Detailed Look at NEW Lakeshore Lodge Model at Hollywood Studios

Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has long previewed Imagineering’s next projects, and its newest display features Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge. A detailed, fully lit model of the resort replaced the Tropical Americas display this past weekend, joined by concept art, sketches, and a sparrow maquette. We stopped by on a recent visit to see how the model compares to everything Disney has shared. In this article, we’re taking a closer look at the model, from the front entrance to the resort’s own boat dock.

Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge Model on Display at Walt Disney Presents

Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge opens July 1st, 2027, on the former River Country site along Bay Lake. Up to this point, fans have pieced the resort together from concept art, Disney’s reveals, and our construction photos from Fort Wilderness. This model brings all of it together in one place, and it’s the clearest look yet at how the 967-room resort fits along the shoreline.

The Lakeshore Lodge case fills one section of the Imagineering display that debuted at Walt Disney Presents in October 2025. That display replaced the old Disney Wish preview with pieces from Monstropolis, Tropical Americas, and Piston Peak National Park. Lakeshore Lodge now sits where Tropical Americas used to be, with a Hollywood Studios display on one side and Carousel of Progress costumes on the other.

Two placards stand in front of the model. The first puts the opening in July 2027 and notes that Imagineers designed the resort “to pay tribute to decades of animated stories rooted in nature.” A second placard, titled “Modeling the Dream,” explains why Imagineers build models in the first place. It lists what this one shows, “from a lazy river and children’s play areas to fireworks viewing lounges and multiple distinctive dining locations.”

To the right of the model, a bronze-finish sparrow sits on a small pedestal labeled “Sparrow Maquette.” Its head tilts up and its tail fans out high behind it. Teal patina settles into the grooves of its layered feathers, and a matching sketch beside it shows the same smiling bird in flight. Nothing in the case says where the sparrow will end up at the resort. Disney has described a custom bronze centerpiece for the lobby, etched with familiar friends from Disney animation.

On the other side of the model, two pencil sketches show Bambi and a doe. Contour lines wrap around both bodies and blue pencil marks call out proportions, much like the drawings artists use to plan a three-dimensional sculpt. Bambi even has a butterfly perched on his tail. Disney says Bambi inspires the resort’s deluxe studios and its one- and two-bedroom villas.

An easel labeled “Inspirational Resort Room Artwork” holds three landscape paintings. One shows the Northern Lights spilling over a snowy peak. Another shows an autumn waterfall tumbling through a glacial valley, and in the third, two bears look out over a winding river. Disney says Lake House artwork will celebrate Brother Bear and its Alaskan setting. Primary bedrooms will also have “a striking Northern Lights-inspired lighting feature,” and these paintings fit that description closely.

Bus stops line the road behind the resort, under shelters whose green roofs match the guest wings. Between the shelters and the building, covered walkways and a small plaza lead guests through a garden to the lobby, which makes for a pleasant walk to and from the bus. A Fort Wilderness perimeter road runs along the top of the model, though the exact road entrance into Lakeshore Lodge is still unknown.

The west end of the model includes The Settlement at Fort Wilderness, shown as a flat pad with no buildings. A thick band of trees separates it from the nearest guest wing, which steps down to a shorter section before rising to full height.

Candidly, Lakeshore Lodge has changed the Pioneer Hall area permanently, and probably not for the better. In this model, much of the resort sits behind trees once the landscaping fills in, but it will still be an imposing presence. The model also shows the existing Fort Wilderness boat dock as plain white massing, just past the Lake Houses.

Lakeshore Lagoon is the centerpiece, an angular freeform pool on a paver deck with palms set into small tree grates. A blue spiral slide drops into the water from a wooden, treehouse-style tower at one corner. Disney describes Lakeshore Lagoon as a zero-entry pool. The pool went by Lakeside Lagoon until Disney renamed it in July. A green-roofed building with a pergola sits at the edge of the deck, and Disney hasn’t said what it will be.

Daydream River winds through the courtyard in two long, parallel runs, lined with palms, tall grasses, and flowering plants. Footbridges cross the lazy river in a few spots. One of them links the two children’s play areas on either bank.

Otter Springs, the wet play area, centers on a large brown otter with a white muzzle and steps climbing its back to an arching blue slide. A second otter figure sits at the far end of the splash pad, where thin spray posts dot a pale blue surface inlaid with sunburst and leaf patterns. Imagineering installed the first real otter sculpture in August, and the model shows where it fits in the finished space.

Across the river, Heron Shores features a large, angular heron with its wings spread wide. Swirling water patterns cover the dark blue surfacing below it, and a second, smaller heron stands nearby. Two tall, green climbing towers shaped like stylized willow trees connect to the footbridge over Daydream River. Disney named both play areas for the heron and otter friendship in “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas.

Moonglade fills those lakefront pavilions. Each has floor-to-ceiling glass lit warmly from inside. Because the pavilions fan out in different directions, every dining room faces the lake from a slightly different angle. Trees stand right in the water in front of the building. Disney’s description of the table-service restaurant matches the model closely:

“Floor-to-ceiling windows will frame the gracefully arching cypress trees along Bay Lake where artful lighting and nuanced design reflect the interplay of light and shadow.”

Paint Out Point Bar & Grill sits on the pool side of the same complex. Disney places it near Lakeshore Lagoon, and the pool bar will showcase original artwork Imagineers painted while studying the Bay Lake landscapes. In April, we expected this building to pair lakefront dining with a pool bar, based on Disney’s concept art, and the model backs that up.

Bay Lake Provisions, the resort’s all-day quick-service marketplace, doesn’t have an obvious home on the model. Disney revealed all three restaurants in its August first look at Lakeshore Lodge dining, along with Dandelion Terrace.

A whirlpool spa sits on a half-circle pad at the shoreline, with nothing between it and the lake. Disney says Cypress Point is “perfectly positioned for views of Magic Kingdom fireworks in the evenings,” and the spa looks like the best seat for that.

Across the cove from Cypress Point, a long wooden pier stretches out into Bay Lake. It ends at a wide platform with a railing and a green-roofed shelter. Two finger piers extend from the platform to form a single U-shaped boat slip, and guests relaxing at Cypress Point will have a clear view of boats coming and going. Disney says the resort is “just a boat ride away from Magic Kingdom,” with complimentary transportation, though it hasn’t said which boats will serve it.

We first heard in April that new watercraft would join Bay Lake once Lakeshore Lodge opens. In August, Watercraft Cast Members indicated that two more vessels will serve the resort. Disney still hasn’t confirmed them. Over on Seven Seas Lagoon, the fourth Magic Kingdom ferryboat, the Meg Gilbert Crofton, debuts next year. Crews assembled its first deck in June.

Each Lake House pairs a tall A-frame with a lower side wing. Charcoal roofs come with a small chimney, and some slopes have a row of three slim skylights. On the water side, a wall of glass fills the gable, framed by angled black timber legs. Side wings vary between dark gray and a warm red-brown wood tone.

Every house faces Bay Lake with nothing in the way, sitting on its own small pad above a low seawall. A walking path winds behind the houses, and trees fill the gaps between neighbors for extra privacy. Disney describes “dramatic A-frame architecture, expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, and beautiful waterfront views,” and the model delivers all three. One-bedroom Lake Houses sleep up to five guests, while two-bedroom Lake Houses sleep up to eight.

Back at the main building, the tallest guest wings flank the lobby at 10 stories, and the resort steps down toward the lake from there, ending in shorter six- and seven-story sections. Cream and sage walls have deep red-brown frames rising several floors at a time, often around two columns of balconies. Green corrugated overhangs shade the top-floor windows. Dark gray caps top the roofline, several over small lit rooftop lanterns. Slate-blue towers rise at a few corners.

Look closely, and nature shows up in the facade too. Most balconies have plain grid railings. The ones inside the red frames have patterned panels, some with branch and leaf shapes and others with lines like reeds or tall grass. One shorter wing has a tall panel on its end wall with a silhouette of slender tree trunks. These touches fit Disney’s promise that the outdoors would flow into “the architecture, artwork, and ambiance.”

Imagineers also had some fun with the room lights. Check out the lit windows of the guest wings; the lights form a hidden Mickey. We’ll leave that one for you to find in our photos.

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!