Hotel refurbishments, resort construction, and character-inspired makeovers continue at Walt Disney World from now through Summer 2026. 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. (Updated July 27, 2025.)
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 25, 2026, through January 31, 2026, all routes of the Disney Skyliner gondolas 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 2026 for more info and detailed advice.
All Star Music Resort – From August 4 through mid-October 2025, Maestro Mickey’s located at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort will undergo a phased refurbishment. During this time, the store will remain open. However, Guests may see and hear construction in the area until the work is complete.
While Walt Disney World has not revealed the nature of this project, it’s almost assuredly part of a phased gift shop project that have already occurred at other resorts. All Star Sports underwent a similar project earlier this year, and it consisted of a walling off sections of the gift shop to remove the carpet and replace it with laminate floor.
That worked pretty well there, with the floor being themed to a basketball court and new graphics being added above shelves. Hopefully this has a similar outcome that balances theme with modernization–and doesn’t remove the fun Maestro Mickey marquee!
All Star Sports Resort – From January 2026 until 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 (and perhaps overcrowded in March and April) as a result. Accordingly, our second-favorite All Star pool is Calypso Pool at Music. Duck Pond at Movies is also a winner.
Beach Club Resort – This hotel exterior will be undergoing routine maintenance from early June through October 2025. During this time, the porte cocheres will be closed. While efforts will be made to minimize disruptions, construction may be noticeable during daytime hours. All services—including valet, luggage assistance, and transportation—will remain available, and most Resort amenities will continue to be offered.
On a positive note, Stormalong Bay and Shipwreck Pool at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts have reopened following multi-month maintenance. There were no material guest changes to the feature pool, lazy river, or water slide–this was all routine work. Stormalong Bay is looking great, and greeting guests for triple-digit feels like heat!
Additionally, the soft goods refurbishment and lobby refresh of Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Villas is now finished. Not much changed–there’s new flooring, furniture, and furnishings. The most noticeable change is Donald Duck wall art, and other refreshed surfaces. These rooms were bland before, and they’re still pretty bland now–but minus carpet and plus better on-theme artwork.
Contemporary Resort – From now through July 2026 (previously through ‘Summer 2025’ making this a year-long extension), refurbishments will occur in select areas of Disney’s Contemporary Resort—including Bay Lake Tower and the Convention Center. Please allow for extra travel time. Guests may also see and hear construction during their stay. (For its part, Bay Lake Tower is receiving a top-to-bottom hard goods room refurbishment that is massive in scale and scope. It’s expected to wrap up late summer or early fall 2025.)
From January 26, 2026 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.
Fort Wilderness Campground – Walt Disney World is introducing New DVC Cabins Coming to Fort Wilderness Campground. The plan calls for more than 350 new cabins to replace the existing cabins at the resort, turning the resort side of the campground into a Disney Vacation Club property. This is occurring loop by loop and is pretty close to finished.
Additionally, a “collection of improvement projects” are underway at Fort Wilderness aimed at enhancing the guest experience, including proposed pool and walking trail upgrades. Construction is now taking place near the Meadow Swimmin’ Pool area to expand this area, during which time these pools will remain open. However, the nearby tennis courts, volleyball court and the Meadow Playground will be closed temporarily. Please note that Guests may see and hear construction in the area until the work is complete.
What’s much more noticeable than anything else is the resumption of work on Disney Lakeshore Lodge (formerly Reflections), which is already vertical and several stories tall! It’s on that basis that we recommend avoiding Fort Wilderness for the next couple of years. The whole point of Fort Wilderness for us is its serenity and seclusion. Construction will have an outsized impact on Fort Wilderness guests, as cranes tower over the Settlement to build a tower that will also tower over the campground.
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.
From now through November 2025, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will be undergoing refurbishment in the lobby and convention center areas. Guests may see and hear construction during daytime hours. In addition, portions of the lobby may be closed at times, but pools, dining and most other Resort hotel areas will remain available.
The main fruit of this project will be a New Lobby Bar Coming to Grand Floridian Resort During Main Building Overhaul. This replaces the iconic aviary with a new “Birdcage Bar.” Speaking of icons, due to this construction, the Grand Floridian Gingerbread House will not be presented during Christmas 2025. Our expectation is that it never returns. At least, not to the main lobby.
We’re also guessing that the Grand Floridian Tea Room will reopen after the reimagining is finished, albeit potentially as a new concept. Moreover, we expect the Grand Floridian Cafe to receive a reimagining at some point in 2025 or 2026, but that has yet to be announced.
Grand Floridian will receive a substantial overhaul with “Enchanted Gardens” as the unifying visual style. The scope and scale are not yet known, but the most likely scenario is the main lobby receiving an aesthetic and new carpet comparable to the smaller outlying buildings.
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. This was the big construction project at the Poly for the last two years, and it being finished greatly reduces the noise and blight around the resort.
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. All Resort dining, pools and amenities will remain available. Additionally, some views of the theme parks and other surrounding areas may be impacted.
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. Don’t worry about it.
Pop Century – Refurbishment work is now happening at Pop Century, which recently culminated in the completion of the Everything Pop Food Court. This added a new coffee shop and seating area, which is quite lovely.
From July 28 through early October, the lobby at Disney’s Pop Century Resort will undergo a refresh that’s likely to be similar in style to Everything Pop. The lobby will remain open during construction and all amenities will be available. Guests may hear or see maintenance in the area until work is complete.
The even bigger project is the Year-Long Disney’s Pop Century Resort Room Refurbishment Project. From now through mid-February 2026, guest rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort will undergo refurbishment. While all resort amenities will remain available, you may notice construction during daytime hours.
It’s a near-certainty that the Pop Century guest room refurbishment will be a smaller scale refresh rather than a top-to-bottom reimagining back in 2017. This is a soft goods project, which means updating furnishings, including but not limited to wall coverings, flooring, linens, decor, and some furniture. One building is now completed and the redone rooms look great! See First Look Photo Tour of New Rooms at Disney’s Pop Century Resort!
Port Orleans Riverside – Walt Disney World has started its next slate of room reimaginings at Port Orleans Riverside, from now through February 2026. This will impact the Magnolia Bend rooms, which are mostly the Royal Rooms. It’s unclear whether this experiment in themed rooms is being refreshed in a similar style, or going away in favor of standard rooms.
Regardless of this room redo, our bet is that there’s much more to come. In all likelihood, those crews will move over to Port Orleans Riverside and the refurbishment will last longer than presently scheduled. By the time Magnolia Bend is done in Winter 2026, it’ll be time for Alligator Bayou to receive its next round of room redos.
If the normal project cadence is followed, the normal rooms in Alligator Bayou will also receive a hard goods refurbishment. That project could last another full year, finishing around early 2027.
Wilderness Lodge – Officially, there are two current project at Wilderness Lodge: exterior refurbishment work and refurbishments to the Copper Creek Villas inside the main building. During this time, guests may see and hear construction work during daytime hours. The room refurbishment is expected to wrap up by September 2025.
The exterior work could impact Wilderness Lodge until 2027 if permits are accurate. As a result, this hotel arguably has the biggest slate of construction projects in 2025. However, 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.
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 2026? 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!
