'MargaritaVillage' resort in the works for Osceola County

A new resort called MargaritaVillage is being planned for Osceola County.

The developer of the Margaritaville-themed resort picked a strategic location for the community, to be built on a parcel of land on U.S. Highway 192 near Disney's Animal Kingdom. The site was previously the location of the Splendid China attraction, which closed in 2003.

Plans call for a sprawling resort, which will include, among other things, a Margaritaville Water Park.

The water park will be 12 acres, with rides themed to the iconic 1977 Jimmy Buffet song Margaritaville. Also planned on this 305 acre property are 1000 residences, with a mix of timeshare, condominium, and vacation homes, as well as a hotel, and 700-square feet of retail shopping.

If you stay at the resort, you had better like Jimmy Buffet, says Jim Bagley, a managing director with the developer, Encore Funds. He says the Margaritaville theme will be everywhere.

"So when you come into the community, everything is branded, from the street signs, to the trees, to the tropical look. Where you feel like you are in a Margaritaville paradise."

 If approved, construction will go quickly. The developer says the structures will be built simultaneously and would be completed by the first quarter of 2017.