2025 brought quite a few changes to Walt Disney World! While we know that Disney is always updating and improving things we wanted to let you know what’s happening in 2026.
Here is a summary of everything going on with new park developments, attraction closures, and refurbishments.
Magic Kingdom Refurbishments and Closures
- Carousel of Progress: Will close July 7 and reopen in 2027
- Walt Disney World Railroad: Frontierland station temporarily closed
- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin: Closed for refurbishment and reopened on April 8, 2026. You can see all the new updates here.
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Closed for over a year, reopened May 3, 2026
- Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat: Permanently closed
- Piston Peak National Park: opening expected in 2029 (!!)
EPCOT Refurbishments and Closures
- Test Track: Open!
- Frozen Ever After: Closed January 26, 2026 for new animatronics. Reopened on February 12.
- Soarin’ – Soarin’ Across America opened May 26, 2026
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Refurbishments and Closures
- Conservation Station, Affection Section, and Wildlife Express: temporarily closed February 23 and reopend May 26 with a new Bluey experience.
- DINOSAUR: Permanently Closed
- TriceraTop Spin: Permanently Closed
- The Boneyard: Permanently Closed
- Dino-Rama Area: Permanently Closed
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Refurbishments and Closures
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith: Closed March 1, 2026
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets: Opened May 26, 2025.
- Muppets Courtyard: Permanently closed to make way for Monsters, Inc. land – date TBA
- Disney Jr Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! – opened May 26
- Star Wars Launch Bay: Permanently closed
- Disney Junior Play and Dance!: Permanently closed
- The Magic of Disney Animation: Opening summer of 2026.
How This Impacts Your Vacation
Announcements of ride closures at Walt Disney World bring a myriad of feelings. Everything from “finally, its about time” to “NO…I loved that ride!” How 2026 attraction closures impact you is largely subjective.
That being said, you will likely notice that Magic Kingdom feels – and potentially looks – quite different for 2026 and beyond. The closure of Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat are a big loss. Not only is this area huge, but it provided space for kids to play, families to enjoy a boat ride, and grandparents to reminisce about watching the riverboat glide by when they were kids. The closure of this area is bittersweet.
Big Thunder Mountain closing for an entire year, through 2025, was a massive disappointment if you had never been to Disney World and wanted to ride this classic coaster. But 2026 brings back this beloved attraction and the improvements look fantastic!
Test Track in Epcot is another long waited for attraction that is now open and once again, the wait was worth it as it brings Disney fans a ton of excitement – and long lines!
Animal Kingdom said farewell to “It’s Tough To Be a Bug” but opens “Zootopia: Better Zoogether! in the Tree of Life Theater. Over at Hollywood Studios we find some new attractions including Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, which opened with rave reviews early on! We were able to experience it on our last trip and it was a blast!
If you know your vacation dates you can go here and check what attractions are scheduled to be closed. Of course, keep in mind that Disney is constantly changing and updating their rides.
On a recent vacation we found out shortly before we left that Jungle Cruise was going to be closed. Were we disappointed? Yes! But we were glad we could adjust our expectations before we left. Try to have an open mind and you should be just fine!
