Tri-Circle-D

We all need to come to grips with the fact that this new resort is not proximate to the Settlement. It is on top of the Settlement. There will be no Settlement when they're done. The whole area we knew as the Settlement is now part of Reflections Colon Resort. TCD

What is making particularly sad at the moment is thinking what it's going to be like for the next 2-3 years as they build this abomination. Those ugly chain link fences are going to fence off the entire Settlement. And campers will be treated to nonstop construction noise. Ugh TCD

Yeah, but where's the golf cart parking? I guess they can chop down the rest of those useless trees on the east of Pioneer Hall and we can park there. Since they will undoubtedly give the DVC folks a bus to the MK, they can shut down the Fort marina too. That will cut down on the boat traffic going by those $3000 a night bungalows. TCD

Does anyone have a guess what is depicted in the top right corner of the plans? I don't think that's a canal. Is it a road? For deliveries to the Trading Post? Or is this for golf carts or something? TCD

Sadly, that's a valid point. It also looks like the Settlement Bus Stop is going to be covered by the new parking lot. I wonder how that will be handled? TCD

Buy tickets to a dessert party. TCD

Yup. Look at those giant parking lots. Think of the thousands of new guests enjoying what used to be the Settlement. I have to believe that they aren't going to want golf carts and Fort guests near their pretty new resort. TCD

Great trip report. Did you know those farmhouse meatballs aren't meat? When we tried that booth, we had a debate about what the meat was. To me it had a pork/lamb flavor going on. It turns out that they're some kind of vegan voodoo concoction. That a dirty trick they're pulling in that booth. TCD

I'm sure Disney could pave over the entire campground and open a KOA style campground in another location on property and there would be a lot of folks perfectly fine with that. I feel sorry for those who missed the Fort in its glory days and think what they're doing is fine. It's not TCD

The punctuation is throwing me off. I think it says 45 acres is being cleared just for phase 1. Note the part about most of it having no new impervious surfaces. The parking lots and buildings for the new resort will be impervious, and I'd expect them to take up more than 50% of Phase 2 of the project. TCD

So is 45 acres getting cleared? And this is only for phase 1? 45 acres is a lot. TCD

I've heard that rumor about the horse barn too, but I have seen nothing confirming the current plan. The original plan was to consolidate everything in the Outpost area. It would make sense to do that, but those plans may have changed. Based on the limited things I have seen, I don't think much of the new resort will extend very far past the old River Country footprint to the west. In fact, everything seems to have shifted to the east- closer to the Settlement. Remember, that bike path was about a mile from the Settlement to the Lodge. That means all of this stuff is a mile away from the Lodge, and right on top of the Fort. The impact on the Lodge will be deminimus. It makes me very sad. We will have this new abomination on one side of the Fort, and the old abomination on the other. The Settlement will be overrun by the thousands of guests staying at the new resort. The campground itself is still going to be nice, but the illusion that it was surrounded by wilderness is gone. TCD

Yes. That big cleared area is west of the 700 loop and east of the (former?) pedestrian/bike path to Wilderness Lodge. I'm not certain. I haven't seen any actual plans. I think it's going to be a retention pond, but I also suspect that it's going to include a big, wide road for permanent access to the big parking lot for the resort. TCD

Like this . . . From the east, looking west: from the west, looking east: looking over the fence: TCD

Here's how things are looking around the Settlement bus stop: do you see that big pile of logs there by the porta-potty? They used to be growing here in this new field. Isn't it great? See what I mean about the theming? It's nice, right?: It's nice how they're using that themed fencing to shield the paying guests at the Fort from the massive DVC project being built on top of it. TCD