Disney filed recently for permission to construct the necessary massive staging complex they need on the site of the former STOLport for their next planned Disney Vacation Club Resort at the site of the Fort Wilderness Campground. Disney has been slowing working in phased permits for the project over the course of 2011 and 2012.
The STOLport staging complex will house several single, double, and even a few quad-sized trailers (eleven in total) for third party contractors, Imagineering, and Hardin – the project’s master contractor. Hardin also recently oversaw the construction of the new Art of Animation resort as well as the Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort.
The first phases of the project are to prepare the Fort Wilderness area for the forthcoming DVC resort and recall permits that were filed late last year that have now faded into relative obscurity. First the stables and blacksmith area of the campground will be relocated to make room for whatever design they have for the forthcoming resort buildings – those plans specifically haven’t been filed and released (they’ll show up later this year or early 2013) – and then the shoreline will be reshaped as a parking area is added near the existing boat dock and a large dining hall will be added on the waterfront as pictured below.
So when will construction begin? Soon-ish, as Disney expects permission to begin installation of their trailers within the next 30 days and to begin prep work on the site. Then the horses and stables are going to move out and then the shoreline project will begin. How long until Disney admits this project exists? Probably not until sometime well into 2013.