Disney World Adds Animal Kingdom Lodge Projects to Refurbishment Calendar for 2026-2027

Walt Disney World has announced new resort refurbishment projects (plural) for Animal Kingdom Lodge, encompassing both Jambo House and Kidani Village, that will start next month and run for the remainder of the year in addition to what’s already ongoing through Winter 2027. This shares details, plus our commentary about the impacts of the work and which rooms probably will not be changed.

Note that these are not the only hotel renovations on the horizon. Just last week, we posted Reimagined Rooms Made Us Fall in Love Again With Walt Disney World’s Most Romantic Resort, which offered an update on the ongoing project at Port Orleans Riverside. There is actually a similar room refurbishment project at Animal Kingdom Lodge that started last year and is now early in its second phase.

We’ll circle back to the room refurbishment project, which remains ongoing but is not new-news. The latest update is that another project will soon start at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Here are the details:

Beginning August 17, 2026, the lobby and nearby areas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village will undergo refurbishment in phases. The work is expected to be completed in early November 2026. Closures will take place in phases:

• August 17 to October 9, 2026: The main lobby and primary entrance will be closed. During this time, check-in will move to the Palace Library.
• August 17–28, 2026: Johari Treasures will be closed.
• September 28 to October 9, 2026: The north side lobby corridor will be closed. During this time, the north side lobby elevators on the second floor and outdoor terrace observation deck will be unavailable.
• October 26 to November 6, 2026: The south side lobby corridor will be closed. During this time, Community Hall, Safari So Good Arcade, the laundry room, the Palace Library, lobby restrooms and outdoor terrace observation deck will be unavailable.

Guests may see or hear construction activity in the lobby area during daytime hours, including periods of more noticeable noise, until the work is complete.

It’s unclear what underlying work is being done on this project, but it seems fairly significant in scope and scale given the above descriptions.

Walt Disney World has done a lot of lobby projects in the last several years, and the main area of emphasis is typically breaking up the check-in desk and replacing it with kiosks that allow Cast Members to be more mobile and connect with guests. That’ll probably happen here, but that alone wouldn’t necessitate this long or all-encompassing of a project.

It does seem notable that both the main lobby and the primary entrance will be closed. And after that, all of the areas and corridors radiating out from the main lobby will likewise be closed in phases. This suggests to me that it’s a bigger project than what we’ve seen elsewhere, and potentially caused by an invisible infrastructure issue. That’s just a guess, though.

Having just been in Kidani Village last month, I cannot imagine it needing a reimagining or cosmetic update. To the contrary, the common areas that I saw looked great, so I doubt that’s the explanation. Even so, back when Grand Floridian had its lobby overhaul last year, it didn’t relocate the entrance or check-in.

As great as those new guest rooms look, this makes me glad we don’t have a stay booked at Kidani Village between August 17, 2026 and October 9, 2026 (or October 27 to November 6, 2026, but that seems at least slightly less impactful).

One final word of warning on this is that it’s being scheduled relatively last minute, which could mean it’s urgent maintenance the immediate need for which was just discovered. In several situations like this, we’ve seen start dates delayed, project timeframes extended, and completion dates pushed back.

This one has very specific dates, and the completion date of November 6, 2026 seems purposeful. That’s the weekend before Veterans Day, which kicks off one of the highest occupancy periods of the entire year. (Not that DVC has a huge delta between lows and highs, though.) Hopefully there’s a solid project timeline, but everything is subject to delay.

Speaking of the new guest rooms at Kidani Village, these new lobby projects are in addition to the ongoing, multi-year room refurbishment project that Walt Disney World announced last summer. Here’s the current bulletin on that:

From October 2025 through May 2026, Guest rooms at Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge will undergo refurbishment, followed by refurbishment work at Jambo House from May 2026 through January 2027. During these times, Guests may see or hear construction work in the area. Most amenities will remain available throughout the refurbishment.

While that’s still what’s currently up on the official Walt Disney World website, it’s outdated. Obviously. We’re two months past May 2026, so the Kidani Village half of the project should be done.

With that said, I stayed at Jambo House last month and didn’t see signs of any major work being done. We do know that Kidani Village was already wrapped up, so hopefully there’s no delay pushing back overall completion past January 2027. It’s possible that there was a pause in between the projects, as is often the case, but there were no visible signs of construction that I could see.

This room redo at Kidani Village and Jambo House is the long-awaited hard goods refurbishment. For those unfamiliar with this term, it’s typically a gut-job during which the furniture, flooring, fixtures, and other elements are replaced. We refer to these as room reimaginings, as they usually result in materially-different rooms. It’s typically a night-and-day difference, without any of the same furniture or fixtures.

In between hard goods refurbishments, there are soft goods refurbishments to extend the life of a particular room design, and to give them a fresh look that takes advantage of industry trends and innovations in design. Soft goods refurbishments typically involve updating furnishings, including but not limited to wall coverings, flooring, linens, decor, and some furniture.

This is the first hard goods refurbishment since the Animal Kingdom Villas opened between 2007 and 2009.

Combine that with the fairly light nature of the soft goods refreshes, and neither Kidani Village nor Jambo House had seen any major room renovations in over 15 years. Closer to 20 years by the time this project is finished!

To the best of my knowledge, that makes the Animal Kingdom Villas the oldest rooms in all of Walt Disney World right now. (At least, the ones in Jambo House now that Kidani Village is completed.)

The Animal Kingdom Villas are in an interesting spot where they have missed two previous waves of room refurbishments. They predate the ones that began around 2014 that generified rooms, and they also missed the more recent wave that began with Disney’s Riviera Resort.

This means a couple of things. The first is that the Animal Kingdom Villas are more thematically pure than subsequent new or redone rooms that followed for about the next decade. During that time, there were a lot of rooms that looked like generic Marriott or Hiltons, something of which we were highly critical for a while.

Thankfully, the more recent wave has been stronger thematically. Their track record hasn’t been perfect, but the villas at BoardWalk, Beach Club, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Boulder Ridge, and so forth have been improvements over their immediate predecessors. Pretty much every single DVC room redesign in the last 6 years has had a positive outcome.

The second is that the Animal Kingdom Villas have missed out on a ton of functional improvements over the years. Changes that debuted with Disney’s Riviera Resort have been rolled out in room redesigns at all other resorts since.

That now includes the Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village. These new rooms feature the new Inova pull-down beds, and countless other quality of life improvements. This includes more outlets and USB charging ports, carpet replaced by laminate flooring and area rug, Lion King art, brighter and airier interiors with more pops of color, and more. At the same time, a lot of the unique furniture was retained.

We can’t wait to stay in Kidani Village again, because the photos we’ve seen of the new rooms look like Disney crushed it. Lots of little functional improvements, upgrades done with thematic integrity, and things we loved about the “old” rooms sticking around with the overhaul. The best of both worlds!

As previously evidenced with Boulder Ridge (above), the ‘dark era’ for Walt Disney World room redesigns that involved a lot of generic and very understated styles is over.

Imagineering has demonstrated a defter design touch with these and other recent DVC rooms. The team tasked with redesigns has hit its stride in stylish yet practical accommodations that are both well-themed and comfortable, befitting both Disney and their price points.

There’s a ton of depth via textures, patterns, and even things like subtle wallpaper. There’s a ton of color–making this a significant departure from the rustic and drab designs of the prior rooms–but it’s utilized effectively and these rooms still have an outdoorsy sensibility to them.

The rooms still look relatively relaxed and subdued, with calming colors. Most of these look fantastic, and do a great job balancing contemporary conveniences with themed design, while never being overly busy or chaotic.

This is precisely what we’re expecting at Kidani Village and Jambo House, albeit in the visual identity of Animal Kingdom Lodge. That’s good news because, for my tastes, the new rooms at Boulder Ridge stick the landing; they’re well-themed without being overwhelming.

These are my favorite rooms of the standard options at Wilderness Lodge, new #1 Disney Vacation Club studios. They’re right up there with the new-ish rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge as the best themed accommodations at Walt Disney World (pictured above and below).

Note that although this refurbishment is listed as impacting Jambo House through January 2027, it’s our belief that what’s listed only encompasses the DVC villas.

The hotel side of Animal Kingdom Lodge was “just” refurbished back in 2018-2019, as part of a comprehensive project that lasted over a year. While that is now 6 years ago, the hotel rooms have held up really well. I stayed in one of the Jambo House hotel rooms last month, and it still felt fresh.

In digging through my archives of resort refurbishments, it doesn’t appear that the Animal Kingdom Lodge hotel rooms are quite due for another refurbishment. The only way I could see this happening is if the hotel rooms are still commonly receiving complaints about being drab and dreary.

That wouldn’t completely surprise me, and if it is the case, I could see the hotel side of Animal Kingdom Lodge being rolled into this project as a quick soft goods refurbishment in 2027. That would make some degree of sense, as Animal Kingdom Lodge would be among the next resorts up for a light refresh towards the tail end of this project.

If that does happen, I’d expect Walt Disney World to pull a page from the playbook with Yacht Club last year. That was a very brief project, especially given the number of rooms at Yacht Club, and it did a great job of adding more pops of color, and a great balance of modern luxury and Disney details. These are among our favorite rooms in all of Walt Disney World. Check out our Review: Refined Redone Rooms at WDW’s Most Sophisticated Resort for tons of photos and comprehensive thoughts.

Given the overlap in guest complaints between Yacht Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge, along with the timeline for both previously being redone, it would make sense for that to be the template for the next AKL refresh. Throw an area rug with a sunset color scheme, swap out some of the art, etc. It’d be pretty easy.

Ultimately, there’s a lot of upcoming work at Animal Kingdom Lodge, both Jambo House and Kidani Village, between now and (at least) 2027. The big wildcard is the lobby project at Kidani Village. Just based on the description, that gives me serious pause about booking a stay there between now and mid-November 2026.

Maybe the guest impact won’t be that bad, but the scope and scale sound fairly significant. At least, if you plan on making use of the lobby throughout the course of your trip. If not, it shouldn’t be too big of an issue. The upside is that Kidani Village has completely redone rooms, and they look fantastic. So if you’re primarily concerned with your accommodations, it remains a great choice!

Animal Kingdom Lodge is far from the only resort with construction right now, especially among the Deluxes, so you may not have much when it comes to accepting some degree of disruption. (For details about other ongoing work, check out our Walt Disney World Hotel Construction Tracker.)

Assuming the project actually is underway, Jambo House might also have its first wave of redone rooms coming online by mid-August. Between that and no major work being done in the lobby, Jambo House is probably your best option of the two between now and November.

My recent Savanna View stay at Jambo House was fantastic, reminding me of why I love that resort so much in the first place. (There is no better deal in all of Walt Disney World than those Savanna View rooms for $369/$389 per night!)

If you’re planning a WDW trip, we can help! 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

Thoughts on the construction around Animal Kingdom Lodge between now and 2027? Excited for the room refurbishment at Jambo House or Kidani Village? Have you stayed at AKL since the hotel rooms were redone in 2019? What did you think of the new rooms? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation to make a room request rather than stay elsewhere? 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!