Resorts at the Vacation Kingdom from A Dream Called Walt Disney World

Gardner's Shack: Vintage Resort Landscaping

To finish are look at these vintage landscape photos from the late 80s or early 90s, I wanted to show the few resort shots that were in the collection. Three from the Contemporary. All focused on the long entrance area of the resort and it's amazing upside-down cup topiaries.

 

One photo from the Polynesian Resort. The original lobby with its waterfalls and lush jungle. This was replaced in recent years with a very open and minimalistic look that is nice but in my opinion, doesn't set the theme very well. It's a Polynesian Village not a Polynesian office complex.

Lastly a few lobby shots from the at the time brand new Grand Floridian. Live plants and live flowers need I say more. However, would have liked to see some pictures of the lawns in the early days to compare how they look now. They are always well-manicured but I bet they were amazing back then.

 

 

Disney After Dark: Tropical Evenings

Along the shores of the Polynesian Village.

Photoshop Fun: Tropical Walls

Three wallpapers I made with the Polynesian Resort logo. Feel free to download them. just click to enlarge. Then Right-click and save. Enjoy!

Disney Dining At Home - Maui Scalloped Potatoes from 'Ohana

Aloha! Let's head to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and to my favorite restaurant, 'Ohana. This recipe for Maui Scalloped Potatoes adds a nice tropical twist to any meal and only takes a few minutes to prep and just an hour to cook.

Ingredients
1 lb Russet potatoes sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet onions
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a baking pan.
3. Combine all ingredients into pan
4. Place pan into oven and bake for 1 hour
5. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes
6. Serve and enjoy.

The Walt Disney World Grand Opening Special

To wrap up our multi part deep dive into the Grand Opening Special, here is the full Television Special. This is a re-post of the video. I don't know who shared it first but I want to thank them.

Photoshop Fun: Polynesian Docks

Down on the docks at the Polynesian Village Resort.

On Canvas: Resort Series, The Contemporary Polynesian and The Fort

This is a new series of oil painting effect Photoshop images that I have created. This series is all the resorts of Walt Disney World. There are 22 images in this collection. Over the next several weeks I will release them in the order the resorts were constructed. If anyone is interested in getting a print of any of these, please let me know in the comments below and i will make them available in the Manifesting the Magic store on what ever type of media you prefer.

#1 in the Resort Series. The Contemporary Resort

#2 in the Resort Series. The Polynesian Village Resort

#3 in the Resort Series. Fort Wilderness Campground

Photoshop Fun: The Polynesian Village at sunset

The beach of the Polynesian Village Resort at sunset.

Panoramic Paradise: Polynesian Mornings

Early Morning on the shores of the Polynesian. 

Making Memories: Disney's Polynesian Resort at dusk

The Polynesian Resort in the early evening. Dusk is when the resorts exotic beauty comes out with tiki torches, luaus, and fireworks reflecting on the water from the Magic Kingdom.

Electricians Closet: The Polynesian Resort

Electricians Closet topics will focus on some of the more beautiful lighting around the Disney parks. Both the artful and practical. Today we take a look at some of the thematic lighting of the Polynesian Resort. Above are a few examples of the resorts interior. Starting from the top left clockwise, The Great Ceremonial Hall's lobby has several beautiful water features, but not till night fall do they really show with some soft underwater lighting. Next we head up stairs to the Kona Cafe. Here we see several styles of lighting mixed to give enough light to be functional but also keep the mood soft and warm. Our last two photos take us downstairs to Captain Cooks. First one of several hallway lights, second the general seating area of the restaurant. Both featuring a native theme and soft ambient light.

Now outside for some fresh air. Two main themes on the beach tropical and nautical. This is visible threw the tiki touches and the nautical lanterns that line the beaches and the docks. Take a close look at the middle lantern, I spotted this awesome spider web and had to take a picture of it. Another great bonus to having tiki tourchs is the amount of kinetic energy or “life” it adds to a location. I'll go into my resort “Life” theory in future posts.