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 that was postponed during the phased reopening. Consequently, there’s a growing number of smaller-scale projects that take certain buildings or a portion of rooms out of commission as part of more-targeted, rolling refurbishments.
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, 2027, through January 30, 2027, 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 – Beginning in late May 2026, the rooms at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort will undergo planned refurbishment through the end of 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 will almost assuredly by 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 – From now through late April 2026, the Surfboard Bay Pool and the kiddie pool at Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort will be closed for maintenance.
During this time, the Grand Slam Leisure Pool (pictured above) at Disney’s All-Star Sports will continue to be available. Additionally, Guests are welcome to use the other pools throughout Disney’s All-Star Resorts, including the Calypso Pool, Piano Pool and kiddie pool at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort; and the Fantasia Pool, Duck Pond Pool and kiddie pool at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort.
We’re big fans of the Grand Slam Leisure Pool, but it’ll probably be busy as a result. Accordingly, our second-favorite All Star pool is Calypso Pool at Music. Duck Pond at Movies is also a winner.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – From now 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. 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. What’s still unclear about this project involves the hotel side of Animal Kingdom Lodge, or just the Animal Kingdom Villas. The latter is the DVC side of the resort, and what is overdue for a refurbishment. Even so, by the time the DVC work is done in 2027, the hotel rooms might be due for another refresh.
Beach Club Resort – This hotel 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.
As part of this work, the Tidal leisure pool will be closed for routine maintenance through early May 2026. Guests may see or hear refurbishment work in the area until the work is complete.
BoardWalk Inn – Throughout 2026, 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.
Walt Disney World still has not revealed what, exactly, this project entails. Based on what BoardWalk needs done, there’s a wide range of possibilities. At minimum, we know it’s a major project by virtue of it lasting throughout 2026. As for possibilities, see our comprehensive discussion in Big BoardWalk Mystery Construction Project in 2026.
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!
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.
Additionally, from now through early May 2026, the Bay Cove Pool, the water play area and the whirlpool spa at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will temporarily be closed for maintenance. The Bay Lake Pool, the Cove Bar, the feature pool, the water play area and the whirlpool spa at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will remain open for Guests to enjoy.
From now through Late May 2026, there will also be exterior elevator landing repairs taking place at Bay Lake Tower. Consequently, the Skyway Bridge connecting Bay Lake Tower and the Contemporary Main Tower will be closed Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., reopening daily after 5 p.m. and remaining available evenings and weekends through May 1, 2026. Guests may need to use alternate paths of travel at times and may see or hear construction activity while work is underway.
Fort Wilderness Campground – Walt Disney World has 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.
From now through mid-2026, construction will take place near the Meadow Swimmin’ Pool area. The Meadow Swimmin’ Pool and Wilderness Swimmin’ Pool will remain open for Guests to enjoy. During this time, seating availability around the Meadow Swimmin’ Pool may be limited and Guests may see or hear construction in the area. The nearby tennis courts, volleyball court and the Meadow Playground may be closed temporarily. Please note that Guests may see and hear construction in the area until the work is complete.
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.
As part of this work, from mid-July 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. Guests may see or hear refurbishment work during daytime hours and may need to take alternate paths of travel.
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 – Now through late April 2026, the South Point Pool and Spa, BBQ area and playground at Disney’s Old Key West Resort will be closed for routine maintenance.
During this time, Guests may see or hear maintenance activity during daytime hours and are encouraged to use the Sandcastle Pool or one of the resort’s other two leisure pools – the Turtle Pond Pool and Miller’s Road Pool.
Speaking of which, this follows the completion of the Turtle Pond Pool, Turtle Pond Pool Spa, the BBQ area refurbishment. It seems that Old Key West might be doing a phased refurbishment to its leisure pools.
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. The bad news is that work at the Polynesian isn’t finished.
Through 2026, some areas of the Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows are being refurbished. This work includes the reconfiguration of the front entrance roadway and bus area. While construction activity will be noticeable during daytime hours, efforts will be made to minimize disruptions.
Walt Disney World filed permits for a new entrance to the Polynesian (which would also impact the parking lot and bus loop), and there’s major work being done to re-route and expand Floridian Way, so that’s probably what’s referenced for the construction and refurbishments through 2026. This will be a lengthy project that is very minimally impactful to both the Poly and Grand Floridian.
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.
Finally, there’s a new construction notice that was just added: from May 11, 2026 through late June 2026, the boat dock at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will undergo routine maintenance. The dock will be closed and boat transportation to suspended from May 11-June 5, 2026. Please allow for extra travel time when arriving at or leaving the Poly.
We’d recommend heeding this ‘allow extra travel time’ warning, especially when leaving the Poly during peak periods. We already encountered long lines more than once for the monorail at times in April 2026, and that was before the boat dock refurbishment started. Without that to help absorb some of the crowd, the monorail station will be even busier.
Pop Century – From now through late April 2026, the kiddie pool deck at Disney’s Pop Century Resort will be closed for routine maintenance. During this time, the Hippy Dippy Pool and all other amenities will remain available. Guests may see or hear maintenance activity in the area during daytime hours.
The good news is that Pop Century is otherwise in tip-top shape, with the year-long resort refurbishment having wrapped up. We stayed at Pop Century this month (April 2026) prior to the pool deck closure, and the resort is looking fantastic!
Port Orleans Riverside – Walt Disney World has started its next slate of room reimaginings at Port Orleans Riverside, from now through August 2027.
The first phase of this project, impacts the Magnolia Bend rooms, which are mostly the Royal Rooms. When Magnolia Bend is done (which should be really soon), it’ll be time for Alligator Bayou to receive its next round of room redos and crews will move to that side of the resort. Accordingly, making a room request for Magnolia Bend in Spring 2026 and beyond 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.
Saratoga Springs – Through mid-September 2026, The Turf Club Bar & Grill and The Turf Club Lounge at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will be under refurbishment. During portions of the refurbishment, some areas will be temporarily closed, including:
- Through early August 2026: The Turf Club Lounge (The Turf Club Bar & Grill will remain open with a pop-up bar serving a modified Lounge food & beverage menu)
- Early to mid-August 2026: The Turf Club patio
- Mid-August – mid-September, 2026: The Turf Club Bar & Grill (The Turf Club Lounge will remain open)
Turf Club Bar & Grill is the restaurant itself, so the notable portion of this refurbishment doesn’t start until August 2026 and should wrap up in the span of a month. Fortunately, there’s ample options a short walk away at Disney Springs.
The tennis courts at Saratoga Springs are now closed for refurbishment and are expected to reopen in June 2026. During this time, the basketball court will also be closed.
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. 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.
From now through late July 2026, the boat dock at Wilderness Lodge will undergo routine maintenance. The dock will be closed and boat transportation temporarily suspended through May 1, 2026. This is the second phased closure of the boat dock this year, and bus transportation was available as an alternative during the first. We’d expect the same this go-round.
Yacht 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.
As part of this work, from now through early May 2026, the Admiral leisure pool will be closed for routine maintenance. Guests may see or hear work in the area during daytime hours until the refurbishment is complete.
In addition, Crew’s Cup Lounge is now closed, and is expected to reopen in May 2026. Following that, Yachtsman Steakhouse will temporarily close for a refresh in May 2026 and is expected to reopen by August 2026.
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
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.