Skip to Content

Home » Disney World Closures & What’s New: Everything to Know

Disney World Closures & What’s New: Everything to Know

By Author Meg Frost

Posted on Published:

Disney World is not immune to routine maintenance and permanent closures.

Fortunately Disney is usually pretty great on staying on top of things and can give us a timeframe for such things!

If you’ll be visiting this year, check out this list of Disney World closures and what’s new before you book, so you can avoid disappointment with missing out on your favorite attraction or checking out the latest and greatest.

Closures and openings are subject to change at any time, including dates. This post will be continuously updated throughout the year as information is provided by official Disney sources.

Table of Contents show

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Photo of Avatar banshees projected onto Animal Kingdom's Tree of Life at night.
Photo by David Roark, courtesy of Disney.

What’s closed

  • TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, and It’s Tough to Be a Bug! are all permanently closed.
  • Dinosaur, Donald’s Dino-Bash meet-n-greet, and Restaurantosaurus are still open but expected to close sometime in 2026.

What’s coming

  • Zootopia: Better Zoogether will open in Winter 2025 in the previous spot held by It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
  • DinoLand USA will be replaced by a new area themed after the Tropical Americas, complete with Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions.

Epcot

Photo of the Harmonious nighttime show at Epcot.
Photo by Matt Stroshane, courtesy of Disney.

What’s closed

  • Test Track is closed and will reopen in 2025 with an all-new concept.

What’s coming

  • GEO-82, a 21+ lounge, will open in Spaceship Earth in Spring 2025. As of April 1, an exact opening date has not been announced.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Photo of a food spread of menu items from the new Roundup Rodeo BBQ restaurant at Hollywood Studios' Toy Story Land.
Photo courtesy of Disney.

What’s closed

  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid closed in March 2020.

What’s coming

  • The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure opens May 27, 2025 in the same space previously held by Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
  • Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After opens May 27, 2025 in the same space previously held by Lightning McQueen Racing Academy.

Magic Kingdom

There’s lots going on at the Magic Kingdom this year!

Photo of the Walt Disney World Railroad train stopped at the Magic Kingdom main station.
Photo by Courtney Kiefer, courtesy of Disney.

What’s new

  • McKim’s Mile House, a lounge exclusively for DVC members is now open in the space previously held by the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade.

What’s closed

  • Astro Orbiter is closed until Summer 2025 for refurbishment.
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed until early 2026 for a big refurbishment.
  • The Hall of Presidents is closed for an update and will reopen in 2025 (date TBD).
  • In addition, Tom Sawyer Island, the Liberty Belle boat ride, and all of Rivers of America will close to make way for 2 Cars-themed attractions. Disney has not yet stated when this area will close – so experience it while you still can, as they’ll be gone forever once they do!

What’s coming

  • A Pirates of the Caribbean themed lounge is in the works and is expected to open in late 2025, but Disney hasn’t given a more specific timeframe.
  • Villains Land is finally in the works! An opening timeline is not yet available, but ground has been broken.

Disney’s Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon water parks

Photo of Olaf and some snowgies at Blizzard Beach water park.
Photo by Courtney Kiefer, courtesy of Disney.
  • Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon is closed for refurbishment and reopen May 21.
  • Disney’s Blizzard Beach is open. It will close from May 1-20 for refurbishment and reopen May 21.

In 2025, all Disney resort guests get free admission to a water park on their day of arrival. If you’ve never checked out the water parks, 2025 is the year to change that!

Disney Springs

  • Level99, an interactive gaming spot, will open in late 2025 or early 2026, where DisneyQuest and the NBA Experience used to be.

Are you ready to book your next trip?

I hope this post helped you with planning your Walt Disney World vacation.

Be sure to check back before you visit, as this post is updated frequently, as new opening, closure, and refurbishment dates for the theme parks and resorts are announced.

For more trip planning tips, check out these posts:

About the author

Photo of Meg Frost on Buzz Lightyear: Space Ranger Blast at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
Photo by Meg Frost, All rights reserved.

Meg Frost is the creator of The Park Pixie, where she covers Disney World, Disney+, and Disney fandom.

She holds an M.A. in Journalism from Northeastern University and B.S. in Communication & American Studies from University of Miami in Florida.

Read more →

This post was originally published January 28, 2023. It was last updated April 1, 2025.