Reflections still on the drawing board..

[happycamper47]

Walt Disney Imagineering has filed a request to extend another construction permit for the abandoned Reflections — A Disney Lakeside Lodge.

https://wdwnt.com/2024/05/another-e...wbFECBBsp7HXOzuaFJWLduqr2GG0pO4Dfi9-w0sIb2a5l

 

[team bradfield]

Figures, no surprise here

 

[bama_ed]

A number of us have been saying it (R*-or whatever it will be) never left, @happycamper47. Helen Keller saw this coming.

- With all the money they spent to clear the (revered) old River Country property...
- Scrape and shape (rhymes, no?) the land, they did ...
- Tear up our beloved paved Exercise Trail to Wilderness Lodge as a utility corridor...
- The corporate spreadsheet MUST SHOW revenue against all that expense...

It was always coming back in some form given the money spent already. It will be some kind of DVC/hotel resort plopped next to Bay Lake because Bay Lake $horeline i$ money becau$e of the view to MK.

I can't stop it. It's coming (eventually) no matter what.

So I can only hope that they honor the Fort and River Country and not build some god awful ugly R* (which didn't fit into the existing landscape) but build something that fits, honors, and respects the place and memories that exist in this place.

As a camper (back in the 1500 loop) I can accept a resort of some type that fits in with the vibe, history, and setting of the entire Fort. As long as it's OVER THERE. And then I have to turn my back to the DVC cabin loops OVER THERE (in the other direction) of a different sort of WDW guest. But TBH I'm starting to feel surrounded....

If it's the ugly R* plan, there are SO many other places I can spend my vacation dollars (not that D cares what I personally do) - it's only about the Benjamins to them, baby.



There's a "Great-Big-Beautiful-Tomorrow-Shining-at-the-end-of-Every-Day" elsewhere in Florida which is where I'll be.

Ed

PS - But in the near term I'll be in an outer, backside campsite in 1500 loop shouting, "where did all the turkeys and vultures/eagles go?"

 

[Teamubr]

As Ed said, this is expected. It is easier to extend a current permit than refiling everything.

R********** is only on hold, despite any other rumors or non-announcements.

j

 

[tetera]

Tom Bricker has an updated take on this: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/river-country-hotel-announced-disney-world/

 

[bama_ed]

Tom Bricker has an updated take on this: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/river-country-hotel-announced-disney-world/

Well, he's wrong (again) in one regard:



There was an open gate behind Trails End on my January visit and I took pics to see what was there. Looks like the beginnings of foundation work to me.









These have been visible through the fence for years.

But yeah, it's coming.

Bama Ed

 

[Teamubr]

There was absolutely "foundation" work done. As well as extensive utility infrastructure.

Interesting that he states concrete and rebar were removed. Maybe excess/scrap rebar and concrete.

j

 

[Teamubr]

I went to find my old screen captures as construction was progressing, but I think they are at home on that computer, but Google Maps is now showing a 5 or 6 year old image. Sadly, even Google knows R********** is only on hold. Says it is "temporarily closed".



Bing isn't much better, but at least this image is only a few years old. It does show the new stables, but not much of the utility/foundation work. I'll look tonight for the better pics I had from a few years ago.



j

 

[jimmymc]

I'm sure they want to put something there. It's a prime location.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Out of curiosity, why is Reflections showing up as a banned word in other posts? I was going to say "for these boards" but it didn't get censored when I posted the word.

 

[bama_ed]

Out of curiosity, why is Reflections showing up as a banned word in other posts? I was going to say "for these boards" but it didn't get censored when I posted the word.

An attempt at humor, @Lumpy1106.

I sometimes refer to it as the "resort-won't-say-its-name" planned behind Pioneer Hall.

And when I do so, I even count the right # of asterisks to put after the letter "R". But I type it out that way and I'm not alone some times.

But it SHOULD be filtered/censored. Because it's the biggest change to Fort Wilderness since the railroad stopped running and River Country closed (two different events). And not for the better.

Bama Ed

 

[Lumpy1106]

Ah - a self-edit(orial). I get it - and respect it.

Personally I don't know why they don't build on the River Country concept - include a fancy almost water park like Stormalong. The cabins on the water are pretty but let's get real; most of us will never be able to afford to stay in them.
The Reflections main building - that's just the Poly tower they are building right now - right?

 

[StormyCA]

Sigh. It's the suspense that's killing me!! Build it or can it completely. I just hope that if it happens, they rethink the design concept. Although the current plans for 'that place' would 'mesh' with the redesigned cabins.


But I agree with PPs upthread. Easier to extend a permit (and keep extending it til the cows come home) than to let it lapse & try to get a new one.

 

[bama_ed]

Sigh. It's the suspense that's killing me!! Build it or can it completely. I just hope that if it happens, they rethink the design concept. Although the current plans for 'that place' would 'mesh' with the redesigned cabins.

That's the part that disappoints me, Stormy. The cabins match the design look of the resort. Probably interiors won't be vastly different so staying in one will feel like staying in the other to a degree.

Maybe at least they can name the resort's lazy river (if there will be one) "River Country".

I remember when we could still walk back that way.








Bama Ed

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Love the River Country pics! Much better than the old abandoned mess it had become.

Hoping Reflections does pick up again. It's the only one of the latest DVC resorts that might interest us! Guess we'll see!

 

[Teamubr]

Out of curiosity, why is Reflections showing up as a banned word in other posts?

Ed summed it up, but several of us are so annoyed by the impact the resort was/is going to have on the Settlement area. Childish? Probably, but I think of it as a form of civil disobedience to show our displeasure.

Here is one of the aerial photos during active construction. I think this was early 2020.



Blue shows the footings (some still visible today in Ed's pic).
Red outlines utilility trench boxes and retention wall footings.
Three ponds in place with shoring/footings. Two in this pic look to be very complete.

Here is the original site plan. The footings correspond to the 2 buildings in red on the upper right. of C-105. Utility trenches/retaining wall footings align with the new buildings in the C-105 box below. The nearly complete pond at the lower left matches, almost exactly, the drawing in C-107 box. The 2 smaller ponds by the stable are a match for the pods in C-111 and the crescent shape little pond on the upper left is near the dock in C-104. The red retaining footings/utility trench was for subsurface infrastructure for that area. The area inside the gray square at the top is the pool/lazy river infrastructure. Lots of work had been going on in that area doing subsurface work.



Disney has a prior history for a stall and restart for a resort build. POP and AoA were originally to be one resort (Pop Century), built in 2 sections. The current Pop (Phase 1) was fully underway and nearly completed when 9/11 happened. The other half of Pop (now AoA) had been started with significant build in place, but a long way from completion. It sat, incomplete, until 2010 and was resurrected as AoA and opened in 2012.

There has been far too much invested in infrastructure for R********** and the real estate is too valuable. Once sales of the Poly tower and DVC Cabins are well underway, I suspect the site will be restarted. There may be an announcement. There just might be construction equipment that shows up and starts to do something.

j

 

[bama_ed]

Jim, the rectangular parking lot for the new resort in your drawing panels 108 & 109 has just been finished (or at least the right half of it has). So they have continued some stealth construction.

A parking lot gives them space to stage work, eqpt, and materials close by for the main resort effort.

 

[happycamper47]

Love the River Country pics! Much better than the old abandoned mess it had become.

Here, I'll add some nostalgia..

 

[StormyCA]

So, given that the new cabin designs would match 'that place' better than they match the woodsy feel of the Fort, do we think that if it ever does get built that they'll detach the cabin area from the Fort and attach it to 'that place'. They'd become 'The Cabins at That Place".

I'm really bad at distances and blueprints so I can't visualize how close the cabin loops would be to the edge of 'that place'. It looks pretty far, but stick a road leading directly to the cabin loops and maybe the distance wouldn't be that far.

 

[Teamubr]

So, given that the new cabin designs would match 'that place' better than they match the woodsy feel of the Fort, do we think that if it ever does get built that they'll detach the cabin area from the Fort and attach it to 'that place'. They'd become 'The Cabins at That Place".

I don't think so. The current cabins are a good distance with lots of trees and lowly "campers" between the Settlement and the wasteland of the partially built resort not to be named.

I also think Disney knows there are many people in the prime demographic that know the Fort. Either they have stayed there when they were younger or maybe rented a cabin in the past and they want to maintain that connection.

j