Bendele Towers, Stardate: 1984

zackiedawg

zackiedawg

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Who can remember the Terrace Cafe, before there was a Chef Mickeys:

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I found this old shot in my old slides, and gave it a scan. I figured Craig might appreciate the history, and the rest of you might want to know what doing Disney was like back in the 80's, staying on property. Contemporary was always a favorite of ours - but we actually didn't do the tower as often. My family loved the garden wing rooms with water view, especially the first floor ones where you could stroll around the grass down to the water's edge.

Such a lovely the view and peaceful atmosphere the garden rooms were:

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Wasn't there a character breakfast there though? I remember going to one, I swear it was at the Contemporary, in 1982.
 
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I think they had started the breakfasts at Poly and Contemporary with characters by then...it was during a certain hour or two...and it wasn't quite like it is today where 'character breakfasts' were in-demand things booked in advance or sold out. It was more like going to breakfast, and having the characters happen to pop out and walk around a bit. if you didn't want to eat with them, you just avoided that hour or so.
 
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thats really cool Justin!
I've never seen any pics before that weren't part of a disney postcard.
thanks for sharing!
 
I have lots from Contemporary - we stayed there quite alot between 1982 and 1989, as my stepfather (my mother married him in 1982) was a doctor and there was an annual convention held there. Great excuse for us to tag along and make a family trip of it! A few times, we'd stay at the Fort Wilderness cabins and he'd boat over for the convention. Other times of the year, we'd stay at Polynesian, or Grand Floridian when that opened. By 1990 I had graduated college and moved to California, so Disneyland became my local park...until I came back to Florida in 1994. Not long after, I bought into DVC, and have stayed in those most of the time since.

Alot of my older Contemporary shots don't look that different from new Contemporary shots - exteriors of the building, the pool, the lake, etc., so I didn't bother to scan those. I'll see if I've got anything else that looks more historical or dated like the Terrace Cafe above.
 
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Yes, they did do a character breakfast at the Contemporary when it was the Terrace Cafe. One time, when the goofy character still had a tail, it came off in the booth we were in, right next to me. I was probably about 9 and I remember chasing Goofy around the cafe so I could give it back to him.
 
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Justin, I'd love to see pics of the old pool and the exterior without the convention center.
To be honest, just about any older pic of the hotel would thrill me!
Even the old landscaping. Also, at one point you would drive your car under the hotel!
I only have one picture showing that.

thanks again!
 
I'll definitely be on the lookout for more Contemporary photos when I go through the next batch...see if I've got anything else worth posting on it.
 
Re: Bendele Towers 1984 - found a few more

Hey Craig...dug out a few more. I had dismissed these as just typical 'scenics' of the building and therefore no different than what someone can go shoot today...but I hadn't thought about the fact that the Convention hall hadn't been added yet, and of course no BLT. Once I went back and looked at them, I find I actually miss the look of the tower by herself without the Convention center hall attached. It's sort of like the Epcot ball without the hand and wand, or the castle without all that ornate gold decoration...much as you get used to it that way and might even like it sometimes, you find stripping all that away restores balance to the place!

Here's what I got:

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Taken from a miniboat:
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An attempt at nighttime, before I knew how to take nighttime shots. ISO200 speed film, handheld, and a flash! (duh!) Still, I always loved the pattern of the lights on the building especially from across the lake:
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Great!!
In the second one, where you are on the monorail, the trees below you are now the extended bus stops.

In the third, you are in the canal between Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. the convention center now sits to the left side of the building. that is the south side with chef mickeys and that is the south wing on the right

and the last is taken from the south wing on the way to the pool, with no slide!!

Thanks again Justin!!
 
I agree about the convention center. I definitely prefer the clean look without it. I don't mind the BLT look for some reason.

But, something about the convention center being "tacked" onto the building seems inappropriate.
 
What's cool about this is that you know more of the grounds than I do, so I kind-of have an idea where I was standing, but not necessarily what's there now. Having you to review the photos gives that comparison to current times!
 
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Hey Justin or Craig, any shots of the old topiaries that used to line the road to the Contemporary? I know that when we were kids we stopped there for photo's a few times, and of course were attacked by the bugs.
 
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I haven't noticed any yet in the batches I've gone through...but I haven't gone in order. I've got so many photos and slides over the years from family albums and such to go through. My grandmother gave me some photos she found from 1973 and 1974, and I've got slides from 83-87 from my stepfather. My own photos range from 79-present. It's quite a time-consuming project to dig through all these. Someday I'd love to get them all scanned digitally and saved for archiving...but I'll worry about that when I'm rich and can pay a service a few thousand dollars to do it all for me!!

If I come upon any of the topiaries, I'll scan them in.
 
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