Oct. 19–Calling all Disney-loving treehuggers.
The company behind Mickey Mouse will open a new nature-inspired, mixed-use resort in 2022 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
It'll be located along Bay Lake between Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
The upcoming not-yet-named deluxe resort will be designed to complement its natural surroundings. Expect more than 900 hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club villas, the company's version of time-sharing.
"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," Terri Schultz, the senior vice president of Disney Vacation Club, said in a statement Thursday. "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."
The new resort joins three other projects already in the works at Disney World that, combined, will bring more than 1,700 new hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club villas to the area over the next four years.
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, which opened in 1997, is being revamped for 2019 to feature a new 15-story tower that will overlook the resort's centerpiece lake. An additional 545 new guest rooms and suites will be added among other areas including a rooftop dining space with panoramic views.
Disney's Riviera Resort, a Vacation Club property with 300 units, is set to open in 2019 near Disney's Epcot theme park.
And an immersive Star Wars-inspired resort destination is also set to be connected to the "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge" themed-area being built at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
"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," George A. Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement. "We continue to add new attractions, new lands — and these beautiful accommodations will be right in the heart of all that magic."
