Sunday, July 18, 2010

Magic Kingdom Resort Tales

Let’s take a look at the secrets of the Magic Kingdom Resorts. This includes the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, and the Contemporary. Be forewarned that there is not a lot of really juicy secrets here because either my memory is bad or there just aren’t all that many.

I’ll start with the resorts I know the least about. That would be the Contemporary Resort and Polynesian.

The Contemporary I worked at only a handful of times. Only once did I venture to the Poly as part of the buses and I only worked with monorails a few times at the Contemporary. It is a much busier resort now than it used to be, mainly because of the addition of Bay Lake Tower, a Disney Vacation Club resort. To be honest, I can’t think of anything interesting about this resort as far as secrets. I’ve been to the break room, and that’s about it. Nothing spectacular. It did require an elevator ride and it took me forever to find the door just to get off stage. Part of this is because the door was reflective and blended into the wall.

The Contemporary does have the monorail station inside the resort, so it is a little unique. It is by far the best resort to work as a Monorail Host. It’s inside and carpeted. It can be a little tricky because of the multiple ways you can open up the gates for guests.

The Polynesian was my least favorite resort to work at. It was always hot. Extremely hot. This was one of the few resorts that never had bus greeters at them. Pop Century was another (mostly because a supervisor would sit in its parking lot). Yatch club also did not have a bus greeter. I never did anything behind the scenes here at the Poly. I did hear of a problem they had during the luau show one night. Apparently, a ten foot alligator wondered up on stage. Everyone freaked out and the show was cancelled. I don’t know what they did to resolve the issue, but I’m sure everyone got taken care of.

Okay, now on to some resorts I actually know something about. The Grand Floridian was quite nice both on stage and in cast exclusive areas. The food was fantastic. The guests are normally very nice, even in the event of delays in bus or monorail service. This was the resort that broke my arm, so I’ll always remember this resort and Monorail red for that.

Interesting facts coming up now. Well, relatively interesting.

The Wilderness Lodge. Love it love it love it. There is a cast entrance just inside the resort where the guest rooms are. An elevator takes you down to the utilidors, underground tunnels similar to the Magic Kingdom, but not nearly as complex.

Still, one of my favorite resorts to work was Fort Wilderness. I worked there on Thanksgiving, New Years Eve, and Christmas Day. I never ventured far into the resort due to its size. There was the absolute best break room. If you look above the RV check in, you’ll see what looks like a little house. That’s pretty much exactly what it is. There’s a couch, TV, table, vending. It’s very cozy. It does smell like horse which is a huge turn off, but the campground will always hold a special place in my heart and memory as both a cast member and a guest. I always eat my first meal at the resort here at the Fort. Normally, it’s the Trail’s End Restaurant, but this upcoming trip will be the Hoop-Dee-Doo-Revue.

Well, I know that wasn’t very enlightening, but there’s not a ton to talk about.

TTFN

On Deck: Camp Minnie Mickey
In The Hole: A Downtown Disney Resort

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