Attack of the Lakeshore Lodge

[peder]

It’s a lot of resorts on Bay Lake now. I think transportation will be something that will require some investment? Is there any chance we could see a skyliner link to Epcot or any other option like that?

 

[sethschroeder]

It’s a lot of resorts on Bay Lake now. I think transportation will be something that will require some investment? Is there any chance we could see a skyliner link to Epcot or any other option like that?

Skyliner wouldn't be that useful. Its a smaller number of rooms very spread out.

Skyliner today services: 6700 Rooms
All of Bay Lake: 5673 Rooms+Campsites

Example are you having people take a boat from WL and GF to a Skyliner at Contemporary?

If they are adding a skyliner it would be to Disney Spring or to AK from the existing area. That being said Disney seems to refuse to run the system in weather (like it likely is designed for) so its not as useful as it could be which is sad.

 

[Cfabar1]

Skyliner wouldn't be that useful. Its a smaller number of rooms very spread out.

Skyliner today services: 6700 Rooms
All of Bay Lake: 5673 Rooms+Campsites

Example are you having people take a boat from WL and GF to a Skyliner at Contemporary?

If they are adding a skyliner it would be to Disney Spring or to AK from the existing area. That being said Disney seems to refuse to run the system in weather (like it likely is designed for) so its not as useful as it could be which is sad.

I am doubtful that Disney will ever create a Skyliner to Disney Springs... the parking loophole would be too significant....

 

[SugarSweetLee]

I am doubtful that Disney will ever create a Skyliner to Disney Springs... the parking loophole would be too significant....

Agree. Very little or negative payoff for the expense incurred (even more incentive for people to stay in good neighbor hotels/offsite rather than on property).

 

[Mikey15]

Transportation.... what is the plan with this?

I’ve been wondering about the guest road access first and foremost.

It doesn’t make sense to route people through the Fort, buses or driving guests. Best access would be the same entry road as Wilderness Lodge, and then routing people around to Lakeside… kind of like Jambo and Kidani.

I don’t know if this would entail moving the “gate” at WL to a different spot, or if it would serve both WL and LL kind of like AKL does for both buildings. The other thing to consider is I think the big WL arch is ahead of the gatehouse?

 

[davidhr]

There’s a permit filled for work on that road, so it’s a relatively safe bet that the access will be through the wilderness lodge entrance.

 

[BrianLo]

Time to rename this thread?

I aim to please

 

[sethschroeder]

I am doubtful that Disney will ever create a Skyliner to Disney Springs... the parking loophole would be too significant....

Oh its drop dead easy. You scan the individual and if they don't have a resort reservation they are not allowed on the Skyliner.

They are unlikely to do it because of the downtime from storms not because of something that is extremely solvable and would be cost savings over having all the bussing.

 

[sethschroeder]

I was just going to say I hope they scrap Reflection and looks like I got what I wanted. Now hopefully they go in a different direction for what they would put on the site.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

I aim to please

Love it!

 

[jcolvin5]

Are we thinking this stays with the original 900 rooms or something smaller?

 

[Cfabar1]

Oh its drop dead easy. You scan the individual and if they don't have a resort reservation they are not allowed on the Skyliner.

They are unlikely to do it because of the downtime from storms not because of something that is extremely solvable and would be cost savings over having all the bussing.

I guess you have more faith in the people that have key card readers all over the grand Floridian that are deactivated and let everyone roam around the buildings and pools more than I do….

And yes, the downtime seems to be a big issue as well I agree.

 

[Cfabar1]

Are we thinking this stays with the original 900 rooms or something smaller?

They could try phasing it. A new DVC and cash High End Deluxe seems more Chapek’s speed than D’Amaro for whatever it is worth.

Wonder how Star cruiser closing/losing money factors into the cash decision….

I doubt Iger cares one way or the other as long as it generates revenue.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I’ve been wondering about the guest road access first and foremost.

It doesn’t make sense to route people through the Fort, buses or driving guests. Best access would be the same entry road as Wilderness Lodge, and then routing people around to Lakeside… kind of like Jambo and Kidani.

I don’t know if this would entail moving the “gate” at WL to a different spot, or if it would serve both WL and LL kind of like AKL does for both buildings. The other thing to consider is I think the big WL arch is ahead of the gatehouse?

View attachment 916121

Yeah, it’s not conclusive, but my read of the permits and site plan (at least as filed to date) is that Timberline Drive will be the entrance to both and Lakeside guests will take that first right on what is now the road just used for buses. I guess it’s possible they could eventually make one of the current construction and maintenance roads behind the Stolport area into a main entrance road with a new resort entrance on say, Vista Blvd, but that seems less likely to me. That’s my guess anyway!

 

[Brian Noble]

Are we thinking this stays with the original 900 rooms or something smaller?

I suspect they've changed next to nothing. It was designed, site prep had started, it was paused, and it has been resumed.

Heck I can even imagine exactly the original room configuration has been kept, but what had been hotel rooms are now going to be "resort studios" a la Big Pine Key. I do suspect it is no longer a mixed-use property, but will be all DVC. And that may mean the room configuration changes to be more "DVC-like".

 

[ehh]

Are we thinking this stays with the original 900 rooms or something smaller?

I think there's a non-zero chance it could actually be higher than the 900 in the original plans.

Rationale:

• Early indications are same footprint.
• DVC's strategy appears to have evolved in the 6+ years since original announcement/plans, with a strong shift toward Studios.
  • The last 4 resorts to open have deviated from traditional room mixes and gone very heavy into Studios:
    • VGF2 resulted in VGF having ~2/3rds of its rooms be Studios
    • VDH has ~3/4ths of its rooms as Studios (not even counting Duos)
    • CFW is 100% Super Studios
    • PVB2 is fairly Studio-heavy and combined with a nearly Studio-exclusive PVB1, the combined new PVB has ~3/4ths of its rooms (not even counting Duos) as Studios
• I'm assuming the original 900 room announcement was 'traditional' mix of Studios, 1BR, and 2BR, akin to Riviera
• Studios are 1-bay rooms, 1BR are 2-bay, 2BR are 3-bay
• So their 900 rooms was possibly significantly more than 900 bays with a higher mix of 1BR/2BR
• Converting that >>900 bay configuration to something more Studio-heavy might mean more total rooms, if some 1BR/2BR in the old plans are now Studios

Counterarguments that I agree(ish) with:

• Disney appears out of the business of building new non-DVC resorts, so the hotel side (of mostly 1-bay hotel rooms) might be consumed and be the influx of Studios to get to a 'modern mix', with minimal changes to the originally-DVC side
• DVC might have also learned their lessons with standalone cabunglaows and might back off on the number of those, reducing the room count
• 900 is already a lot! More might be too many

 

[Brian Noble]

Disney appears out of the business of building new non-DVC resorts, so the hotel side (of mostly 1-bay hotel rooms) might be consumed and be the influx of Studios to get to a 'modern mix', with minimal changes to the originally-DVC side

This is my bet. Exactly the same room configuration, with the hotel rooms being "resort studios." No reason to pay the architects (and, more importantly, Imagineering) twice.

Also: If memory serves, the last non-DVC resort they built was Gran Destino, and that was intended to feed CSR's convention business. Before that? AoA, which was started before 9/11. I was honestly surprised by the original Reflections announcement of mixed-use. I suspect the pandemic reminded WDW that owning a bunch of cash rooms was a huge risk.

 

[Electron_si]

If the studios/1BR end up sleeping 5 and they can get the dues comparable with most of the other resorts we will definitely be buying here when it opens.

We’ve thought about adding on resale at CCV but as a family of 5 it doesn’t make a lot of sense as we have to book a 2 BR. BRV being a 2042 resort means we won’t buy there either but we spend a lot of points there. WL is one of our favorite resorts so we are really excited about this news.

 

[Lorana]

As long as it stands for Long Lazy River, I'm good.

Yes, this. So much this. The lazy river is one of the things I'm most excited about, and it better still be a part of this resort.

 

[Cfabar1]

i think having the best pools on property is kind of a requirement for it- and so I would be surprised if the lazy River wasn’t included.