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

Christmas in the Magic Kingdom Resorts and Graduation

The wonderful, the beautiful resorts of the Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness, the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, and the Contemporary.

We shall start in the in the Polynesian resort. A wonderul resort full of such vibrant colors to begin with, there are surprisingly few additions for the Christmas season. Garland here and there, but also poynsettas and a flower enhanced tree.






The Grand Floridian is next on the resort monorail beam, so it will be next on our tour. It is full of great trees and garland. Here we see a smalll tree on the balcony and the very large, grand tree in the center of the lobby. Since the decorations around the resort have birdcages incorporated, they are naturally incorporated in the tree as well.










Perhaps the most impressive sight is the smoking chimney gingerbread house.







Outside is some additional, very lovely decorations. Namely, we have a poinsetta field with white-light deer beneth some magneficent greenery hanging overhead. To combat the chill in the air, guests are treated to apple cider and roasted chestnuts.









Now to the Contemporary. Its kitchen baked most of the gingerbread houses on the Resort, but surprisingly, they only have a large "its a small world" themed gingerbread tree. On the outside, we can see a gigantic Mickey wreath and a patriotic tree. Inside, a few trees dot the post-modern decor and Chef Mickey's wreath.








Hop on the boat, and we arrive at Fort Wilderness. Here, a rustic tree makes it home along with the horses that pull the various carriages during this festive time.







Finally, we arrive at the Wilderness Lodge. Odd decorations. Very odd. Moose antlers and teepees are the main themes. And bears. Bears too.








And that is it for the Magic Kingdom Resorts. I'll take a look at the Downtown Disney Resorts, Animal Kingdom resorts, and the Epcot resorts soon.

I do want to add a few bonus shots from Mickey's Retreat, a private recreation area on the lake. We had all finally earned our ears...



Here we can see the Graduation party where I earned my Mickey ears and tassel. Mickey and Minnie bestowed the honors.



It's a surreal experience really. Hearing the pomp and circumstance while Donald stands around and Goofy wanders aimlessly by himself.



I don't know if the audio and/or is working on your computer, but I don't always hear it on mine and when it does work, it's really loud. Trust me, DAAAAAAAA-DADA-DAAAA-DAAAAAAAAAAA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA is playing in the background while Goofy is just sorta lingering in the background. The point of the video was to get the audio and show the scene of Mickey's Retreat. During the shot, I saw Goofy and tried to zoom in on him. It looks like I'm zooming in on the person with Donald, but that was not the intention.

After meeting Mickey, it was time to party. I posed with with Goofy as well as Chip and Dale. Donald wanted to dance.





Actually, everyone wanted to party with us. There were about ten or so of us bus greeters tearing up the dance floor. We were the only people out there pretty much when no one else was there. Others joined in from time to time (for the popular songs). Our song played, our theme. I don't know the name of the song, but I recognize it. I don't remember many of the lyrics, but it's something about dancing a lot. "Somebody call 911. Shorty got it goovin' on the dance floor. Whoa-o-ah." Maybe. I might be getting two songs mixed up. In two of the pictures (Donald and Goofy), you'll see our fearless dancing leader, Megan. She really likes to be center of the dance floor. Nornally, I don't like to dance, but this was pretty fun. Kevin, JP, Ahixa, Chineso, Chris, Maryann and some others broke it down.





Chip can cha-cha real smooth.



Later, some of us went to the parks for the evening. We posed for a shot at Fantasmic, but not all of us posed to the same camera at the same time...



A great way to end a successful night.