2024 has been a year full of announcements for what is on the horizon at Disney World!
Magic Kingdom
While the year is coming to an end, Disney is still announcing new projects left and right. While some announcements have been bittersweet, like the location of the new ‘Cars’ expansion and Monsters, Inc. land, Disney World will soon be home to so many new attractions and experiences! And if you are looking to visit Disney World in the coming years to experience all the latest projects, you will be able to stay at a BRAND- NEW hotel starting in 2027!
In just a few weeks, Disney World’s newest Disney Vacation Club resort, Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, will open. But the title of the latest Disney World resort will be taken just two years later when the newly announced Disney Lakeshore Lodge opens in 2027!
The Island Tower is opening next month!
Disney Lakeshore Lodge will be in the exact location of the previously announced Reflections resort near Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. Reflections was announced in 2019 and was expected to open in 2022. However, construction was halted due to the pandemic and Disney World’s closure in 2020.
Reflections is now canceled and being replaced by Disney Lakeshore Lodge || Previous Concept Art ©Disney
The new hotel will be “inspired by the majesty of nature and its enduring influence on Disney artists.”
The newly announced Lakeshore Lodge ©Scott Gustin
We reached out to Disney fans, aka you, our awesome readers, to see what you all felt about this new hotel announcement. It seems that Disney fans are really split about it. Some readers are excited about this new hotel addition. One reader said, “I’m all for it. I hope the theming is on point.” Another reader agreed, “I’m glad it’s Disney Vacation Club resort. I just hope they have more studios. It’s getting harder to reserve a room.”
Disney Vacation Club
As we mentioned, Disney World is changing and will start to look different in the coming years. Regarding the new hotel and the upcoming projects, a reader said, “ The next few years are definitely going to be interesting for Disney World! And I’m excited!! I’m definitely ready for the Villains expansion!”
©Disney
While you do not have to be a Disney Vacation Club member to stay at this new resort, it can be exciting for current or interested new members as this is another location where vacation points will be available for purchase. A current Disney Vacation Club Member said, “As a Disney Vacation Club owner since 1994, I look forward to another option for stays.”
Old Key West was the first Disney Vacation Club Resort
While there have been positive feelings towards Disney Lakeshore Lodge, it has also been met with criticism. A reader commented, “Logistically, I understand that Value resorts aren’t as profitable for Disney, but would it kill them to add more?! People on lower budgets deserve a nice vacation, too.” Another reader agreed and said, “I would be thrilled about it if it weren’t DVC. Values and Moderates are what is needed. It seems Disney is forgetting about the people that Walt intended the parks to be for.”
Art of Animation is Disney’s latest Value Resort which opened in 2012
While the new resort can be exciting for current Disney Vacation Club members, one member said that they are “honestly feeling saturated with DVC. I love all the DVC resorts, but it’s getting to be overkill.”
Disney Vacation Club Welcome Center
While some people are not too thrilled about the new resort, some readers pointed out that it may not be a place that they stay at, but it has the potential to bring new shops and dining locations that they can visit on their off days from the parks. Since this new hotel was just announced, details are limited. We will keep an eye out for any new information, so make sure to continue to follow along with Disney Food Blog!
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Disney needs to STOP with all of these new DVC resorts!! They are destroying the beauty of Walt Disney World, adding to the overcrowding and over building everywhere!!! The Bay Lake area is becoming so congested it looks horrible!! The Polynesian has been ruined by adding that enormous tower!! Now they are building another resort near Fort Wilderness?! The Riviera is a disappointment to many already also. They are just building so fast and becoming too money greedy!! The beautiful Disney Marketplace and Springs is so over built and ridiculous…it’s unnecessary!!! You don’t come to Disney to shop stores you could go to a mall for!! They built that Star Wars hotel, that was a waste! I could have told them that before they broke ground it would be a waste!! Now they are destroying Hollywood Studios….bring back the great movie ride!!! Start listening to the real fans, us, who have been here since the begining! Stop the over building and destroying of Disney nostalgia! I was just there and I was disappointed and I am not the only upset DVC member….Walt is rolling in his grave….bring back old Disney!!!
The Lakeshore Lodge is an interesting concept and the potential for an amazing resort is attainable. Disney really needs to address the restaurant problem in the Ft Wilderness area as part of this effort, since Disney ruined their 2nd best buffet, Trail’s End, 2nd only to Boma, and many times Boma’s superior, depending on our dining mood. I believe the Ft Wilderness cabin sales have been slow due in part to the restaurant problem.
I could not be happier. I am a DVC member and for that matter a DVC fanatic and Fort Wilderness is the resort of my childhood. My first trip to WDW was in 1975 pulling the old family tent camper.
This just might get me to buy more points.