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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    dseepersad1 hour 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 :(.

    Epcot82Guy1 hour 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.

    MisterPenguin1 hour 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 hopper1 hour 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

    BrianLo2 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 C2 hours ago

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

    nickys2 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.

    HauntedPirate2 hours ago

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

    Disstevefan13 hours ago

    Those DVCers are lucky ;)

    Agent H3 hours ago

    Are we still on for Tiana’s place?

    HauntedPirate3 hours ago

    A lazy river. And an interactive water play area. Plus a pool with a water slide and also a feature pool. And a lakeside table service restaurant, new boat dock, cabins along the lake and treehouses. If certain posters and rumors are to be believed.

    Epcot82Guy3 hours ago

    That's a prominent rumor (with some evidence, I believe) - and one thing I would genuinely be excited about in a new project like this. Honestly, if this had more of a personality/perspective and wasn't directly in the Wilderness Lodge lake view, I think it would be a very nice project. Perhaps unnecessary right now - but nice.

    Epcot82Guy3 hours ago

    To be fair, the pandemic caused delays and potential materials/labor increases. It was not the actual cause of Harmonious' failure and having to spend even more to create Luminous, cancelling the Table for CommuniCore Hall, lighting fiascos, cancelling PLAY!, poor storytelling in Guardians, cancelling SEE (which was probably a blessing), etc. It played a role on the timeline, no doubt - and you can't rebuild demolished buildings. But, Disney created many of it's own issues with the EPCOT redo that have nothing to do with the pandemic. Now back to Mistake on the Lake: The Residences. ;)

    Disstevefan13 hours ago

    Someone probably already posted about this, but I head this resort may get a lazy river?