It is crazy to think that 2024 is coming to an end, which means it is time to start planning your trip to Disney World in 2025. 

Disney made so many announcements in 2024 about the future of Disney World and all that is to come, and now 2025 is almost here, which means we are about to start seeing those changes reflected in the parks and resorts. While all these new additions and perks will be great in the long run, unfortunately, they may make your 2025 trip to Disney World a little more complicated. 

In August, at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, many exciting announcements were made about the new additions coming to Disney World. These included new rides, lands, and entertainment offerings! But with new additions comes the need for construction, which unfortunately leads to closures.

Ride and land closures can be a real bummer, especially if you did not know about them before your trip. You can expect construction in all four parks throughout 2025. 

In Magic Kingdom, we can expect construction in Adventureland as the new Pirates of the Caribbean Lounge is scheduled to open in 2025.

At D23, we learned that a brand new Cars area will be coming to Frontierland. It will replace Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. While no closing date has been announced, Disney confirmed that construction will start in early 2025.

We finally found out what “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” will be, and it was confirmed that the highly rumored and anticipated Disney Villains Land will become a reality! While no timeline has been announced, Big Thunder will close for a lengthy refurbishment on January 6th, 2025, and will reopen sometime in 2026.

In EPCOT, Test Track closed over the summer to be reimagined as a third iteration of the attraction. No exact opening date has been announced, but the ride is expected to reopen in 2025.

EPCOT will also be home to a new attraction-themed lounge, the Spaceship Earth lounge, which is expected to open in 2025. 

Hollywood Studios will soon be home to two new entertainment offerings in 2025! But while we wait for the brand new The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure and the new Disney Villains Stage Show, construction will be taking place on the buildings for the previous Voyage of the Little Mermaid as well as Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. 

While we do not have many details about the new Monsters Inc. land coming to Hollywood Studios, we would not be surprised if we saw closures and construction start for this new area sometime in 2025.

Animal Kingdom will see some of the first closures of the year. On January 13th, TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures will all close permanently. This is the first phase of closures to hit DinoLand U.S.A., which will be rethemed into a Tropical Americas-themed land called Pueblo Esperanza. We would not be surprised if another phase of the land’s construction starts in 2025, as the whole land is expected to open in 2027.

Also, in Animal Kingdom, The Tree of Life will be getting a brand new show. It was announced that It’s Tough to be a Bug! will be replaced by a new show called Zootopia: Better Zoogether. The show is expected to open in the winter of 2025, which means It’s Tough to be a Bug! will close sometime in 2025.

While it is a bummer that all four parks will have ride closures and construction, there is still plenty to see and do. Plus, it is exciting to think about all the new projects that will be available in the future!

Disney World Is Getting 8 New Rides!

It is not only the parks that will see construction, but multiple resorts will have pool closures as well as construction to update rooms.  Bay Lake Tower started a year-long renovation in September of 2024, and it is expected to be completed in 2025. While the resort remains open, you may hear construction noise and specific offerings may be unavailable.

Many people choose to stay at the Yacht and Beach Club for access to Stormalong Bay, but the club and the Shipwreck Pool will be closed from January 2025 to June 2025. 

Stormalong Bay is not the only resort pool closing. The Fantasia Pool at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort will be closed from January 2025 to April 2025.

Phew! There will be a lot of construction and closures coming to Disney World in 2025, but that is not the only thing that will make it more complicated. Early in 2024, it was announced that Disney World hotel guests would get a brand-new perk! Starting in 2025, guests staying at a Disney World hotel will get a free ticket to visit a Disney World water park on check-in day! While this perk is a great way to pass the time as you wait for your room to be ready, it does present a few issues. 

To start with, Disney World currently operates one water park at a time. When this perk starts, Blizzard Beach will be the only water park open, as Typhoon Lagoon closed for the season earlier this month. This perk also means that guests will either change into their swimsuits in lobby bathrooms or, if they forget to take them out, dig through their luggage to find one before leaving it with bell services.

We expect that buses will be packed to go to the water park as the only way to get to Blizzard Beach is by bus or rideshare, like a Minnie Van. If you bring your own car or rent a car, we highly recommend driving it to the water park if you plan on taking advantage of this perk.

Disney World is changing, and that means in 2025, we will have to deal with the growing pains that can make a trip more complicated. We recommend watching out for closures that will be happening during your trip to avoid any disappointment and also to help you make your game plan. 

We know that closures, construction, and crowds can be disappointing, but we will be here every step of the way to help you navigate all the changes coming to Disney World in 2025. So make sure to continue to follow along with Disney Food Blog!

Do you have a trip planned for Disney World in 2025? Let us know in the comments!