Disney Announces New Nature-Inspired Resort Hotel on Old River Country Site

We’ve been following eagerly for some time now the new Walt Disney World Resort hotel on the old River Country site, with contractors even having been chosen some months ago.  Today Disney announced that it is indeed building a new nature-inspired resort hotel on the old River Country Site.

There isn’t a name yet for the new nature-inspired resort hotel, but we know that it will be located on the shores of Bay Lake, between Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.  It will be a Disney Vacation Club Resort, the 16th to be built on Walt Disney World Resort property.

The new hotel will have 900 new hotel rooms as well as Disney Vacation Club Villas.  It’s going to be in a great position down on Bay Lake with amazing waterfront views and easy access to Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Here is the approximate location of where the resort is going on Bay Lake:

George A. Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort had this to say: “Walt Disney World is in the midst of our most significant expansion in the last two decades and the combined 1,700 new hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas we are building at four different resorts will create thousands of new construction and permanent jobs and will drive economic opportunity and incremental revenue for Central Florida. We continue to add new attractions, new lands — and these beautiful accommodations will be right in the heart of all that magic.”

Terri Schultz, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Vacation Club: “This resort experience will be a celebration of Walt Disney’s lifelong love and respect for nature, with some fun and even surprising accommodation types that families will find irresistible. It will give our members and guests yet another opportunity to stay in close proximity to all the newest attractions and experiences in our theme parks, and with the flexibility, value and world-class service families expect from Disney.”

One name that hasn’t been confirmed but is rumored to be in the running is: Disney Discovery Lodge.  It’s not a terrible name, especially given its theming.  If that’s the case, I hope the theming of discovery is weaved in heavily and we aren’t just getting a contemporary version of the Wilderness Lodge.  One of the key lines in Terri Schultz’s statement was: “even surprising accommodation types that families will find irresistible.”   I’m really curious to see what they turn out to be and how they can work theming into it and would be awesome to see more interactive resort experiences like what we’re getting at the Star Wars Hotel, if not to that level.

Disney did confirm that this new resort is one of 4 new hotel projects currently underway at the Walt Disney World Resort which when done will add a total of 1,700 rooms to the property.  The press release also mentioned the 1. the Star Wars Hotel; 2. the Coronado Springs Resort renovation and the new tower being built there which we just got new concept art for yesterday;  and 3. Disney Riviera Resort.  Coronado Springs and the Riviera both have opening dates of 2019, so we don’t have long to wait for those.  They didn’t mention the Star Wars Hotel date yet, but as it looks like they are almost ready to start putting in the foundation there we might see it in 2021 in time for the Walt Disney World 50th celebration.

The not yet named nature-inspired resort on the River Country site has an opening date of 2022.  Stay tuned for more info as we get it…

Your Thoughts:

I want to know what you think about the new nature-inspired resort hotel coming to the old River Country site…

• Does it look like a place you will want to stay?
• What experiences/amenities do you want to see included?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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Source: @Disney

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Ziggy Oskwarek

My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. I started young when my parents took me to Disney World when I was 18 months old. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA.