation hub in its lower level in the form of a monorail line going litteraly through the building.
Therefore, a building already present in early drawings and on the Progress City model was inspirational for the construction. This building is believed to have been designed originaly as a shopping complex between the city center and the green belt. It was decided to keep the very basic design of the building and to turn it into the original flagship resort hotel of the Disney property.
Conceptual drawings for the shopping complex, 1965-66(Photo by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
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The Contemporary Resort Construction & Opening
Construction Photos, 1969-70
(Photos by United States Steel Corporation -Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company, press article copyright not identified)
The most prominent of the hotel's buildings is the Contemporary Tower, built as an A-frame with outer walls which slope inwards around an inner atrium. This design was a collaboration by Disney, the United States Steel Corporation, and Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. To construct it, steel frames were erected on site and modular pre-constructed rooms were lifted into place by crane. Approximately 500 guest rooms line the outer walls of this building. Room renovation should have been a simple matter of replacing modules when refurbishment was needed; however, it was found that the modules settled and became stuck in place, rendering them irremovable. Most of Disney's Polynesian Resort was built this way also.
The Contemporary Tower houses most of the resort's key facilities, including resort registration and guest services (concierge). The main hall, named the Grand Canyon Concourse, is also located in the main Tower, and houses two restaurants and a variety of shops. The Walt Disney World Monorail System runs through the inside of this building, providing a monorail station here for resort guests. Also adorning the concourse walls is an enormous mosaic designed by Mary Blair.
The Contemporary Tower houses most of the resort's key facilities, including resort registration and guest services (concierge). The main hall, named the Grand Canyon Concourse, is also located in the main Tower, and houses two restaurants and a variety of shops. The Walt Disney World Monorail System runs through the inside of this building, providing a monorail station here for resort guests. Also adorning the concourse walls is an enormous mosaic designed by Mary Blair.
Construction Photos, 1969-70
(Photos by United States Steel Corporation -Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company, press article copyright not identified)
Contemporary Resort Construction & Promotional Video, 1971
(United States Steel Corporation & Walt Disney Productions)
Contemporary Resort Construction & Promotional Video, 1971
- scene from "The Magic of Walt Disney World -
(Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
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Contemporary Resort Maps
(Photos by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company & Andrew Lubow)
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Contemporary Resort Photo Gallery
Current logo, 2008
The monorail entering Contemporary Resort. The two beams are for the express and the monorail monorail lines.
The monorail gliding inside the building.
The monorail on its track view from Bay Lake
View from the Seven Seas Lagoon
The Grand Canyon mosaic is the heart of the resort and was designed by Disney artist Mary Blair. Among the stylized denizens of the mosaic is a five-legged goat. It is located on the "monorail" side of the mosaic and is best viewed from the seventh and eighth floors. Disney "cast members" report that the extra limb was an intentional addition, meant to express the belief that no man-made creation is perfect.
(Photos by Sebastien Barthe)_____________________________________
Contemporary Resort Vintage postcards
(Photos by Walt Disney Productions - The Walt Disney Company)
