Several years in the making, Evermore Orlando Resort has officially announced the opening of the 1,100-acre luxury vacation destination will be January 1, 2024. This post shares photos and details about this $1.5 billion mega-complex, which is a next-door neighbor to Walt Disney World, plus our commentary and experiences having stayed in this area in the past.
According to the development group behind it, the opening of Evermore Orlando Resort marks a momentous occasion in travel and hospitality. Orlando’s first-of-its-kind beach paradise aims to change the way families and groups vacation together by combining the comforts of home with the amenities of a premium resort.
Evermore will offer a new approach to vacationing, feature a large-scale community of homes solely built for the purpose of vacation renting, operating with hotel-quality standards. The resort will open with 2,013 bedrooms throughout 69 houses ranging in size from five to eleven bedrooms; 206 four-bedroom flats; and 41 two- and four-bedroom villas.
The opening of Evermore will also debut the Conrad Orlando Hotel, Hilton’s flagship luxury brand, featuring 433 guest rooms, including 51 impeccably designed suites, 10 spacious family suites and the Conrad Spa with an outdoor water garden. When all phases of Evermore Orlando Resort open, the complex is expected to have over 10,000 rooms.
Evermore Orlando Resort is located right next door to Walt Disney World Resort in the Cypress Creek or Grand Cypress area. It’s essentially “behind” the Four Seasons Orlando, Port Orleans Resorts, Saratoga Springs, and Disney Springs. It neighbors the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, which is one of our favorite resorts in the area.
Suffice to say, the Evermore Orlando Resort is not technically on property, but it’s about the same distance from the parks as the Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels or even Bonnet Creek. By the time you drive all the way down that long road, the JW Marriott is probably about the same distance as this new Conrad from the parks. Since the Evermore is east of Walt Disney World, it’s closer to Universal Orlando Resort and Orlando International Airport than the on-site resorts.
“After five years of meticulous planning and building, we are thrilled to open Evermore Orlando Resort,” says Christopher Kelsey, President, Dart Interests. “We’re proud to have created Orlando’s first beach paradise designed intentionally for groups, friends and families to effortlessly vacation together.”
Evermore Orlando Resort is developed by Dart Interests as a luxury vacation rental destination. Newly built from the ground up, the 1,100-acre resort complex is a comprehensive redevelopment of the former Villas of Grand Cypress Golf Resort located at One North Jacaranda.
Conceptualized on the premise that one size does not fit all, Evermore Orlando Resort is a unique combination of diverse and sophisticatedly designed vacation rental and luxury hotel accommodations, paired with best-in-class amenities and intuitive service.
At the heart of Evermore Orlando Resort, all guests will enjoy a massive 20-acre tropical beach complex and Evermore Bay, an 8-acre crystalline water amenity by Crystal Lagoons. This proprietary design incorporates unique, environmentally sustainable technology that uses up to 100 times less chemicals and only 2% of the energy used by conventional swimming pool filtration systems, creating ideal conditions for guests of all ages to enjoy the water year-round.
The surrounding beach areas will feature zero entry swim areas, bars, cabanas, private fire-pits and an aquatic adventure area with a waterslide, rope swing and watersports of all kinds. Other amenities will include 15 restaurants, bars and takeaway food markets, two 18-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf courses, Peloton studio, in-home fitness, daily fitness classes, and over 150,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space including a two-story Boathouse that will serve weddings and private events. Guests will also have access to Siemens VersiCharge Ultra DC fast Electric Vehicle charging stations located throughout the resort.
Evermore Orlando Resort is currently accepting reservations for January 1, 2024. Conrad Orlando will open early January with reservations currently available for January 9, 2024 and beyond. Nightly rates start at around $275 for a two-bedroom villa, and increase to over $1,300 for a five-bedroom vacation home. Visit www.evermoreresort.com for more information.
Our Commentary
I received an email with the first press release announcing Evermore Orlando Resort on January 12, 2021. When I read the promise of a new billion-dollar-plus, 10,000-room resort project coming right next to Walt Disney World, I’ll be honest with you, I laughed. Not a “haha” laugh, but more a sad one–I’ll believe it when I see it.
Keep in mind, the world was a very different place in mid-January 2021. That was in the midst of Walt Disney World laying off nearly 30,000 Cast Members. It came as Disney Parks & Resorts were hemorrhaging over $1 billion per quarter and the worst wave of COVID resulted in incredibly low attendance to start 2021.
There was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was really difficult to see. Even as revenge travel” started to enter the popular vernacular, analysts forecast that it’d take 5 years for a tourism recovery to 2019 levels. Of course, we now know that was woefully wrong. Meaningfull recovery had happened by 2022, and to the extent that it hadn’t, it was mostly due to staffing shortages–companies were caught flat-footed and unable to keep up with consumer demand.
Suffice to say, there’s a reason this is the first time we’re writing about Evermore Orlando Resort.
Also, credit where credit is due. Here’s what the developer had to say at the time that they announced the project: “Our willingness to go forward with Evermore in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic is testimony to the resilience of the Orlando market, its talented workforce and our unique Disney-adjacent location” said says local leader David Pace, President of Dart Interests Florida.
“Our owners have been invested in this project long before COVID-19 and we’re embracing new group travel trends through a lens of innovation. Our commitment to Orange County and strong belief in the power of tourism give us renewed energy to build a resort that will elevate the current hospitality landscape and position Evermore to become one of Orlando’s most desired vacation destinations.”
They called it. I was wrong in my pessimism in the project. With each bioreconstruct photo update (the most recent of which from last week is below), I’ve been surprised and impressed by just how much progress is being made on Evermore Orlando Resort.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s an easy decision. But at the time, it had to have taken guts and grit to power forward. They could’ve come out and announced scaled back plans or a holding pattern. (Look no further than the EPCOT central spine for an example of this.)
Instead, they powered forward and will ultimately be vindicated. About the only thing they got “wrong” was the opening date (Summer 2023), but I can’t think of many projects in Central Florida that began in early 2021 and have opened on target. There were so many supply chain and labor disruptions that it just hasn’t happened. Opening this massive of a project only ~6 months late is actually a pretty massive win in the grand scheme of things.
Beyond that, the Evermore Orlando Resort project looks nice. This is only the first phase–and I’m curious to see more of the Conrad–but what they’ve shared so far looks good. There’s definitely a huge market for mixed-use vacation properties like this, and it’s one that’s up until now been filled informally by Reunion Resort and ChampionsGate. (To a lesser extent, Grand Cypress, the Four Seasons and Bonnet Creek are somewhat-similar ideas.)
I don’t know when we’ll have the chance to stay at Evermore, but I certainly welcome more options. Central Florida already has a host of great hotels, but some of the third party ones are starting to show their age, and Walt Disney World could use more competition at the higher end of the spectrum. While Evermore isn’t going to be a direct competitor of Disney, it could peel away enough luxury-caliber guests to help move the needle a little.
We previously stayed at the Villas at Grand Cypress, which were the #1 rated resort in Orlando on TripAdvisor at the time. And for good reason. The bungalow in which we stayed was luxurious and modern, offering well-appointed accommodations. Our villa was nestled behind a golf course in a quiet resort area that felt like a respite from the chaos of a Walt Disney World vacation. While Evermore Orlando Resort will obviously be different, we’d expect some of those core qualities to remain. It should be a fantastic option for large families wanting a destination resort looking for a bit of an escape and island-style retreat.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Evermore Orlando Resort? Will you consider staying here on a future trip, or is it not for you? Do you like the idea of more competition–especially on the larger and luxury end of the accommodations spectrum? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of Evermore? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
