#ThrowbackThursday: February 1994—the Exchange Opened a Store at Walt Disney World

Valentine’s Day is usually associated with red, but for the Exchange, Valentine’s Day 1994 at Walt Disney World Resort was more about Shades of Green.

On that day 29 years ago, Shades of Green, an Armed Forces Recreation Center, opened for business at the resort. Shades of Green is a hotel that was previously called the Disney Inn when it was operated by Disney.

Its offerings include an Exchange, selling snacks, soft drinks and more while also operating as a souvenir store in the hotel.

The Shades of Green Exchange in a 2014 photo.

“The process was very delicate and took about 20 months to accomplish,” Art Ryan, the senior vice president who was responsible for negotiating the Memorandum of Understanding to provide support, said in a March 1994 Exchange Post story. “But the Army finally decided to have AAFES operate the hotel’s store.”

The store is small—about 1,000 square feet. But its size belies its significance. “[It’s] a win-win-win situation,” Ryan said. “Customers benefit from significant price differential on Disney souvenirs, the hotel receives direct income and AAFES is in a visible role of providing service.”

The Shades of Green store Exchange is still in operation, under the supervision of Nicholas Nguyen, general manager of several Florida Exchanges including Patrick Space Force Base on Florida’s Atlantic Coast and MacDill Air Force Base on its Gulf Coast.

The Shades of Green hotel is reserved for active and retired members of uniformed services and select others. To learn about its eligibility requirements, click here. To learn more about the resort, click here.

Sources: Exchange Post archves, Exchange History on Flickr