Attack of the Lakeshore Lodge

[BamaGuy44]

I would have no problem with something like this lakeside resort....but I can already see the 75 pages of posts panning it as "generic and boring".

"Looks like a Marriott"

 

[kilik64]

No way reflections 2.0 looks like it did, pit is super similar to what the concept art was for reflections 1.0.

 

[kilik64]

Forget who posted it when I was skimming through, but I think that PIT was always planned to be done before the 40 year mark to make it within the timeframe to be a part of the original association. Originally Reflections 1.0 is going to be done sometime in 2021/2022 give or take, but covid hit and they quit work on it after having done quite a bit of prep work (like building a new road, moving tri circle d ranch, doing a lot of prep work on the site of the hotel). So with that big stall, they pivot and move over to doing PIT which would have been after reflections 1.0. Took the tower concept portion of Reflections 1.0 and moved it over to poly. So I think poly was originally in the cards to be down around now.

I highly doubt reflections 2.0 is going to be what 1 was. It was going to be massive, 900+ hotel rooms and DVC villas. I think it will be a lot smaller then that now. Maybe they still plan to make it huge, but I don't see that happening now IMHO.

 

[smileyanna]

I mean, it can be done, depending on what the inspiration is,

A “fishing lodge” type theme I think could work well. Throw in Goofy and Max! But most of all I think it should be a “River Country Lodge” and include a lazy river. Really lean into it.

That would be nice!

 

[ocdb8r1]

It will almost certainly not be visible from WL. Maybe, maybe a few of the highest floor CCV rooms that overlook the pool, but I doubt it.

Curious why you think this is the case? It's going to be a 10 story building that appears to me would be clearly in the sightlines of many of the WL rooms (and certainly the cabins).

 

[jennypenny]

I’m having trouble picturing a 10 story hotel next to HDD and dock area. How would they theme it to blend in? I assumed they would lean into the River Country Lodge idea but this seems a little too tall for that concept. How far away will it be from the dock?

Sigh … it really feels like DVC is throwing spaghetti at the wall lately. I’m trying to stay optimistic.

 

[CastAStone]

Curious why you think this is the case? It's going to be a 10 story building that appears to me would be clearly in the sightlines of many of the WL rooms (and certainly the cabins).

Why do we think it’s going to be 10 stories? The supposed reason original reflections was scrapped instead of tabled was that they found the ground couldn’t hold the planned weight of the building when they started work.

In any case, most of WL just doesn’t face that way. And of the parts that do, on the lower to middle floors, trees will be pretty effective in blocking a building nearly a half mile away.

The question as I read it wasn’t about the cabins. Some of those will certainly see it more clearly.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Since for a brief moment there were cranes on site back in 2020, I was curious so poked around to find the 2020 permit - which also references a “10-story” resort. The structure heights (which is the max height of the crane) are similar - 260’ in the 2020 permit, 240’ in the new permit. Not sure if the 18 month (2020) vs 10 month (2024) “work schedule” should be interpreted to mean anything material or not - the permits themselves are both 18 months. If I think about watching the Poly tower construction, those big cranes were really only on site for assembling the pre cast concrete structure, then they quickly moved to using an army of cherry pickers for finish the exterior.

2020…


2024

 

[disneylandtour]

I'm not in construction. But is it possible that for Florida, a story is more of a foot measurement? Where I live, I believe that for permitting, a story is estimated as eight feet. So perhaps an eighty foot building, even if it has only--it's hard to tell from the concept art--seven floors, would still, for permit wording, be listed as ten stories. Again, I'm only spitballing.

 

[Brittleebee]

I have to pass on Poly tower because I need larger rooms and can’t afford the point chart. Please, Disney, give me this with a decent point chart to spend my money on. I’ll start saving now.

 

[squirrel30]

Since for a brief moment there were cranes on site back in 2020, I was curious so poked around to find the 2020 permit - which also references a “10-story” resort. The structure heights (which is the max height of the crane) are similar - 260’ in the 2020 permit, 240’ in the new permit. Not sure if the 18 month (2020) vs 10 month (2024) “work schedule” should be interpreted to mean anything material or not - the permits themselves are both 18 months. If I think about watching the Poly tower construction, those big cranes were really only on site for assembling the pre cast concrete structure, then they quickly moved the using an army of cherry pickers for finish the exterior.

2020…
View attachment 898291

2021
View attachment 898292

Looks like they shifted the location a little more north and west.

 

[ocdb8r1]

Why do we think it’s going to be 10 stories? The supposed reason original reflections was scrapped instead of tabled was that they found the ground couldn’t hold the planned weight of the building when they started work.

In any case, most of WL just doesn’t face that way. And of the parts that do, on the lower to middle floors, trees will be pretty effective in blocking a building nearly a half mile away.

The question as I read it wasn’t about the cabins. Some of those will certainly see it more clearly.

As noted above, both the original and new permit indicate a 10-story building. As I look at the maps, all of the BRV wing and 1/4th of the CCV wing would face this direction. Agree that the lower rooms will have quite a few obstructions in that direction, but I think many rooms will see this given the building height.

 

[Brian Noble]

The supposed reason original reflections was scrapped instead of tabled was that they found the ground couldn’t hold the planned weight of the building when they started work.

I don't remember hearing this, and I am skeptical.

"We would have continued working on this huge new resort in the early days of a global pandemic, during which we had NO IDEA when we'd be able to resume anything like enough business to fill the tens of thousands of rooms we already had, but gosh darn wouldn't you know it? All the land survey engineering work we did before we started turning dirt to prep the site turned out to be wrong!"

Instead, they did a low-capital short-term flip of an under-utilized GFV building, replaced the end-of-life Fort cabins (that had to be replaced anyway) with a half-hearted DVC association, and got started on the Poly build to stay within the presumed 40-year limit on selling a time-limited timeshare in Florida.

 

[Mikey15]

As noted above, both the original and new permit indicate a 10-story building. As I look at the maps, all of the BRV wing and 1/4th of the CCV wing would face this direction. Agree that the lower rooms will have quite a few obstructions in that direction, but I think many rooms will see this given the building height.

BRV apparently only goes to a 5th floor and the orientation is just ever so slightly ENE where the new site is more due E. I’m sure you’ll be able to see it from upper floor BRV on that side if you step onto the balcony and face it, but it might not be domineering either:

https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-wilderness-lodge-villas?room=5541

 

[Mikey15]

Oh. Found this one. Looks like you can already see BLT from higher floors farther out at BRV! (I find BLT is well-hidden from most of WL)

 

[CraigInPA]

I'm not in construction. But is it possible that for Florida, a story is more of a foot measurement? Where I live, I believe that for permitting, a story is estimated as eight feet. So perhaps an eighty foot building, even if it has only--it's hard to tell from the concept art--seven floors, would still, for permit wording, be listed as ten stories. Again, I'm only spitballing.

The standard is 10'. But, in most hotels, you'll find the first floor 16' tall, and additional floors 12' tall until you reach the penthouse (which may be back to 16' if it has a restaurant, or remain at 12' if it has living space, or drop to 8' if it's only holding utilities). So, a "10 story" hotel is typically only 7 or 8 stories above ground if you're talking about 100' high. But, that permit is for a crane that's way, way, taller than you'd need to construct a 100' tall hotel, and more closely matches what you'd need to construct an actual 10 story hotel nearly 140' tall.

 

[BrianLo]

We could even dream big and go for a castle theme in wilderness setting

They'd never... but here's the permission they'd need to pull off a wilderness castle hotel.

 

[kilik64]

I don't remember hearing this, and I am skeptical.

"We would have continued working on this huge new resort in the early days of a global pandemic, during which we had NO IDEA when we'd be able to resume anything like enough business to fill the tens of thousands of rooms we already had, but gosh darn wouldn't you know it? All the land survey engineering work we did before we started turning dirt to prep the site turned out to be wrong!"

Instead, they did a low-capital short-term flip of an under-utilized GFV building, replaced the end-of-life Fort cabins (that had to be replaced anyway) with a half-hearted DVC association, and got started on the Poly build to stay within the presumed 40-year limit on selling a time-limited timeshare in Florida.

I don't buy it either, they put in big concrete footers with rebar on the site before they abandoned it. (That might not be the complete proper terms, but they definitely did foundation work). I don't think you do that if you know the ground is crap?

 

[CastAStone]

I don't buy it either, they put in big concrete footers with rebar on the site before they abandoned it. (That might not be the complete proper terms, but they definitely did foundation work). I don't think you do that if you know the ground is crap?

As I understand it that’s how they found out the ground wasn’t as supportive as they expected.

There were posts about it on WDWMagic a few years back. Remember they kept working on Reflections even with the parks closed but then abandoned it ~2 months into the closure; it wasn’t like the Saratoga Springs spa where closed on 3/13 and just never reopened.

That timeline to me supports that something besides the pandemic led to the project abandoning.

 

[Brian Noble]

I mean, maybe?

But that essentially means that the civil engineering firm who did the site survey is incompetent, because that is a very big and very expensive mistake.