Recently uncovered imagery shows a Walt Disney World Resort hotel leveled flat after the Central Florida Disney park suddenly decided to halt operations.
Walt Disney World Resort is home to dozens of Disney Resort hotels. From family-friendly Value Resort hotel rooms at Disney’s All-Star Resorts to luxury Disney Vacation Club villas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, there’s an accommodation option for every guest.
Disney Resort hotel guests are granted exclusive perks, like Early Theme Park Entry and seven-day advanced access to Multi Pass and Single Pass Lightning Lane selections. They also have premiere access to Walt Disney World Resort transportation, including busses, the Disney Skyliner, watercraft, and the Monorail.
When Magic Kingdom Park opened in 1971, only Disney’s Contemporary Resort was ready to welcome guests. Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground opened weeks after. As Walt Disney World Resort expanded to include EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and Disney Springs, more lodging was necessary.
Related: Guests Drowned at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
However, not every promised Walt Disney World Resort project comes to fruition. For example, Disney’s Pop Century Resort was only half complete when it opened in 2003. Nearly a decade later, in 2012, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort opened on the grounds of the abandoned other half of Pop Century.
Where Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa now sits, Walt Disney Imagineers planned a different Monorail hotel: Disney’s Asian Resort. It was set to open in 1974 but was canceled during the 1973 oil crisis. Imagineering also canceled planned Venetian and Persian Disney Resort hotels.
Redditor u/dukeofhoagies recently uncovered a vintage photo of crews preparing land for Disney’s Asian Resort. The image starkly contrasts the well-developed land Walt Disney World Resort guests know now.
Land Preparation for the Unbuilt Asian Resort
Land Preparation for the Unbuilt Asian Resort
byu/dukeofhoagies inWaltDisneyWorld
In the background, crews are visible working on Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Disney’s Asian Resort wasn’t yet under construction, but construction workers had leveled and prepared the Central Florida swampland for building to begin.
The architecture and culture of Thailand inspired Walt Disney Imagineering’s plans for Disney’s Asian Resort. The Disney Resort hotel would’ve featured 500 rooms in multiple buildings, including a 160-foot tall central structure with a restaurant on top.
The 1973 energy crisis brought a downturn in tourism, and Walt Disney World Resort didn’t need new hotel rooms for guests. Plans for Disney’s Asian Resort were permanently scrapped and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa later opened on its proposed site.
What theme would you like to see at a new Walt Disney World hotel? Share your ideas with us in the comments.
