Editor's Note: This is the debut of View From the Purple Van, a recurring column from Owner's Locker founders John Van Meter and Brian Whitt. Owner's Locker is a storage solution which caters to timeshare owners and frequent vacationers who wish to store belongings in the Central Florida area between visits.
John and Brian spend most of their day delivering Lockers to nearly 200 hotels in the Orlando area. As such they are well-suited to share both the dramatic and mundane changes that occur in and around Walt Disney World. We hope you will join us in welcoming John and Brian to the DVCNews team, and enjoy their unique perspective on Walt's Florida vacation paradise.
To say that we drive behind Disney Transport busses a lot is an understatement. After all, there are about 300 of them. But this one is different. At least the brake lights are. I'm not a big fan of hidden Mickeys but I can tell you that this is (to the best of my knowledge at least) the only one in the fleet that has Mickey ears on the brake lights. I had seen it a couple of times and remembered the number (sad, I know) and happened to be behind it on my way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
This is Paul. If you ever been to Old Key West I guarantee you've seen him. Paul just celebrated 15 years at OKW which according to my calculations takes him back to day one. Paul is one of the bell services dispatchers and has a picture of two adorable kids he'll show you if you insist!
I don't know what this guy is doing to one of the towers at Saratoga Springs Resort. I'm just glad it's him up there and not me!
Here's the purple van at Hilton Grand Vacations Club Seaworld. Hilton has two properties in Orlando at the moment and is building a third.
Driving around property this Sunday morning was a bit of a nightmare because of something called an Iron Man event. If you look closely, you'll see that there were some Iron Women running past the gate into Wilderness Lodge as as well.
And speaking of Wilderness Lodge, the lobby is just my favorite on property. I know this isn't something you can see from the van itself but it is something you can see if you run inside to buy a soft drink.....
John Van Meter (along with business partner Brian Whitt) is the founder of Owner’s Locker—an on-demand storage solution for frequent visitors to Central Florida vacation destinations. John spends his days driving around the Orlando area in a purple van and his nights relaxing in Celebration, Florida. For information regarding Owner’s Locker visit their website at www.ownerslocker.com.
