Inside John's Locker

If you've ever been to Pop Century, you're familiar with the huge icons at the front of the resort representing the decades of the "Classic Years." Here's a link to an earlier post to refresh your memory.

But you may not have noticed that the back of the main resort building, Classic Hall, also has huge icons representing the decades including this tie dye 60. You would think that something this big and colorful would be hard to miss but I noticed it for the first time today...and the purple van is at Pop Century at least once every day! There's just a lot to see at this resort.

The Everyday Adventures Of The Purple Van is brought to you by Owner's Locker and Magic Strollers.
j

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It seems like I'm always going on about what a hidden gem Coronado Springs is. This carved wooden horse is just one more reason to put this resort on your list.

This horse it on your immediate left as you enter the main El Centro building at Coronado Springs. It's about five feet tall. But, there are so many things that catch your eye in this lobby that it's easy to miss something as big as this horse. In fact, it's a lot easier to see going out of the lobby than it is coming in.

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This is a hand painted cartoon cel that hangs in the lobby of the Polynesian.

There's a brass plaque beneath it that reads, "This xerographic-line, hand painted cel has been recreated from Scene 1 of the 1937 Mickey Mouse cartoon short Hawaiian Holiday: Mickey strums a steel guitar as he watches Minnie dance the hula. Limited Edition of 500 1991"

The Everyday Adventures Of The Purple Van is brought to you by Owner's Locker and Magic Strollers.
j

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This is part of the check-in desk at Port Orleans French Quarter. The building is called the Mint and the check-in area is designed to look like bank teller windows.

But, look closely at the railings between the windows...
......they form a five line musical staff...
...and the notes?
...the opening bars to "When the Saints Go Marching In"...of course...
john

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In case you haven't guessed already, there are a few hints which can help you figure out which resort has these chairs in the lobby. There's the modern rug for one. I think there are only two resort lobbies with marble floors (and these chairs aren't in the Grand Floridian...

And there's only one resort that has an escalator in the lobby...
...yep, it's the Contemporary and these neat chairs are right across from the check-in desk...
john

The Everyday Adventures Of The Purple Van is brought to you by Owner's Locker and Magic Strollers.
j

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You won't find this beach at Walt Disney World.
I occasionally like to share non-WDW photos as a reminder that there are beautiful things outside the bubble.
This is tonight's sunset on Longboat Key near Sarasota...about two hours west from your favorite vacation place. Those are seagulls on the beach in the foreground

Your trusty purple van driver took a break today and headed to my favorite beach on Longboat Key. Interestingly, I'm staying at the Longboat Key Club which played an important part in the birth of Owner's Locker. This resort is something called a condo-hotel which means that each unit is owned by an individual. They can stay in their unit two weeks per year and the rest of the time it is placed in a rental pool so people like me can use it like a hotel. I stayed here in the early 1990's and was fascinated that there was a locked closet in my room. The front desk told me it was the owner's closet...a place where the unit's owner kept all of their vacation stuff so they didn't have to haul it back and forth. Sounded like a good idea to me!...
john

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Port Orleans Riverside is divided into two sections: Magnolia Bend, where the buildings look like Southern plantation mansions, and Alligator Bayou where the buildings resemble rustic lodges in a bayou. From this photo, I'm sure you can tell that today's bridge is in the Alligator Bayou section of the resort:

The landscaping at Alligator Bayou can best be described as dense. There's lots of water and quite a few bridges like this one. A quiet pool is in the left rear and you can just make out one of the lodges in the right rear of this photo...
john

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