This Walt Disney World ride refurbishment calendar lists the closure schedule for 2025-2026 at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Attractions close for routine maintenance, safety upgrades, improvements, and reimaginings. (Updated June 13, 2025.)
While no one wants attraction downtime during their trip to Walt Disney World, refurbishments are necessary to keep the rides looking good (and safe!) for future visitors. Usually, there are only a handful of simultaneous closures, plus new attractions being built. Note that the list below includes several refurbishments that have either been scheduled last-minute, extended, or are longer than normal.
If you’re visiting Walt Disney World in the next couple of years, you’ll probably encounter more ride closures than in the past. There are already a couple of major attractions on the refurbishment calendar that will be closed between now and 2026. And these aren’t the only attractions likely to go down for long closures in the next year, Walt Disney World made major announcements at the latest D23 Expo. That construction will start in early 2025, and necessitate a number of ride closures.
Prior to this, Walt Disney World had not been doing nearly enough preventative maintenance or ride refurbishments during the off-season over the last few years. As a result, you can also expect plenty of unplanned downtime. Since this happens as a result of rides breaking downtime, you can’t really plan for it (hence it being “unplanned”), but we still mention this because you should prepare for rides to go offline during your trip. If anything is a “must-ride” for you, be sure to prioritize it and give yourself a buffer just in case it breaks down during your days at Walt Disney World.
There’s also a lot of construction occurring, albeit not nearly as much as even a few years ago. That’s in large part because Walt Disney World is now in between development cycles, one just ended with the completion of the EPCOT overhaul and opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The next has just begun with Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom; work will likewise soon begin on Cars Land at Magic Kingdom and Monstropolis at Hollywood Studios.
If you want all of the latest updates on attraction closures and ride refurbishments–subscribe to our free Walt Disney World email newsletter. We also share other news and on-the-ground reports from the parks, when discounts are released, and much more.
Here is the current schedule of Walt Disney World refurbishments to attractions, when the closure starts, and when the refurbishment will conclude, updated as of June 13, 2025:
Animal Kingdom
- DINOSAUR – TBD closure date in 2026 (likely January 2026)
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug – Permanently closed
- The Boneyard – TBD closure date (likely January 2026)
- TriceraTop Spin – Permanently closed
- Zootopia: Better Zoogether – Likely opening around November 26, 2025
Animal Kingdom is a park in transformation once again. A Zootopia Tree of Life Show is replacing It’s Tough to Be a Bug, which permanently closed this spring.
An opening date for Zootopia: Better Zoogether has not yet been zoonounced, but with Zootopia 2 hitting theaters on Thanksgiving, the odds-on favorite is around November 26, 2025. Our best guess would be shortly before then, both as a promotional tool and to help with that peak week’s crowds.
Construction is now underway on the Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, which will replace Dinoland USA. Walls are already up around the Dino-Rama half of this expansion, which was the roadside carnival area of the land. Tropical Americas will feature Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions, and the expansion will open in 2027.
The Encanto dark ride is being built on the former Primeval Whirl site, whereas Indiana Jones Adventure will be a reimagining of DINOSAUR. Since the former is a fresh build, it’s going to take longer to construct. We now know that this means Dinosaur is safe through at least the end of 2025. See When Will DINOSAUR & Dino-Rama Close at Walt Disney World? for updates on this phased closure.
Magic Kingdom
- Astro Orbiter – Closed until Summer 2025
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Closed until 2026
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – Closing for enhancements from August 2025 until 2026
- Hall of Presidents – Reopening date TBD
- Liberty Square Riverboat – Closing permanently on July 6, 2025
- Starlight Night Parade – Debuts on July 20, 2025
- Tom Sawyer Island – Closing permanently on July 6, 2025
- Walt Disney World Railroad – Operating in shuttle mode starting July 7, 2025
The latest update for Magic Kingdom is the big closures and openings next month. After a couple of internal delays that pushed its planned debut back from Memorial Day and then Independence Day weekend, Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away will finally open on July 20, 2025. Here’s everything you need to know about the new night parade–the first at Walt Disney World in nearly a decade.
Before Starlight debuts, there are some major closures in Magic Kingdom to make way for the Piston Peak National Park area based on Cars. The Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and Liberty Square Riverboat will all close on July 7, 2025. The last day to experience any of these attractions and locations at Magic Kingdom will be July 6, 2025.
Along with that, “shuttle mode” operations of the Walt Disney World Railroad will begin on July 7, 2025. That’s also when the Frontierland Station will close on a temporary basis for Cars and Villains Land construction. This means that the last date to experience the Grand Circle Tour of the WDW Railroad (or stop at Frontierland Station) is July 6, 2025.
After the summer ends, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is closing for a major overhaul that’ll modernize the blaster attraction. All Walt Disney World has officially announced with regard to a timeline is that it’ll close in August 2025 and reopen sometime in 2026.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will likely close around August 11, 2025. That’s the day that Central Florida schools go back into session, among other districts. That Monday has typically been the unofficial end of the summer season, with crowds falling off sharply that week. As such, we’d expect a closure around then, with the ride reopening around Spring Break 2026.
Elsewhere in Tomorrowland, Astro Orbiter should reopen long before Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin closes. That spinner goes down about once per decade for a closure of this duration, which usually includes disassembling, servicing, and rebuilding the spinner. As of mid-June 2025, it’s been fully rebuilt. We’d expect it to reopen to guests by Independence Day.
Speaking of Independence Day (sorta), Hall of Presidents is still closed for a routine refurbishment (rather than a reimagining, as was once rumored). In theory, this doesn’t need to be as long as normal since they already have the Audio Animatronics and dialogue recorded. However, we could see Disney keeping Hall of Presidents closed until the capacity is “needed” in order to save on opex.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is Closed for Refurbishment at Magic Kingdom until 2026! This closure has been rumored for the last 6 months, and became an open secret once the first construction permit was filed in June. At that time, work was expected to begin last August or September.
This BTMRR multi-year closure is notable because there almost certainly will be overlap, at least in part, with this project and work to fill in the Rivers of America and begin Cars construction. Among other things, this will include connecting BTMRR and Villains Land with Liberty Square and Fantasyland.
EPCOT
- ¡Celebración Encanto! – Extended indefinitely
- Test Track – Reopens sometime in Late Summer 2025
The biggest thing happening at EPCOT is Test Track’s reimagining. The popular thrill ride closed in mid-June of last year, and a reopening date has not yet been announced.
The good news is that the walls have come down around Test Track and stanchions have gone up as of mid-June 2025. This is usually a sign that the attraction has been turned over to park operations, and previews are slated to begin soon. At this point, we’d expect those later this month or in early July, with the attraction reopening well before Labor Day.
Looking forward, Spaceship Earth is long overdue for track and ride system maintenance, and that would necessitate a multi-month (if not year-plus) closure. Journey into Imagination is also about a decade overdue for a redo, but there’s no word that’s on the horizon, either.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney Jr. Play and Dance! – Closed temporarily for Summer 2025
- Villains Unfairly Ever After Show – Now Open!
- The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure – Now Open!
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – Permanently closes in 2026
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets – Opens in 2026
MuppetVision 3D, PizzeRizzo, and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano are all now officially closed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as of June 2025. The Muppets Courtyard area is set to be replaced by the Monsters Inc. Door Coaster and Monstropolis miniland, with an unannounced show taking over the MuppetVision 3D theater and new restaurants replacing the existing ones.
The Muppets are movin’ right along to Sunset Boulevard. Walt Disney World has now announced that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is officially set to close in 2026 for its ride reimagining. At the same time, they’ve revealed that the reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets will open in 2026.
The above post offers speculative closing & reopening date ranges, but the bottom line is that we expect that project to take 6 months or less. (I’d love to be wrong and it take a full 11 months!) Regardless, this almost necessarily means a closing date in the first half of the year for the Aerosmith version and an opening date in the second half of 2026 for the Muppet Mayhem edition.
Outside Theme Parks
- Disney Skyliner – Closed January 25, 2026, through January 31, 2026
- Unknown Water Park – Closing for season on September 8, 2025
Walt Disney World has announced that both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon water parks will be open for the summer season, through September 7, 2025. This means that, for the first time since 2019, Walt Disney World will have all 6 parks—all 4 theme parks and 2 water parks—open at the same time.
It also suggests, as reflected above, that one of the two water parks will close on September 8, 2025. It’s unclear which one that will be–normally, it’d be Typhoon Lagoon that would close and it’d happen a couple months later. In this case, it might be Blizzard Beach, since it received a shorter refurbishment earlier and reopened fairly quickly.
Finally, there’s the Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closure in Winter 2026. This is a routine refurbishment that usually occurs annually, so it’s not particularly noteworthy or unsurprising. And thankfully, Walt Disney World provided plenty of notice. However, as explained at length in that post, we do not recommend staying at a Skyliner resort during the downtime.
For resort work, please see our 2025-2026 Walt Disney World Hotel Construction & Refurbishments. If you are worried that any of resort hotel renovations will impact your stay, here’s a general rule to keep in mind: room refurbishments rarely impact hotel stays. These occur in specific clusters, and you’ll rarely notice the work being done.
Now, here’s a bit of my philosophy concerning refurbishments…
General Thoughts on Refurbishments
When news comes out about any refurbishment, my immediate reaction is always, “this is great–it means they’re actually doing something to the attraction!” My mind races with the possibilities of how attractions could be improved or plussed by Walt Disney Imagineering. Even though we might miss it on our next Walt Disney World visit, I’m always excited.
In reading feedback from others, I’ve discovered this perspective puts me in the minority. Others online fume about this, and how it would alter or impact their vacation plans. The saying “vacation ruined” has attained near-meme status among some fans, and that felt apt for some of the complaints. I can understand the perspective. Assessing the scope of the refurbishment in advance, scheduling liberal refurbishment dates, and opening early (under-promising and over-delivering) is always preferable to the alternative.
I can also understand that there’s other pent-up frustration at play here, ranging from radio-silence on projects to Walt Disney World’s tardiness in releasing park hours while expecting guests to plan several months in advance. Neither of these moves by Disney, among others, are defensible. At best, this communication is poor guest service. At worst, it’s demonstrative of a contemptible attitude towards guests.
However, I remain of the mindset that this refurbishment extension–and other current refurbishments–is potentially a good thing. Among the most vocal fans upset about the extension are those who are like me: guests who visit Walt Disney World at least every-other year. We are playing the ‘long’ fandom game.
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. I get excited when thinking about ways rides could be plussed, improving the experience for years to come. 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 Walt Disney World 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.
DINOSAUR works as a good example here. This attraction used to be called Countdown to Extinction (“CTX”) before an ill-advised movie tie-in was added. During that era, DINOSAUR had a litany of additional effects, many of its AAs had greater functionality, and the attraction was, as a whole, more impressive.
If you are a long-term fan, would you rather experience DINOSAUR every single year with 66% of the effects working, or every single year minus one with 95% of the effects working? For me, the answer to that is easy. I’ll take a superior long term experience every time. (That this is even a legitimate question for long-time fans speaks to the ‘instant gratification’ nature of things today, but that’s well beyond the scope of this post.)
Beyond that, there’s the much more compelling justification for regular refurbishments: they are essential for the safety of attractions. While we 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 (thankfully, Paul Pressler’s reign of terror is over). Years of neglect at Disneyland Paris have led to incidents of injury that could be attributed to a lack of maintenance (again, this has been addressed).
This is not meant to scare anyone or provoke an emotional reaction; the fact is that 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. (Or, in Disney’s case, one of the “Five Keys.”)
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 Nunisian practitioner of the Four Keys, show is another paramount consideration, and it should always be 100%. This is nice corporate propaganda, but I think the practical reality is that 100% is an unworkably high threshold in many circumstances.
I think we have seen this play out with Expedition Everest. Fans joke about the “Disco Yeti” and lament the fact that this jaw-dropping Audio Animatronics figure has not worked in nearly a decade. There are numerous theories as to why the Yeti hasn’t been fixed; what each of these share is that there are large-scale problems and no quick fixes.
Fixing the Yeti will require a closure of at least 6 months, and be quite expensive. The working Yeti is truly a magnificent sight to behold (and one most of you probably haven’t seen in A-mode unless you rode over a decade ago), but the attraction is still impressive with the Disco Yeti. At this point, it’s likely that Disney has determined the closure would take too long, cost too much, and the improvement would not be worth the investment.
There’s also the reality that Animal Kingdom is lacking in rides. Even after the opening of Pandora – World of Avatar, the park still is heavy on shows and animal exhibits and light on rides. Taking one of the park’s flagship rides down for 6 months to a year to fix one Audio Animatronics figure that guests see for 1-2 seconds might not be worth the sacrifice.
As a staunch proponent of show quality, I have a difficult time accepting the same argument for any attraction in Magic Kingdom, a park with a veritable “mountain range” and diverse slate of other attractions. In fact, the same goes for every castle park. These parks have enough attractions to pick up the slack if 1-2 attractions have to be taken offline simultaneously without ruining any vacations.
Guests are understandably concerned when it appears an inordinate number of attractions are closing during their vacation. Walt Disney World vacations 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.
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 attractions with show quality issues don’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.
Running an attraction with broken effects is only going to compound problems, and eventually a single broken effect will turn into myriad broken effects. Imagine this scenario park-wide, played out to its natural consequences. That’s not exactly what I’d call the “Disney Difference.”
Again, DINOSAUR is a good example here. If it’s your first visit and you experience DINOSAUR with 66% of the effects working, you won’t know what you’re missing. Riding it will, no doubt, be superior to not riding it. However, I’m guessing your satisfaction rating of the attraction wouldn’t be nearly as high, and you might question why so many people love the attraction, and why Disney was lazy with so much empty, dark space. (Or, perhaps you won’t: if you only ever eat dog food, you won’t know what you’re missing in a nice steak.)
The thing is, if Disney would not close DINOSAUR during your vacation so you don’t miss out on it, chances are that they would extend the same “courtesy” for other guests, and it would be standard operating procedure to never close anything during anyone’s vacation.
The end result of this would be a park full of “66% attractions” and first-timers would be left wondering why there was so much hype about Walt Disney World, in the first place. If you’re reading this as a lifelong fan, consider the possibility that you wouldn’t have become a lifelong fan if this were actually Disney’s modus operandi. (In fact, I’d argue that Walt Disney World is trending in this direction, dragging its feet on several necessary refurbishments, with the inaction being predicated upon short term guest satisfaction or cost-savings.)
This might sound like we’re applying ‘heavy’ Rawlsian theory to the lighthearted topic of theme parks, but philosophy isn’t worth a damn if it can’t be applied to theme parks. 😉
A lot of this might seem like an effort to absolve Disney of blame when it comes to refurbishments, but this is not the case. Disney has brought a lot of the guest unrest concerning refurbishments upon itself. The first issue is that Disney has numerous parks that have opened in the last two decades with incomplete slates of attractions, making it difficult to justify taking attractions offline for refurbishment. So step one, a wholly impractical step at this point, would be to open theme parks that are complete on day one.
Failing that, Disney could avoid a lot of the guest backlash concerning refurbishments if they would schedule more 3-4 day refurbishments of attractions to proactively address problems with preventative maintenance. Although this would not totally negate the need for extended refurbishments, it would improve show quality across the board and help avoid a lot of situations where attractions have to abruptly close because they are in dire need of maintenance. Moreover, a 3-4 day refurbishment is shorter than the duration of most vacations, allowing tourists to effectively plan around the refurbishment.
In this case, both parties planning ahead would prevent those “vacation ruined!” complaints. Don’t worry, Disney, we fans are resilient: we’ll still find something else to complain about. 😉
Joking aside, I realize that’s a tough line to draw between an excusable refurbishment and a frustratingly irritating one. Even if you subscribe to the some degree of the ‘philosophy’ I’m advancing, there is no bright-line rule. It’s still going to amount to a value judgment about what should ‘trigger’ a need for refurbishment, how many attractions should be down simultaneously across Walt Disney World, and what times of year are ideal for which refurbishments.
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
Any questions about the current refurbishments at Walt Disney World? 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!”? Where do you draw the line? 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!
