Well, that one definitely ended up being harder than I thought it would. Disney’s Contemporary Resort was originally “officially” named “Tempo Bay Hotel”.  Only  23% of us picked that answer.

According to David Koenig, in the book “Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World”, during development and half of its construction the resort was referred to by its “working title” – the Contemporary Hotel.  This was against the advice of Imagineer Marty Sklar who said, “If you give it a nickname, it’s going to stick.”

Six months before WDW opened, however, they came up with …

… a permanent name – the Tempo Bay Hotel.  “Temo” for Contemporary to describe a hotel that is on the “bay”!  It was perfect!  All the signage was changed to reflect the new name, but, then …

Roy Disney asked, “What is this Tempo Bay Hotel?”  It was explained that the Contemporary Hotel was just a working title and that the Tempo Bay Hotel had become the permanent name.  His response? “I don’t like it.”  In short, Roy preferred the simplicity and straightforward nature of “The Contemporary”.  Just that quickly, Disney’s Contemporary Resort Hotel was born.

One last thing, my friends … If you’re into Disney history, and have the time, I would recommend Mr. Koenig’s book.  It is a very nice account of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that went into the development and construction of Walt Disney World.  If you want to take a closer look, just follow this link to Amazon.com.

Have a great Saturday, all!  OH!  A new poll hits the site tomorrow, so stand ready to VOTE!