This Walt Disney World ride refurbishment calendar lists the closure schedule for 2026 at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Attractions close for routine maintenance, safety upgrades, improvements, and reimaginings.
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.
Now that the holiday season is over, Refurbishment Season is in Full Force at Walt Disney World. Winter is a common time for ride closures and resort maintenance projects, and there are several that just started or were recently calendared. Although several projects just started, the good news is that the vast majority of those are at the hotels–pool closures, restaurants, a boat dock, and more–as opposed to attractions.
When it comes to ride refurbishments, there actually are not that many happening right now or on the calendar. There are some, but when it comes to routine maintenance, there’d usually be more this time of year. Winter is historically ‘refurbishment season’ in the parks, and that normally results in multiple closures in all 4 parks, usually lasting a few days to a few weeks in duration. That isn’t the case this year.
The reason for this is probably because Walt Disney World has started its next development cycle and also is undertaking several lengthier ride reimaginings. There’s a lot of ongoing construction throughout Walt Disney World, beyond the scope of attraction closures. Entire lands and areas of the parks, from Dino-Rama to the Rivers of America to Muppets Courtyard, are completely closed. Accordingly, Disney doesn’t have as much ‘excess bandwidth’ to take even more attractions offline for brief preventative maintenance or TLC.
As a result of this deferred maintenance, you can also expect unplanned downtime. Since this happens as a result of rides breaking down, you can’t really plan for it (hence it being “unplanned”). We’re still mentioning this because you should expect rides to go offline during your trip, and prepare to roll with the punches. 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.
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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 January 19, 2026:
Animal Kingdom
- DINOSAUR – Permanently closing on February 2, 2026
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug – Permanently closed
- The Boneyard – Permanently closed
- TriceraTop Spin – Permanently closed
Construction is now underway on the Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, which will replace Dinoland USA. Walls are 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, which went extinct years ago, whereas Indiana Jones Adventure is a reimagining of DINOSAUR.
The final piece of the puzzle for Dinoland is that Walt Disney World has officially announced that the closure date for DINOSAUR is February 2, 2026. There are several other operational updates for Animal Kingdom late this year and early next as a result to prepare for the permanent closure of Dinoland USA in February 2026.
Magic Kingdom
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Closed for track replacement and enhancements until Spring 2026
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – Closed for enhancements until Spring 2026
- Carousel of Progress – Closing for reimagining sometime in 2026 or 2027
- Happily Ever After Fireworks – Minor adjustments starting January 28, 2026
- “Let the Magic Begin” Welcome Show – Minor adjustments starting January 28, 2026
- Liberty Square Riverboat – Permanently closed
- Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire – Minor adjustments starting January 28, 2026
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – Closed for refurbishment until TBD (at least March 20, 2026)
- Tom Sawyer Island – Permanently closed
- TRON Lightcycle Run – Ares overlay ended
- Walt Disney World Railroad – Operating in shuttle mode for next few years
The only project that qualifies as a refurbishment at Magic Kingdom is to Pete’s Silly Sideshow, and even that’s nothing major. The tents are being repaired or replaced, and the meet & greets normally in that venue have moved outside in Storybook Circus.
Additionally, the Cinderella Castle makeover starts this month. This project involves repainting the Magic Kingdom icon in a more classic color scheme, restoring its pre-50th Anniversary appearance. The updated Cinderella Castle will feature grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold.
As a result of the repainting, there will also be temporary adjustments to entertainment starting January 28, 2026. This includes a modified “Let the Magic Begin” welcome show. The other daytime show, “Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire,” will continue to be available with minor adjustments. Likewise, the Happily Ever After fireworks will also continue to be shown with minor adjustments.
Once work begins on repainting Cinderella Castle, cranes and lifts will be elevated during the morning hours. They will be lowered in the afternoon and evening. Aside from morning photos have cranes in the background, we expect the guest impact to be fairly negligible.
Beyond that, the above Spring 2026 reopening timelines come courtesy of Walt Disney World’s 2026 Calendar of Events: Dates & Details for Reimagined Rides, Areas & Attractions!
As discussed there, our expectation is that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad returns by Spring Break. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is more of a wildcard; it could return closer to Memorial Day.
Carousel of Progress was not mentioned as part of that announcement, suggesting that the timeline for that reimagining is not yet firm. That likely means it’s slated to happen in the second half of 2026, or potentially even early 2027.
Last July, there were several major closures in Magic Kingdom that started to make way for the Piston Peak National Park area based on Cars. The Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and Liberty Square Riverboat are all now closed.
Along with that, “shuttle mode” operations of the Walt Disney World Railroad has begun due to Frontierland Station closing on a temporary basis for Cars and Villains Land construction.
Over in Tomorrowland, Carousel of Progress will receive a brand-new introductory scene featuring an Audio Animatronics figure of Walt Disney. There are also enhancements coming to the current scenes that follow, the details of which have yet to be released.
A timeline has yet to be released, but our expectation is that Carousel of Progress closes sometime after Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin reopens. The attraction reopening in late 2026 is the best case scenario, with 2027 being more likely.
EPCOT
- ¡Celebración Encanto! – Extended indefinitely
- Frozen Ever After – Closed for refurbishment from January 26, 2026 through sometime in February 2026
- Soarin’ Across America – Debuts by Memorial Day 2026
- Soarin’ Around the World – Closes by Memorial Day 2026
Over at EPCOT, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure closed for a brief refurbishment in mid-November but has since reopened. The ride now features enhanced digital visuals and clearer imagery projected in 2D. Remy’s fans will spot new props and lighting enhancements when they are added to the queue and attraction over the next few months, into early 2026.
But wait, there’s more! Frozen Ever After is getting a major enhancement for the first time in forever, with the upgraded Audio Animatronics of Kristoff, Anna & Elsa. Walt Disney World has not yet announced the specific reopening date for Frozen Ever After, but we would expect it to be finished by Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras.
Additionally, Walt Disney World has revealed that Soarin’ Across America will debut by Memorial Day 2026. Our expectation is that this actually means a few days before the holiday itself–in time for the long weekend, but not earlier in April or May. What’s unknown is whether there will be a brief refurbishment to Soarin’ prior to the change, or if Disney will swap the films out overnight. We could see it going either way–Soarin’ could use a bit of TLC, so hopefully a few days’ of downtime are in order.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! – Debuts in Summer 2026
- The Magic of Disney Animation – Opens later in Summer 2026
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – Permanently closes on March 2, 2026
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets – Opens in Summer 2026
- Star Wars Launch Bay – Permanently closed
- Taylor Swift Eras Concert Costumes – Activation ends on January 23, 2026
- The Walt Disney Studios Lot – Opens in Summer 2026
The hugely popular Taylor Swift Eras “Activation” in Walt Disney Presents ends on January 23, 2026. This just debuted and will have a relatively short run. As we explain in our full post on the Taylor Swift Eras Experience, it could be extended–but we wouldn’t bank on that.
The nearby Animation Courtyard is now permanently closed to be reimagined into the Walt Disney Studios Lot, which will open in phases during Summer 2026. Two attractions within this “land” will remain open during that time: Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure and Walt Disney Presents.
Then there’s Star Wars Launch Bay, which was previously ‘The Magic of Disney Animation.’ That has closed permanently to become…The Magic of Disney Animation. What’s old is new again! The Magic of Disney Animation is slated to open “later” in Summer 2026, which likely means sometime after late June 2026.
MuppetVision 3D, PizzeRizzo, and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano are all now officially closed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 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 on March 2, 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 Summer 2026.
Note that Walt Disney Imagineering has already started on reimagining the pre-show while Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster remains operational. This is the biggest component of the project, meaning the turnaround time on the closure could be condensed significantly–perhaps only a few weeks of downtime.
Outside Theme Parks
- Disney Skyliner – Closed January 25, 2026 through January 31, 2026
- Disney Skyliner – Closed January 24, 2027 through January 30, 2027
- Blizzard Beach Water Park – Reopens on February 15, 2026
- Typhoon Lagoon – Closes for the season on February 14, 2026; Reopens for summer by May 26, 2026.
Walt Disney World has announced a reopening date for Blizzard Beach and closing date for Typhoon Lagoon. Beyond that, they’ve revealed that both parks will then be open at the same time from May 26 through September 8, 2026. This doesn’t set a reopening date for Typhoon Lagoon, it sets a deadline (although it could end up being both). It’s also unclear which park will close as of September 8, 2026–probably Blizzard Beach.
This water park changeover happens every single year, with each water park taken offline for a seasonal refurbishment. This is equal parts routine maintenance and lack of demand, as it’s routinely colder during the fall through spring to the point that Walt Disney World doesn’t need both water parks. (In fact, Typhoon Lagoon is closed today due to winter weather as I write this.)
Finally, there’s the Disney Skyliner Gondolas Closure in Winter 2026 and again in Winter 2027. That’s right, Walt Disney World has already posted the refurbishment dates for both 2026 and 2027. These are both routine refurbishments that usually occur annually, so it’s not particularly noteworthy or unsurprising.
Thankfully, Walt Disney World provided plenty of notice so guests can plan around the closures. As explained in that post, we do not recommend staying at a Skyliner resort during the downtime (hence WDW providing so much advance warning).
For resort work, please see our 2026-2027 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.
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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!