Disney's Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village
Lake Buena Vista, Florida - 1975
Likely a "shopping destination" I doubt I'll ever have much reason (or opportunity) to return to again on Malls of America, but nevertheless, these two postcards look so groovy I had to feature them here at least one time! :)
On March 22, 1975, the small tourist community of Lake Buena Vista Village in Orange County, Florida, officially opened to the public as an annexed part of the Walt Disney World Resort theme park, which was primarily located about five miles away. The village included (and still does) a dedicated shopping plaza area called the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, which the above photo welcomes you to.
Lake Buena Vista, Florida - 1975
Above is The Flower Garden store, one of Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village's early swanky looking shops. Both great images in this post are courtesy of Big Brian's Disney Page, an awesome site for Walt Disney World nostalgia fans (celebrated through vintage postcards). Some really fun stuff there!
Labels: 1975, Disney, Florida, Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village
posted by Keith @ 5/19/2007
7 Comments:
These photos are so vibrant and colorful. It is almost like you can step right into this world.
These cheered me right up today! Didi's right--I wish I could step into those pictures.
I may well have been there, a couple of years after those photos were taken. Though my childhood memories of Disney World don't really see it as a shopping destination.
Yes! My family took a trip to Walt Disney World in March 1975 and I remember going to Buena Vista on a day that it rained (and we couldn't go to the park). I did not realize until reading this entry that it had just opened that very week! There was a shuttle bus or something that carried us over to the shopping center -- it wasn't far from the park. I was 8 years old, the shops seemed to be mostly clothing stores (no books or records -- at least, that I could locate!), and I would have been bored out of my mind were it not for the Disney digest comic that my parents thankfully bought for me to read, while they (my mom, mostly...) shopped. Ahhh, but it was a rainy day... it didn't matter.
I can't remember much else other than yes, it was colorful, and I remember thinking it was rather similar to the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World -- lots of wood trim, signage, etc. (but minus the whole tiki/island vibe). We had a good lunch at one of the restaurants there and I tasted an artichoke for the very first time -- it wasn't bad, but I haven't had one since!
I was stunned to see this on MOA because not only am I a huge Disney geek, I'm actually at Disney World right now and went to the shopping village today (aloha from the Polynesian resort)! We still call it the shopping village, even though it's now known as the Downtown Disney Marketplace. The once unique stores are all now just big extensions of each other (World of Disney, Once Upon a Toy, Days of Christmas, Pin Traders, etc). Disney World history is full of vintage goodness and I believe that most mall geeks would be interested in vintage Disney World, whether they like Disney or not. The original shopping village, Magic Kingdom, Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Village Resort, Golf Resort, etc are just so interesting to read about and see pictures of. Most of the goodness has been stripped away, but once in awhile you can find some little piece of vintage WDW amongst the in-your-face garishness of today.
This type of shopping district sounds like a similar design to the Old Mistick Village in Connecticut. (which is still around by the way)
http://www.oldmysticvillage.com/sec.php?id=5
I suspect that Mystic's was probably built in the 70s.
Know lake buenavista is just another abandoned place sunken in rust.
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