Thursday, June 15, 2017

More WDW, December 1971

We're back at "The World" today - Walt Disney World, that is! And instead of the usual shots of the Magic Kingdom, we're at the Polynesian Village Resort on the south shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon.

Name the seven seas! The Sea of Tranquility; the Sea of Love; the Adriatic Sea, the, um... er.... aaaa, who cares about those other crummy seas anyways? It's oceans that impress me.

Back in the 1970's, ads for WDW always showed people water skiing and sailing. There are plenty of outrigger sailboats for those with skills. I wouldn't have the faintest idea of what to do, except capsize.


Presumably even Florida gets chilly enough in December so that most people don't want to risk a dunking.  Where are the speedboats? I want to be as noisy and obnoxious as possible.  Vroom!


Not only were there sailboats, there are also a few very long canoes (kayaks?) along the wharf. And you could also rent a little Bob-A-Round Boat - unseaworthy little electric-powered pleasure craft beloved by many, except for those who were stranded in the middle of the bay when their battery ran out of juice. Some had to resort to cannibalism after two or three hours. 

I know very little about the Polynesian Resort in its current state, but I'll bet it was tons of fun 30 or 40 years ago!


12 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Some fun views of the Polynesian Resort.

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

Wow! Great shots of the Polynesian Village. The last one is my favorite. Thanks, Major.

Matt said...

Very interesting shots. Thanks for sharing today and every day!

Pegleg Pete said...

Great early Polynesian Resort photographs – thanks, Major! Ever since I was a child I've wanted to stay there, but I've still never managed it. My sister got married there about fifteen years ago and I remember thinking at the time that it had seemed to have changed a bit since the early-Seventies. The atmosphere was still nice and the restaurants were good. I'm sure someone out there will be able to comment more on the resort's changes over the years.

Chuck said...

Pegleg Pete, while lots of things have changed gradually over the years, probably the most obvious change since the '70s is the removal of that gorgeous entrance lobby fountain and the change of the lobby's color scheme. Well, that and the Star Wars overlay.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, they are not only fun, they are stroft (strong + soft).

K. Martinez, yes, the last one is the best.

Matt, no problemo!

Pegleg Pete, my guess is that the Polynesian Resort has been added to - A LOT - based on what they’ve done over at the Contemporary. Just a guess though! And I assume that the rental boats are long gone.

Chuck, that fountain was an eyesore, what with all of the plants and water and stuff. Give me an AT-AT any day.

TokyoMagic! said...

The Bob-A-Round boats look very familiar, although I know I didn't see them during any of my trips to WDW. I'm thinking that they must have shown them on a "Wonderful World of Disney" episode that was filmed at WDW. The other boats seem to have characters at the top of each sail. It looks like Mickey's on the second one from the left and Donald might be on the third, but who the heck is that on the first one? It sort of looks like Grover or the Cookie Monster, but I know it can't be either of them.....yet! As a kid, I had a jigsaw puzzle of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy sailing at WDW in boats with similar character-marked sails:

1973 Walt Disney World Jigsaw Puzzle

Chuck said...

TM!, now that you've pointed them out, I'm finding those characters on the sails fascinatingly frustrating to identify. That first one from the left looks to me like a frog, while the second looks like it might be Spike the Bee. The character on that third sail reminds me of the Mad Hatter, but it could be Chip (or Dale) in a railroad engineer's cap for all I know.

I remember seeing that puzzle in the store as a kid! And that just helps me better understand why before my first visit I had the impression that the monorail went inside the MK like it did at Disneyland.

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, I initially thought that the Bob-A-Round boats were only there for a year or so, but my understanding is that they might have been there into the 1980's. I sure don't know! The characters on the sails are unclear, but the first one is Mr. Toad, the second one is Tigger, and the third one is the Mad Hatter. In a future post you'll see the Tigger sail more clearly.

Chuck, you got the Mad Hatter correct! Spike the Bee, I would like it if they used an obscure character like that. Doesn't the Monorail go inside the Magic Kingdom AT ALL? I never thought about it really, but I guess you're right, it was used as a form of transportation and not as an attraction.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, thank you for clearing that up! Now I want to pilot a Mr. Toad sailboat.....to nowhere in particular!

Mike said...

Thank you for posting these. I made the first of six trips to Disney World in 1976, stayed at the Polynesian all six times, consider the Polynesian my "home at Disney" and wouldn't consider staying anywhere else. I haven't been there since the removal of the waterfall but was always a big fan of both the interior AND exterior waterfalls. There are more pictures of the waterfall at this link http://www.yesterland.com/polynesian.html and from there there are links to many other photos of the Polynesian, Disney World, and other Disney parks and resorts.

Chuck said...

Major, I can't believe I didn't make the frog/Toad connection! It even looked familiar, but my brain was on a different wavelength. And yet I came up with Spike the Bee. Go figure.

No, the monorail doesn't enter the MK at all - it just goes around the Seven Seas Lagoon, although there are two tracks going in opposite directions and a separate loop that goes from the TTC to EPCOT. The EPCOT loop does go through that Park.