A Walt Disney World resort hotel is not just a place to put your luggage between park days. For a lot of guests, the resort is a meaningful part of the vacation itself. It is where the trip starts and ends each day. It is the dining experience you look forward to after a long afternoon in the parks. It is the pool your kids refuse to leave, the lobby you linger in because the theming is that good, and the balcony view that makes you feel like you are somewhere genuinely different from the rest of your regular life. Disney's on-site hotels earn their price premium through those details, and for guests who have stayed on property before, the resort choice often carries just as much weight as which parks to visit.
That makes 2026 an unusually complicated year to book. Multiple Disney World resort hotels are simultaneously in various stages of refurbishment, spanning Value, Moderate, and Deluxe categories. The work being done is legitimate investment in these properties and will ultimately benefit guests for years. But the guests staying during active construction are the ones absorbing the tradeoffs, and those tradeoffs are worth understanding clearly before a reservation is made.
Here is what is currently happening across Disney World's resort lineup and what it means for anyone planning a trip this year.
Animal Kingdom Lodge Is Gorgeous and Also Under Construction Right Now
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge has a reputation that is genuinely difficult to overstate. This is the resort where wildlife roams the savannas visible from guest room balconies. Giraffes. Zebras. Real animals in a setting so carefully designed that guests regularly describe it as one of the most memorable lodging experiences they have ever had anywhere, not just at Disney. The dining is exceptional by any standard. The theming is immersive in a way that most hotels, Disney or otherwise, simply cannot replicate.
It is also currently in the middle of an extended refurbishment.
Kidani Village, one of the two main buildings at the resort, began its guest room refurbishment in October 2025. That work is scheduled to continue through May 2026. Immediately following, construction shifts to Jambo House, the primary lodge building, with that phase running from May 2026 through January 2027. Disney has confirmed that guests may see or hear construction activity during daytime hours across both phases, and while most amenities are expected to remain available, the experience of staying at a resort under active renovation is a different one than staying there under normal conditions.
Animal Kingdom Lodge is specifically popular with guests who book it as a retreat from the intensity of the parks. The savanna views, the sounds, the pace of the property are all part of what people are paying for when they choose this resort over something closer to Magic Kingdom. Construction noise and active work zones during the day can meaningfully affect that experience. Guests visiting primarily for the dining and the wildlife encounters may find the tradeoff acceptable. Guests for whom the peaceful, immersive escape is the entire point should factor the construction timeline carefully into their decision.
Port Orleans Riverside Is Being Rebuilt Room by Room Through 2027
Port Orleans Riverside occupies a specific and reliable niche in the Disney resort lineup. It is a Moderate resort that regularly outperforms its category in terms of guest satisfaction, largely because the bayou theming is cohesive and the property feels genuinely calm in a way that busier resorts do not. Guests who want a step above Value pricing without reaching Deluxe rates tend to land here and tend to come back.
The resort is currently undergoing a property-wide guest room refurbishment that began in May 2025 and is not projected to finish until August 2027. The scale of that timeline reflects the scope of the project. Disney is working through Riverside building by building in stages, which means the resort is in a transitional state that will persist for the next year and a half. Guests booking in 2026 are booking into that transition.
The practical implication is that room quality at Riverside is currently variable in a way it normally would not be. Some guests will land in fully updated rooms with refreshed finishes and modern design. Others will be assigned rooms that have not yet been touched. Disney cannot guarantee which version you get, and requesting a renovated building is possible but not a promise. For guests with flexibility in their travel dates, timing a stay closer to the back half of the project increases the odds of landing in updated accommodations, though the 2027 completion date means that is not a short-term solution for most travelers.
Pop Century Is Almost Done and Worth Knowing About
Pop Century sits at the opposite end of the timeline from Port Orleans Riverside. The Value resort has been working through a phased update for several years now, covering the lobby, the Everything Pop Shopping and Dining area, and finally the guest rooms. Room refurbishments are expected to wrap by February 2026, making Pop Century one of the most fully refreshed resorts on Walt Disney World property once the work is complete.
For families for whom Pop Century is a budget-driven choice, often a first experience with Disney's on-site hotels, the difference between an updated room and an older one is felt more acutely over a week-long stay than it might be at a Deluxe resort where other amenities absorb more of the attention. The refreshed rooms bring cleaner layouts and updated finishes while maintaining the resort's decade-themed visual identity. Amenities are expected to remain available during the remaining construction period, with daytime noise the primary tradeoff for guests visiting before the February completion.
Old Key West Has Amenity Closures Running Through Late April
Disney's Old Key West Resort is managing a different kind of disruption. As of March 5, 2026, the South Point Pool and Spa, the BBQ area, and the playground are closed for refurbishment. Disney has confirmed the closure runs through late April 2026 and that guests may notice maintenance activity during daytime hours. The Front Desk is the recommended point of contact for guests with questions or concerns about the work.
Guests affected by the South Point closure are directed to the Sandcastle Pool or the resort's two remaining leisure pools, the Turtle Pond Pool and Miller's Road Pool. The timing follows earlier closure work at the Turtle Pond Pool, Spa, BBQ area, and playground, which also went offline for several weeks earlier in the year. Old Key West is additionally undergoing a staged guest room refurbishment across the property.
The resort recently completed a decor overhaul at Olivia's Cafe, which generated notable pushback from Disney Vacation Club members when Disney removed the longstanding collection of family vacation photos that had been displayed in the restaurant. For DVC members who consider Old Key West a home resort, that decision landed as a meaningful loss of something personal to the property.
What to Actually Do With This Information Before Booking
Disney does not make it straightforward to understand exactly what a refurbishment will feel like during a stay. The official language tends toward “guests may see or hear construction activity,” which is accurate but understates the day-to-day reality of staying at a hotel with active work happening around it. Noise during morning and afternoon hours, visible construction barriers in hallways or common areas, and the possibility of closed or redirected amenity access are all real possibilities at properties currently under renovation.
The most useful thing any guest can do before booking a 2026 Disney World resort stay is check the current refurbishment status of every resort they are seriously considering. The Walt Disney World website lists known construction and closure information, though it is worth cross-referencing with recent guest reports for a fuller picture of what current conditions actually look like on the ground.
If the resort experience is central to your trip rather than secondary to it, the construction situation at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Port Orleans Riverside deserves serious weight in your decision. If you are primarily in the parks all day and the resort is mostly a place to sleep, the calculus looks different. Either way, going in informed is always better than discovering the construction situation at check-in.
Have you stayed at any of these resorts during an active refurbishment? Share what the experience was actually like in the comments. It helps other guests make better decisions, and that is the whole point.
