BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 From ImagineeringDisney. Follow the link for lots more photos... WDW Construction: Polynesian Village ResortSunday, July 22, 2012 at 1:44PM Posted by FritzJoin us as we take a step-by-step look at the unusual construction of the Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World.The Polynesian was originally named the Polynesian Village Resort Hotel but was renamed Disney's Polynesian Resort sometime in 1985. Here we start with the foundations of the resort as well as the lake dock and some Monorail beams.From further north we see the progress. At this point we are already in the year 1971. Let's hope we are ready for October. What's that rectangle of land in the foreground?? That's the site of the never-built Asian Resort!! This is a rare look at the land that eventually housed Disney's Grand Floridian.The Great Ceremonial House begins to take shape.Meanwhile at a facility on the east end of Walt Disney World property, U.S. Steel workers assembled hundreds of rooms.Today the building still stands at 1500 Live Oak Lane, Orlando, FL 32830. If you've ever driven "the back way" to Magic Kingdom via Highway 535, you've seen the softball field. The facility was just south of that.Location provided by Twitter follower @SimonTravelsThat's right, these modular guest rooms were assembled, finished, and furnished on an assembly line of sorts before being trucked over to the Poly construction site. A very similar process took place with the Contemporary Resort rooms.The rooms then get stacked into place. This was slightly different than the modular Contemporary Resort Hotel rooms which were "slid" into the various slots of the large a-frame structure.Roof framing begins to take place.The Monorail station also comes about.The roofs are completed along with the rest of the guest buildings. Landscaping comes next.http://www.imagineeringdisney.com/blog/2012/7/22/wdw-construction-polynesian-village-resort.html AC in A2......Aaron 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 It's fascinating to me that they planted palm trees along the water before even bringing in any rooms for construction. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Very cool!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I missed this when it was first posted.Thanks for posting this, Monique. I love seeing how WDW was built. It is amazing what they did.I didn't know that the Polynesian rooms were stacked as the photos show. I assumed they were installed the same way as at the Contemporary.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Thanks Mo! Interesting stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Large scale construction projects fascinate me. How do they decide exactly where to put stuff, especially back in 1971 when there wasn't digital imaging, GPS surveying, 3D design programs, and all the cool stuff there is today. It was plain ol paper and pencil and measuring tapes. It is just mind boggling how they did it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Large scale construction projects fascinate me. How do they decide exactly where to put stuff, especially back in 1971 when there wasn't digital imaging, GPS surveying, 3D design programs, and all the cool stuff there is today. It was plain ol paper and pencil and measuring tapes. It is just mind boggling how they did it!Very good point!It is hard to fathom how they looked at a bunch of swamp land and figured out where to build everything.And, they did so many things that had never or rarely been done before- from building the MK on top of the utilidors to the monorail, and the modular building of the resorts, and all of it was being done at the same time.Truly amazing!TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Large scale construction projects fascinate me. How do they decide exactly where to put stuff, especially back in 1971 when there wasn't digital imaging, GPS surveying, 3D design programs, and all the cool stuff there is today. It was plain ol paper and pencil and measuring tapes. It is just mind boggling how they did it!Indeed! Heck, even getting a plane in the air to take those sporadic aerial photos was probably an enormous undertaking.These days anyone can just punch up Google earth! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.