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2024 & 2025 Disney World Refurbishment Schedule & Ride Closures

Nothing is worse than spending hours upon hours planning your trip to Walt Disney World, only to find out your favorite attraction is under refurbishment. That’s why we created this 2024 & 2025 Disney World Refurbishments and Closure schedule, which will help you know what’s open and what’s closed.

Walt Disney World Ride Closures and Refurbishments

In this post, we will look at all 4 theme parks at Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) and let you know the refurbishment calendar and which rides are closed in each park.

We’ll also cover temporary closures, like the ones due to the current health situation, and which rides in Walt Disney World are permanently closed.

It’s not uncommon for Disney to change the refurbishment dates around on the calendar, so make sure to keep checking back here multiple times before your next trip, so you can see which rides will be open and which ones will be closed. We’ll also cover refurbishments to hotels, restaurants, and shops in Disney World.

Of course, right now all nighttime spectaculars are closed, as well as many other entertainment options in the park. We’ll let you know when Disney decides to reopen those too. You can read our Disney World Reopening Guide for more answers to your most common FAQs.

Also, if you want the latest Disney World Refurbishment News, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Weekly E-Mail Newsletter. We’ll bring you the latest updates as well as vacation planning tips. You can sign up here: Join our E-Mail Newsletter!

Why Does Disney Do Refurbishments to Rides?

Disney World Refurbishments and Ride Closures

While it’s always the biggest bummer to go to Walt Disney World and have your favorite attraction closed, at times it happens. Sometimes you can prevent it by looking at the closures schedule and planning your trip for another time, but other times, Disney decides to refurbish attractions at the last minute, without notice.

Why does Disney do refurbishments to rides?

As much as we don’t like them, attraction refurbishments are necessary from time to time. With the millions of people that ride these attractions each year, eventually, they break down and need fixing.

Some of the Disney World ride closures could last a few days, and sometimes they last for months. It all depends on the type of work being done. In the long run, it’s best for these attractions and if they didn’t close from time to time, their lifespan would be much shorter.

So while it’s never fun when you can’t ride certain attractions, they are unavoidable.

Walt Disney World Refurbishments

What Disney World rides will be closed in 2024, 2025 and beyond? Below we have a list of all the refurbishments happening in Walt Disney World right now, and which ones will be closed. Each one has a date with the beginning of the refurbishment and an expected completion date.

Again, these dates change often and Disney is unfortunately known to have refurbishments last longer than originally planned, so plan your trip with caution, knowing things can change by the time you get there.

Magic Kingdom

Tron Roller Coaster Construction Update December 2018 Magic Kingdom

Disney’s Magic Kingdom is the centerpiece of Walt Disney World, and there have been numerous refurbishments both big and small over the last few years.

Disney would like to touch up a lot of the older attractions before the festivities begin, but it’s unclear how much is in the budget for big refurbishments. It’s likely we’ll just see a lot of small improvements.

Refurbishments:

  • Disney Enchantment (Returned temporarily in January 2024) This nighttime show was replaced by Happily Ever After on a permanent basis, but it is still being shown on Disney After Hours nights though April 8, with a possibility of more dates being added in the future.
  • Happily Ever After (NOW OPEN) This beloved nighttime spectacular is back nightly at the Magic Kingdom after being gone for 18 months.
  • Haunted Mansion (NOW OPEN) This closed for a few days so Imagineers could make some improvements to the attraction. Madame Leota has an updated look and The Mummy has made its return to the graveyard scene. Also the walkway belts were replaced during the loading and unloading section which should give it better reliability. We know the “Hatbox Ghost” character will be added “in late November” but we don’t know if the ride will close temporarily for this addition.
  • Liberty Square Riverboat (TBD) – They normally do a short maintenance once a year.
  • Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party (Closed 3/16/20 – TBD)
  • Splash Mountain (Closed Permanently on 1/23/23)
  • Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant (Closed 8/5/21 – TBD)The location of this quick service restaurant is often seasonal and used for fireworks show rather than a real restaurant.
  • TRON Lightcycle Run (NOW OPEN)

Coming Soon:

  • Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (Opening Summer 2024) – This is the permanent replacement for Splash Mountain and features characters from Princess and the Frog.

EPCOT

Spaceship Earth behind construction walls at EPCOT

This is the park in Disney World with the most refurbishments at the time, which is understandable considering the massive transformation project EPCOT is currently undergoing.

Have patience, especially when visiting EPCOT park since it’s likely that attraction statuses could change between now and your vacation.

EPCOT is also the park with the most coming attractions, though again that is very much in flux right now since Disney’s huge budget cuts last year, and they aren’t spending as much money as originally planned.

We anticipate many of the park’s attractions to be delayed and the work as a whole to move much slower than thought.

Refurbishments:

  • Frozen Ever After (Closed 1/22/24 – 1/24/24) – This popular attraction in the Norway pavilion is closing for a brief one-day refurbishment to handle some routine maintenance.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (NOW OPEN) The huge E-Ticket attraction based on the Guardians of the Galaxy opened on May 27, 2022.
  • Luminous the Symphony of Us (NOW OPEN) – This new nighttime show permanently replaced Disney Harmonious and EPCOT Forever.
  • Moana: Journey of Water (NOW OPEN) The first attraction in a Disney park based on Disney’s Moana. Cast Member and Annual Passholder previews are currently underway.
  • Shiki-Sai Sushi Izakaya (NOW OPEN) – This new sushi restaurant in the Japan pavilion is taking over the space formerly occupied by Tokyo Dining.
  • Test Track (Closing TBD) – Disney has announced a complete overhaul to the Test Track attraction, let’s call this version 3.0. The update will include homage to the classic attraction World of Motion. We are waiting for a closing and reopening date but expect this to be a lengthy refurbishment, possible one year or more.
  • Parking Lot Trams (NOW OPEN) – These recently opened after being closed for more than 3 years.

Coming Soon:

  • Play! Pavilion (Opening TBD, 2025?) The Play! Pavilion was supposed to open in 2021, but might be delayed until as late as 2024.

Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios Best Rides Tower of Terror

Hollywood Studios just recently went through a ton of new construction and now most projects are being done in other parks. No big refurbishments are scheduled for the time being.

Refurbishments:

  • Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple (Closed 3/16/20 – TBD)
  • Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Closed 1/8/24 – Summer 2024) – This popular Aerosmith-themed coaster is closing for a multi-month refurbishment with an expected reopening date sometime in Summer 2024. Since it will likely be a 6-month project, it’s possible we could see the long-rumored theme change away from Aerosmith, but most likely it’s to fix the lingering reliability issues the ride as faced in recent years.
  • Roundup Rodeo BBQ (NOW OPEN) The new table service restaurant in Toy Story Land opened on March 23, 2023.
  • Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular (Closed 3/16/20 – TBD) All nighttime spectaculars including fireworks shows are closed right now in Disney World.
  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Closed 3/16/20 – TBD) Some have rumored that the Voyage of the Little Mermaid will close for good and be replaced though that hasn’t been confirmed from Disney.
  • Walt Disney Presents (Closed 2/12/24 – 3/1/24) – The walk-through exhibits remain open but the movie portion of the attraction is temporarily close.
  • Parking Lot Trams (NOW OPEN) – These recently opened after being closed for more than 3 years.

Coming Soon:

  • There are no new openings coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at this time.

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom ride closures like Flight of Passage

There are very few refurbishments going on at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and except for the park’s entrance, everything is very quiet.

Refurbishments:

  • Dino Diner (Closed 9/15/22 – TBD) It closed after the announcement for the Animal Kingdom expansion project and it’s not known at this time whether this has closed permanently or if it is coming back.
  • Kali River Rapids (Closed 1/8/24 – March 15, 2024) Closing for a standard refurbishment during the Winter months. No reopening date yet announced.

Water Parks

Both Disney World Water Parks, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach have been closing on and off since March 2020. Since the reopening in July 2020, only one water park has been open at a time. Each time they reopen one, they close the other. We expect this to continue until staff shortages are adressed.

Blizzard Beach (Closed 3/17/24 – TBD)

  • Blizzard Beach is closing for a long refurbishment in March 2024. This is likely routine maintenance. Recently, many small enhancements were made including new “Frozen” themed areas.

Typhoon Lagoon (Closed 11/6/23 – 3/17/24)

  • Typhoon Lagoon is reopening from a multi-month refurbishment. Due to an overall staffing shortage, there are not enough employees for two water parks to run simultaneously at this time. Typhoon Lagoon reopened on March 19, 2023, with Disney H2O Glow After Hours events and new treats to enjoy.

General Disney World Water Park Refurbishment Info

  • The Walt Disney World water parks run seasonally and are closed often due to the weather. The water parks usually close one at a time from January to March annually for regular maintenance and refurbishments, so one park should always be open.

Resort Hotels

Disney World Resort Hotel Refurbishments

With dozens of Walt Disney World Resort Hotels on property, they all need to undergo refurbishments from time to time. These can be on the hotel rooms themselves or any other part of the resorts including the pools, restaurants, lobby, bars, and common areas.

In recent years, many of the rooms at the Disney World resorts have frankly been dated, and not what you’d expect when spending $200-$800 per night or more on a hotel room. Thankfully there are a number of hotels that are getting completely new rooms with new furniture and furnishings.

Showing up to a hotel when there is major work going on can be annoying, and loud construction noise can even make it hard to sleep.

Make sure you look at this list of Disney World hotel refurbishments before you plan your trip so you know what kind of work is being done at your hotel and if you are ok with it.

Unfortunately, there are also still some hotels in Walt Disney World that are closed, many without reopening dates. We’ll continue to update the list as soon as we have those dates. Read our post on Disney World Hotels after reopening to see all the changes to expect when you go and our Rankings of the Best Disney World Resorts if you are trying to figure out where to stay.

Here is the current list of Walt Disney World Resort Hotel Refurbishments:

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort

  • Fantasia Pool (Closed January 2024 – April 2024)
  • Lobby Remodel and Update (NOW OPEN) – The entire lobby is getting updated with a refreshed look and new layout and design similar to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Old Key West Resort.
  • Re-Imagined Guest Rooms Work recently finished on reimagined rooms throughout the entire resort.

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort

  • Re-Imagined Guest Rooms (NOW OPEN) The reimagining of all the guest rooms at All-Star Music was going on when the resort closed and now the rest of the rooms have been upgraded.

Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort (NOW OPEN)

  • Re-Imagined Guest Rooms (NOW OPEN) Like the other 2 All-Star Resorts, the All-Star Sports was scheduled for a re-imagining of all the guest rooms. Work has now been completed.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

  • Guest Room Refurbishment (Completion TBD) – Guest rooms at Art of Animation are being lightly upgraded with changes to furniture, carpeting, etc. Work is done on the Cars suites, and now is being done to the Nemo suites, with The Little Mermaid and The Lion King after that.

Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Beach Club Resort

  • Lobby Refurbishment (6/20/23 – TBD) – Work has begun on a refurbishment to the lobby. No word on the extent of the refurbishment but there will likely be changes to the check-in area.
  • Stormalong Bay (Closing January 2025 – May 2025) – The popular pool area will undergo a five-month refurbishment. This routine refurbishment will include Stormalong Bay, the shipwreck, the lazy river, and waterslide. The Tidal, Admiral, and Dune Cove leisure pools will remain open.

Disney’s Beach Club Villas

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Boardwalk Inn

  • Resort-wide Refurbishment (1/10/23 – TBD) – A huge resort-wide refurbishment of the Boardwalk Inn Resort has started including a new lobby design, updated guest rooms, and new dining options.
  • Re-Imagined Guest Rooms (NOW OPEN) The renovation to all of the guest rooms at the BoardWalk Inn on the hotel side have now been completed.
  • The Cake Bake Shop (Opening 2024) – This new bakery/table service restaurant is taking the place of the old ESPN Zone restaurant. It will have savory and sweet options and focus on its many decadent dessert options including cakes.
  • Big River Grille and Brewing Works (Closing Permanently on 1/21/24) – This restaurant and brewery located on the Disney BoardWalk is closing for good on January 21, 2024. Food trucks will be added for additional lunch options.

Disney’s Boardwalk Villas

  • Re-Imagined Guest Rooms (1/10/23 – TBD) The renovation to all the DVC Villas at the BoardWalk Inn is still going on at this time.

Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

  • Fuentes del Morro Pool (Closed January 2024 – late March 2024)

Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

  • Cabin Refurbishment (Closed April 21, 2024 – TBD) – A select number of the Copper Creek Cabins will undergo refurbishment.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

  • Chuck Wagon Food Truck (NOW OPEN) – This was a short refurbishment.
  • The Cabins DVC Remodel (Opening July 1, 2024) – The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness are getting refurbished and will become a separate DVC property.
  • Trail’s End Restaurant (NOW OPEN) – Trail’s End Restaurant has converted from a table service restaurant to a marketplace concept with expanded quick service options.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

  • 1900 Park Fare (Closed 3/14/20 – TBD) – This closed with the resort back in 2020 but it hasn’t reopened since.
  • Garden Tea Room (Closed 3/14/20 – TBD) – This closed with the resort back in 2020 but it hasn’t reopened since.
  • Guest Rooms Update (2022 – TBD) – Guest rooms are being updated with a more modern look and subtle touches of Mary Poppins theming.
  • Lobby Refurbishment (2023 – TBD) – The classic Victorian lobby is getting refreshed, yet it will maintain its elegant theming.
  • Narcoossee’s (NOW OPEN) – This was closed for a lengthy refurbishment, similar in size and scope to that of Citricos. There are new dining room updates and a refreshed menu.

The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Disney’s Old Key West Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

Disney’s Pop Century Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter (NOW OPEN)

  • Doubloon Lagoon Pool (Closed January 2024 – April 2024)

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside (NOW OPEN)

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Riviera Resort

  • No current refurbishments

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

  • High Rock Spring Pool (NOW OPEN)
  • On the Rocks Pool Bar (NOW OPEN)

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

  • Resort-wide Refurbishment (Completion Date TBD) The Wilderness Lodge is undergoing a huge refurbishment to all its regular hotel rooms. Some of the rooms are now available as the rest of the refurbishment continues.

Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

  • Stormalong Bay (Closing January 2025 – June 2025) – The popular pool area will undergo a six-month refurbishment. This routine refurbishment will include Stormalong Bay, the shipwreck, the lazy river, and waterslide. The Tidal, Admiral, and Dune Cove leisure pools will remain open.

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser (Closing Permanently)

  • Hotel Closure (Closed permanently 9/30/23) – The Galactic Starcruiser closed for good on September 30, 2023.

Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge (Project On Hold/Canceled)

  • This is a new Disney World Resort Hotel that was being built on the site of the old River Country water park. Site work has come to a stop and construction crews removed the concrete and rebar. At this point, it’s unclear if the project has been canceled altogether or just put on extended hold until a future date.

Disney World Transportation

  • Disney Skyliner – Full Transportation System (Closed 1/16/24 – 1/21/24) – The whole transportation system will be closed for routine maintenance.
  • Disney Skyliner (Closed 1/16/24 – 1/27/24) – The Skyliner line running from Disney’s Riviera Resort to the International Gateway at EPCOT will be closed through January 27, 2024.

Disney Springs

  • No current refurbishments.

Ready to Start Planning Your Disney Vacation?

Mickey Mouse partners statue Magic Kingdom

If you feel overwhelmed planning a Disney vacation, use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner such as Show You the World Travel. They are experts on every Disney location and can tell you where to stay, what to do, how to save money, and give you personalized service for your most magical vacation ever!

Permanent Ride Closures

Permanently closed Disney World rides like Great Movie Ride

While some attractions close only temporarily, others sadly close permanently. This happens when the ride is no longer deemed popular enough or Disney has other plans for that space, perhaps bringing in a new attraction in its place.

Here is a list of the permanent closures in Disney World in the recent past:

Magic Kingdom

  • Disney Enchantment – (Closed 4/2/23)
  • The Pirates League – (Closed 3/15/20)
  • The Muppets Present…Great Moments in American History – (Closed 1/1/20)
  • Splash Mountain – (Closed 1/23/23)
  • Stitch’s Great Escape – (Closed 1/6/18)
  • Wishes – (Closed 5/11/17)

EPCOT

  • Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure – (Closed 2/17/20)
  • The Circle of Life – (Closed 2/4/18)
  • Disney Harmonious (Closed on 4/2/23)
  • Ellen’s Energy Adventure – (Closed 8/13/17)
  • EPCOT Forever – (Closed 9/28/21 and again 12/4/23)
  • Illuminations: Reflections of Earth – (Closed 9/30/19)
  • Mariachi Cobre Presents… The Story of Coco – (Closed 6/2/20)

Hollywood Studios

  • The Disney Society Orchestra and Friends – (Closed 10/4/20)
  • Wonderful World of Animation – (Closed 5/13/20)
  • Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away – (Closed 2/23/20)
  • The Great Movie Ride – (Closed 8/13/17)

Animal Kingdom

Resorts/Experiences

Disney World Seasonal Closures

Some closures in Disney World are seasonal, meaning similar work happens on those rides around the same time each year. Some of this is weather-based, like water parks for example, that are less likely to be popular during the Winter.

Here is a list of Seasonal Refurbishments in Disney World. These dates are estimates based on closures in past years:

  • Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park – Closes October to January for general maintenance and seasonal refurbishment.
  • Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park – Closes January to March for general maintenance and seasonal refurbishment.
  • Kali River Rapids – Can close anytime from January to March for general maintenance and seasonal refurbishment.
  • Jungle Cruise – Usually closes in Late October to Early November for Jingle Cruise holiday overlay; closes in Early January to remove holiday overlay.
  • Splash Mountain – This is one of the most refurbished attractions in Disney World. Usually closes in January/February for general maintenance and seasonal refurbishment.

What Season Does Disney Do Refurbishments?

Test Track refurbishment

Disney tends to do more refurbishments and ride closures in the “off-season” and when there are fewer people in the parks.

January and February are popular months and are good times to tune up the rides after the holiday season. This is especially true for water attractions like Kali River Rapids, Splash Mountain, or the water parks.

September is another popular month for refurbishments in Disney World since most of the crowds have gone home with the kids back in school. That means it’s a perfect time to fix up attractions needing maintenance.

While going to Disney World during the holidays or the busy season is more crowded, you are also less likely to find your favorite attraction closed for refurbishment at that time, which is a definite advantage.

Rumored Refurbishments

Figment animatronic Journey Into Imagination EPCOT

There are many rides in Disney World that NEED refurbishing, some staying the same for decades.

Here is a list of some Disney World attractions that have been rumored to be getting refurbishments and could be closing soon. Most of these haven’t been confirmed by Disney yet, but they are the most likely to close.

Magic Kingdom:

  • Big Thunder Mountain special effects additions
  • Walt Disney World Railroad – scene enhancements
  • Carousel of Progress – scene change
  • It’s a Small World – Disney character addition
  • Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
  • Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
  • Astro Orbiter

EPCOT:

  • Spaceship Earth – A total overhaul of this attraction was supposed to happen in May 2020, but then was postponed when the parks closed. No new date has been given yet.
  • Journey Into Imagination This has been the most rumored attraction to be getting a refurbishment, yet nothing confirmed from Disney. Many fans are not fans of the current version, but doing something that keeps Figment in the attraction is a must.

Hollywood Studios:

  • Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Rumors of a possible theme change away from Aerosmith.
  • Tower of Terror – It’s possible new special effects could be added

Animal Kingdom:

  • Expedition Everest – We’ve been hearing about fixing the Yeti for years now, but it’s a very complicated task that would take months to do. Not sure that this will ever get done but we can hope.

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about the current list of ride closures and attraction refurbishments at Disney World…

  • Which ride are you most disappointed to see close?
  • Which rides need refurbishing the most?

Let us know in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, as always I appreciate it if you’d share it with others via social media.  I work hard at making this website into a useful resource for you and your family to plan your visit to the Disney Parks and I hope it can help you! Thanks 🙂

Marilyn Thomas

Monday 25th of December 2023

Please do not close Its a small world We have been coming to Disney for over 40 years and we are bringing our last grandchild in June and she has never seen it as it was closed in Disneyland Paris when we took her for her first Disney experience in 2019 I would be forever grateful if you could at least keep it open until the end of June Kind regards Marilyn Thomas

Bill

Thursday 21st of December 2023

Your "Update" should include when the "original" article was written in the title header..as with all you're updates....

Carmen Frock

Sunday 12th of November 2023

Please do not close Spaceship Earth for January 2024

Debby Mason

Tuesday 4th of July 2023

A few comments are several years old, but I'll add i wish the Great Movie Ride was back. I like the Muppet Show, but it hasn't changed in years. Disney should get a new script or replace it.

Joyce

Saturday 7th of October 2023

@Debby Mason, I agree I miss the Great Movie.

kamir bouchareb st

Tuesday 16th of May 2023

thank you