A recent permit filing with the State of Florida has revealed the general outline of Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Resort, including bungalows, and the changes that will be coming to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.
We’ve outlined the buildings in green. The large building in the center will be the main building, which will hold over 900 guest rooms as well as Disney Vacation Club villas. Here’s the concept art for that was released back in October.
The smaller buildings signify bungalows that will be built on the shore of Bay Lake, offering beautiful lakeside views. Unfortunately, this will come at the cost of the shoreline to Fort Wilderness. Here’s another look at where the bungalows will be located on the southern end of the resort, showing just how close they are to the Bay Lake:
Despite shoreline loss, not all is lost. Several other facilities at Fort Wilderness will be relocated to accommodate for Reflections. In late Fall 2019, Tri-Circle-D Ranch will be relocated to an adjacent area (see the area next to the parking lot in quadrant C-109 on map above.) Certain special offerings, like the Return to Sleepy Hollow Headless Horseman Experience, may be affected, but will return in 2020.
Pioneer Hall, home to the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue, and the next-door establishments Crockett’s Tavern, Trail’s End Restaurant, and P & J’s Southern Takeout are expected to stay open, serving visitors to both Reflections and Fort Wilderness.
Built on the former site of the River Country water park, Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Resort is expected to open in 2022. Keep reading WDWNT as we learn more about this new resort coming to Walt Disney World.
MORE:
PHOTOS: Demolition Begins at Former River Country Water Park Site for New Reflections Resort
BREAKING: New Magic Kingdom Area Resort to be Named “Reflections: A Disney Lakeside Resort”
Oh no! I enjoy walking from the Wilderness Lodge to the Tri Circle D Ranch. Where are they going to keep the horses?
Never posted here before, but follow WDWNT frequently This is very depressing news. Love staying at Ft Wilderness, and watching the fireworks from the beach while eating fried chicken from Trail’s End. This wipes the beach out entirely for the bungalows. Guess everyone could just cram onto the dock. Oh well, I need to contribute more to retirement than give to Mickey anyways; this makes the decision easier.
I cannot tell from the map – does this take all the Ft. Wilderness beach area?
I have enjoyed watching the Electrical Water Pageant from there with my parents when I was a child and then more recently with my own family. It is a great spot!
The loss of Tri-circle-D is the loss of yet another entertainment/recreation option. No more parasailing and now no horse back riding. Where will the horses relocate?
Rebuilding the Tri-Circle Ranch is hoped since this really keeps something unique which makes Walt Disney World so different than other theme park resorts. This hotel looks to be huge and really not fit in with the amount of real estate needed to support it. If Disney wanted to they could rebuilt and keep the horses and petting zoo. If not, then it really is for the almighty dollar while losing some of the magic. Thank you for reporting this important news.
Again another disappointment and insult to Walt Disney himself. There is too much history with the circle D ranch to demolish it. The horses have to go somewhere. And they are no longer going to offer horseback riding and carriage rides etc? Will they rebuild someone adjacent. That could be acceptable. Yet it still doesn’t sit right with me. More and more I get discouraged to be a patron.
The horses are getting a new home. right there in the same general location. It is located in the box labelled c-09 next to the parking lot. It is a much larger facility.
How is it an insult to Walt? His involvement with Fort Wilderness, if he had any at all, was surely minimal considering he died five years before it opened. This simply takes a previously derelict area and injects some life back into Fort Wilderness.
You’re right – Walt didn’t want WDW at all. He wanted the Florida Project to be a literal city of tomorrow. But Walt did firmly believe in getting kids out into nature. Fort Wilderness reflected a lot of his values.
If you think Fort Wilderness needed life injected into it, you’re missing the point. I’d be willing to bet it rivals most other resorts in occupancy percentage. And the entire beauty of it was having a quiet, faux-rustic place to call home base while exploring WDW. This feels like it’s going to stamp out some of that quiet and “derelict” rustic nature that we all enjoyed so much.
Does this mean we won’t be able to visit the Disney horses anymore? That’s a bummer! Where will they be moved?
I’m going to miss the peacefulness of the Fort Wilderness lakeside and Pioneer Hall areas. When we would venture over early to have some drinks at Crockett’s Tavern before the Hoop De Doo, it was always a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the WDW property.
The Tri-Circle-D Ranch will be relocated to an adjacent area in Fall 2019., There may be some disruption in certain offerings during the relocation, like the Return to Sleepy Hollow Headless Horseman Experience, which will return in 2020. Ft Wilderness will stop offering reservations for pony rides, going to walk-up availability only. Pony rides may be cancelled on days where loud construction noise is expected, out of concern for the ponies. While there will be some disruptions on the ranch during construction, the Tri-Circle-D Ranch is not going away.
What’s happening to the horses at the Ranch??
I go to Fort wilderness to get away from the resorts. Fort wilderness is for us that like the tranquil and serenity of the fort.. if anything make more campsites
Where will the horses go? This is sad :(
Such a huge disappointment for me and my family. I spend months in Fort Wilderness in the winter and enjoy the peacefulness of being in the woods. This will make it overcrowded as well as noisy, with people milling about all over that arent even camping guests. ..not to mention golf cart traffic, and even LONGER waits for things like chicken or pizza. I will be finding another place to spend my winter and my money…this is too far. It ruins the point of being in the woods. Who allows this crap to happen???? Thanks for wrecking a beautiful camping vacation spot for everyone. Im so sad.
I enjoy this site & the news & updates. Just would like to paint a less than doom & gloom picture of this DVC & The Fort Wilderness Campground
Disney is building a new Tri-Circle-D Ranch across the road from the previous one. It will be much bigger. Disney is also working on the beach on the other side of the Fort’s marina.
Disney has managed to add DVCs now to all of the Magic Kingdom Resorts without taking away from the original resorts & with adding onto & making the original resorts better. Pretty sure Disney will do the same here. It would be great instead of in your headline of “Tri-Circle-D Ranch demolished”, it could read a more positive statement. Perhaps, “ A bigger Tri-Circle-D Ranch being built”. Just a thought
Thank you
They better find a way to improve the nightmare that is P & J’s Southern Takeout. It is the most convoluted QS at Disney, and now it’s going to try to serve more? It can’t even handle the campgrounds/Cabins.