Disney World Closures Run Into 2028 as Skyliner Shuts Jan. 24-30

Families planning a Walt Disney World trip in the coming months will find a list of closed rides, pools and lounges, plus a week without the Disney Skyliner gondolas. The newest change came on Nov. 5, 2026, when Disney’s Animal Kingdom fenced off the southern seating area of Discovery River Amphitheater, according to Inside the Magic.

Scheduled projects at the resort’s hotels now reach into 2028. None of the closures has been announced as permanent, and each has its own reopening window.

What families visiting this holiday season will miss

At Animal Kingdom, movable planters now block the southern side of the waterfront amphitheater across from the Finding Nemo show. The northeastern seats near Expedition Everest are still open. The area is being prepared for Santa’s Holiday Grove, a new seasonal experience that the Disney Parks Blog says will have a festive trail, occasional snow flurries, holiday food and drinks, music and a visit with Santa Claus. Santa used to greet guests at Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand U.S.A., which is being rebuilt for the Tropical Americas expansion. No reopening date has been set for the closed seating.

Magic Kingdom is running without two attractions. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the Frontierland water ride, closed Nov. 2 for routine refurbishment, so it will be shut over Thanksgiving. Disney’s attraction page says it should return in December, and the operating schedule points to Dec. 18. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress in Tomorrowland has been closed since July 6 for a reimagining that adds an Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney and changes the decades shown. Disney expects it back in late spring 2027.

Typhoon Lagoon is closed for its seasonal refurbishment until Jan. 27, 2027, according to its official schedule, while Blizzard Beach stays open. At Port Orleans Resort French Quarter, Scat Cat’s Club Lounge closed Oct. 6 and is due back in January 2027, with a temporary bar set up near Scat Cat’s Club Café.

Disney’s holiday season starts Nov. 13.

What it means for families booking 2027 and 2028 stays

The biggest single interruption is to transportation. The Disney Skyliner will stop running from Jan. 24 through Jan. 30, 2027, for routine maintenance, according to Disney’s transportation information. The gondolas normally link EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the Art of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach and Riviera resorts. Disney will run free buses during that week, so families at those hotels will reach the two parks by bus.

Pools are the other change families will notice. Starting Jan. 11, 2027, BoardWalk Inn and BoardWalk Villas guests lose Luna Park Pool, Luna Park Crazy Play Area and Leaping Horse Libations, with work expected to last through April. Disney’s resort page confirms the dates, and the hotel’s leisure pools stay open.

Longer projects reported by Inside the Magic include:

• Guest room refurbishment at Art of Animation Resort, reported to run from mid-June 2027 through October 2028.
• A Copper Creek Springs Pool refurbishment at Wilderness Lodge planned for early 2028, along with other updates there.
• Room renovations at Port Orleans Riverside.
• Phased work at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

These hotel projects are phased, and none involves closing an entire hotel. The practical result is that two families visiting a few months apart can find quite different ride lineups, pool access and transport options. A family at Magic Kingdom this November faces one set of closures, while a family staying at BoardWalk Inn in February 2027 or at Art of Animation in 2028 faces another.

Where the dates come from

Disney publishes reopening dates on individual attraction pages, park and water park calendars, resort information pages and its transportation updates. Several of the dates above come from those listings, while some hotel timelines come from Inside the Magic’s reporting, and Disney may revise any of them. For Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Disney’s own page gives only December, and the Dec. 18 date comes from the operating schedule and earlier reports.

Source: Inside the Magic