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Reflections: A Disney Lakeside Lodge

"Mixed use resort"-- What makes it mixed use? A place to sleep and a place to eat?

Just seems very generic...
 
Look it seems like you have your mind made up on this resort. I’m looking at the reality of situation of what Disney has built the last couple of years and to me it’s fine. Some people would have wanted at Wilderness Lodge 2.0 but that era is done. Those type of designs are not coming back to WDW or any other park at this point.
I'm not even saying build Wilderness Lodge 2.0, I'm saying that I want something that appears somewhat cohesive with the area. From this image, it looks horribly generic. HOWEVER, if it ends up being something like the Grand Teton visitor center, I'll be all for it.
 
Look it seems like you have your mind made up on this resort. I’m looking at the reality of situation of what Disney has built the last couple of years and to me it’s fine. Some people would have wanted at Wilderness Lodge 2.0 but that era is done. Those type of designs are not coming back to WDW or any other park at this point.

And it seems you have your mind made up too!

It doesn’t fit the area, land, or even have a theme. It’s just modern DVC, they have plenty of places to put that already.
 
I like this idea. The rooms look like they have balconies(major plus in my book), as long as the food and atmosphere is good, I'm there.
 
I’ve got a theory about Disney’s hotel designs.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Vegas wanted to be a family destination. After all, look at all the money that Disney was making, plus shopping malls, Chuck E Cheese. Families were where the money was at.

So, Vegas (which is basically just four developers, so it’s a similar situation to Orlando), started building family resorts and family attractions. The Exacibur (castle resort), Treasure Island (pirate themed), Mirage (Polynesian), NYNY (duh), Paris (not gonna bother). All of these were themed hotels from the outside and fairly well themed on the inside. MGM even built a theme park around this time.

What’s Vegas building now? CityCenter and the Cosmopolitan. The best themes I can think of for these are “city?” and “millennials?”. I’m really stretching it.

Why did Vegas undergo this shift? It seems like Vegas just gave up on attracting families. Kids love themed environments. Adults are more indifferent to them. I can’t think of a single themed hotel built in Vegas in years. Even the themed hotels are slowly losing their identity on the inside.

I can’t help but think that Disney is undergoing a similar shift with their hotel theming. Does this mean Disney is moving away from families? No idea. But, I think Vegas is the place to look if you want to read into Disney’s hotel strategies.
 
And it seems you have your mind made up too!

It doesn’t fit the area, land, or even have a theme. It’s just modern DVC, they have plenty of places to put that already.
Actually, this style of architecture is VERY common in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's in the Northwest Modern Style. When I saw it I immediately thought of how stylistically similar it is to the Gates' home.
GettyImages_626759612.0.jpg

This style is very popular among nature-loving people. I have to ask, other than a near exact copy of Wilderness Lodge what other style would've worked? And yes, I think this style works beautifully. The stone and wood accents should compliment the reflecting glass nicely.
 
Actually, this style of architecture is VERY common in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's in the Northwest Modern Style. When I saw it I immediately thought of how stylistically similar it is to the Gates' home.
GettyImages_626759612.0.jpg

This style is very popular among nature-loving people. I have to ask, other than a near exact copy of Wilderness Lodge what other style would've worked? And yes, I think this style works beautifully. The stone and wood accents should compliment the reflecting glass nicely.
Funny thing is I was reading the WDWMagic forum and someone posted some examples of modern wilderness type buildings. I think people have this idea Disney is suppose to heavily theme everything but not everyone wants that. Why can’t we have variety at WDW without someone claiming it is too generic or not good enough.
 
lol. Do you guys have more pictures at your disposal than this singular one at a angle that only allows for, what... 5% of the hotel to be shown?

Could it suck? Sure. But we certainly don’t have enough information yet.

Your bias is showing... hard.
 
Look it seems like you have your mind made up on this resort. I’m looking at the reality of situation of what Disney has built the last couple of years and to me it’s fine. Some people would have wanted at Wilderness Lodge 2.0 but that era is done. Those type of designs are not coming back to WDW or any other park at this point.

The one you mentioned previously at HKDL.. Explorers Lodge.. is precisely that type of hotel. :lol:

I think the hotel looks fine for a hotel, just zero theming which is interesting for something so close to Magic Kingdom. Also, what does mixed use mean in Disney speak? Regular rooms and DVC?
 
lol. Do you guys have more pictures at your disposal than this singular one at a angle that only allows for, what... 5% of the hotel to be shown?

Could it suck? Sure. But we certainly don’t have enough information yet.

Your bias is showing... hard.
Ahh, yeah...that bias that led me to work for the company, get multiple WDW tattoos, and book my honeymoon at WDW.
 
I do think it's interesting that this seems to be a completely new Deluxe resort that happens to have DVC Villas. So a combination of Hotel rooms and DVC. Not exactly as I was expecting.

Overall, I actually have no problem with this. And I do think there is a bit of bias as Sapphire Falls and Aventura aren't much special design wise (nor is CBBR's new towers), but because they're a UOR hotel, people seem to give them a pass and are then much harder on Disney (speaking from a design perspective).

I think overall though, a hotel like Sapphire is fine because guests don't want over-the-top themed hotels these days. They want modern and sleek. That's what Universal is giving people and that's what Disney is giving people in this era. They still have plenty of themed hotels, but even those have sleek and minimalist room designs now. Universal has the same with HRH, RPR and Portofino. The rooms are all updated to be modern though.

I like this idea. The rooms look like they have balconies(major plus in my book), as long as the food and atmosphere is good, I'm there.
All DVC resorts are legally required (by DVC's contract with the Owners) to have balconies attached to the rooms.
 
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Eh, not the worst hotel they've revealed concept art for in recent years (Coronado tower, cough cough). I think it'll be fine where it is, since it will be built on the former site of River Country, which is set far enough away from the Fort Wilderness campgrounds that it shouldn't interfere with sightlines. There are a lot of trees and other areas between this resort and the campsite. (The giant barely themed county park style covered seating area for Mickey's Backyard Barbecue for example.)

I checked out the area on a recent visit:


The art feels a little 1950's retro with the slanted roof lines, almost like a "hip" modern take on cabin living, which is fine, but somewhat unusual when compared to the Yellowstone National Park style Wilderness Lodge. In any case, I'm sure it'll be fine. All of the DVC resorts have beautiful rooms, and the balconies are a plus. It's not like they're tearing down a beloved icon or existing resort, just building on top of the carcass of a dead water park, so no biggee to me. And other than being seen from Bay Lake, it shouldn't interfere with sight lines within the campgrounds, so no reason to complain about not matching Fort Wilderness in my opinion.

And hey, as a recent DVC member, if this means more cabins like the ones at Copper Creek, I'm all for it. Those are the most amazing DVC options I have seen so far.



Bio's recent aerial shows the site for the new hotel. My question is if they also incorporate the small island in the lake?

The island on the upper-left? That's Discovery Island, which has pretty much been abandoned since it closed around the time that Animal Kingdom opened (and the animals were moved to the new park). Maybe one day they'll build something there, but for now, it's become a sort of lost world, reclaimed by nature. It's practically condemned at this point, but urban explorers like to visit every once in awhile to grab photos of the old animal enclosures covered in vines and decaying.
 
I do definitely agree that Coronado is an egregious case of not fitting in and just being overall obnoxious.

I have a bit more hope with this hotel as it will be set further back and from the looks of the concept art, it won't be a tower in the way that Coronado and Riviera are. If they landscape the Resort right, I honestly think it will fit right in without sticking out. Hopefully i'm right in this assessment as I would definitely hate for the sightlines to be ruined by this new hotel (or for it to noticeably creep in on FW).
 
Overall, I actually have no problem with this. And I do think there is a bit of bias as Sapphire Falls and Aventura aren't much special design wise (nor is CBBR's new towers), but because they're a UOR hotel, people seem to give them a pass and are then much harder on Disney (speaking from a design perspective)

This “what about-ism” is besides the point.



This hotel is located in the upper right, slightly north west and very close to the ranch, Hoop, and Trails End.

Places that look like this.

pioneer-hall-full-building.jpg


For better or worse Universal isn’t building their hotels in themed areas. If Disney wants to throw their name and Walt around as reasons they’re the best and worth the cost then they should follow their own design history. Good for the Pacific North west and their designs, but it doesn’t fit the Fort Wilderness area. Period.
 
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