The Disney Lakeshore Lodge project is progressing nicely as the new hotel starts to rise on the shores of Bay Lake at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campgrounds. Once complete, the new hotel will be 10 stories tall, undoubtedly changing the look and feel of Fort Wilderness forever. We took a lap on the wonderful watercraft service between Fort Wilderness, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and Magic Kingdom recently for an updated look at the sprawling project. Here’s the latest!
Disney Lakeshore Lodge Update
We’ll start our extensive update from atop Disney’s Contemporary Resort, where we can get an elevated look at the construction site for Disney Lakeshore Lodge. As you may recall, Lakeshore Lodge was previously named Reflections: A Disney Lakeside Lodge prior to a lengthy construction pause due to COVID-19. A restart of the project last Fall came with a rebrand that was met positively by Disney fans.
What will certainly draw the ire of Disney fans, or at least Fort Wilderness fans, is just how massive this hotel will be. At 10-stories tall, it will certainly be an imposing structure at the previously serene Fort Wilderness Resort. Another point of contention may be how sprawling the footprint of the hotel will be. Right now, the hotel is about halfway done in terms of height. The tallest point appears to be some 5-6 stories when we visited. We’ll get a better idea of just how imposing the structure will be when it reaches full height later this year, but for now, here’s a look across Bay Lake at the current construction progress.
Starting to make our way down to the Blue Flag boat launch (still operating 3pm to 10:45pm), we’ll get closer to the structure as we cross Bay Lake toward Fort Wilderness. Shout out to the boat captain who noticed me taking photos of Lakeshore Lodge and modified the watercraft route a bit to accommodate some better photos!
From a construction perspective, not only is the hotel continuing to grow vertically, but we’re starting to see some of the outlines of the guest rooms that will overlook Bay Lake. We even spotted the first bit of sheathing as Disney starts to enclose rooms. Here’s a look around!
As we continue to watch Disney Lakeshore Lodge rise, it’s clear that this area of Fort Wilderness will never be the same. Lakeshore Lodge is very close to Pioneer Hall, and it will be an imposing structure once it’s completed. The only way to “save” Lakeshore Lodge as it relates to the existing Fort Wilderness theming is an exceptional finishing theme for the hotel. Anything less than amazing will be unforgivable. That said, we expect that the hotel itself will be phenomenal for guests who are staying there.
Lakeshore Lodge sits on a prime piece of real estate, and with a planned lazy river/mini water park, combined with what will certainly be visually beautiful spaces, we expect that it will be a very popular hotel for decades to come. In short, we expect that Lakeshore Lodge will be an amazing hotel and experience at the expense of the existing Fort Wilderness vibes.
Disney Lakeshore Lodge is expected to open at Fort Wilderness in 2027.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
