Construction walls are up (again) at Walt Disney World, as big projects kick into high gear at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom. This covers impacts via visual blight, lost capacity, navigational difficulties, etc. that these closures and expansion plans will have between now and 2029 or 2030 on vacations and the guest experience. (Updated April 27, 2025.)
That’s right: 2030. The company essentially presented a 5-year plan for Walt Disney World. I point this out to underscore a couple of things. First, the parks are not currently a sea of construction walls, nor will they be throughout the next several years. These projects (along with a handful of unannounced ones) are going to be spread out, and will not start or happen at exactly the same time.
Second, when this many projects are announced over this long of a timeline, there should be restraint in your emotions (excitement, outrage, sorrow, etc). It will take a while for all of this to take shape, if all of it takes shape. This probably doesn’t need to be underscored after the litany of cancelled projects from the 2019 D23 Expo, but we have heard many fans hand wave that away because of the pandemic.
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but some of those projects were never happening, regardless of the COVID closure. Aspects of the EPCOT overhaul were on thin ice from the beginning, and I’m skeptical we’d be skipping down Cherry Tree Lane, riding a Mary Poppins attraction, seeing certain films, or stepping foot inside the Play Pavilion–among other things.
Longtime fans know this is nothing new. Old-timers are probably familiar with Eisner’s infamous “Disney Decade” and just how much of that never came to fruition. There’s a reason you can’t visit Port Disney, WestCot, Disney’s America, Dick Tracy’s Crimestoppers, Mickey’s Movieland, David Copperfield’s Magic Underground, Great Muppet Movie Ride, Tomorrowland 2055–you get the idea. No point in reopening old wounds.
Even under Iger and Chapek pre-pandemic, Disney wasn’t shy about killing projects. Remember Hyperion Wharf? Main Street Theater? The Pixie Hollow phase of New Fantasyland? Phase two of the Disney California Adventure overhaul? Other projects have been announced or hinted at, and not happened.
One maximum of Disney news and rumors is: Phase II never happens. I’d like to think that things are different this time. The Disney Decade was more ambitious than even this, and Eisner got overzealous with an (at the time) much smaller Disney Company. The 2017 and 2019 announcements did mostly happen, but it wasn’t just the pandemic that intervened. It was also Disney’s debt load, shift to streaming, and Fox acquisition.
This time, it seems like the stars are aligned: Wall Street wants to see investment in the parks, especially after seeing the growth potential and resilience during the pent-up demand era. Universal’s Epic Universe is poised to draw a boatload (or several million boatloads) of guests to Florida, all of whom will need ‘other stuff’ to do. Everything announced during the D23 Expo is fairly low-risk, high-reward. There are no Galactic Starcruisers or other potential boondoggles.
Nevertheless, things can and will change. A few of the announcements made for Walt Disney World this go-round are remote, and it’d be quite easy to quietly drop them if earlier projects go over budget, the United States enters a recession, Epic Universe takes significant market share from WDW, tariffs cause costs to skyrocket, or there’s a change in leadership at Disney before the projects get too far along.
The last one of those is an inevitability. The company’s board extended Bob Iger’s contract by two years, and he will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer through December 31, 2026. That means whatever is not already under construction by 2027 is vulnerable as a new CEO quickly tries to make his or her mark. This is a big reason why, all else being equal, we’d rather have Josh D’Amaro–or, better yet, Tom Staggs–as CEO successor than Dana Walden. Having a “parks person” at the top makes it less likely these plans get derailed.
You might wonder whether this is Wet Blanket Blog or Disney Tourist Blog that you’re reading given the cynicism. I’d like to think it’s prudence more than that. To be clear, we think the future is bright for Walt Disney World. We’re bullish about the Florida parks, and Parks & Resorts as a whole. There are additional announcements to come, and that we are likely to see is more construction than what’s listed here. I’d just caution against getting too excited for any project that doesn’t yet have a groundbreaking timeline.
Anyway, here’s my take on how construction of the in-park projects will impact Walt Disney World guests…
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Right now, the most visible work in all of Walt Disney World is on this roller coaster track replacement. This project is moving at a fast pace, but Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is still expected to be closed for over a year.
This is also likely to partially overlap with the 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. We don’t expect that path to be finished by the time Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens in 2026, but it’ll at least be started on that BTMRR doesn’t have to close again for extended downtime in another year.
For now, though, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a dead-end. The biggest impact is not the construction wall, but rather, the gigantic crane that’s visible from all over Magic Kingdom and even outside the park! As with routine refurbishments, expect to see a wall go up in front of the entrance to the attraction. Over time, that wall will move out to encompass the entrance for the rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, too.
Tropical Americas – This is a new land coming to Animal Kingdom that’ll be highlighted by an Encanto Magical Madrigal Casita Dark Ride and Indiana Jones Adventure. The former replaces Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama, whereas the latter replaces DINOSAUR.
Tropical Americas will also feature a new area, Pueblo Esperanza, the hub in heart of the rainforest that’s name translates to “Village of Hope” and will offer up a critter carousel, reimagined restaurant, and retail.
TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures closed this winter. The day after they went extinct, construction walls went up around Dino-Rama.
The Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, Dino-Bite Snacks, Trilo-Bites, and DINOSAUR will all remain open throughout 2025. While a phased closure is possible, our expectation is that the remainder of Dinoland USA will close in early 2026. (See When Will DINOSAUR Close at Walt Disney World? for more info.)
Out of all the projects on this list, Tropical Americas is among the most impactful. Dino-Rama is (more or less) in the middle of Animal Kingdom. These construction walls will be in guest-facing areas that people walk past. The first phase of the project won’t cut off access to Dinoland entirely–that won’t happen until the front section closes, at which time it’s game over for DINOSAUR. That attraction becomes inaccessible.
The good news is that we do not expect the Tropical Americas project to create dead-ends at Flame Tree BBQ or Finding Nemo: The Musical. There’s a path that bypasses Dinoland, and goes along the waterfront. Although this is very close to Dino-Rama, there’s nothing to suggest it’ll need to close. The models and concept art we’ve seen suggest that this path is safe–that the show-building and casita for the Encanto attraction will be built in the other direction.
That’s good news and means Tropical Americas won’t be as negatively impactful on crowd flow as the EPCOT overhaul, for example. Nevertheless, losing two rides, multiple restaurants, and retail is a big blow on capacity in a park that is already really light on rides and things to do. Given its proportionality, it’s our position that Tropical Americas will have the biggest negative guest impact of anything on this list.
Zootopia: Better Zoogether – This is a replacement for “It’s Tough to Be a Bug,” the 3D show inside the Tree of Life. That attraction is now closed, and work is underway on Zootopia: Better Zoogether, which is expected to open Thanksgiving weekend.
Nothing about the exterior is expected to change, so this will have minimal impact on the guest experience. Currently, there aren’t even noticeable construction walls around the Tree of Life.
The closure of “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” will result in a slight loss of capacity for Animal Kingdom, but far from a meaningful one. With much of Dinoland closed at the same time, you might be wondering: Should You Skip Animal Kingdom in 2025 to 2027?
Cars Land – This is the other leading contender for most impactful project to the guest experience, right alongside Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom. Cars area will actually replace the Rivers of America, meaning that Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat will permanently close.
Early site work on Cars Land is already underway as of Spring 2025, but it’s all backstage for now. Guest-facing impacts are still several months away, as discussed in When Will Rivers of America & Tom Sawyer Island Close at Magic Kingdom? Before in-park demolition gets started, work must first begin on the laydown yards behind the park.
Prepwork itself is likely a fairly involved project that will take multiple months. There’s also the possibility that even the in-park work won’t be done all at once–that Imagineering and construction crews will use coffer dams to preserve the aesthetics of the guest-facing side of the Rivers of America for as long as possible (see above and below photos from 2018). This could last into 2026.
Once work does get far enough along to necessitate it, construction walls will go up around the current waterfront. Since you can’t walk on water (I assume), that won’t affect how you navigate the park. What is possible, however, is that the waterfront promenade in Frontierland also has to close, in which case the construction walls eliminate the parade route bypass. This could impact viewing areas for Festival of Fantasy and Starlight Night Parade, but we’re guessing it won’t come to that.
Closing the Tom Sawyer Island and the Riverboat will result in a loss of capacity, but it shouldn’t be that noticeable given the park’s robust ride roster and the low utilization rates of these offerings. The real issue here is visual blight. The Rivers of America gives a sense of serenity to two different lands in Magic Kingdom, and is one of the few beautiful, natural vistas in the park.
It will be a big blow to the atmosphere of this corner of the park, especially in the short term when its immediate replacement is an active construction site. Many longtime fans “get” this, but it’s impossible to say the extent to which this will be felt until the walls go up and earth starts moving. And it’ll be like this for a few years.
Villains Land – This is essentially phase two (uh oh) of the Magic Kingdom expansion, coming online after Cars Land. Our expectation is that there will be overlap in the construction of the two lands, but that Cars Land will finish first by 1-2 years. A good comparison is probably the one-two punch of Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during the last development cycle.
While technically inside the existing boundary of Magic Kingdom, at least for the most part, Villains Land looks to be built on what’s currently the far side of the Rivers of America. This is on the northwestern most portion of the park, above both Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion–two attractions we’re expecting will be connected by a walkway either through or around the new land (or both).
This back half of the Rivers of America isn’t really visible except from the Walt Disney World Railroad, Tom Sawyer Island, the Riverboat, exit area of Big Thunder, or queue of Haunted Mansion. There will be some amount of visual blight, but the closure of the aforementioned attractions and construction of Cars Land is the real cause of this, so listing it separately is almost redundant. To that point, it’s not too late for Disney to do the right thing and scale back the Rivers of America removal–it would not impact Villains Land!
Monstropolis – Walt Disney World has announced that Monstropolis will replace Muppets Courtyard. Work was always intended to begin in 2025, and could begin backstage at any point with the construction of the gravity building and facade for the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster.
On the guest facing side, Disney has announced Summer 2025 closing dates MuppetVision 3D and restaurants in this area. This means that the entire area is likely to be walled-off by around June 8, 2025. Prior to that, Walt Disney World announced that “construction on the land is ready to begin and progress walls begin installation in the area before the end of March.”
It’s now the end of April, and those walls still aren’t up. It’s unclear whether this is an actual delay or Disney just changed course and opted against walling-off Studio 1 before the area as a whole closes. There’s really no urgency to demolish that building–the most time-consuming work is constructing the aforementioned gravity building and facade for the Doors Coaster, which will be built backstage.
Regardless, the guest-facing impact is construction walls along a walkway. Muppets Courtyard is fairly isolated, at least in the sense that it doesn’t contain a guest corridor within it. So you’ll walk past walls en route to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but they won’t create dead-ends or require you to take longer routes around the park.
The impact on park capacity is fairly negligible. Although two restaurants are closing, they’re fairly unpopular. The bigger blow is the loss of cultural treasure, MuppetVision 3D. Even so, that’ll be more or less offset by the opening of the Villains and Little Mermaid stage shows. Grand Avenue is not closing, meaning the thoroughfare with BaseLine Tap House isn’t going anywhere. It’s all on the other side of that walkway.
Disney Lakeshore Lodge – It’s been over 5 years since Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge was shelved during the closure of Walt Disney World. But like a phoenix rising from Arizona, the project is now back as Disney Lakeshore Lodge, with vertical construction of the hotel visible from around the Magic Kingdom area.
Disney Lakeshore Lodge is now set to open until 2027, and the company has wasted no time in getting down to business on building it. Demolition of the abandoned River Country water park already happened 5 years ago, as had site clearing and prepwork for the new lodge. Pre-closure, the project was getting very close to beginning actual construction, so it should come as little surprise that it is now vertical and the first several stories of Disney Lakeshore Lodge have been built.
Construction of Disney Lakeshore Lodge has a considerable impact on Fort Wilderness Campground and, to a lesser extent, Wilderness Lodge. The new towers are a stone’s throw from Pioneer Hall at Fort Wilderness, and construction already towers over this area of the campground. Work is much closer than Gran Destino, Riviera, or Island Tower to those respective resorts. Construction blight and noise hurt the serenity and seclusion of Fort Wilderness, at least along the waterfront in the main Settlement area. There’s not really any guest impact outside of Fort Wilderness, and the Cascade Cabins at Wilderness Lodge.
By and large, I don’t see many of these projects impacting the guest experience all that much. Given some of the concerns that readers have expressed after hearing all of the recent news, hopefully this eases some minds. Absolutely nothing on this list–not even Tropical Americas or Cars Land–is going to be even remotely comparable to the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit over the last 5 years that made navigation through the former Future World tedious and unpleasant.
It’s true that there’s a lot of “expansion” within the existing footprints of the park and that Walt Disney World is going to lose some major assets in the process. There will be some visual blight, lost capacity, and so forth. But for the most part, navigating the parks won’t be more difficult and it won’t feel like a sea of construction walls or that there’s “nothing to do” since so many attractions are closed.
The biggest exceptions, as noted above, are around the Rivers of America (lost scenery) and Dinoland (lost capacity). Of course, this list doesn’t take into account any as-yet unannounced refurbishments or ride reimaginings, and it’s our understanding that many more of those are on the way in the next 5 years. We’ll have more on that as information becomes available–stay tuned.
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
What is your take on the slate of upcoming construction projects at Walt Disney World? Will you postpone an upcoming visit to avoid construction? What, if anything, that has been announced do you think is most likely to get canceled? Are you planning on being at Walt Disney World when all of this is done? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!