Resort refurbishments, resort building, and character-inspired makeovers proceed at Walt Disney World via 2024 & 2025. This useful resource supplies information on room renovations, what to keep away from, the place to guide, and what to anticipate when it comes to lodge work at Walt Disney World. (Up to date Could 4, 2024.)
Walt Disney World continues to undertake refurbishments as staffing shortages preclude full occupancy of the resorts. Consequently, there are a selection of smaller-scale tasks that take sure buildings or a portion of rooms out of fee as a part of more-targeted, rolling refurbishments. (The brand new Could 2024 additions to the schedule are at Port Orleans and Yacht Membership, and since this put up is in alphabetical order, they’re on the backside of the record.)
We do Walt Disney World month-to-month lodge stays, normally emphasizing resorts the place there are new issues, adjustments, or ongoing building to see how that harms, improves, or in any other case impacts the visitor expertise. For those who’ve but to guide a lodge on your upcoming Walt Disney World trip and wish to be notified about all the newest resort adjustments, enroll right here for our FREE Disney e-newsletter right here.
When reserving a Walt Disney World trip, we extremely suggest considering recently-completed and ongoing building tasks on the varied resorts, as these completely can impression the standard of your journey. Reserving a lodge with a closed pool or building noise and cranes proper exterior your window is clearly going to be a worse expertise than a resort that simply completed its huge refurbishment and nonetheless has that recent feeling and ‘new lodge’ scent.
Be aware that this doesn’t embrace DVC villas if they don’t impression the lodge aspect of a resort. For these tasks, see our Disney Trip Membership Resort Refurbishments & Development Timeline. That covers all the room reimaginings at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and past that we simply introduced on the rental affiliation assembly. These tasks additionally impression Boulder Ridge, Bay Lake Tower, and each Crescent Lake DVC resorts.
Suffice to say, a lot is going on on the lodge entrance at Walt Disney World. Let’s check out all the present and upcoming main lodge tasks which have the potential to impression friends…
Ongoing or Upcoming Resort Refurbishments
All Star Films – Whereas the room renovations at Disney’s All-Star Films Resort (in addition to Sports activities and Music) are actually completed, extra updates are anticipated within the subsequent couple of years.
Wanting manner down the street to early 2025, the Fantasia Pool at Disney’s All-Star Films Resort might be closed for routine upkeep from January 2025 via April 2025. Company may even see or hear building work throughout daytime hours. Throughout this time, lodge friends are welcome to swim within the Duck Pond Pool at Disney’s All-Star Films Resort.
Artwork of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore & Riviera Resorts – Nothing is presently on the schedule for these resorts. That’s the excellent news. The possibly unhealthy information, relying upon the way you wish to take a look at it, is that the Skyliner gondolas will in all probability shut in phases from mid-to-late January 2025.
We point out this as a result of it occurs yearly, and Walt Disney World supplied very quick discover of it in 2024 to the consternation of many followers who already had journeys booked. Perhaps 2025 would be the anomaly and it received’t happen, however we’d suggest being ready for an additional two week or so closure throughout the winter offseason.
When it does occur, this routine downtime of the “Most Magical Flight on Earth” impacts all the Skyliner routes and resorts. These gondolas service two Walt Disney World theme parks (Hollywood Studios and Epcot) plus 4 resorts (Artwork of Animation & Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore, plus Riviera Resort & Caribbean Seashore once more) by way of 5 stations.
We strongly suggest switching resorts in the event you’re staying at a Skyliner lodge throughout this refurbishment. As mentioned in that article (hyperlink above), the Skyliner is the promoting level of these resorts, and why they cost premium costs. We’d additionally suggest not reserving any of these resorts in mid to late January 2025, as one other Skyliner refurbishment is probably going at the moment.
Seashore Membership Resort & Villas – The comfortable items refurbishment and foyer refresh of Disney’s Seashore Membership Resort and Villas is now completed. Not a lot modified–there’s new carpet within the hallways, and contained in the room the carpet has been changed by a laminate flooring.
There’s additionally new furnishings–chairs and sofa–in addition to new curtains, Donald Duck wall artwork, and different refreshed surfaces. That’s all I observed. These rooms have been bland earlier than, they usually’re nonetheless fairly bland now–however minus carpet and plus higher on-theme paintings.
With that mentioned, an enormous closure is on the horizon: Stormalong Bay Pool is Closing in 2025 for Refurbishment. From January 2025 via Could 2025, Stormalong Bay and Shipwreck Pool at Disney’s Yacht and Seashore Membership Resorts might be closed for routine upkeep. Company may even see or hear building work throughout daytime hours. Throughout this time, Company are welcome to swim on the Tidal, Admiral and Dunes Cove leisure swimming pools.
BoardWalk Inn – This resort is present within the midst of a multi-year reimagining. No timeline has been given for when the work will finish, however our expectation is mid-2024. The room renovations are actually completed (see our Assessment, Pictures & Movies of the New Rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn) and work is happening alongside the BoardWalk itself.
Walt Disney World can be including and altering components of the beloved turn-of-the-century promenade and contained in the Deluxe Resort, together with a brand new foyer design, close by espresso bar, delectable eating choices, refreshed visitor rooms, and extra.
Inside Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, it’s tough to discern whether or not work on the foyer is completed. Carousel Espresso has opened and Belle Vue Lounge has been refreshed, with each being completed in half-measure. Plainly the identical has additionally occurred with the foyer, nevertheless it’s really robust to inform. Little or no modified.
The most important venture on the BoardWalk is the brand new Cake Bake Store Restaurant will substitute ESPN Membership, and is slated to open in Summer season 2024. (It’s already been delayed thrice as building strikes at a glacial tempo.) This isn’t the one new “restaurant” coming to this space: pickle-stuffed corn canines (you learn that appropriately) will quickly be coming to the BoardWalk courtesy of Blue Ribbon Corn Canine.
Fort Wilderness Campground – Walt Disney World is introducing New DVC Cabins Coming to Fort Wilderness Campground. The plan requires greater than 350 new cabins to interchange the present cabins on the resort, turning the resort aspect of the campground right into a Disney Trip Membership property. In so doing, a “assortment of enchancment tasks” are underway at Fort Wilderness aimed toward enhancing the visitor expertise, together with proposed pool and strolling path enhancements.
Work on the Disney Trip Membership cabins has now began, and the primary part of cabins is within the means of being put in. The primary cabins will formally open on July 1, 2024. Development impression might be minimal, because the cabins are pre-fabricated off-site and put in unit-by-unit, not constructed on location. This may happen loop by loop and must be completed by April 2025.
To arrange for the inflow of DVC friends, Walt Disney World reimagined the eating places in Pioneer Corridor. That work is now completed, and each Crockett’s Tavern and Path’s Finish have reopened. The latter is now quick-service and a grab-and-go market as a substitute of sit-down restaurant.
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – Disney Trip Membership overhauled the Huge Pine Key constructing of lodge rooms at Walt Disney World’s flagship resort. This constructing has since reopened and the brand new rooms have debuted–see Grand New Rooms at Walt Disney World’s Flagship Resort for a glance inside.
These reimagined rooms have since debuted on the common resort aspect of the Grand Floridian, and all the outlying buildings are actually completed. Crews have now moved into the primary foyer, which is being completed in phases. How lengthy it’ll take is anybody’s guess–it actually relies upon upon how concerned the venture is. We’re guessing it’ll final for at the least the primary half of 2024.
We’re additionally guessing that the Grand Floridian Tea Room is not going to return till after the reimagining is completed. In a logical and ideally suited world, these venues could be reimagined alongside the foyer, and open in time for Spring Break 2024. At current, there’s no indication that’s the intent–no building exercise has been noticed in or round both.
Grand Floridian will obtain a considerable overhaul with “Enchanted Gardens” because the unifying visible model. The scope and scale will not be but identified, however the most definitely situation is the primary foyer receiving an aesthetic and new carpet akin to the smaller outlying buildings. See our Grand Floridian Resort Reimagining Report for extra particulars.
Polynesian Village Resort – Walt Disney World is constructing a new DVC tower at Polynesian Village Resort between the present Polynesian longhouses and Marriage ceremony Pavilion, close to the Grand Floridian.
In gentle of this, Walt Disney World’s official website has this message: “As we put together for the proposed growth at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, you will notice and listen to building at sure instances of day. To reduce disruptions throughout your keep, actions that will create noise is not going to begin sooner than 9 a.m.”
For those who’re staying at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort anytime in 2024, we’d suggest requesting a room that’s not within the Aotearoa, Fiji, or Tuvalu longhouses. These buildings are adjoining to the development website, and the one ones that must be impacted in any materials manner. The DVC tower building is seen from different areas within the resort, however the impression is in any other case minor.
Really, we suggest avoiding the Polynesian fully for the following 12 months. As defined in Worst Accommodations at Walt Disney World for 2024, the development impression might be ongoing and it’s probably that smaller tasks might be undertaken along with what’s already been introduced to organize the resort infrastructure for the tower and its added DVC friends.
Previous to this tower, work wrapped up on the Nice Ceremonial Home, porte-cochère, new monorail station, and gardens. Room refurbishments have been additionally a part of the Poly’s overhaul and people are actually completed. See our Assessment, Pictures & Video: New Moana Rooms at Polynesian Village Resort for a tour and ideas on the adjustments from our most up-to-date lodge keep.
Port Orleans French Quarter (NEW) – From Could 2024 via November 2024, some visitor rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter might be underneath refurbishment. Company may even see or hear building work throughout daytime hours.
It is a last-minute addition to the schedule, which is considerably shocking. First, as a result of it’s a extremely lengthy venture. It’s not unplanned upkeep–room refurbishments are scheduled years prematurely, so why wait to inform friends till the month it begins? Second, as a result of it’s “some” visitor rooms, that means it’s in all probability the primary part of a venture with a deliberate pause for the guts of the vacation season when occupancy is excessive.
Lastly, as a result of the timing traces up for this to be a tough items refurbishment (the final comfortable items refurb was in 2018). Which means a full room redesign or reimagining is probably going, which may imply characters being added to the rooms in addition to a brand new configuration (much like the ‘Beneath the Sea’ Impressed Little Mermaid Rooms at Caribbean Seashore).
It’s additionally fascinating as a result of Walt Disney World by no means completed the final comfortable items refurbishment subsequent door at Port Orleans Riverside! That began in 2019, was interrupted by the COVID closure, and by no means completed. We all know this for sure as a result of we simply stayed in one of many outdated rooms at Riverside. So it’s fascinating that French Quarter would begin the following spherical of refurbishments earlier than Riverside completed up the final one.
Yacht Membership Resort (NEW) – From January 2025 via Could 2025, some visitor rooms at Disney’s Yacht Membership Resort might be underneath refurbishment. Company may even see or hear building work throughout daytime hours. Most resort lodge facilities will stay obtainable.
Like with French Quarter, this room refurbishment is fascinating for a number of causes. First, Yacht Membership’s “new” rooms (air quotes) aren’t actually that outdated and–in contrast to overhauls accomplished earlier than then–have held up very well. So both it’s time for an additional comfortable items refurbishment or Walt Disney World is making an as-yet unannounced change. My cash is on the previous–it’s about time for a refresh.
Moreover, the identical Stormalong Bay Pool closure that’ll impression Seashore Membership will impression Yacht Membership in 2025. We’d keep away from staying at each resorts throughout that venture until vital reductions are supplied. That’s one of many essential promoting factors of those motels, and its ‘worth’ is constructed into room charges.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study motels on our Walt Disney World Accommodations Evaluations web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Evaluations. To economize on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to start out is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for the whole lot you have to know!
Your Ideas
Have any latest observations or experiences with lodge building at Walt Disney World you’d be keen to share? The place at Walt Disney World are you staying in 2024 or 2025? Any resorts you’re deliberately avoiding? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments of those resort refurbishment or reimagining tasks? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
