Disney has purchased nearly 1,000 acres to the southeast of the Celebration community for $23 million.

While Disney hasn’t commented on the matter, Jerry McGratty, the broker of Westhampton Realty said, “it’s very likely the [commercial development] plans will stay on a shelf because Disney was primarily interested in acquiring the land for ‘water management needs’ and conservation”.

Here’s a look at the location of the BK Ranch property as it relates to various theme parks and area landmarks.

BK Ranch location shown in a permit

The comment from McGratty is interesting because of movements that Disney made back in 2015. Disney purchased the 3,000-acre Mira Lago property and planned to restore it back to wetlands in exchange for permission from the state to develop 575 acres of wetland on the Walt Disney World property over the next 30 years.

The purchase of such a sizable piece of undeveloped land now could signal a desire by Disney to develop even more land on Walt Disney World property above and beyond the 575 acres applied for back in 2015. Of course, without a comment from Disney, it’s simply speculation at this point.

This is a developing story and we’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date with the latest information as it becomes available.

UPDATE (12/18 8am): A Disney spokesperson has stated to WFTV that the land was purchased for “conservation-related and water management needs”. This lines up with the statement above by McGratty and doesn’t contradict the point made about a possible future expansion on Walt Disney World property.

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