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

n2hifi

n2hifi

Active Member
I drove by two construction sites on my way to work today that look almost identical to those renderings. Come on! Something creative please!
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Nextinline said:
There are plenty of better alternatives. In fact, I find it hard to have worse ideas than what they propose.

Riviera: Inspired by the French Riviera and also a great tie-in to the Caribbean Beach sister resort (or whatever it was decided to be).
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Coronado: I would think something like Don Cesar hotel that has Moorish and Spanish architecture style while still being a larger hotel. Also consider that I don't agree with the tower hotels to begin with, but if they must do it, at least do it with taste. We're getting a Vegas trip tower with modern furnishings. I'm not being fooled into thinking there are Moorish undertones.
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Anaheim: Mid-century inspired. Mid-century is extremely popular now that it's had time to age a little. Disneyland's history is steeped in mid-century design as is southern California. They already tried to shoehorn mid-century into the existing Disneyland Hotel. Might as well have went for in on this one. Luckily, it will never happen.

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Swan and Dolphin: While we can mostly admit that the Swan and Dolphin are horrible, they're actually some of the best examples of post-modern architecture in the US. They're already committed, double down and add a third post-modern structure.
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New Nature Resort: Do anything other than this! Every new apartment complex, office complex, or university building constructed over the past 5 years has looked identical to this! This is Disney Resort's version of Primeval whirl. It is an off-the-shelf tragedy. If you want specific examples for alternatives specifically on this resort I can provide some thoughts, but the list is huge.
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Your first 2 suggestions run into one big issue...footprint size.

Disney either needs to, wants to, or some combination of the two; fit so many rooms into a particular area. When you are faced with that constraint along with a budget, design elements tend to devolve into recognizable, tacked on elements.

In regards to the new nature resort, you are absolutely correct. Jacksonville is currently undergoing a great deal of modern themed apartment complex construction and they all resemble what is being put up between FW and WL. I do however think this goes back to the same problem you have at CBR and CS... footprint size.

The days of large sprawling low rise resorts in WDW are gone and have been for a while. If memory serves me correctly, CS in 1997 was the last resort they built like this. They are an incredibly hard sell when a more compact design yields twice as many or more rooms and a lower operating cost across the board. It also does not help that 99% of the guests renting them could care less about the architectural elements of the resort.
 
Nextinline

Nextinline

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
Your first 2 suggestions run into one big issue...footprint size.

Disney either needs to, wants to, or some combination of the two; fit so many rooms into a particular area. When you are faced with that constraint along with a budget, design elements tend to devolve into recognizable, tacked on elements.

In regards to the new nature resort, you are absolutely correct. Jacksonville is currently undergoing a great deal of modern themed apartment complex construction and they all resemble what is being put up between FW and WL. I do however think this goes back to the same problem you have at CBR and CS... footprint size.

The days of large sprawling low rise resorts in WDW are gone and have been for a while. If memory serves me correctly, CS in 1997 was the last resort they built like this. They are an incredibly hard sell when a more compact design yields twice as many or more rooms and a lower operating cost across the board. It also does not help that 99% of the guests renting them could care less about the architectural elements of the resort.
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Regarding the first two examples, I feel I'm being empathetic to Disney. If you look at the French Riviera example, that can be imaged as one 18 story building. From beach level to the top of the highest building in the image is about 18 stories. Make an 18 story tower that looks like a collection of smaller buildings. Problem solved.
Regarding Don Cesar, the footprint is only about 40,000 square feet. The hotel is not sprawling at all. And that was more about the stylistic choices than anything else. A tower hotel can convey old world charm.

I won't accept poor design because Disney refuses to spend more money for a better product. That's why I use to give my money to Disney and not Six Flags.
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Nextinline said:
Regarding the first two examples, I feel I'm being empathetic to Disney. If you look at the French Riviera example, that can be imaged as one 18 story building. From beach level to the top of the highest building in the image is about 18 stories. Make an 18 story tower that looks like a collection of smaller buildings. Problem solved.
Regarding Don Cesar, the footprint is only about 40,000 square feet. The hotel is not sprawling at all. And that was more about the stylistic choices than anything else. A tower hotel can convey old world charm.

I won't accept poor design because Disney refuses to spend more money for a better product. That's why I use to give my money to Disney and not Six Flags.
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I agree, this says downtown office building/apartment complex to me and its really sad that Disney is dropping the ball on this for this beautiful area. We could have at least had a smaller version of disneys sequoia lodge or the grand californian, or some version of the original buffalo/wilderness junction etc etc. This just screams outsourced! And also the fact they announced this before they could even come up with a name for it looks pretty bad. creative vision/design is dead in this company I hate to say. Not just basing that from this project, but from the other recent hotel redos and expansions, all generically bland unimpressive. Which I think was done on purpose so you do not stay in your room, they want you out spending spending spending, so details/theming be gone.
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
aladdin2007 said:
I agree, this says downtown office building/apartment complex to me and its really sad that Disney is dropping the ball on this for this beautiful area. We could have at least had a smaller version of disneys sequoia lodge or the grand californian, or some version of the original buffalo/wilderness junction etc etc. This just screams outsourced! And also the fact they announced this before they could even come up with a name for it looks pretty bad. creative vision/design is dead in this company I hate to say. Not just basing that from this project, but from the other recent hotel redos and expansions, all generically bland unimpressive. Which I think was done on purpose so you do not stay in your room, they want you out spending spending spending, so details/theming be gone.
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Just pointing out again that Disney has a history of announcing hotel projects before having a (publicly confirmed) named. This is not the first time they have done that and is not in itself indicative of the quality of the project.
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
peter11435 said:
Just pointing out again that Disney has a history of announcing hotel projects before having a (publicly confirmed) named. This is not the first time they have done that and is not in itself indicative of the quality of the project.
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It doesn't help it any thats for sure but yes I understand what your saying.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
The days of large sprawling low rise resorts in WDW are gone and have been for a while. If memory serves me correctly, CS in 1997 was the last resort they built like this. They are an incredibly hard sell when a more compact design yields twice as many or more rooms and a lower operating cost across the board. It also does not help that 99% of the guests renting them could care less about the architectural elements of the resort.
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Can't speak to others, but I at least tend to prefer more compact designs where I can stay inside to "get to things" and not have to travel too far for services. Certainly might depend on personal preference and the type of vacation one likes. It wouldn't surprise me if guest satisfaction surveys over the years have reflected that guests prefer convenience over design elements.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
doctornick said:
Can't speak to others, but I at least tend to prefer more compact designs where I can stay inside to "get to things" and not have to travel too far for services. Certainly might depend on personal preference and the type of vacation one likes. It wouldn't surprise me if guest satisfaction surveys over the years have reflected that guests prefer convenience over design elements.
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It would not surprise me either. Seems like the #1 complaint about nearly every resort on property is having to walk too far.
 
Nextinline

Nextinline

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Can't speak to others, but I at least tend to prefer more compact designs where I can stay inside to "get to things" and not have to travel too far for services. Certainly might depend on personal preference and the type of vacation one likes. It wouldn't surprise me if guest satisfaction surveys over the years have reflected that guests prefer convenience over design elements.
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Can't there be convenience AND design elements??
 
WEDwaydatamover

WEDwaydatamover

Well-Known Member
There absolutely has to be a for purchase Catalog of ready-to-go "ehh" hotels in the executive wash rooms at TDO.

Just choose your wallpaper, carpeting, color scheme and desired font for logo...

Nothing else makes sense of this mediocrity, not to insult mediocrity with the comparison.

The putrid sludge remains of River Country are already missed.
 
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Movielover

Movielover

Well-Known Member
Nextinline said:
Swan and Dolphin: While we can mostly admit that the Swan and Dolphin are horrible, they're actually some of the best examples of post-modern architecture in the US. They're already committed, double down and add a third post-modern structure.
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007 James Bond ride and hotel confirmed! ;)
 

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