New FAA Filing Suggests Construction on Reflections Resort Project at Disney World May Be Imminent

7 days ago in "Reflections - A Lakeside Disney Lodge"

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Posted: Thursday September 26, 2024 9:25am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

A recent filing with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) appears to confirm that the Reflections—A Disney Lakeside Lodge project, once thought to be canceled, may soon resume construction at Walt Disney World.

The FAA case details the use of large mobile cranes for the construction of a 10-story hotel, with the cranes reaching a maximum height of 240 feet above ground level (AGL) when fully extended. During non-working hours, the crane height will be reduced to 150 feet AGL. This description closely aligns with previous plans for the Reflections resort, adding further weight to the speculation that the project is back on track.

The proposed cranes are significant because they will be used for the construction of what is expected to be a towering structure—indicative of the scale of a large resort hotel. The height and location specified in the filing suggest that Disney may indeed be moving forward with the delayed Reflections resort.

The FAA filing indicates that the crane would be onsite from October 14, 2024, through August 14, 2025.

Background on Reflections—A Disney Lakeside Lodge

Originally unveiled by Disney in 2018, Reflections—A Disney Lakeside Lodge was planned as a deluxe nature-themed resort situated on the shores of Bay Lake, between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. The resort was to include over 900 hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club (DVC) villas spread across a variety of unique accommodation types.

However, in 2020, amid the financial strain brought on by the pandemic, Disney quietly shelved the project, and much of the pre-construction work was undone. Since then, the land had been returned to its original state, leading many to believe the project was abandoned indefinitely.

Nature-Inspired Resort concept art

Recent Developments Indicate a Resurgence

This new FAA filing is not the only sign of life for the Reflections project. A recent filing by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) hinted at potential construction on a new resort, further fueling speculation. The CFTOD filing discussed plans for a Master Services Agreement with Chen Moore and Associates, a firm tasked with installing new electrical transformers to service what is referred to as “Project S”—a project widely believed to be Reflections.

Disney has yet to make any formal announcements regarding the revival of Reflections—A Disney Lakeside Lodge. However, with both the FAA and CFTOD filings pointing to imminent construction, it’s becoming increasingly likely that Disney plans to revive the resort in some form.

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mattpeto2 days ago

Oh yeah but they have too many timeshares ending in 2042. They cannot “do nothing” with the inventory and bulldoze or even refurbish starting in 2042.

nickys2 days ago

I doubt they’ll ever try offering extensions to contracts again. OKW was a disaster and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle the “outliers” and how many there turns out to be.

mattpeto2 days ago

I sort of expect Disney to counter with something somewhat risk adverse for the 2042 situation. Think short term extensions on some properties would be my guess.

Fido Chuckwagon2 days ago

They’ll probably just renovate and resell them as “new.” It’s no like the poly buildings were new when they started selling them as DVC.

Fido Chuckwagon2 days ago

The fate of every timeshare located on the ocean.

Indy_UK2 days ago

Surely the likes of OKW and Kidani will just get a large updates and then fresh 50 year contracts sold. It's Hilton Head island and Vero Beach (one of my home resorts :confused: ) That I think will get demolished and the land sold on. I can't see Disney wanting to re-invest in those.

BrianLo2 days ago

We’re in the realm of massive, massive speculation here. But the bugaboo is Boulder and Beach will be flipped and Boardwalk rebuilt. Though Boulder is off on its own so doesn’t really matter per say if they also slow roll that one. Old Key West I’m sure they’ll fire sale the residual 15 year contracts. It might even be the only one for sale for 6-10 months or so as they refurb the one and two that will follow immediately. Likely will have a couple million points there that need to be turned around quickly. Honestly, the far more problematic time they have is Saratoga in 2054 followed by Animal Kingdom and OKW in 2057. Speculatively one or two of those resorts will cease to be. Almost assuredly Old Key West.

nickys3 days ago

The resorts effectively cease to exist at that point. It might be weird especially BWV since it’s the same building. But realistically WDW can’t absorb all those rooms back into the regular Disney Deluxe accommodation. And as the term runs down DVC can’t use maintenance fees to build enough capital reserves for a refurb after the contracts end. If they stick to their 7 year rotation of refurbs then those resorts should be just about due a refurb. So they should be able to schedule all 3 within a couple of years. Whether that’s DVC with a view to relaunch them as new resorts, or WDW - who knows?

ToTBellHop3 days ago

I’m more picturing the visual of BWV and BCV being closed at the same time.

nickys3 days ago

They will not be part of DVC at that point. None of those points will be in the system. What difference will it make? Perhaps they just book the rooms through Disney? But they’ll be in need of a refurb anyway.

ToTBellHop3 days ago

They’ll close BRV, BWV, and BCV at the exact same time? That’ll be a mess.

nickys3 days ago

For OKW you’re correct. Although no one knows how many points there will be expiring in 2042. But since there will be just 15 years to go they could do a fire sale. For the other resorts they’d be either rebuilding or doing a full refurb. They’ll just shutter the resorts until they’re ready.

John park hopper3 days ago

The way they are built in. 50 yrs they will be falling down

SteveAZee3 days ago

I guess my thinking is that there will be a lot of points that they'll need to resell across the resort in 2042 and Disney will need to carry the costs of the annuals dues in the meantime... especially with OKW (large # of points, lots of property and buildings to maintain, staff, etc). You may know the numbers of this better than I do, I'm just speculating.