Each day, tens of thousands of guests enter the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and walk down Main Street U.S.A. Many park-goers fix their gaze on Cinderella Castle.
For some children, this is a place where magic appears real and anything is possible. For some adults, it represents an escape and a return to childhood wonder and nostalgia.
However, guests that visited the park in early 2026 were greeted by large cranes lifting workers executing the castle’s highly anticipated repainting project. This temporary change to the park’s sight lines was not an isolated occurrence, rather a symbol that reflects projects happening all over Walt Disney World.
Additions of “lands,” or subsections in the parks, are planned for three of Disney’s theme parks. Many see these major updates as a way to stay competitive with Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe, which opened in 2025. The heavy construction, however, could break the immersion and sacrifice the guest experience.
Construction, Refurbishments at Magic Kingdom
Summer 2025 saw the controversial closure of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. A land based on the Cars franchise will be in its place, with another land dedicated to Disney’s villains also under way.
While some are upset about the loss of these early attractions, others are excited about the potential of Magic Kingdom’s largest expansion.
Walt Disney was adamant that the parks constantly grow and change, saying that the original Disneyland park is “something that I keep developing, keep plussing and adding to … it will be a live, breathing thing that will need change.”
One place these changes are becoming evident is Liberty Square, a recreation of a colonial American town, which once bordered the Rivers of America. The rivers provided natural scenery and waterways to the park.
Liberty Square in May 2026 bordered a long stretch of walls that do not fully hide the construction zone that now fills the space the rivers once occupied.
Not only may the walls hurt the theming and remove the scenery, the removal of the rivers also removes the natural breeze. In May, this affected the queue of Haunted Mansion, which runs right along the rivers’ former site.
Disney placed fans in the queue to accommodate the loss of breeze and airflow. The proximity to the walls allows guests in line to easily peek through the gaps to see the progress.
The facade of the ride will reportedly be extended along with a new walkway to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which reopened in May 2026 after a refurbishment. Due to the scaffolding required, a scrim with a photo of the mansion’s facade is covering up the real building.
The walls extend the entire length of Frontierland. The crane that sits in the middle of the construction zone doesn’t quite fit into the 19th century western town. Guests in line for the updated Big Thunder Mountain ride may have the clearest view because they can see the dirt, scaffolding and equipment above the walls.
In addition to the building of new lands, there have been several major refurbishments to existing rides, such as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. While both upgrades were well received, they also left these classic attractions closed for eight and 16 months respectively. Having extended downtime for two popular attractions leads to more guests and higher wait times at other rides and attractions.
Changes at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios
The final remnants of DinoLand U.S.A. closed in February at Animal Kingdom Theme Park for a Tropical Americas land featuring attractions themed to Indiana Jones and “Encanto.”
The crane here is even larger and visible in more places at the nature-focused park. The area bordering the construction zone, however, is more tucked away than at Magic Kingdom.
However, the loss of capacity and guest disbursement that comes with closing an entire land of the park means other areas are more crowded with people, with heavier foot traffic and higher wait times in the park’s Africa and Asia lands.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch was closed from February to May 2026 to make way for a show themed to Bluey, leaving Animal Kingdom with under 10 attractions.
Current and recent construction projects at Disney’s Hollywood Studios include Monstropolis, a land themed to Monster’s Inc., a Disney animation focused experience, and the three-month closure of Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster for a Muppets retheme. This meant more guests flooding other popular attractions in the park such as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Immersion and escape from reality are important to the success of a visit to the parks, and have driven Disney’s design since the beginning. “I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in the park. I want them to feel they’re in another world,” Disney said while Disneyland was being developed.
While beneficial to guests in the future, the stacking of numerous large construction projects, refurbishments and rethemes may be diminishing the experience for those who visit before these projects are finished.
Kyle Yuzzi is a journalism major. He produced this story in a Maymester Introduction to Travel Journalism course focused on theme park writing in Orlando, Florida.
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