A proposed permit filed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this month is the latest in the ongoing speculation about the revival of the Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge project at Fort Wilderness. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the permits filed up until this point, and a look at the most recent activity that all but confirms that a significant construction project is about to begin.
Large Crane Coming to Fort Wilderness for Possible Hotel Construction
We’ll start with the most recent development – a proposed permit for a 240′ crane at the former River Country site. This permit, which doesn’t appear to have been approved by the FAA just yet, would signal that significant construction is about to take place in an area formerly carved out for the Reflections Disney Vacation Club hotel.
At 240′ tall, the crane would be similar in style to cranes seen around Walt Disney World property for large construction projects. The permit says that the crane would be a “mobile crane”, which would likely be similar to cranes that we’ve seen around Walt Disney World for construction projects – most recently at the Disney Vacation Club Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Notably, Disney did not have to use a tower crane for the Island Tower, perhaps due to the DualDeck prefabrication style of construction that contractor Finfrock uses. Frinfrock says that DualDeck prefabrication increases the speed at which you can build while also lowering costs and improving accuracy.
Going back to the permit, it calls for a work schedule of just 10 months, starting in mid-October 2024 and running through mid-August 2025. This would likely mean that we are very close to the start of the project, although Walt Disney World has not officially announced the project at this time. For context, the crane at the Island Tower construction was on site for roughly 5-6 months, so a 10-month build time isn’t impossible. What feels impossible is that we’re potentially less than a month away from the start of construction for a new hotel at Fort Wilderness and we know nothing about it. Consider me a bit skeptical.
To find out what might be happening, let’s take a look at what we know so far.
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, the former Mickey’s Backyard BBQ venue was demolished.
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.
Permits Hint at Project Revival
Back in August, 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 in August.
| 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 August 2024 permit has an expiration date of March 2027, likely indicating that the project will be completed by then. Again, this is all speculation at this point. We’ve reached out to Walt Disney World for comment about the permitted activity at Fort Wilderness, and they have not returned our emails.
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!