Attack of the Lakeshore Lodge

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See, I’ve been standing at sweltering bus stops waiting for Park Hopper bus or bus back to resort for 15-25mins, and wishing I could’ve just walked to an air conditioned car by then and been more comfortable

Also our main ADR destinations are Poly, AKL, WL, and Beach Club, and we’ve never been turned away for parking with an ADR. Once we ended up in the DVC (Pago Pago?) parking lot at Poly because they said the main lot would be full, but we weren’t turned away. While Uber/Lyft are good alternatives for getting to ADRs (but have their own cost), all of those are more convenient with an owned or hired car than:
Taking bus to AK then transferring bus to AKL, and probably having to go to different park/waypoint on the way back if AK is closed
Or
Taking bus/boat to MK, going through security, then taking another boat or monorail to Poly
Or
Taking bus to DHS and then walk/boat/Skyliner to Beach Club. That one’s good if you’re already at a Skyliner resort of course. Could also bus to nearest park and catch a BC bus, but it depends on where you’re staying how much sense that would make.

For most resort restaurants, unless you’re staying at another resort in the same area / loop, you’re talking two forms of Disney Transportation versus just driving your car straight there!

I do appreciate the feedback though,

If I am staying in MK area - I don't plan dinner at Topolino's I eat in the MK area and the same for Epcot area. Its really about planning your ADRs where you will be. I am not going to rush and have to go all over to eat when each area has decent food.

If I had guests that really wanted it , I would take a minne van, still cheaper than a rental.

I stopped with rental cars when I had entire weeks where I paid for a rental that sat in the parking lot.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Man, we need some Lakeshore Lodge news!

But put me in the rental car + ride share/Minnie Van/Disney transportation camp. I like having a car when needed and renting is (usually) so darn easy at MCO. Then on property we'll go with whatever the most convenient/efficient method for whatever we're up to. At times that has meant the car hasn't moved much over the course of a stay, but I just like having one available.

As for LL....

I am not in the know on the planned split between DVC rooms and hotel rooms here, or even if there will be a hotel side at all.

But looking at the available photos so far, I see what appears to be some differences in the design and layout of rooms on either side of the lobby.



The side circled in yellow appears to have rooms of various sizes and layouts (DVC side?), while the side circled in blue appears to have rooms that are more uniformed in nature (hotel side?).
Also, a split at the lobby makes the most sense, like they have done at the Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge.
This would also give both sides some rooms overlooking the feature pool.
And for those of us in DVC that are worried about the possibility of getting a "dumpster" view of the backside of Pioneer Hall, this split would have only hotel side rooms with that view.

Again, this is just speculation with what little information we have at this time.
.

Now that the finished heights in the blue section are known or really close and most of the exterior is starting to be framed in - and since it's relatively easy to count hotel side rooms since the large majority are standard rooms - I did some counting using multiple aerial and on the ground images and can get to something in the 500's for the total potential room count in this section (the rumored hotel-side room count is ~557). So I think the speculation of that being the 'hotel wing' could be reasonable.

Of course we don't really know and they could have things mixed far more than construction at this stage suggests, but it seems plausible.

 

[Tumnus]

I average about that from Riviera, a little longer at Boardwalk. But I also don’t rope drop. I mean let’s face it. That’s what DVC buys us. I’m gonna be at Disney two or three times a year. There’s literally nothing I have to rush for.

We rope drop every time - do the big rides in early entry, when they get crowded do the other rides, go hang at resort when it's too hot. No more lightning lane!

 

[juliebee]

Do you think that Lakeshore Lodge will have some of the features that River County once did? I only was at River Country once, back in 1995. I remember some sort of barrel bridge, which I think they could incorporate easily enough. Was there some sort of water obstacle course too? For those that have been to River Country, any other features they could add besides the lazy river?

 

[Brian Noble]

I do not.

 

[E2ME2]

We live in Canada,,approx 21-24hours depending on stops,,,that is driving distance for me....lol

Our drive is between 12 -14 hours, straight through, which means it typically takes 14 - 18 hours & the last 2 road trips we booked hotel(s) along the way. We stopped doing that a few years ago, as our length of stay has continued to increase, now that we're retired. Therefore, we are now staunch advocates of the AutoTrain. We're an hour from the Lorton station, and it's about an hour from the Sanford station to Disney. We get a bedroom on board with our own bathroom, and it includes sit-down dinner and hot breakfast. Then we have our car to use as we wish (and to pack to the gills onboard the train). When staying for more than 4-6 weeks at a time, it saves dramatically compared to renting a car, and if you're diligent and patient while checking the rates, you can often get a price that makes it very comparable to airfare. We still make use of Disney transportation when convenient. When staying at BWV or BCV, we can walk to 2 parks; when staying at BLT we can walk to MK; when staying at AKV the bus to Animal Kingdom is super convenient. We use the Monorail occasionally, mainly for resort hopping on that route. We really don't like the Skyliner, and don't find Riviera that appealing. Grocery runs and an occasional day-trip off property, make having your own vehicle a blessing.