2026 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar

This Disney California Adventure and Disneyland ride refurbishment calendar for 2026 lists temporary attraction closures so you know what won’t be open before planning your vacation. Additionally, info about reimagining projects underway to enhance experiences around the parks.

While no one wants attraction closures during their visit, they are a necessary part of keeping Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in good condition, as routine maintenance, safety upgrades, and attraction improvements are all done during scheduled ride closures. Usually, there are only a handful of simultaneous closed rides, plus new attractions being built.

The bad news is that winter is historically ‘refurbishment season’ at Disneyland, and there are several closures that are now underway. The good news is that most of these should wind down before Spring Break, before another round starts during shoulder season. Here’s the full rundown…

Having an idea of which attractions are closed at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is important, but we recommend consulting our 2026 Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide for more comprehensive info. That covers everything from saving money on park tickets and hotels to where to eat, when to visit, and more.

In addition to scheduled attraction refurbs, unscheduled downtime can also occur during a visit. This usually only occurs for a few hours at a time, so if you find an attraction is closed during your visit to Disneyland Resort and it’s not listed below, it’s likely a temporary closure that will last a few hours. Check with nearby Cast Members to confirm.

Below is a schedule of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure refurbishments, when the closure starts, and when the refurbishment will conclude. To the extent that specific dates are not yet listed, those will be updated once Disneyland Resort provides precise start and/or end dates. The following day will be when the attraction is scheduled to reopen.

Here are the closure schedules for Disney California Adventure and Disneyland…

Disney California Adventure

• Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! – Permanently ended
• Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind – Closed until TBD
• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! – Permanently closes in 2027
• Silly Symphony Swings – Closed until TBD

On Pixar Pier, there’s been a wave of ride closures. Incredicoaster, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr, and Toy Story Midway Mania have all returned from refurbishment. Next up is Silly Symphony Swings, which does not have hours posted through June 17, 2026 (as far out as the calendar goes).

Curiously, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind has not yet reopened despite being scheduled to return two months ago. At this point, it’s a day-by-day closure and we have zero visibility into when it might reopen or why it hasn’t yet.

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue will permanently close in early 2026 sometime in 2027 according to Disneyland. As the strikethrough suggests, Disney Delayed the Monsters, Inc Dark Ride Permanent Closing Date from 2026 to 2027!

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue will remain into 2027 without any impact to other construction timelines. Meaning that Eastern Gateway and Pandora are not delayed by virtue of this news. Disneyland President Thomas Mazloum explained to us that his team worked to shift around the sequencing of these projects, and found a way to move around the phases of the projects in order to grant the Monsters, Inc. dark ride a reprieve from closure without delaying anything else.

We’ve long been skeptical as to whether the Monsters, Inc. dark ride actually needed to close this year, so this isn’t a huge surprise. For the reasons discussed in that post, we also wouldn’t be surprised if Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue remains open until the Eastern Gateway comes online.

Next, let’s take a look at the 2026 Disneyland attraction closure calendar…

Disneyland

• Autopia – Closes for electrification in early 2027
• Blue Bayou Restaurant – Closed through May 20, 2026
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters – Closed for refurbishment (Reopening TBD)
• Magic Happens Parade – Return TBD (Likely 2027)
• Pirates of the Caribbean – Closed for refurbishment (Reopening TBD)

The newest closure added to the list is Autopia, which closes for modernization in early 2027. This means ditching the gas guzzlers and swapping them out for electric vehicles.

With the ride’s 10-year sponsorship deal winding down, we’re also expecting an extensive refurbishment and refresh, likely lasting several months. Our best guess is that it reopens after spring break–hopefully in time for Summer 2027!

The big closures on the calendar are Pirates of the Caribbean and the attached Blue Bayou Restaurant, which is the restaurant inside the attraction. Both closed starting May 4, 2026 for refurbishments.

As with the DCA closures, the calendar currently extends through June 17, 2026, so anything with a TBD probably reopens after that. Although we should note that sometimes return dates are scheduled after calendar dates are published, so there are no sure things.

This refurbishment ‘warning’ bulletin on the official Blue Bayou website offers additional insight:

Blue Bayou Restaurant will temporarily close for refurbishment on May 4, 2026, and is tentatively scheduled to reopen in late May. The restaurant will offer a modified dining experience while Pirates of the Caribbean is also under refurbishment, as views will be obstructed and Guests may hear some refurbishment noise.

In addition to indicating that Blue Bayou will reopen before May 2026 ends (it now has an official reopening date: May 21, 2026), the notice also implies that Pirates of the Caribbean will be closed significantly longer. If that weren’t the case, there wouldn’t be a ‘need’ to offer a modified dining experience while PotC is still closed.

Our best guess is that the ride closure lasts at least another full month, with Pirates of the Caribbean reopening sometime towards the tail end of June or later in Summer 2026. That’s purely speculative; the project could last longer or be over sooner. With that said, Disneyland has filed multiple construction permits for Pirates of the Caribbean, which cover a wide range of updates suggestive of a lengthy closure.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is also closed for refurbishment of an unknown duration.

This has the potential to be a noteworthy project, especially coming right around the time when the Walt Disney World version of the attraction is slated to reopen following an approximately 7 month enhancement project. It’s possible Astro Blasters is getting a similar refresh and will have its own multi-month closure…or this could be something different entirely.

On a positive note, Jungle Cruise, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin and the Disneyland Monorail all recently reopened. At this point, Disneyland has the fewest number of simultaneous refurbishments of 2026! Which probably means more is coming soon, as summer is not peak season.

Both of the Haunted Mansion and “it’s a small world” refurbishments are finished.

These are annual closures, with the downtime necessary to remove the seasonal overlays and convert the attraction from their “holiday” versions back to normal. This typically takes roughly 10 days to two weeks for each attraction, with the downtime being staggered.

Expect a repeat of these refurbishments in early to mid-August 2026 for Haunted Mansion (Holiday) and late October to mid-November for “it’s a small world” (holiday).

Finally, a few notes about the above refurbishments. Disneyland is notorious for changing its refurbishment schedules, adding or canceling planned downtimes weeks or days in advance. While this practice is still relatively uncommon in the grand scheme of things, it’s worth pointing out because it does happen.

What follows is our philosophy concerning refurbishments, with the specific example of the multi-year Disneyland Railroad refurbishment used to illustrate…

Thoughts on Refurbishments

Nobody likes a favorite attraction to be refurbished during their vacation. It means missing out and potentially not being able to experience the ride for another year or longer, depending upon the frequency of your visits to Disneyland. A couple of years ago, the Disneyland Railroad closed for an extended refurbishment due to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge construction.

At first, we were really disappointed. This might seem like an odd attraction to lament the closure of, but as Southern Californians with Disneyland Annual Passes, this was an absolute favorite of ours. We rode regularly when we wanted to rest our feet, or simply a break from the crowds. With the exception of maybe ‘it’s a small world’, we did Disneyland Railroad more than any other attraction.

However, that initial disappointment pretty quickly gave way to excitement. We began thinking about ways Disneyland Railroad could be plussed, improving the experience for years to come. Disney had already announced that some changes would be made (as the track needed to be re-routed), and we were excited for the prospect of new show scenes or other visuals.

From my perspective, investing in the long-term quality of an attraction is far more important than the temporary satisfaction I’ll get out of riding it on my next visit. This is why it always perplexes me when regulars contend that their vacation will be ruined because their favorite attraction will be closed.

If it’s your favorite attraction and you’re active in the Disney fan community, that means you’ve been to Disneyland before and probably will visit again. It would thus stand to reason that you would want something you love to get the TLC it deserves, and continue to improve.

Disneyland Railroad works as a good example here…in large part because it did receive significant changes and enhancements. (Arguably, the Rivers of America suffered due to being condensed, but that’s another topic for another day–we cover all aspects of this in our New-Look Grand Circle Tour of Disneyland post.)

The point extends to other attractions that have seen similar plussings, but also have more of a problem with effects breaking. Take Indiana Jones Adventure, for example. This is a ride that seems to get a refurbishment about every other year (sometimes more frequently) and we’d argue that it could probably use more regular maintenance than that.

If you are a long-term fan, would you rather experience Indiana Jones Adventure every single visit with 75% of the effects working, or every single visit minus one or two with 95% of the effects working? For me, the answer to that is easy. I’ll take a superior long term experience every time.

Beyond that, there’s the much more compelling justification for regular refurbishments: they are essential for the safety of attractions. While we may think of these attractions as all fun and games that offer a safe sense of exhilaration, that’s when they are properly maintained.

It’s unpleasant to think about, but there have been several preventable deaths in the history of Disney’s parks. During a dark era of Disneyland history, improper maintenance was the cause of death on Big Thunder Mountain. Likewise, years of neglect at Disneyland Paris have led to incidents of injury that could be attributed to a lack of maintenance. In both cases, this has been addressed, and maintenance has improved considerably.

This is not meant to scare anyone or provoke an emotional reaction. Disney’s worldwide safety record is sterling as compared to other park operators. It’s still important to remember that these fun, ‘magical’ places also exist in the real world and use a lot of potentially dangerous elements if safety is not viewed as key.

When it comes to maintenance that is not essential to the safe operation of an attraction, we are left to contemplate what amount of show quality should be accepted. If following a strict Nunis-ian interpretation of the Four/Five Keys, show is an important consideration, and it should always be 100%. This is a nice goal to strive for, but the practical reality is that 100% show quality is an unworkably high threshold sometimes.

In my estimation, this is a good example of balancing guest interests with show quality. Get the effects working that are easily fixable, and find other ways to address effects that are frequently breaking. We’re not talking about safety here, just random effects. Indiana Jones Adventure has had a number of effects disabled or replaced over the years because they were unreliable.

Guests are understandably concerned when it appears an inordinate number of attractions are closing during their vacation, especially out of state visitors. Trips to California are not cheap and are often once in a lifetime experiences; first-timers certainly do not want to miss out on experiences about which they’ve read extensive hype.

With that said, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure ought to be publishing their routine refurbishment schedules several months in advance, allowing guests to plan around closures. Disney plans maintenance well in advance, and this info should be passed along to guests. For the most part, it is.

Obviously, unplanned maintenance can occur, which takes rides out of commission for hours or even days at the last minute. This is an unavoidable part of sophisticated theme park attractions, and there’s no real way to “plan around” this. It just is what it is.

However, the problem with a “not during my vacation” attitude like this is that it’s always going to be someone’s (or tens of thousands of someones) vacation. If Disneyland and Disney California Adventure attractions with show quality issues aren’t close for refurbishments for fear of some guests during a time-limited window missing out, all guests in perpetuity are going to have a lesser experience.

The end result of that thinking is a duct-tapped approach to attraction maintenance, with whatever work that can be done overnight accomplished, and two parks full of attractions with half their effects broken. First-timers would be left wondering why there was so much hype about Disneyland in the first place, as so many components of rides simply don’t work. If you’re reading this as a lifelong fan, well…maybe you wouldn’t have become a lifelong fan if this were actually Disneyland’s modus operandi.

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts…

Any questions about the current refurbishments at Disneyland Resort? What do you think about refurbishments at the Disney Parks? Are you more concerned about an improved long-term experience, or do you think “not during my vacation!”? Any other factors you think are worth considering? As mentioned, we think this is a conversation, so please share your ‘refurbishment philosophy’, or any other thoughts or questions you have, in the comments!