News Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge (Project 89 - Development near Fort Wilderness)

[Disneymadhouse]

I am not sure if this has been said before, but I wonder if, in a nod to River Country, Disney would consider building a Great Wolf Lodge style wilderness/water park resort.

Great Wolfe Lodge are apparently building a resort in Lake Buena Vista, that is due to open by the end of 2019.

It's certainly somewhere I would consider as an add on for a couple of days before flying home, as the other Great Wolfe Lodge's look great!

 

[NiarrNDisney]

Great Wolfe Lodge are apparently building a resort in Lake Buena Vista, that is due to open by the end of 2019.

It's certainly somewhere I would consider as an add on for a couple of days before flying home, as the other Great Wolfe Lodge's look great!

The one here in Colorado Springs is gorgeous!

 

[mj2v]

Pretty good summation. We are members, then I went to work for DVC. Just closed on a resale grand Floridian contract, turned around and rented banked and current points and paid for 1/3 of the entire purchase price.

It helps take out Some of the ups and downs for the parks.

Disney makes more on hotel guests than DVC members on a trip by trip basis.

There is also a downside for the company. Members visit more, see the “cracks” in the Magic and demand more.

Someone who comes once every two years or more can save money with DVC if they use the annual pass for two trips.

Don't be dramatic. At $40,000, you're not booking "a couple of days," you're booking two weeks. And you neglect that fact that paying cash for those two weeks would cost you something like $5,000 per year. So you can pay $40,000 today and $2,400 in maintenance fees every year, or $0 today and $5,000 in resort costs every year. It's roughly break even.

Disney doesn't profit from DVC because it's "more expensive" than paying cash, they profit from DVC because they're locking you in to visiting every year. If they could choose between a cash guest who visits every single year and a DVC guest who visits every single year, the cash guest is more profitable. The problem is, the cash guest can't be locked down.

For the record, I'm not a DVC member and would only ever consider joining via resale.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Havent' listened to the latest Jim and @lentesta show, but it's about Fort Wilderness DVC. Did they suggest that's what this is?

 

[lentesta]

Havent' listened to the latest Jim and @lentesta show, but it's about Fort Wilderness DVC. Did they suggest that's what this is?

DVC is a guess. No special info.

 

[Rteetz]

Disney Sets Up Plans and Contractors for Former River Country Area Hotel

 

[MikeyK72]

Disney Sets Up Plans and Contractors for Former River Country Area Hotel

Glad to read there will be DVC units.

 

[deeevo]

Glad to read there will be DVC units.

I live in an HOA community but I do not own DVC points. I know how some HOA members treat renters and I have seen how some DVC members treat nonmembers. Its pretty much the same so I was kind of hoping us renters would have our own spot but I guess that is so 1990's

 

[Rteetz]

If true this would be the first DVC/cash resort Disney has built new at WDW since Boardwalk.

 

[RSoxNo1]

DVC is a guess. No special info.

You guys did revisit the same talking points from Episode 94 in January 2016. FWIW, on my site I rolled all of these conversations in together and also included a link back to the 2011 permits that seemingly went nowhere.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Disney Sets Up Plans and Contractors for Former River Country Area Hotel

Do we know which hotels the architect built for Disney? Their site portfolio doesn’t feature any Disney projects.

EDIT: they have primarily designed or co-designed Disney’s Micktorian hotels and Aulani.
https://www.watg.com/profile/team/tom-fo/

 

[Rteetz]

Do we know which hotels the architect built for Disney? Their site portfolio doesn’t feature any Disney projects.

From the wdwinfo article.

WATG already has significant history working with Disney; they designed Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa — returning later to design the convention center and wedding pavilion — and have designed Disney hotels for the company’s Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong resorts as well.

 

[note2001]

I live in an HOA community but I do not own DVC points. I know how some HOA members treat renters and I have seen how some DVC members treat nonmembers. Its pretty much the same so I was kind of hoping us renters would have our own spot but I guess that is so 1990's

You know, face to face owners have no idea who is an owner verses a renter unless you specifically make a point of telling one another. Everyone is treated equally as far as I've seen.

As for there being a spot dedicated to renters, there's already tons of them: they're called hotel rooms.

 

[Rteetz]

Also from WATG's website

"Thomas has led design efforts on numerous major themed hotels and resorts around the globe, and has served as senior project designer for several completed Disney projects including: Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort at Walt Disney World, Florida; The Disneyland Paris Hotel; the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel; and the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Japan."

 

[Lets Respect]

I hope it's not a big ugly tall stucco building

 

[deWild]

They seem to be really pushing for the development of waterfront property around Bay Lake and the Lagoon: Polynesian, Boulder Ridge, now this development. I wonder if they’re looking to wrap developments around the north or east sides of Bay Lake?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Can anyone pull the relevant content from the GrowthSpotter.com article?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Can anyone pull the relevant content from the GrowthSpotter.com article?

http://www.growthspotter.com/projec...untry-site-20180530-story.html#nt=oft13a-2gp1

The Walt Disney Company is preparing plans and hiring contractors for a large new themed hotel and timeshare resort on the former River Country water park site, with construction anticipated to start next year.​

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International architecture firm WATG has been chosen to lead design of the new resort, and Balfour Beatty recently won a competitive bid process to serve as construction manager, industry sources with knowledge of the contracts told GrowthSpotter. ​

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Executives [are mum]...​

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Known as "Project 89," the new hotel and resort is being planned for approximately 1,340 bays, an industry term used for a standard room measurement when considering the variability of multi-room suites.​

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Disney Vacation Club's timeshare program would have 300 "Equivalency Units" at the resort, which may absorb up to 940 of those bays based on the size of suites with multiple lock-off rooms. Standard hotel rooms (non-timeshare) would make up half or one third of the property.​

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A hard construction cost estimate for the new resort is near $350 million, with total development cost by Disney a higher figure. ​

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Disney began drawing attention for Project 89 in March, when it filed water management district permits for geotechnical boring on the former River Country site. It later filed permit applications in early May for a temporary stockpile and fill site for Project 89, but in each case didn't share details on future development. ​

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WATG previously designed the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World, and was involved in later designing that hotel's convention center and wedding pavilion, but not the DVC timeshare segment of the property. WATG has designed hotels at Disney theme parks in Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Balfour Beatty is currently building the new 15-story tower and island expansion of Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort, and has construction contracts at Epcot.

Notable jobs Balfour Beatty has led in Greater Orlando in the past include building The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, The Hyatt Regency Orlando expansion (of the former Peabody), Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando, Cabana Bay Resort at Universal, Walt Disney World's Avatar attraction at Animal Kingdom, and more than 24,000 hotel rooms and vacation club units at Disney.
​

 

[RandySavage]

WATG previously designed the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World, and was involved in later designing that hotel's convention center and wedding pavilion, but not the DVC timeshare segment of the property.

That, at least, is a good sign. Seems likely it will be Wilderness/West-type theme, but will they be able to resist going with another 12-15 story, generic mid-rise tower like the Riviera, Coronado, Swan Medical Center, Four Seasons, etc...

 

[MisterPenguin]

That, at least, is a good sign. Seems likely it will be Wilderness/West-type theme, but will they be able to resist going with another 12-15 story, generic mid-rise tower like the Riviera, Coronado, Swan Medical Center, Four Seasons, etc...

But you can never have enough obviously plastic giant logs!!!