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

  • Kali River Rapids will be closed January 8, 2024 through March 14, 2024. It is set to reopen on March 15 per the attraction’s calendar.
  • Colors of Mo’ara face painting station in Pandora remains closed with no reopening date available as of publication.

Epcot

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

What’s closed

  • Tokyo Dining at Japan Pavilion has closed permanently and has been replaced by Shiki-Sai, a sushi restaurant.

In the Morocco pavilion in Epcot World Showcase, the following shops and restaurants remain closed:

  • Restaurant Marrakesh
  • The Brass Bazaar
  • Casablanca Carpets
  • Marketplace in the Medina
  • Tangier Traders

In addition, the following are closed:

  1. Der Teddybar in Germany
  2. El Ranchito del Norte in Mexico
  3. Mitsukoshi Kioski in Japan
  4. Sportsman’s Shoppe in United Kingdom
  5. Trading Post between Canada and the United Kingdom

  6. Village Traders between China and Germany

What’s new

  • Communicore Hall opens in 2024. Date to be announced.
  • Luminous – The Symphony of Us, Epcot’s new nighttime show, debuted December 5, 2023.
  • Asha from Wish meet-and-greet debuted November 1, 2023.
  • Journey of Water ~ Inspired by Moana and a Moana meet-and-greet opened October 16, 2024.
  • Figment meet-and-greet opened September 10, 2023.
  • Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya opened August 30, 2023, replacing Tokyo Dining.

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

  • Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster closed for maintenance on January 8, 2024 and will reopen sometime in Summer 2024.
  • Voyage of the Little Mermaid closed in March 2020 and will reopen with an all-new show in 2024.
  • Star Wars Launch Bay Theater is closed and it’s unclear when or if it will ever reopen.

Lastly, there are several shops and merchandise carts that are closed:

  1. Disney Studio Store
  2. In Character
  3. Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost
  4. It’s a Wonderful Shop
  5. Stage 1 Company Store

What’s new

  • A revamped Voyage of the Little Mermaid show will reopen in 2024.
  • Star Tours will add new scenes in 2024.
  • Live-action Ariel from The Little Mermaid meet-and-greet debuted May 26, 2023.
  • The Edna Mode Experience and Pixar Pals meet-and-greets opened May 14, 2023.
  • Roundup Rodeo BBQ restaurant opened in Toy Story Land on March 23, 2023.

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 closed

  • Country Bear Jamboree will close for a revamp on January 27, 2024. The new show will reopen in Summer 2024.
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed January 16-20, 2024.
  • Splash Mountain closed permanently April 2, 2023.

What’s new

  • A Pirates of the Caribbean themed lounge is in the works, but an opening timeframe has not been announced.
  • Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open in Summer 2024.
  • Country Bear Musical Jamboree will open in Summer 2024, replacing the previous show.
  • TRON Lightcycle Run opened April 4, 2023.

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 through March 16, 2024. It will reopen March 17, 2024.
  • Disney’s Blizzard Beach is open but will close starting March 17, 2024, for refurbishment. A timeline for reopening is not yet communicated but historically occurs in late Fall.

With all of that said, Disney will close their water parks in the winter due to low temperatures.

So if you have your heart set on going to at least one of them, I recommend going outside of the Winter season.

Disney Springs

What’s closed

  • Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is closed in March 2020 but Disney has suggested it will reopen some time in the future.

What’s new

  • Summer House on the Lake restaurant opened December 14, 2023.

Disney’s BoardWalk

The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers will open sometime in 2024.

Walt Disney World Resorts

There’s lots going on at the Walt Disney World resorts these days.

I’ve broken this section down by resort so you can quickly skip to your preferred resort level to get the scoop before booking.

All-Star Value Resorts

Photo of the All-Star Sports Resort with the entire cast posing outside with Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy.
Photo by Matt Stroshane, courtesy of Disney.

Disney has not announced any major construction at the All-Star value resorts in 2024 as of February 8, 2024. However, they do have some maintenance scheduled in 2025.

At the All-Star Movies Resort, the Fantasia Pool will be closed between January 2025 and April 2025 (yes 2025!). During that time, guests can still use the Duck Pond Pool.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

From January 2024 through late March 2024, the Fuentes del Morro pool at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be closed for maintenance.

Guests can use the resort’s remaining pools during this time.

In addition, in January, there will be maintenance on the Skyliner, so please see that section for more information.

Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at the Wilderness Lodge

Select villas and cabins will be under refurbishment starting April 21, 2024.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Photo of the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opening celebration.
Photo courtesy of Disney.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa started a major refurbishment of its rooms in March 2023 and it is still ongoing as of February 8, 2024. An end date has not been announced yet.

In addition, the following are closed:

  1. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
  2. Garden View Tea Room, including the Perfectly Princess Tea Party character experience
  3. 1900 Park Fare, including the Supercalifragilistic Character Breakfast and Happily Ever After Character Dinner

1900 Park Fare will reopen starting April 10, 2024, with advanced dining reservations starting up on March 5.

No word on when the remaining activities will reopen, but hopefully it will be within 2024!

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort & Villas

Artist rendering of a new building that will be added to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.
Concept art courtesy of Disney.

Disney is currently expanding this resort by adding more villas where the Spirit of Aloha dinner show used to be held.

Construction seems to be moving along quickly, but there aren’t any target opening dates for the new tower yet.

Port Orleans Resorts – French Quarter

The Doubloon Lagoon Pool at Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter will be closed from January 2024 through April 2024.

During that time, guests can use the Ol’ Man Pool at Disney’s Port Orleans – Riverside instead.

The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

In 2023, Disney announced that the cabins will be replaced with completely new dwellings and that it will follow a DVC timeshare model.

Demolition of cabins has already begun per reports on social media. However, Disney hasn’t announced major construction yet, nor have they blocked reservations.

I would expect construction to pick up and potentially be disruptive in 2024.

Other resorts

Photo of the feature pool at night at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.
Photo courtesy of Disney.

As of February 8, 2024, no major maintenance or construction has been announced at the following resorts for 2024:

  1. Animal Kingdom Lodge & Villas
  2. Art of Animation Resort
  3. Bay Lake Tower
  4. Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge
  5. The Campsites at Fort Wilderness Campground
  6. Coronado Springs Resort
  7. Old Key West Resort
  8. Pop Century Resort
  9. Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
  10. Riviera Resort
  11. Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
  12. Wilderness Lodge

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 March 2, 2024.