Walt Disney World has shared another look inside Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, revealing a new Bay Lake lounge called Branch & Brush along with additional details about the resort’s elaborate main lobby.
Today’s reveal comes just days before reservations begin opening for the new Disney Vacation Club resort, which is scheduled to welcome its first guests on July 1, 2027. Disney Vacation Club members will get the first opportunity to make rental reservations on October 6, followed by Walt Disney World Annual Passholders on October 7 and the general public on October 8.
Located just beyond the main lobby, Branch & Brush will offer handcrafted cocktails in a setting overlooking Bay Lake. Disney describes the space as being inspired by the changing seasons, continuing the nature-focused design that will run throughout Lakeshore Lodge.
One of the lounge’s focal points will be a color-changing chandelier designed to represent all four seasons. The newly released concept art shows the fixture hanging over a comfortable gathering space filled with natural textures and artwork, with large windows taking advantage of the resort’s waterfront location.
Disney has not yet released a menu, operating hours or other details about the food and beverage offerings at Branch & Brush.
The company also provided a closer look at the Lakeshore Lodge lobby, which is shaping up to be considerably more elaborate than a traditional hotel entrance.
Floor-to-ceiling windows will provide views toward the resort’s outdoor areas and Bay Lake, while a fiber-optic river will appear to flow through the lobby floor. That illuminated river will surround a custom bronze centerpiece created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
Disney says guests who examine the bronze installation closely will discover familiar characters from decades of Disney animated films incorporated into its design, although the company has not yet identified which characters will appear.
Above the lobby will hang another distinctive feature: a blown-glass sculpture inspired by “Colors of the Wind” from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Pocahontas. Hundreds of suspended glass leaves will make up the installation, adding movement and color above the lobby.
The Pocahontas influence is part of a much broader approach to Disney storytelling throughout Lakeshore Lodge. Rather than basing the resort around a single movie or character franchise, Disney is drawing from several animated films whose settings and stories connect with nature.
That theme will extend into the resort’s 967 accommodations. Duo studios will feature artwork and design elements inspired by Encanto, while deluxe studios and one- and two-bedroom villas will draw from Bambi. Three-bedroom grand villas will incorporate artwork inspired by Fantasia, and waterfront Lake Houses will feature references to Brother Bear. Other resort rooms will continue the Pocahontas theme found in the lobby.
The Lake Houses will be one of the resort’s more unusual accommodations, offering private waterfront porches, full kitchens and other residential-style amenities. Elsewhere, select club-level guests will have access to The Artist’s Nest, an elevated concierge lounge with views of the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
Lakeshore Lodge will also include The Wetlands, an outdoor recreation complex with a pool, lazy river and children’s play areas. The children’s areas will continue the Pocahontas connection with details inspired by “Colors of the Wind.”
The resort is being built along Bay Lake between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, on land with a particularly long Walt Disney World history. The area was once home to Disney’s River Country water park, which operated from 1976 until 2001. Disney later announced plans for a different resort called Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge before that project was suspended.
The current project eventually emerged as Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge, giving the waterfront site another opportunity for a new chapter more than two decades after River Country closed.
With reservations beginning in October and an opening date now set for July 1, 2027, Disney is gradually filling in the remaining details of the resort. Branch & Brush and the newly revealed lobby elements offer the latest indication of how extensively Disney is leaning into the property’s combination of nature, animation history and its unique location along Bay Lake.
