Disney has ambitious plans for the next generation of theme park guests. Walt Disney Imagineers are busy building massive new lands, some of which replace beloved longstanding attractions. Simultaneously, other decades-old rides are being spared from demolition and given a new lease on life with major updates that bring their storytelling and technology up to speed with modern attractions. When it's clear that an older ride needs attention, Disney has a choice to make: close it or keep it? If the former, what goes in its place? If the latter, how can the ride be adapted for today's audience?
Disney considers several key factors when deciding which old attractions to close vs. which ones to reinvest in with major changes. We heard from Imagineers and executives about how these practices are coming into play at Walt Disney World in Florida. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney popcorn buckets available right now and the full menu of Disney Springs' new dining location.
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Closing a Disney Attraction vs. Reinvesting in It
Walt Disney Imagineering has two categories for its major theme park attraction projects: growth and reinvestment. Guests at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World can see both of these in action right now.
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After over 50 years of operations, Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America were bulldozed in 2025, and a parcel of adjacent undeveloped property was cleared of all its trees.
This effectively created a huge construction site, where Disney is currently building two themed areas: Piston Peak National Park, with rides based on Pixar's Cars, and Villains Land, a realm devoted to classic animated antagonists. Together, Piston Peak and Villains Land represent the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom's history. Growth.
On the other side of the park, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress will close on July 6, 2026, for a major overhaul. The ride, which debuted in 1964 at the New York World's Fair and has been entertaining at Magic Kingdom since 1975, will reopen in 2027 with an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney in its first scene, then proceed with a revised format that replaces all of the attraction's older decades with more current eras. Reinvestment. This is the fourth time that Disney has materially changed the Carousel of Progress since it debuted at the fair.
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Disney's ongoing decisions around growth and reinvestment are anything but haphazard. In fact, Imagineers view growth and reinvestment equally in their long-term vision for the parks. Building a major new land and refreshing a generations-old ride are of equal importance to them, as they shared with us during a media presentation we attended at Disney World. While we can't directly quote specific people, we can share what the leaders discussed from a high-level perspective.
In glancing at recent and upcoming Disney World theme park projects, one can see the ebb and flow of growth and reinvestment in equally aggressive ways.
On growth, in addition to Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land at Magic Kingdom, other new lands are under construction at Disney World theme parks. For example, Monstropolis at Disney's Hollywood Studios will open with a new suspended roller coaster emulating the chase through the Monsters, Inc. door factory. The land physically expands Hollywood Studios, but also permanently replaces Muppet*Vision 3D.
This land in particular represents a hybrid approach of bringing something new into the parks while relying on some of the same existing physical structure from the Muppets Courtyard. The new land will reuse the buildings, including theater and two restaurant spaces. They are then able to stretch their budget for the project further. This pushed Disney to more actively decide to reconcept this area vs reinvest in the Muppets. They now get to relaunch this area as something new while reusing existing infrastructure.
As for reinvestment, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom both recently emerged from lengthy refurbishments with sleek upgrades to guest-facing components and backstage utilities.
Meanwhile, Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets revamped Aerosmith's former residency, retaining the same coaster but rebranding its story and songs. Bluey's Wild World at Conservation Station transformed an infrequently visited, remote area of Disney's Animal Kingdom into a must-see destination for families with young kids.
Even looking at the past few years of Disney World projects in hindsight, reinvestment was indeed a strategic priority. Disney converted Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, programmed a new script and setlist for Country Bear Musical Jamboree, and evolved Test Track with a completely refreshed tone.
Tropical Americas, a new land coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom, contains a bit of both categories. Part of Tropical Americas grows the park's footprint with Disney's first ride based on the 2021 hit Encanto, part of the land replaces the former DinoLand, U.S.A., with all-new experiences, and part of it reinvests in the now-closed DINOSAUR ride by adapting it into an Indiana Jones attraction.
Disney's Approach to Existing Attractions Defined
Deciding whether to close an old attraction or reinvest in it is a balancing act for Disney Imagineers and executives.
Data is critical for these big choices, which are often under consideration for years before being revealed to the public. Disney intensely monitors guest feedback and ratings to determine an attraction's future.
On the empirical side of things, Disney also refers to what they call attraction utilization, or how many guests are experiencing some of the older attractions. Lower numbers send a message and may signal that it's time for a change to either improve the existing concept or change it all together.
When refreshing an attraction, Imagineers and executives said they also listen to input from cast members to inform any improvements in operating the attraction day to day.
For example, cast members at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin cited closing the doors of the ride vehicles as a challenge, so Imagineers implemented automatic doors for the ride's recent refurbishment.
Disney is also actively monitoring how attractions are received after work. For instance, a Disney leader shared that guests riding the Buzz Lightyear attraction now have described the attraction as “much improved” and “modernized” in surveys. The percentage of guests who give the highest rating of “excellent” has gone up 15 points compared to pre-refurbishment.
Disney is also very much aware of online sentiment from loyal fans, who are sometimes resistant to changes or closures for attractions they've enjoyed for years.
Imagineers understand that every guest has a favorite experience, and they told us that they make every attempt to hold themselves accountable for how they steward the parks.
The Scheduling Shuffle
When rides close for refurbishment or when a park has a temporary deficit of available attractions because of a closure, Disney is intentional about minimizing the impact on the guest experience. They want to make sure that too many rides are not closed at the same time.
For example, maybe maintenance can be scheduled overnight while the park is closed instead of requiring a ride to be entirely out of commission. Or perhaps work is only needed for one specific aspect of the attraction, which can be covered with a scrim while the rest of the ride continues operating normally.
During the panel they also spoke specifically about planning long closures, like the recent one at Big Thunder Mountain, far in advance because they know that having that ride offline impacts vacations. I would imagine that in that case they didn't want to have Splash Mountain closed to become Tiana's Bayou Adventure at the same time that Big Thunder Mountain was closed. They waited to begin the Big Thunder Mountain work until after Tiana's Bayou Adventure was open and running smoothly.
This same principle applies to refurbishments of resort hotels. Disney never outright closes an entire hotel, but schedules hotel room refurbishments in small groups at a time. Any exterior maintenance is purposefully performed during hours when guests are most likely to be away from the resort, out in the parks.
We saw this firsthand during a recent visit to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort in the middle of the day, when the sprawling campus was mostly void of guests but busy with various construction projects. Looking ahead, the next big hotel refurbishment will happen at Disney's Art of Animation Resort in 2027.
If you were an Imagineer, how would you decide which attractions to close and which to reinvest in? Are there any attractions currently in the parks that you would apply these strategies to?
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