One of the more popular Disney Vacation Club rumors of late is that the site of the old River Country waterpark may be redeveloped to support DVC villas. Recent permit applications only add fuel to the fire.
Disney recently applied for a permit from the South Florida Water Management District to make changes to the River Country / Fort Wilderness region of Walt Disney World. The focus of those changes is a relocation of stables and support services in the Tri Circle D Ranch area. However, one particular image may be of interest to DVC followers.
An overhead view of the project area shows structures with a nearly identical footprint to the typical Disney Vacation Club Two Bedroom Villa. Highlighted here are what appear to be 40 individual Two Bedroom units, with the leftmost units actually extending beyond the existing shorline and out over the water. With a structure built-up vertically 4 or 5 stories, such an expansion wing could be home to as many as 200 DVC villas.
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(Click on image to zoom)
A closer look at this apparent grouping of 8 villas illustrates the DVC-style layout. Adjacent to most rooms are two individual balconies which would be located off of the Studio and One Bedroom portions of the lockoff Two Bedroom villa.
The existence of these images does not necessarily speak to the timeline of such a project, however. All permit applications to date have been related to the ranch relocation. When or if a DVC expansion receives the green light remains to be seen. Construction on new resort projects typically runs 2 1/2 - 3 years from groundbreaking.
(Hat tip to posters at the DISBoards for contributions!)
