For one, the Asian Resort was the next in line for construction. Its inclusion was
deemed so imminent by the company that a space was left for it on the western shore
of the Seven Seas Lagoon during WDW's initial construction. It was about midway
between the Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian on the monorail line, in a spot now
occupied by a cluster of blocky white buildings called the Grand Floridian Beach
Resort. As a square bit of flat land that jutted out into the lagoon, dotted with only a
few pine trees, this site remained untouched for fifteen years. As children, my brother
and I looked at this big green expanse with no sense of its meaning or promise, it was
just a weird manmade shape that stood out in the water - something we'd see from
the monorail on trips back to the parking lot.
 That land held much more
promise than most kids could
have fully appreciated. The
Asian Resort was a beautifully
conceived and rendered
project. As descriptions in
WDW pre-opening
publications read, it was to be
Thai in style, furnishings and
food offerings. It was
essentially laid out in a large
square, with a 160-foot tall
tower building near the
center. Four massive A-frame
windows faced out from the sides of this tower's upper level, which would serve as a
themed restaurant and cocktail lounge. This restaurant, illustrated as an opulently
appointed room with high ceilings and ornate statuary, would have been the setting
for nightly dancing and "stage-show entertainment," much as the Contemporary's Top
of the World was for many years a one-stop evening hot spot.
The perimeter of the Asian would have been formed by its long outer rows of
rooms, which would surround the inner courtyard on the three sides facing the
water. On the far west side would be a separate building connecting the hotel to the
WDW monorail line. The Asian was initially projected to house 600 guest rooms, 50 of
which were to have been "elegant suites in royal Thai decor." Two-thirds of the
rooms were to have been located "on the water" of the Seven Seas Lagoon or in
garden settings. The remainder were to be housed in the tower building, with views
overlooking the lagoon and a central recreation area. What exactly would have sat
in this recreation area is unclear, but plans definitely looked to have included
(surprise) a large swimming pool.
Also planned for the resort were some extensive convention facilities, which were
to be located apart from and underneath the main guest areas. This suggests that the
aforementioned recreation area might have been built up a floor or two over the
ground level in order to leave room for convention halls below - a construction
method employed successfully at the Magic Kingdom, where the park's main
walkways sit an average of fifteen feet above the ground level utilidor system (or
tunnel).
The positioning of the Asian on this side of the lagoon was in keeping with a school
of thought that seems to have been dismissed by the early 1980s...that hotels on the
Seven Seas Lagoon would serve as extended backdrops for the lands on the southern
side of the Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary sits behind Tomorrowland, the
Polynesian behind Adventureland. The Asian would also fall behind Adventureland,
helping to maintain a broad but subtle sense of order.
In addition to setting aside land for the resort, the company named a road for
it. Asian Way was the thoroughfare that ran from a service area north of the Magic
Kingdom down to the Car Care Center south of the Polynesian. The name remained
until about 1986, when the road became Floridian Way.
Another difference between the Asian and the other two planned resorts is that
neither the Persian or Venetian received any public mention by the company past the
time of WDW's opening. The Asian, however, came very close to realization. In its
1972 annual report, the company announced that architectural work would soon
begin on the Asian, which at the time was described as a 500, vs. the original 600,
room hotel. Construction and the resort's opening were both planned for 1974.
Several models of the hotel were completed, as well as some detailed elevation
drawings. Construction, however, never got underway.
 What exactly happened
is probably much more
involved than I'll ever
know, but it's safe to say
that the U.S. energy
crisis, beginning in 1973,
was the greatest factor in
the resort's demise.
Off-property
accommodations in the
Orlando area took a big
hit during this time, and it
has been written that the
company delayed the
building of more
on-property rooms as
something of a good-will gesture toward the surrounding community. While the Golf
Resort Hotel did open in 1973, it contained a mere 153 rooms and was aimed at a
specific market niche. Plans for additional accommodations were limited to the
expansion of the Fort Wilderness campground and some townhouse-style buildings in
the Lake Buena Vista area.
Ten years later the playing field had changed. The economy was strong and
Orlando area hotel occupancy was up. The company was poised to take advantage of
this situation with the proposed development of more on-property hotels. One of
those was the Grand Floridian, which was conceived circa 1983 as a possible
development along the lagoon. It finally opened in 1988 on that square piece of land
which was so carefully set aside for something much different almost twenty years
prior. Its opening also heralded an era of new WDW accommodations, one that has
continued to the present day.
For all the growth, however, the simple appeal of the Asian Resort has yet to be
matched.
|
