Whenever a Walt Disney World attraction or hotel undergoes refurbishment, we always make a point of telling you that the dates and extent of the refurbishment are subject to change. Many times, this disclaimer is just a precaution, but today it’s important as Walt Disney World shifted the timeline for a major refurbishment of its flagship hotel.
Keep reading to learn how this timeline extension may influence your Walt Disney World plans. At Mickey Visit, we cover the latest Disney news, like this month’s availability of popcorn buckets at Walt Disney World and the lineup of musicians for an upcoming EPCOT concert series.
READ MORE – Hidden Secrets of the Disney World Hotels You Haven’t Heard Of
Refurbishment Extended for Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is in the middle of a top-to-bottom, multi-year refurbishment. Since 2021, this Walt Disney World deluxe hotel has refreshed its standard guest rooms and its Disney Vacation Club guest rooms, renovated restaurants such as Narcoosee’s and 1900 Park Fare, and completely transformed its main lobby with upgraded furniture and flooring plus a new lobby bar called The Perch.
Disney World Ride Closure ALERTS, Major Park Changes, Secrets Revealed
Get alerts on closures, park changes, exclusive discounts, and free printables. Trusted by 100,000+ Disney fans & planners.
The sprucing up isn’t over. Starting March 19, 2026, the hotel’s Garden View Lounge Tea Room Experience will reopen for the first time in six years. Work is also still ongoing on the roads immediately surrounding the entrance to Disney’s Grand Floridian Hotel & Spa.
With so much change happening around the hotel property for such a significant period of time, fans of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa were no doubt looking forward to the ongoing refurbishment’s completion, which Disney previously said was set for mid-2026.
READ MORE – These Disney World Hotels Get the Same Perks at a Fraction of the Price
However, Disney just rephrased the timeline for the construction happening at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Disney now includes this message across locations at the resort, “Renovations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will continue in select areas, including the porte cochere, through early 2027. Guests may see or hear refurbishment work during daytime hours or need to take alternate paths of travel.”
The timeline for ongoing construction and refreshening at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has extended from mid-2026 to early 2027. Guests who were waiting for a completely construction-free stay at the hotel will have to wait a little longer. Disney did not provide an exact completion date for the end of the refurbishment.
Possible Impacts to Disney’s Grand Floridian Transportation?
The ground level of the shaded porte cochere area serves as hotel guests’ entry point into their stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Directly above the porte cochere is the hotel’s designated monorail station.
We do not expect the porte cochere refurbishment to impact the monorail station’s operations. In the past, Disney has provided guests with notice far in advance when their hotel’s transportation will be modified. Disney has already communicated a closure for Disney’s Skyliner in early 2027 for instance and when they previously closed the Disney’s Polynesian Resort monorail stop for that work a couple of years ago they gave far advance notice.
Seeing as Disney hasn’t communicated a statement like this, and guests would be impacted just a few months from now, we expect the monorail to operate as usual at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa despite whatever work will happen to the hotel’s porte cochere. We could of course be surprised here, but previous work points to this not being impacted.
The monorail at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa provides direct access to Magic Kingdom and nearby hotels, as well as access to EPCOT by way of the Transportation & Ticket Center.
Don’t Miss the Latest Disney News
Don’t miss the latest Disneyland and Disney World news from Mickey Visit. Join the FREE Mickey Visit newsletter that over 100k readers receive every single week. Mickey Visit is here to help you save money and experience more during your Disney and Universal vacation. See the Mickey Visit guide to Disneyland and the Mickey Visit guide to Disney World for tips.
