Echo Lake at Disney's Hollywood Studios is undergoing a significant refurbishment. Guests arriving at the third Central Florida Disney park on Monday found scaffolding surrounding one of the area's busy dining locations.
Dockside Diner Gets Wrapped in Scaffolding
WDWNT reported on August 17 that metal scaffolding had been installed completely around the Dockside Diner, the Quick-Service dining location housed inside a boat called the S.S. Down The Hatch on Echo Lake. The scaffolding covers all sides of the vessel — the water side, the dock side, and both ends — creating a full construction envelope around the floating restaurant.
The timing is directly tied to a separate development at Echo Lake that occurred last week. Walt Disney World Resort drained the iconic waterway ahead of the current refurbishment work, presumably to allow crews to access the boat and surrounding structures from both below and above. Signs posted on fences around the lake address the ongoing work:
“Please pardon our appearance.
Keeping our city beautiful.
Echo Lake is being refurbished for your future enjoyment.”
Walt Disney World Resort has not issued any statement about the drained lake or indicated how long the Dockside Diner refurbishment will take.
Despite being completely encased in scaffolding, the Dockside Diner is continuing to operate normally, serving its standard lunch and dinner menus during regular hours. Seating around Echo Lake remains available for guests throughout the construction period.
The Dockside Diner scaffolding is one piece of a broader Echo Lake refresh currently underway. Walt Disney World Resort recently repaired the tail of Gertie the Dinosaur — the beloved green dinosaur-shaped structure on the lake's shore that houses Dinosaur Gertie's Ice Cream of Extinction. That Quick-Service location also remains open during the ongoing construction.
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