River Country

[kevw67]

Iwas on the boat from Magic Kingdom back to Fort Wilderness and a cast member on the boat said a contract had just been signed with DVC to refurbish River Country for their next Vacation Club. Has anyone else heard this? Has anyone else heard what if any the new vacation club is?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I just can never tell who is more reliable, Bus Drivers, Boat Drivers or the random CMs.

The next DVC is Grand Floridian, after that, who knows, no construction has been started or permits filed that anyone is aware of for any additional large scale, outside of park, building.

 

[DCTooTall]

It's just another rumor.


There were rumors floating around over a year ago (before the Grand Floridian work began) that the space between Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness was going to used for a new DVC property (Buffalo Junction?). some of those Rumors included the possibility that River country could be rehabed into the new resort's main pool area. (One of the leading reasons given for the sudden closure of the park was that due to it's small size It couldn't draw enough guests to make it worthwhile as a water park when the larger and more modern parks at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach were available. This reason wouldn't be a factor if it wasn't a ticketed attraction but was instead a resort pool)

 

[chartle]

Yes the rumor is that they are using the area for a new DVC but not reopening RC. Even if the slides and pool where in perfect shape from when it closed, everything would still have to be torn down and rebuilt since they would never work today with how deep the pool is and how the slides dumped you into 6 feet of water. And I'm not even addressing the water itself.

If they build a new DVC they may recreate something that like looks like RC for the guests there but its not going to be RC and its not going to be open to the public.

 

[Almightybucs]

Heard on our trip this past June from a DVC rep it was going to be converted to an exclusive to DVC Membership waterpark.

 

[chartle]

Heard on our trip this past June from a DVC rep it was going to be converted to an exclusive to DVC Membership waterpark.

Lets assume that the DVC resort goes in. They just can't convert it into anything.

Besides the fact that its been rotting in place for 10 years (?) the original design would not work for a modern WP. Not even the pool.

 

[doconeill]

It's just another rumor.


There were rumors floating around over a year ago (before the Grand Floridian work began) that the space between Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness was going to used for a new DVC property (Buffalo Junction?). some of those Rumors included the possibility that River country could be rehabed into the new resort's main pool area. (One of the leading reasons given for the sudden closure of the park was that due to it's small size It couldn't draw enough guests to make it worthwhile as a water park when the larger and more modern parks at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach were available. This reason wouldn't be a factor if it wasn't a ticketed attraction but was instead a resort pool)

Pretty much the same as what I heard, dusting off the old "Buffalo Junction" plans (I think that was the name). But they'd have to do extensive work, and it wouldn't really be any bigger than Stormalong Bay at the Yacht & Beach Club, so the audience would likely be very limited...MAYBE DVC pool hopping would be allowed if it was exclusive to the new resort, or it maybe shared with FW.

 

[articfox676]

When you say DVC at Fort Wilderness are we talking high rise, camp sites, or what?

 

[chartle]

When you say DVC at Fort Wilderness are we talking high rise, camp sites, or what?

A dvc resort built between fort wilderness and wilderness lodge.

 

[doconeill]

I believe there was also plans supposedly leaked for a building at FW itself, akin to the GF DVC, but not much on details like number of units, etc.

 

[DizCaptain]

Yes, DVC will be next be built at River Country. It will feature cave-like and cabin themed rooms with extremely limited ownership. Private ferries to all locations and it will have its own helipad. Cool right?!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Iwas on the boat from Magic Kingdom back to Fort Wilderness and a cast member on the boat said a contract had just been signed with DVC to refurbish River Country for their next Vacation Club. Has anyone else heard this? Has anyone else heard what if any the new vacation club is?

Disney re-filed (they originally filed in 2010/11) the paperwork necessary to build a construction staging area. The first link includes a 2011 blueprint/plan. From this plan, it seems the Tri-Circle-D Ranch buildings will have to be relocated and the shoreline near the marina could be re-shaped to include a parking lot.

If you read the FW DVC speculation in the links below, you might want to keep in mind this comment that appears in the second link:




Re: Some movement on Fort Wilderness project -- wdrl
Wednesday, 04 April 2012 19:08
I'm a little skeptical whether the activity at Fort Wilderness signals the start of a DVC resort project. In October 2010, when Disney filed paperwork entitled East Parcel Development Project (EPDP) with the South Florida Water Management District, it was to move the stables, blacksmith operations, and some other structures from the north end of the FTW complex to the south end. This places these items closer to the main road, giving Disney easier and more direct access to the stables. Superficially, relocating these operations to the south end of FTW makes sense; it doesn't necessarily mean that they were pushed out of their current locations because of a DVC project.

Also in 2010, Disney expanded its facilities at the STOLport location, which houses several construction trailers. The original EPDP included permit requests for expanding STOLport, and so, too, did Project 2011-1, which we now know is the Villas at Grand Floridian project. The only permits that were recently filed -- at least those that are available on the SFWMD public website -- involve an expansion of the STOLport complex. By itself, it doesn't mean that Disney plans to build a DVC resort at FTW.





http://www.epcyclopedia.com/2012/04...derness-dvc-files-to-start-construction-soon/



http://dvcnews.com/index.php/resort...1918-some-movement-on-fort-wilderness-project

 

[Figment632]

Yes Fort Wilderness DVC is in he works.

 

[hakepb]

Yes, DVC will be next be built at River Country. It will feature cave-like and cabin themed rooms with extremely limited ownership. Private ferries to all locations and it will have its own helipad. Cool right?!

That would be much more enjoyable cruising around the resort in a helicopter instead of a slow golf cart

 

[whodini]

It seems that the most likely next DVC resort is actually going to be over at the Poly. At least according to most rumors that I've read.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

They will need more inventory once they schlep off the rest of animal kingdom...as the only thing we KNOW about disney construction is that they will have something in orlando that's new to sell - hell or hurricane high water.

It wouldn't appear that they would have difficulty selling the grand floridian out quickly...it has a natural draw for those seeking luxury (which they don't provide at the "grand" or any other disney run property - but that's another story) and it is small by the recent standards - 300 at contemp, 450 at animal kingdon, 1.2 billion at saratoga.

So they will need to move sooner than later to get something started.

But the buffalo junction thing would be a curious move in several ways. ft wilderness and wilderness lodge are great...but kinda sleepy. In order to build 200-400 dvc units they may also have to inject more in the way of services into the immediate area to accomodate...and they have been rather hesitant to do that with DVC construction when possible.

But if that's what they're saying....that they can maximize/ exploit the work in MK, the contemporary, and use the facilities more at Ft. Wilderness by plopping more units on the lake...then go right ahead.

However, it would seem that an "expansion" of the wilderness lodge unit - even if it's a half mile away - would be a better tact than builidng a new standalone plopped right next to an existing, smaller unit.

but my stance on this still holds: mark out the lagoon at the polynesian...its inevitable and a hot sell.

perhaps...knowing that it would be a slam dunk at the poly...they are attempting to go "every other" when it comes to high profile DVC construciton....build at contemporary, take more of a risk at animal kingdom, build at grand floridian, try to flesh out the ft wilderness area, THEN build another at contemp or at poly...

And animal kingdom hasn't seen the last of DVC in its area as well. that park underperforms and costs a fortune to run...they will put more DVC near it before too long to try to entice more traffic into the park - count on it.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It seems that the most likely next DVC resort is actually going to be over at the Poly. At least according to most rumors that I've read.

there is no doubt as to "if"...the only question is "when?"

 

[Dopey420]

I love the video on youtube by the guys who jumped the fence and toured around the closed River Country. It looks like Disney just shut down one day, and never went back! Things are still lying around like a ghost town. Very weird but fascinating.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I took these in April - yes, of 2012 - why would they get rid of a perfectly good hair dryer from the ol' RC bathroom...

 

[zulemara]

from what I've heard, DVC at FW was moving forward along with DVC and the GF but GF jumped the line over FW and they moved ahead with that project.

as a boat driver myself, I wish my co-workers would either keep up to date on rumors or keep their mouths shut! Although I'm a rumor nut, I don't say anything about rumors unless either specifically asked or in the case where the FLE plans were leaked and we knew the announcement was coming in a day or 2. Ugh that crap makes me mad