The Bay Lake DVC resort 'Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge' may be the first major COVID-19 cancellation at Walt Disney World

Jun 15, 2020 in "Disney Lakeshore Lodge"

Posted: Monday June 15, 2020 10:14am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Evidence is mounting that the Bay Lake Disney Vacation Club resort 'Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge' may be the first major Walt Disney World cancellation due to COVID-19.

According to various sources from the construction side of the project, delivery of material has been permanently cancelled, and the work that was done to begin the concrete pours has been removed and the land will likely be returned to its pre-construction state.

Project 89 as it was known, was somewhat controversial since it began, with the resort offering a design style that was not to everyone's liking on a prime piece of land around the former River Country.

The economic climate is obviously not conducive to build new resort hotels at this time, with both the company and guests looking to reduce spending over the coming years.

Despite the likely cancellation of Reflections, the land is a prized location, and it would be no surprise to see the project revived at a later time, or a new project moving in to take its place.

It should be noted that Disney is yet to make any official announcement of a cancellation.

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    HauntedPirate1 hour ago

    There will be treehouses on the equivalent of the 3rd floor (connected to the main building via an elevated walkway) near Pioneer Hall. Not sure there’s any blending that’s possible with at least those.

    Disone2 hours ago

    Not that I think this is going to blend in with Fort wilderness, because I don't think that it will, But it is far too soon to judge how well it's going to blend.

    Disone4 hours ago

    No I'm not forgetting. The effects of the pandemic are not lost on me. That said I listed a bunch of projects that have absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic but still got canceled. Fact is Disney has a long history of announcing projects that don't happen. If you think everything that was announced at d23 is actually going to happen...... Good on you but that's not going to be me. This has nothing to do with understanding the pandemic. Your reasons are solid and I do understand them but they're only The reasons why they were canceled during the pandemic. Doesn't change that Before the pandemic during the pandemic and after the pandemic there will be many projects that just don't happen. More fun is a speculating which ones aren't going to happen because the law of averages and the company history, pandemic aside, seth a good portion of them won't.

    Nubs704 hours ago

    When capping admissions by count or price, attractions are a cost to maintain but create no revenue other than LL purchases.

    dseepersad12 hours ago

    I am sincerely worried about the future of Fort Wilderness, this resort is being built at the Settlement, within feet of Pioneer Hall. I am not a happy camper :(.

    Epcot82Guy12 hours ago

    Oh - very fair. I don't think we actually disagree that much. In a Quarter-to-Quarter Wall Street economy (separate conversation there), pivots were required. I am focused on the decisions made and what was allowed to move forward. I would argue moving forward with some of the projects (as decided post-cuts) was itself a bad job to begin with. But, that's where there are different opinions. I don't think it would be fair for anyone to say Covid was PURELY a timing issue without financial impacts. I just don't think they responded very well to the realities and created some additional, unnecessary problems and poor results independent of those very real results of the pandemic and then-current economy.

    MisterPenguin13 hours ago

    1. Main Street Theater was indeed going to be built. It wasn't cancelled willy nilly. The area was not suitable for the construction and they didn't budget for the extra cost to make it suitable. I'm disappointed it didn't happen. MK needs a full theater indoor live show. 2. You're both forgetting something about the pandemic: Not only did it cause supply issues, it caused lack-of-cash issues. Disney *profits* $2B a quarter, at least. But not during the pandemic... they were barely breaking even. So, the billions of dollars they normally would have made didn't happen. So projects got cut. And in order to make up for the loss of linear/broadcast TV that was about to happen from 'cord cutting,' TWDC made a very intentional decision to make streaming their top priority, even at the expense of the parks. What 'little' cash the had and were making in the post-pandemic 'distancing' era all went to streaming. If you lose your job and are living on unemployment, you don't decide that's the time to hire people to renovate the kitchen. You instead focus on getting a new job. I'm only responding here to cutbacks on projects. Doing a bad job on the projects that did happen is a separate issue.

    John park hopper13 hours ago

    Disney recoups all the costs when they sell all their long term contracts. Guarantied income for years to come. When they build a resort it takes years to recoup building costs and unlike DVC they don't always have 100% occupancy --that is the difference and that is why no new resorts in years . Cabins were a big mistake Disney's arrogance calling them cabins and charging a fortune

    BrianLo13 hours ago

    I’d say it’s probably a bit beyond a rumour. Not company officiated, but Steve tagged and published it as news on the front page.

    Andrew C14 hours ago

    Likely to be soulless like the rest of their recent stuff anyways.

    nickys14 hours ago

    It costs as much as building any other resort. They only get the money back when they sell enough contracts. And in the case of the Cabins at FW, they’ll be waiting a looooooong time to recoup the upfront costs.

    HauntedPirate14 hours ago

    You think the cash rooms will be excluded from the main pool area for the entire resort?

    Disstevefan114 hours ago

    Those DVCers are lucky ;)

    Agent H14 hours ago

    Are we still on for Tiana’s place?