May 1 - The Empress Lilly

Image courtesy wdwforgrownups.com

On this day, in 1977, the Empress Lilly welcomed its first guests on board. May 1 is actually a busy day in Disney history as The Disney-MGM Studios and Pleasure Island both opened on this day in 1989, but I’ve opted for a cozier story for today. As the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village (the area now called Disney Springs) was undergoing its first expansion and name change in 1977, it was clear that more dining options were needed for the area. It was decided that a seafood joint would be a good option and what better place to eat seafood than on an authentic river boat? While that may sound romantic, putting a boat turned restaurant into Lake Buena Vista (yes the lake that borders Disney Springs really exists and gave its name to the ‘town’ that’s Walt Disney World’s mailing address) would be a logistical nightmare. So Disney did the next best thing.

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At 220 feet long, with three decks, two smokestacks and a wheelhouse, the lavish riverboat that sprang up along the shore in the Walt Disney World Village (as the area was soon renamed) gave the illusion that it had just steamed in from the Mississippi River. But guests were actually being treated to an authentic building, not an actual boat, even though the detail in the scrollwork on the deck railings, coupled with the giant paddlewheel, fooled a fair number of people over the years. On May 1, 1977, Walt’s widow, Lillian Bounds Disney, was on hand for the official christening ceremony, to welcome her namesake, the Empress Lilly, into the Disney fleet.

Image courtesy waltdatedworld.com

Originally, the Empress Lilly was home to five different dining experiences, most of which were only available for dinner. The exception was a character breakfast, offered, obviously, only in the morning. It was one of the first character dining experiences offered, so new and unique that every kid who did it got a certificate commemorating the event. My family did it once when I was a kid (the certificate has been lost to the flow of time unfortunately) and I remember that just as we finished our meal, we stepped out onto the deck and watched a space shuttle launch. The other four venues ratcheted up the Village’s night life and included the Fisherman’s Deck, Steerman’s Quarters, the uber-elegant Empress Room and the Baton Rouge Lounge.

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One of the truly unique special events that occurred on property took place in the Empress Lilly on Monday evenings during the 1980 football season. Each week, team members from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would gather to watch highlights of their game that weekend and take questions from the crowd. Afterward the Monday night game would be shown on the big screen. The Bucs had a 5-10-1 season that year, which may have influenced the fact that the event was never repeated.

The Empress Lilly was a jewel of the Village for almost 18 years. In a controversial move, the venue was closed on April 22, 1995 to undergo refurbishment. The building reopened eleven months later as Fulton’s Crab House, a third-party restaurant. The paddlewheel was removed, the smokestacks were gone and, a sin many diehard fans found they couldn’t forgive, the building was no longer named after Mrs. Disney. Change is a constant though. In 2016, the building underwent another major renovation, coming out the other side looking both more and less like a riverboat. The smokestacks and paddlewheel are back, but the building has a sleeker, much more modern look to it (the whole thing had literally been gutted down to the studs and rebuilt). Fulton’s was now gone with a new restaurant, Paddlefish, in its place (although both restaurants fall under the Levy brand). I hear the food is really good (I've never been myself) but the building formerly known as the Empress Lilly will never fool anyone into thinking it's an authentic riverboat again.

March 22 - Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village

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On this day, in 1975, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opened its doors for business. The Village is built on an area of land that Walt decided he wanted at the last minute. His lawyers had been trying to avoid the parcel wedged between I-4 and 535, but Walt decided it could be a prime shopping and entertainment area. The lawyers were actually winding down the land acquisition part of the Florida Project but couldn't say no to the boss and would have to spend an additional year negotiating just to get this new lot. It's taken a few decades, but the time spent was (eventually) worth it.

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The Village was the first Disney shopping experience not located within a theme park (the first Disney Store was still 12 years away) and was envisioned as a local shopping mall. The original offerings of the new shopping district included a Gourmet Pantry, a Bath Parlour, the Captain's Tower, It's a Small World After All Shop, the 2 R's - Read'n & Rite'n, Toys Fantastique, The Pottery Chalet and Posh Pets among various other boutique shops. Just two years later, the area got a mild theme makeover into a European boutique and was renamed the Walt Disney World Village. The Empress Lilly riverboat restaurant was also added at that time.

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When Michael Eisner became CEO, he began looking for ways to keep guests from having to go off property to find entertainment. In 1989, Pleasure Island, a night club complex, was built next to the village to do just that. In order to rebrand the whole area another name change was instituted and the village was now referred to as the Disney Village Marketplace (a name I still sometimes use without thinking). By the mid Nineties, Disney was booming and all sorts of upgrades and investments were being made all across the Florida Project, including the Marketplace area. More restaurants and shops, as well as DisneyQuest and the Cirque Du Soleil, were built on the far side of Pleasure Island in a new area called the West End. All three areas (The Disney Village Marketplace, Pleasure Island and the West End) were again rebranded under the umbrella name Downtown Disney starting in 1997. The 2001 expansion of Disneyland in California created a similar district with the same name on the West Coast.

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In 2013, the first major renovations to the area in 16 years were announced (there had already been some changes happening since the closing of Pleasure Island five years before). The Downtown Disney area would be doubling the number of venues it contained, be expanding into four districts and getting another new theme and name. Instead of the trendy area Downtown Disney tried to be, the new shopping district would be themed after an early twentieth century seaside resort and would be called Disney Springs. The area now includes the original (but extensively renovated and expanded) Marketplace, The Landing (the former Pleasure Island area), the West Side and Town Center (an all new area that used to encompass parking lots). Since the parking lots were turned into shops, Disney World also built its first two parking garages for guests to accommodate the space squeeze.

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In the four decades it's been open, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village has undergone enough changes to make it almost unrecognizable (although for the sharp eyed there are still a few small details that have survived). What I find marvelous about the latest iteration, is that it seems like it has finally become a destination in its own right. With multiple live music choices, a restaurant for every taste and entertainment options from bowling to a movie to renting an aquacar, a person can spend an evening breaking the bank or just stroll around, spending nothing at all. 54 years after Walt pointed to a map and began casting a vision, it's finally coming true.