2026-2027 Hotel Construction & Refurbishments at Disney World
Hotel refurbishments, resort construction, and character-inspired makeovers continue at Walt Disney World from now through 2027. This resource provides info on room renovations, what to avoid, where to book, and what to expect in terms of hotel work at Walt Disney World.
Walt Disney World continues to undertake refurbishments in an effort to modernize or refresh several of its resorts, as well as finish deferred maintenance. Consequently, there’s a large number of routine room refurbishments as well as exterior building maintenance and more. The latest additions to the schedule below are at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club, Coronado Springs, Fort Wilderness, Old Key West, and Yacht Club (all denoted by “NEW!” below).
We do Walt Disney World monthly hotel stays, usually emphasizing resorts where there are new things, changes, or ongoing construction to see how that harms, improves, or otherwise impacts the guest experience. If you’ve yet to book a hotel for your upcoming Walt Disney World vacation and want to be notified about all of the latest resort changes, sign up here for our FREE Disney newsletter here.
When booking a Walt Disney World vacation, we highly recommend taking into account recently-completed and ongoing construction projects at the various resorts, as these absolutely can impact the quality of your trip. Booking a hotel with a closed pool or construction noise and cranes right outside your window is obviously going to be a worse experience than a resort that just finished its big refurbishment and still has that fresh feeling and ‘new hotel’ smell.
Note that this does not include DVC villas if they do not impact the hotel side of a resort. For those projects, see our Disney Vacation Club Resort Refurbishments & Construction Timeline. That covers all of the room reimaginings at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond that we just announced at the condo association meeting. Those projects also impact Boulder Ridge, Bay Lake Tower, and both Crescent Lake DVC resorts.
Suffice to say, a lot is happening on the hotel front at Walt Disney World. Let’s take a look at all of the current and upcoming major hotel projects that have the potential to impact guests, starting with the latest updates…
Ongoing or Upcoming Hotel Refurbishments
Disney Skyliner – From January 24-30, 2027 and January 24–February 2, 2028, Disney Skyliner will be closed for refurbishment. Complimentary bus service will be available.
Impacted Resorts:
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s Boardwalk Inn
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
We strongly recommend avoiding Skyliner resorts during this time, which does not include the Crescent Lake hotels. See Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closing for Quick Refurbishment in 2027 for more info and detailed advice.
All Star Movies Resort – Refurbishment work is taking place at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort. Donald’s Double Feature merchandise shop is undergoing a phased refurbishment through mid-September 2026 and will remain open during this work.
In addition, guest rooms at ASM will undergo planned refurbishment through January 2027. During this time, guests may see or hear construction work in the area, and alternate paths of travel may be in place.
This is a soft goods refurbishment similar to the one recently completed at Pop Century. That means updating furnishings, including but not limited to wall coverings, flooring, linens, decor, and some furniture. The redone rooms at Pop Century look great: First Look Photo Tour of New Rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
This is also almost assuredly the start of a phased multi-year soft goods refurbishment to all of the All Stars. See Walt Disney World Gearing Up for Years-Long Value Resorts Room Refurbishment, Likely Lasting to 2028 or 2029 for more.
All Star Sports Resort – Through mid-December 2026, Grandstand Spirits Pool Bar at Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort will be closed for refurbishment. During this time, a temporary pool bar will be available nearby. Guests may see or hear construction activity in the area during daytime hours while the work is underway.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – From now through early 2027, guest rooms at Jambo House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge will undergo refurbishment. During these times, guests may see or hear construction work in the area. All amenities will remain available throughout the refurbishment.
We covered what to expect from this construction at length in Room Reimagining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge through 2027. The Kidani Village side of this project has now wrapped up. By the time the DVC work is done in 2027, the hotel rooms might be due for another refresh.
In addition to the room reimagining, there’s a major lobby project starting soon at Kidani Village:
Through Late 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. See Disney Adds Animal Kingdom Lodge Projects to Refurbishment Calendar for 2026-2027 for more info.
Note: this project was previously slated to be completed in Fall 2026, pursuant to the above timelines. That specificity has since been removed, and the project as a whole is aiming for a Late 2026 completion. It’s our belief based on visible progress that it’s running behind schedule, which would explain the change from November/Fall 2026 to Late 2026.
Art of Animation Resort – From mid-June 2027 through October 2028, rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will undergo refurbishment.
The work will happen in phases, with one themed area being refurbished at a time. Guests may see or hear maintenance work in the area during daytime hours, and alternate paths of travel may be in place until work is complete.
The work will begin with the Little Mermaid and Lion King rooms, continuing with Cars and Finding Nemo. This will be the first hard goods refurbishment in the resort’s history.
BoardWalk Inn – Now through 2027, refurbishment work will take place in select areas of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. While Guests may see or hear work during daytime hours, most Resort amenities—including dining, recreation, and merchandise locations—will remain available.
The good news is that Walt Disney World has finally announced replacements for these vacant venues along the BoardWalk. Also on the horizon is a new counter service restaurant concept to replace Big River. Although Walt Disney World hasn’t stated as much, it’s possible some of this work along the promenade gets extended into 2027.
From January 11, 2027 to April 2027, the Luna Park Pool, the Luna Park Crazy Play Area, and Leaping Horse Libations at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn & Villas will be closed for routine maintenance. Guests may see and hear construction until the work is complete. However, the Villas Pool and the Inn Pool will remain open for Guests to enjoy.
Luna Park Pool is the feature pool at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, and it was last redone back in late 2020 to remove the “creepy clown” from the water slide. Hopefully this project is to reinstall that beloved, dead-eyed, spaghettios-haired clown!
Coronado Springs Resort – Through late September 2027, the Convention Center at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort will undergo a planned refurbishment. The El Centro Corridor and surrounding areas will also undergo a refurbishment tied to this work.
Work will be completed in phases, with individual spaces being temporarily inaccessible at times. The work will take place overnight to help minimize impacts to daily operations. During this time, Guests may see or hear construction activity in the area.
As discussed in Walt Disney World Calendars Year-Plus Construction Project at Coronado Springs Resort, the timing here is such that this is probably a multi-phase project, with the next room refurbishment starting once the Convention Center updates wrap up. Coronado Springs is due for a soft goods room refresh in the next year or so (outlying buildings only; not Gran Destino).
Contemporary Resort – From now through late 2027, refurbishments will occur in select areas of Disney’s Contemporary Resort—including Bay Lake Tower and the main A-frame atrium. Please allow for extra travel time. Guests may also see and hear construction during their stay.
This multi-phased project has been underway for over a year already, and previously revolved around BLT. That’s finished now, and the description has been updated to drop the Convention Center and add the atrium. No visible work has begun in the A-frame, but is expected to start soon.
Fort Wilderness Campground – Through late October 2026, soil erosion prevention work will be taking place along the sidewalk on Big Pine Trail. At times, alternate paths of travel may be in place for Guests due to roadway detours. No resort amenities will be impacted by this work, but please be aware that you may see or hear construction activity in the area during business hours.
Walt Disney World has also introduced New DVC Cabins to Fort Wilderness Campground. More than 350 new cabins have replaced the old cabins, turning the resort side of the campground into a Disney Vacation Club property. This occurred loop by loop over the last two years and is now finished.
Right next door to Fort Wilderness is the construction of Disney Lakeshore Lodge (formerly Reflections), which has now reached its top height of 10 stories tall! This quite literally towers over the Settlement area, and construction has an outsized impact on Fort Wilderness guests, as cranes build that massive new resort about 100 yards from Fort Wilderness.
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – Disney Vacation Club overhauled the Big Pine Key building of hotel rooms at Walt Disney World’s flagship resort. This building has since reopened and the new rooms have debuted–see Grand New Rooms at Walt Disney World’s Flagship Resort for a look inside. These reimagined rooms have since debuted on the regular resort side of the Grand Floridian, and all of the outlying buildings are now finished.
As part of the ongoing enhancements at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, refurbishment work will continue in select areas, including the porte cochere, through early 2027. Guests may see or hear refurbishment work during daytime hours or need to take alternate paths of travel. This project was recently extended from mid-2026 to early 2027 with the “including the porte cochere” line.
Through October 2026, Grand Floridian Cafe will temporarily close for a refresh. During this time, brunch will continue to be offered but will temporarily move to Cítricos. All other dining locations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will remain available for Guests to enjoy.
This holiday season at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Guests can enjoy elegant seasonal décor and festive offerings, along with new miniature gingerbread displays featured throughout the resort. To help keep the lobby flowing smoothly for resort Guests, the traditional large gingerbread house will not be offered this year.
The main fruit of this project is the lobby overhaul, which is now completed. This includes “The Perch,” or the Birdcage Bar that replaced the iconic aviary in the lobby.
Old Key West Resort – Due to ongoing refurbishment work along the boat route, Sassagoula River Cruise will be temporarily unavailable at Old Key West from October 12 through November 1, 2026. Bus transportation will be available during the closure.
Additionally, Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course is temporarily closed for renovations through October 2026. Views from some rooms overlooking the golf course may be impacted until the work is complete.
Polynesian Village Resort – The good news is that the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows between the existing Polynesian longhouses and Wedding Pavilion, near the Grand Floridian, is now open.
Additionally, the reconfiguration of the front entrance roadway is now complete and the new bus stops have opened. With this, there’s a new traffic flow to road, that reduces congestion to the arrival area of the Poly.
The bad news is that work at the Polynesian isn’t finished. Through late 2026, some areas of the Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows are being refurbished. Most resort dining, pools and amenities will remain available.
Additionally, some views of the theme parks and other surrounding areas may be impacted. This is now noticeable around the Great Ceremonial House, to the point that Walt Disney World is warning guests who book ‘Ohana about impaired views of Magic Kingdom. Although this impacts ‘Ohana, we recently dined at the adjacent Tambu Lounge and enjoyed unblemished views.
Through late October 2026, Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will be temporarily closed due to refurbishment work at the Grand Ceremonial House.
While construction activity will be noticeable during daytime hours, efforts will be made to minimize disruptions. Please allow for extra travel time when arriving at or leaving the Resort.
Port Orleans Riverside – Walt Disney World has started its next slate of room reimaginings at Port Orleans Riverside, from now through mid-2027.
The first phase of this project impacted the Magnolia Bend rooms, and is now completed. Alligator Bayou is now receiving its next round of room redos, and crews have moved to that side of the resort. Accordingly, making a room request for Magnolia Bend will mitigate exposure to the second phase of this project.
Although not officially confirmed, it’s a near-certainty that the normal rooms in Alligator Bayou receiving a hard goods refurbishment is the second phase of this project. See Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort Room Reimagining Extended by Year-Plus to 2027 for more.
Port Orleans French Quarter – Beginning on October 6, 2026, Scat Cat’s Club – Café and Scat Cat’s Club – Lounge at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter will temporarily close for refurbishment. The café is expected to reopen in December 2026 and the lounge is expected to reopen in January 2027.
- Temporary Bar: A temporary bar will be available near the café from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Relocated Beignets & Coffee: Beignets and coffee will be available at Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory. Ghoulish Delight beignets will also be available there through November 1, 2026.
Saratoga Springs – Through Fall 2026, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will have areas under refurbishment, including the porte cochere (covered arrival area) and Tennis Courts. Guests may see or hear construction activity during daytime hours.
Additionally, Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course is temporarily closed for renovations through October 2026. The Golf Shop will remain open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. During this time, Guests are welcome to enjoy Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course and Disney’s Palm Golf Course. Guests may see or hear work in the area during daytime hours, and views from some rooms overlooking the golf course may be impacted until the work is complete.
Wilderness Lodge – Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge are undergoing exterior refurbishment work expected to continue through late 2026. These enhancements may impact views from various locations throughout the Resort.
As part of this project, the security kiosk is being expanded through mid-October. While most resort amenities will remain available, guests may see and hear construction work during daytime hours.
The exterior work could actually impact Wilderness Lodge until 2027 if permits are accurate. As we discuss in greater detail in this post about Wilderness Lodge construction, that doesn’t really give us pause about staying there. With room requests, you may not notice any of the work at all.
In addition to this, there’s the above-mentioned resumption of work on Disney Lakeshore Lodge on the former River Country water park site. That will be less impactful to guests staying at Wilderness Lodge than Fort Wilderness, but there will be audible and visible construction from the Boulder Ridge side of the resort, especially.
Yacht & Beach Club – Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is undergoing visible exterior maintenance through late 2026, which will impact views from various locations throughout the resort, and at times, require alternate paths of travel.
Through late 2027, Disney’s Beach Club Resort is undergoing visible exterior maintenance, which impacts views from various locations across the Resort hotel and—at times—requires alternate paths of travel. Guests may see or hear work in the area during daytime hours until the refurbishment is complete.
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Your Thoughts
Have any recent observations or experiences with hotel construction at Walt Disney World you’d be willing to share? Where at Walt Disney World are you staying this year or in 2027? Any resorts you’re intentionally avoiding? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments of these resort refurbishment or reimagining projects? 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!
Do you know how far in advance you can book accommodation? We’d like to book the Wilderness Lodge for Christmas in 2021. We don’t want to miss out… when should we start looking?
Typically Disney releases prices for the next year in June, so June 2020 will be the earliest time you can book a 2021 stay. I hope that helps.
Depends on where your based.
A lot of travel companies around the world will either have special deals on certain room types or even in some cases own rooms at hotels that they know they can sell day in/day out. This is why when you go pn a hotel website and they say their full companies like expedia or trivago can still find rooms that are vacant as these belong to a particular company.
In the UK some companies have already started offering 2021 holidays including virgin and as they also own their airline they are offering flights more than 11 months in the future which is the normal industry standard.
Currently I have booked my holiday for April 2021 and they are offering holidays all the way up for December including the 50th Anniversary with a £200 per head deposit.
So it depends on what you want to pay and who you want to book through.
My husband and I spent a night at Kidani over New Years week and happily can report there were zero visible scaffolds in the lobby windows. Not sure if that was permanent as work is completed or just for the busy time.
We were just there Nov. 7-11 and stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Before we left home, I randomly checked for available resort rooms, and there were none available, anywhere on property. It concerns me that they are continuing to build more resorts because there has to be a max capacity for the parks to be enjoyable for guests. What is that Magic number? How many more rooms are being added? Are there already days that guests are turned away for over-crowding?
We just arrived at the All-Star Music Resort today (11/19/19) and were lucky enough to get one of the newly updated family suites. I’m pretty sure we are the first one to stay in this particular room since it has been updated, as the microwave still had the wrapping on from the manufacturer. The updated suits are very nice and include a “full size” refrigerator.
When it comes to Disney we are the kids. We are looking at places to stay for Fall 2021. Last time we stayed at Coronado Springs. We were sad the main pool was closed. But not at all bothered by the construction. Not a lot of kids there which is cool for when you need pool downtime. We are thinking a 9-10 day trip. Recommendations? It’ll be 6 to 8 adults.
Managed to add a DVC reservation the week of New Years at Kidani and am hopeful the major lobby scrims will be wrapped up by thing. Crossing fingers! Thanks for keeping this information up to date for your readers!
This is one of my favorite features of Disney Tourist Blog. Really appreciate a centralized listing – along with details – of the major updates to the resorts, which are among my favorite reasons to visit WDW.
Really looking forward to pics of Saratoga’s remodeled rooms as well as at AoA.
I genuinely hope that Boardwalk Inn and Grand Floridan are on the roster soon, as the pics I’ve seen on the internet regarding the state of aesthetic – and the features the rooms offer (storage, connectivity, etc.) – are starting to trail the Values! Yikes!
Keep up the great work, and thanks again!
🙂
I would love it if AKL was completed by December 5. We would love a room with a walk in shower! And I stay there so I can sit on my balcony and watch the giraffes and I’d hate to have that view ruined. Keeping fingers crossed.
Our vacation starts Dec. 12 through Dec. 22, and we are staying at Alstar Music Resort, in a suite, at Disney World, as we have a party of 5 and we were unable to get two preferred rooms, with the free meal plan. Are the suites at Allstate Music completed and is the pool open in this area, also are these suites close to everything, and I don’t want s long walk!
They just started construction on one of the Calypso buildings when we were there the third week of September. I’d be very surprised if they were finished yet.
We are staying at All-Star Movies just before Christmas. Is there any way we can guarantee getting a completed room?
We are staying at All-Star Movies just before Christmas. Is there any way we can guarantee getting a completed room? Will calling ahead work?
Just came back from Staying at All Star Music. Calypso building 10 is completely closed for refurbishment. I stayed In Calypso building 1, which will be last to be done, per a manager at the resort. Manager said they expect all buildings done within 13 months. They were just in process of ripping all old materials from rooms. Don’t know how fast they will finish a building. The main pool is open, is not rescheduled for refurbishment until Fall of 2020 (I’m staying there then, already got a notice about pool then). Suites are close to everything, they are Calypso and Jazz buildings, which
are the closest to food court, buses, etc. Have a great trip. We did. Hardly noticed refurbishment, we did go over to look at building on purpose.
Tom
We are planning to visit Disney in Oct 2020, renting an RV for Fort Wilderness. Have the campsites in the Premium section been effected by construction? Have you experienced the renting of RV? Found your newsletter/blog by chance and am thrilled that I did. Enjoy it every much and very helpful since I have not been to Disney in years. BTW we are taking our 6 year old grand daughter and her dad, There will be 6 of us.
Ron
Hey Tom.
To go along with the Grand Destino review, many are waiting for your review of Toledo Tapas. I assume you have eaten there already. When can we expect your review to occur?
Old Key West definitely needed an update. Stayed there a few years ago when our first choice the Wilderness Lodge was under renovations. We were terribly disappointed. The room was dark , dated and worst of all filthy! I still have pictures to prove it. Not what we have experienced from Disney in the past. When we told our AAA agent she contacted Disney to let them know . I received a phone message several weeks later from Disney with a call back number. I contacted that number several times and never heard from them again….. totally disappointed
We stayed some years ago at Coronado Springs in a room that was close to the main area which offered a breakfast of sorts and wine and cheese after 4 pm. I don’t remember quite what it was called…maybe business class…anyway do any of the resorts offer something like that anymore? We Loved it!!!
Yes. It’s called club level and the deluxe resorts have them. We do it all the time. Love it.
I read on a message board that a couple of guests are reporting suite refurbishments at Art of Animation in September 2019. Sounded like a hard goods/furniture re-furb, including new laminate flooring, beginning in the Cars section. I haven’t otherwise seen this reported anywhere. Any official news on this?
Any idea why All-Star MUSIC is showing a higher price than all the other All-Stars? In the past, they’ve been pretty similarly priced. Looking at a last minute trip for a few days and Movies is about $10 more than Sports (which is understandable since it has some of the renovated rooms), but Music is showing its $20 more than Movies and $30 more than Sports! Not that big of a deal, I’m just curious. I am comparing standard prices to standard prices, and preferred to preferred. I just can’t figure out why Music would be more.
I am trying our Caribbean beach resort! We are doing a preferred room although I’m kinda regretting that with the construction of the the new Skyliner I kinda wanna stay in Aruba. We wanted art of animation but the big blue pool in fall/winter of 2020 stopped that. Also pop century hippy dippy pool will be under construction during that time too so we decided agains that too .
How is it over there? We are staying there in a pirate room in September. I’m stressing about it because of the smaller bed size with 4 people in the room and my 2 kids no longer so little. I would rather have a regular room but none are available with the free dining promotion we got.
But the construction of the Skyliner is done. It is set to open next month (Sept) and they have already had Cast Members riding on it to test it out so you should not have any issues.
With the gondola system nearing completion, what’s the likelihood that they expand to additional resorts/parks? Seems like it’d be pretty convenient to get from HS and epcot over to Coronado Springs, then over to Animal Kingdom and blizzard beach water park.
We are staying at AKL Jambo house for the first time in mid November 2019. Do you know if the bunk bed rooms will still have bunk beds after the refurbishment? I have requested a room with a queen and a bunk bed. But I’m sure we’ll be almost as happy with 2 queens in a refurbished room if bunks are not an option.
I was just reading your info on POR, about the 5th sleeper room. We have booked a 5th Sleeper, Garden View room for our upcoming trip but there are only 3 of us travelling. Would they actually move us to a different area if our res is for that specific room type/price due to not having 5 guests? Thanks, in advance, for any input/info.
It is a possibility. I reserved a regular room and was given a handicapped room when I arrived.
We just stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in a pool view room on the Giraffe Trail (late July 2019). There were 3 very large crane lifts across from us at the edge of the pool area, which I believe was the Zebra Trail. There was some construction noise while sitting on my balcony and by the pool, but nothing overly disruptive. However, if I was staying in any rooms on the Zebra trail side of the resort, I’m sure it would be a different story and would be an issue! I still had a great experience, but it would likely vary based on what room you get.