The Federal Aviation Administration has granted a construction permit of a mobile crane at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, adding further online speculation that the Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge project will soon resume at Walt Disney World.
Way back in October 2018, a new Disney Vacation Club resort – later named Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge – was announced for Walt Disney World. The Resort was said to be nature-inspired, have more than 900 hotel rooms, and would be located on the old River Country property between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. The resort was supposed to welcome guests in 2022, but the work on the project came to a halt and was indefinitely shelved in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this latest permit filing, something BIG is imminent for the old River Country site, with the most-likely candidate being the previously-announced Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge.
The FAA permit is titled CSI Mobile Cranes and includes location coordinates that coincide with the Reflections site, and clarifies the cranes are to be used to construct a 10-story hotel. The Description of Proposal reads:
Construction of mobile cranes to construct a 10-story hotel. The mobile cranes can reach a max height of 240 ft. AGL when raised to its highest point. When idle, during non-working hours, the crane will be at a max height of 150 ft. AGL.
The work schedule indicates the cranes would be onsite from October 14th, 2024, through August 14th, 2025.
You may remember that when Reflections was first announced, we were told that it would include A-framed house accommodations, treehouse suites, and a waterside restaurant inspired by Princess and the Frog.
We hope to hear some concrete updates on the project soon! Would you like to see construction restarting on this new Fort Wilderness resort?
Theme Park Correspondent for The DIS | Chloé loves kitschy dark rides, roller coasters, a good background area music loop, hot Butterbeer, and all things Halloween. You’ll mostly find her wandering around Orlando’s biggest theme parks snapping pics and sharing tips… or probably talking about The Great Movie Ride.