It looks like Walt Disney World is planning to revive plans for Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge. What first appeared to be a permit related to a possible expansion of lakeside cabins at Wilderness Lodge, now appears to be related to the paused Reflections Disney Vacation Club concept from some 6 years ago. We’re going to go through some of the history of the project to see how we got to where we are today – less than a week from a highly-anticipated D23 Expo.
History of Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge
Back in March 2018, we posted an article that said that Disney World was exploring the development of the land where the long-shuttered River Country water park used to be located. The exploratory project was called Project 89 and our early coverage of the permits included impact studies for land viability.
More than 6 months later, Walt Disney World officially announced that they were, in fact, going to build on the former River Country land and that an all-new nature-inspired resort would be built. This announcement came in October 2018 and Disney announced that the resort would open in 2022.
A new nature-inspired, mixed-use Disney resort will welcome families in 2022 along the picturesque shoreline of Bay Lake. Located between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, this resort project joins three others underway at Walt Disney World Resort, bringing a total of more than 1,700 new hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas online over the next four years.
The deluxe resort, which will be themed to complement its natural surroundings, will include more than 900 hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas spread across a variety of unique accommodation types.
“Walt Disney World is in the midst of our most significant expansion in the last two decades and the combined 1,700 new hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas we are building at four different resorts will create thousands of new construction and permanent jobs and will drive economic opportunity and incremental revenue for Central Florida,” said George A. Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort. “We continue to add new attractions, new lands — and these beautiful accommodations will be right in the heart of all that magic.”
The soon-to-be named resort is slated to be Disney’s 16th Disney Vacation Club property and it will continue to build on the value and flexibility of a Disney Vacation Club membership.
“This resort experience will be a celebration of Walt Disney’s lifelong love and respect for nature, with some fun and even surprising accommodation types that families will find irresistible,” said Terri Schultz, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Vacation Club. “It will give our members and guests yet another opportunity to stay in close proximity to all the newest attractions and experiences in our theme parks, and with the flexibility, value and world-class service families expect from Disney.”
In March 2019, we spotted demolition underway at the former River Country site. Disney would eventually flatten and regrade the site in preparation for the Reflections DVC hotel.
In May 2019, Disney World filed a series of permits showing the planned footprint of Reflections on the former River Country site. We added some color to the permit to highlight some of the notable elements of the project. Starting with the blue buildings, those are planned to be standalone cabins – similar to what you would find over at Wilderness Lodge. The red structure is the main hotel. The green building is Pioneer Hall. If this hotel is built as previously proposed, it will forever change the landscape of Fort Wilderness as it creeps into areas that are currently rather secluded.
Also in May 2019 was the demolition of the former Mickey’s Backyard BBQ venue.
Of course, then Spring 2020 happened and COVID-19 not only closed the theme parks, but also put a halt on many construction projections around Walt Disney World property. Some projects were cut completely, some cut back, and some paused. It was tough to tell what category Reflections initially fell into. In April 2020, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a series of permits that covered work such as a table service restaurant, transportation elements, outdoor structures, and more. It seemed like the project was moving forward.
Fast forward to June 2020 and rumors began circling that Reflections had either been canceled or paused indefinitely. Helping bolster those rumors was when Disney scrubbed Reflections from its 2019 D23 Expo announcements blog post in August 2020. Everything went quiet on the project until April 2021 when Disney filed permits for the removal of construction trailers that were associated with the project. That was, at the time, the final nail in the coffin…or so it may seem.
It wouldn’t be until more than 2 years later that we’d see the first hints that Disney might still want to pursue the Reflections project. In April 2023, Walt Disney Imagineering filed for an extension on a permit for an area associated with the Reflections project near the former STOLport airplane strip. While this permit wasn’t the exact construction site of the hotel, it was essentially a construction staging area that was directly related to the project. Signs of life.
Then, this past May, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a permit for an extension of the Reflections construction site permit. This was confirmation that Disney wanted to keep the project alive.
New Permit for Reflections Hotel Project
Now, another permit shows that Disney not only wants to keep the possibility of the project alive, but that they’re going to begin development of the site. Originally thought to be part of an expansion of the Wilderness Lodge lakeside cabins due to other permits filed for the resort, a closer look at the permit appears to show that it is actually for the Reflections project.
Back in 2019, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a permit for “structure, utilities, and area development” for the Reflections construction site (h/t wdwmagic). Here’s a look at the permit filing from 2019, compared to the permit filed earlier this week.
| 2019 Permit Addresses | 2024 Permit Addresses |
|---|---|
| 570 W. Wilderness Way | 570 W. Wilderness Way |
| 572 W. Wilderness Way | 572 W. Wilderness Way |
| 574 W. Wilderness Way | 574 W. Wilderness Way |
| 576 W. Wilderness Way | 576 W. Wilderness Way |
| 578 W. Wilderness Way | 578 W. Wilderness Way |
| 580 W. Wilderness Way | 580 W. Wilderness Way |
| 582 W. Wilderness Way | 582 W. Wilderness Way |
| 584 W. Wilderness Way | 584 W. Wilderness Way |
| 720 W. Wilderness Way | 720 W. Wilderness Way |
| 722 W. Wilderness Way | 722 W. Wilderness Way |
| 724 W. Wilderness Way | 724 W. Wilderness Way |
| 726 W. Wilderness Way | 726 W. Wilderness Way |
| 728 W. Wilderness Way | 728 W. Wilderness Way |
| 612 W. Wilderness Way | |
| 632 W. Wilderness Way | |
| 636 W. Wilderness Way | |
| 640 W. Wilderness Way | |
| 684 W. Wilderness Way | |
| 910 Timerline Dr. |
While the 2019 addresses appeared to be just for the cabins, additional addresses are listed in the 2024 permit that could resolve to campus-style buildings, or other structures related to the hotel and other buildings.
We should keep in mind that it’s entirely possible that Disney has changed some of the concept of Reflections. It looks like cabins will continue to be a part of the project, but the concept could’ve changed over the past decade it was probably in development. I would bet that Disney has adjusted the concept over the past few years, but I have no inside info on that.
The 2024 permit has an expiration date of March 2027, likely indicating that the project will be completed by then.
The July 31st timing of the new permit filing is likely no accident, with the D23 Expo around the corner. It’s unclear if the Reflections project, or whatever it may be called now, will be mentioned at the D23 Expo, but I’m not sure Disney can stay silent on the status of the project too much longer.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
They should probably update the design for this since they copy/pasted it for the ugly, bland Polynesian DVC Tower.