Meadows Expansion

[BaymaxFan78]

From Disney:

"Beginning April 28, 2025, construction will take place near the Meadow Swimmin' Pool area. The Meadow Swimmin' Pool and Wilderness Swimmin' Pool will remain open for guests to enjoy. The nearby tennis courts, volleyball court, and the Meadow Playground will be closed temporarily. Guests may see and hear construction in the area until the work is complete."

Disney hasn't said what this construction entails but I want to focus on two things.

Last April, permits were filed for construction in the Meadows area for a building believed to either be a restaurant of some sort or just bathrooms. The Playground and volleyball court were to be removed and a pond would be added next to the building. There were markers in the area for a while but they got removed.

Secondly, from numerous people on Facebook and in multiple different groups on Facebook people have been saying it's some upgrade / extension of the Pool. People say they asked CMs and we're told it's another Pool being added to the area, some say the tennis courts are getting expanded with dedicated pickleball courts. One person said they were making the current Pool bigger which seems unlikely since it's staying open.

I don't know what's happening but I do know construction starts on Monday. It could be another pool. It could be a restaurant. It could be a DVC center (?) or just some improvements to the courts.

Side note, the Wilderness pool is supposed to get "enhancements" according to a DVC meeting from a few months ago.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

Holding

 

[StormyCA]

It really gets my goat that Disney doesn't just TELL us or at least make up a story that makes sense. "We're enlarging/plussing the pools. The pools will be open during construction". Um, sure.

 

[bama_ed]

Well we discussed this in April of 2024 as you alluded to, @BaymaxFan78 .

https://www.disboards.com/threads/meadows-construction-stakes.3938607/

And the source of this rumor was from the blogmickey website referring to a 5500 ft^2 building.

https://blogmickey.com/2024/04/disn...for-new-5500sqft-building-at-fort-wilderness/

Looking at the drawing, the pool pavement is upper left, tennis court pavement upper right, and the wooden bridge towards 1500 across the canal is just above the dry pond (to catch rain runoff).

My thoughts are (which no one asked for):

1. Not a sit-down restaurant which would compete from the offerings at the Eyesore DVC resort currently under construction behind Pioneer Hall.

2. Not just bathrooms either. That's a lot of bathrooms. There are already bathrooms at the Meadow Pool.

3. Agree it's not a pool expansion when you look at the blogmickey drawing. Even if it was a new water feature, I can't think of an indoor water offering currently in WDW.

4. Pickleball courts don't require a building. Nor do additional tennis courts.

I still believe that this will become a type of replacement of the former Mickey's Backyard BBQ. People don't remember that when a DVC resort was initially planned behind Pioneer Hall, the drawings indicated that the original Tri-Circle-D Ranch would be demolished as would the MBY BBQ. At first the new TCD Ranch was proposed up front in the Outpost area where the horse ride area is but later was moved across Wilderness Road and built in its current location.

BUT....

The proposed drawings ALSO showed a new physical MBY BBQ built behind the Settlement Trading Post. For those that don't know, MBY BBQ was a character interaction buffet meal event aimed at families with young kids. It was located behind Pioneer Hall between the original TCDR and the gated/locked entrance to River Country. They had a country cowboy band (playing live music) and costumed characters that would come out and dance with the families and kids and food was served on the sides of the pavilion (it was open air) to eat during dance breaks. It was somewhat out-of-the-way and you didn't really know it was there. I took pix years ago I might try to find.

Obviously we know the replacement MBY BBQ was not built behind the Settlement Trading Post. But it filled an entertainment void usually present in many of the other resorts of a character interaction meal. But it was a hit whenever I saw it (maybe 4x-5x but never paid - just watched from afar for maybe 5-10 minutes each time by myself). And I think that it will be aimed at the same target audience (now the Eyesore DVC will add more possible customers conveniently nearby). I think Wilderness Lodge has a character interaction meal but as long as the Fort offering is themed differently with no overlap of characters, it's expanding the market offering, not duplicating it.

Finally, the fact it's a "building" means it will likely be climate controlled (I bet some nights at the old location [covered but no walls] were miserable with the evening heat and humidity in the summer months). And having walls means able to control access to paying guests only. So you have a dance/dining room, kitchen space with warmers (don't know if they would build a full kitchen or have food trucked over from the TE/HDDR kitchen), and character/CM changing room, break space, so on). Plus a few bathrooms of course. The "hardscape" up toward the existing pool and tennis courts would be for golf cart parking (note the pavement up to the left of the tennis courts probably connects to the existing cart path that runs just outside the pool buildings).

Anyway, that's my idea. It's replacing what was lost when River Country area was bulldozed, tweaked with improvement like an indoor building, and centrally located for DVC cabins, campers, Eyesore DVC guests, and even maybe WL folks who bus over. Those are the target customers (although someone could travel there from All Star Music if they wanted to pay for it and attend).

Or I could be completely wrong. Which is much more likely.

Bama Ed

Ps - and they could offer 2-3 shows per evening/afternoon.

 

[proudmomof4]

I'm checking in May 3rd, we usually stay in 1300 loop. Hopefully we can get a site closer to the comfort station or the playground, but if we get a site by the canal and there is going to be construction going on across the canal, I'll need to change my site requests and see about 1200 or 1100.

I was really hoping to get Team Bradfield's February site of 1309, but it will have a front row seat to view the construction, and I don't want the noise of it. We also like 1310, but that will have the same problem as 1309.

 

[bama_ed]

Or I have another idea.

I did a Google Earth measurement of the MBY BBQ building behind Pioneer Hall and it was over 12,000 ft^2.



Way too big. But do you know what is about 5,500 ft^2? The Bike Barn space (both covered and fenced).



So maybe the Bike Barn will be relocated (yet again) and that space will become additional golf cart parking for movie night and pool time.

Just another idea.

 

[proudmomof4]

I saw a blog that speculated it could be a DVC Community Center. So if that's what it is, that is yet another thing (the Meadows field) taken from the Fort campers.

I decided to upgrade my reservation to a Meadows Premium site, it wasn't much more per night with my AP discount and now I won't need to worry about being placed near the construction site.

 

[bama_ed]

I decided to upgrade my reservation to a Meadows Premium site, it wasn't much more per night with my AP discount and now I won't need to worry about being placed near the construction site.

 

[bama_ed]

I saw a blog that speculated it could be a DVC Community Center.

If that's the case, they will need more bathrooms.

 

[4077]

I feel like road construction here by home (although I imagine its the same everywhere)... just when I breath a sigh of relief and enjoy that the mess is gone, another one starts

 

[skyp4WDW]

Has there been any word on whether or not this new construction will impact the 1500 Loop bridge?

 

[littlejoe]

You know, I just got back from Fort Wilderness and I’d advise true lovers of the Fort prepare yourself for the worst. This was our 30th year and we’ve seen many changes and honestly the last really good one was the switch from Trailers to the Log Cabins.

Everything is geared towards DVC, Between the Lakeshore Lodge and Cabins at Fort Wilderness I see the Fort being eventually phased out.The lodge is a stones throw from Pioneer Hall, the architecture does not even blend. The cabins on the water will be blocking the view of the lake from pioneer hall porch. The most recent Clementines Beach is now being replaced with Cabins on the water.

The architecture that does match is that of the New Barn and the recently constructed cabins.

We stayed at the new cabins and I honestly don’t believe they meet the DVC standards. So I expect anything being constructed I feel will match the most recent projects and will not have that Fort Wilderness charm.

Thank god for the people though, they are what make the fort a place to keep coming back too… at least for now