Court of Flags Resort

The Court of Flags Resort was a resort located in Orlando, Florida, USA.

History

The resort was built by US Steel in 1972 and opened in 1974. It was a popular upscale resort when it opened, and later in its life it became more of a budget resort. In December 2002 it abruptly closed and in 2006, it was demolished to make room for the new Citymark of Orlando; this never materialized. It was located near International Drive, on Major Boulevard just across the street from Universal Orlando Resort, and just across the street from the now defunct Mystery Fun House. The lot is now the site of Lexus of Orlando.

Name changes

The resort changed names a few times during its life:

When opened it actually was under three hotel brands at one time. Admiral Benbow Inn, Sheraton Motor Inn, and Quality Inn
Court of Flags until 1982
Ramada Court of Flags – 1982 to 1986
Delta Court of Flags – 1986 to 1991
Delta Orlando Resort – 1991 to Dec 2002
In 2001, the hotel was to be remodeled into a Doubletree resort. After tourism declined following the September 11 attacks, the plans never materialized.

Construction

The Court of Flags Resort is noted for its unique construction type. The rooms were stacked on top of each other and with framing and concrete added around them. They used the same system at the Polynesian Resort and part of the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World.

. The buildings were all built off site the same way for both the slide in and stack type construction.

US Steel thought this new system of building would catch on and revolutionize construction but the system had flaws that were not known until later. The buildings shifted and settled. The air space between the rooms kept too much moisture and let mildew grow.
The facility for assembling the modular steel rooms used in the Walt Disney World hotels and the Court of Flags were by American Bridge Division. They produced
816 room units for the Court of Flags. 16 of those were for the suites, which used two units each.
The resort consisted of four separate guest room buildings. It housed a total of 800 rooms with 16 suites. It also had three pools, three restaurants, a lounge, and lots of conference space.