The last week has seen a flurry of filings for Walt Disney World construction permits–by my count, there have been at least 40 during the last week of January 2025 (probably over 50 by the time the day is over). This post combs through the documents submitted by Disney to the Orange County, Florida Comptroller with details about the Notices of Commencement for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios that caught our attention.
It should be unsurprising that there’s a sudden surge of construction permits. Walt Disney World is beginning a new development cycle that will result in $17 billion of spending on new lands, rides, restaurants, and resorts. On top of Walt Disney World’s 5-year plan laid out at D23, there has also been an increase in routine refurbishments as Disney is finally doing deferred maintenance on attractions and more.
Permits being filed on a daily basis is nothing new and certainly not stop the presses news. It’s been happening for years, and most permits are wholly uninteresting and uneventful. Stuff like new signage, electrical work, and other ‘housekeeping’ projects not necessitating coverage. That remains true in 2025. But with a mixture of regular refurbishments and ground finally being broken on construction projects in Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom (maybe? still no updates on the water management back-and-forth), we’re also starting to see more permits–and more interesting ones.
With that out of the way, let’s discuss some basics about Walt Disney World construction permits that will apply across the board. Notices of Commencements are typically filed by Walt Disney World Resort, Facility Asset Management (FAM), or Walt Disney Imagineering. The “better” projects are typically helmed by WDI, so that’s who to look for as the grantor name.
The grantee is also important. Disney mostly with a lot of third parties contractors, and the same ones often come up again and again. Obviously, different contractors are capable of handling projects of differing scope and scale. One thing that’s notable about this week’s round of permits is that Disney’s in-house Buena Vista Construction Company is listed as the grantee on many of them. They typically handle smaller-scale projects of generalized nature, whereas big general contractors and those with specialized expertise work on new lands and attractions.
Many if not most permits do not have contain a satisfying amount of specificity. In the general description of the improvement, you’re going to see a lot of “general construction” or “provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction.” This is true even of projects that are larger in scale and scope. I assume this is done for ease and efficiency (it’s a single line on the form), but also because Disney knows bloggers are watching this stuff and they don’t always want to tip their hand. In other cases, there is more detail provided, but it’s inconsequential, like “install signage.”
The final detail of import is the expiration date. Unless otherwise specified, the default expiration is one-year from the date filed. The default 1-year timeline is never noteworthy, but shorter or longer ones always are, as they’re extended or reduced purposefully. Extensions occur on projects like new lands or attractions, that will take more than a year to build. Or projects like the Big Thunder re-track. Others are shortened in the case of a ride reimagining or refurbishment that Disney wants to make clear is being done on a tight timeline. On the other hand, the installation of signage might be left to the one-year default, despite it not even taking the government that long to install a sign.
With all of that out of the way, let’s dig into the potentially interesting permits that have been filed in the last week of January 2025…
Haunted Mansion – The first permit lists the scope of the work as “provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction,” has the default one-year expiration, and is assigned to Buena Vista Construction Company. The triple-whammy of non-noteworthiness, and to be sure, we wouldn’t even draw attention to this normally.
However, an almost identical permit was filed in June 2023, and that laid the groundwork for the eventual installation of Hatbox Ghost in the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World. That Audio Animatronics was originally developed for Disneyland, and was added to Magic Kingdom several years after the fact, in a far less logical location.
Noteworthy here is that Haunted Mansion at Disneyland just received major updates, the most notable of which is a new bride in the attic. Unlike Hatbox Ghost, there would be no need to shoehorn this Audio Animatronics into the Magic Kingdom version of the ride. It would simply replace the existing bride, which would make sense to do, as the tech has not aged well.
Whereas Hatbox Ghost came out of the blue, we frankly expect Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion to get a new bride sooner rather than later. The only question is whether Walt Disney World is willing to take another major ride down at Magic Kingdom, or if they’ll wait until 2026. Or perhaps the work can be done in the overnight hours and the AA swapped out with minimal downtime. It’s also possible this permit is for something else entirely, and is inconsequential. Either way, we’ll be watching to see whether a Haunted Mansion refurbishment is added to the calendar!
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – Exact same setup here with the description, grantor/grantee, and default expiration.
As previously reported, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom is Closing Early throughout Winter 2025. That discusses how the ride is likely receiving overnight maintenance due to its ongoing downtime and reliability woes, and it’s safe to assume this permit pertains to that.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I wish Disney would just rip the band-aid off and announce a proper refurbishment for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The window of opportunity (colder weather) is closing, and if the after hours work isn’t able to address the issue, we could be stuck with the attraction being plagued by problems–and a virtual queue–until January 2026.
Spaceship Earth – Over at EPCOT, another permit has been filed with the exact same combination as the Magic Kingdom permits above. Before you get too excited, this is not the long overdue reimagining of Spaceship Earth we discussed last week. Still no news on that.
The address here corresponds with the location of the defunct Siemens corporate lounge, which is behind Spaceship Earth and above the post-show overlooking World Celebration. This has been used in limited capacity (we’ve heard Make A Wish) in the years since SSE lost its sponsor.
However, Walt Disney World announced that a new Spaceship Earth lounge will open in Late Spring 2025. Construction walls just went up around the outside of the post-show exit that we assume are related to the lounge. The concept art suggests a fairly straightforward modern look for the lounge, so crews should be able to have this done prior to Memorial Day.
Test Track – Yet another permit has been filed for the Test Track 3.0 reimagining. Not much to discuss here. There have been several permits, many of which are more consequential than this one and provide intrigue about the interior show scenes.
Test Track 3.0 is slated to reopen in Late Summer 2025. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere, this is the type of timeframe that could easily slip to October 1, 2025. One version of the announcement originally said “Late 2025” for the reopening, and if the ride isn’t ready by July, there’s really no rush to reopen in August or September.
The park’s anniversary then becomes the most logical option, which also precedes Fall Break. If it somehow can’t hit that target, Veterans Day or Thanksgiving are next up. While I cannot wait to experience the new Test Track, I also want Imagineering to take its time and get it right. Words I previously wrote about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure when suggesting a delay would be better than a fast-tracking. Safe to say that viewpoint has been vindicated.
Canada Pavilion – This one is a little over a week old, but I wanted to draw attention to it here since we haven’t covered the mystery project in the Canada pavilion except in passing. (It probably deserves its own post, but I’ve felt like an announcement has been imminent for like the last year.)
If you’ve visited EPCOT in the last ~18 months, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen this work–or at least encountered walls blocking your path on the upper level of the pavilion. Walls have been up near the totem poles due to work on Hotel du Canada. This started as a repainting, but it became clear last summer that something substantive was happening.
In the last few months, it’s been possible to see visible work on the lower level of Hotel du Canada. The interior is becoming something with a guest-facing purpose, as evidenced by the latest permit for the installation of signage. As for what, who knows. Never bet against another bar or Disney Vacation Club sales center.
Personally, I’m hoping for a maple syrup taste-testing counter, moose calf petting zoo, or Dan Flashes Flannel Outpost, with the Canada’s most complicated patterns ever. Expect an official announcement any day now (or so we’ve been thinking for a while).
Villains Unfairly Ever After – Over at Hollywood Studios, another permit has been filed with the same combination as the others.
The address here corresponds to Sunset Showcase, specifically the courtyard area where there used to be parked Cars for meet & greets outside the now-extinct Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. As with the Lightning McQueen AA inside, it’s safe to assume these ancillary Cars are racing over to Magic Kingdom to be repurposed in Cars Land.
It’s also safe to assume that something villains-related will replace them for Villains Unfairly Ever After. The flex building that’ll house the show is an otherwise boring blue box, and Walt Disney World likely will want to draw eyes away from that with meet & greets and other photo ops. Might I suggest Muppet makeovers of the villains to offer a thematic transition between Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Villains Unfairly Ever After? Who wouldn’t love to meet Miss Maleficent Piggy or Gonzo the Great Gaston?!
The Little Mermaid Musical Adventure – This one is different! It’s assigned to a third party contractor, MLC Theming, which specializes in work on scenic painting, fabricating facades, and more.
That checks out. The old marquee above the theater for the former Voyage of The Little Mermaid show was recently removed, and this is also a boring blue box (like so many at Disney’s Hollywood Studios). It’s safe to assume the building will receive a fresh coat of (blue!) paint and new posters…perhaps one of Bluey to go with all the blue (and to advertise the Bluey meet & greet that’s likely coming to Animation Courtyard). A new marquee is also a given.
“The Little Mermaid — A Musical Adventure” is a reimagining of the previous puppet-heavy stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This venue has been empty for ~5 years, and it’s somehow taking Disney almost two years from announcement to opening of the updated show, which was already delayed once. A very reassuring sign about their ability to build entire lands on reasonable timelines!
Monstropolis – Okay, so this is an interesting and odd one. Again, it’s the same Buena Vista Construction, description, and expiration combo as most of the other permits. Normally, you wouldn’t expect to see that with an actual expansion, as it’ll take longer than a year and be helmed by a larger contractor.
The twist here is that there’s an odd steel structure by what’ll become the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster entrance that has received some attention lately, getting a new coat of blend-in blue paint. This suggests that Walt Disney World intends to repurpose the structure for Monstropolis.
This might sound odd, but it wouldn’t be the first time Disney retained portions of existing structures in construction projects. The same thing happened with New Fantasyland repurposing a couple of the walls (if I recall correctly) from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea despite the latter having been closed for over a decade before work on New Fantasyland began.
Another equally likely possibility is that one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing–or doesn’t care. It wouldn’t be the first time that Disney did work on structures or inside venues shortly before their demolition. So while I’d love for this to be a positive sign that Monstropolis has been fast-tracked, I’ll believe it once we start seeing “meatier” permits from Imagineering with major third party contractors.
Grand Floridian Resort – Walt Disney World has also filed a new Notice of Commencement that corresponds with the address of the main building of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Again, same vague and generalized combo as the above permits.
This one is interesting because Walt Disney World seemingly abandoned the lobby remodeling project. As you might recall, Disney announced an ‘Enchanted Gardens’ reimagining of the resort two years ago, and completed that overhaul of the outlying buildings, from the guest rooms to the lobbies by late 2023.
Timing-wise, work was slated to proceed to the main lobby around the busy holiday season. Our assumption was that the project was paused, as is often the case, around Christmas since it’s such a popular and high-occupancy holiday. We figured work would resume early last year, as crews were still doing exterior work. They never returned to the interior, though.
Interestingly, it’s been a similar story at BoardWalk Inn and Contemporary Resort. Both of those had announced large-scale reimaginings that were expected to encompass their main lobbies or atriums. In both cases, that never really happened. Both were controversial in different ways, and we’re happy that Disney didn’t touch BoardWalk’s lobby (don’t fix what isn’t broken). On the other hand, the Grand Canyon Concourse is such a hideous hodgepodge that there’s only room for improvement–especially if they follow through on the mid-century and Mary Blair look of the lobby (and new BLT rooms).
Back to the Grand Floridian, the outcome could go either way. The Victorian style and attention to detail is fantastic, but it’s fair to say that the lobby isn’t purely Victorian–it’s Victorian as seen through a 1990s lens. I like the outcome of the ‘Enchanted Gardens’ overhaul of the outlying buildings, but I’m also concerned it wouldn’t translate to the main lobby. On balance, I’d prefer that Disney leave well enough alone at Grand Floridian and instead focus on the Contemporary. Lower risk, much higher reward.
Obviously, these are not the only permits to have been filed over the last week, but the vast majority are pedestrian or pertain to backstage areas and facilities (there have been some interesting permits for parade storage at Magic Kingdom, presumably for Starlight).
If you want to search for Walt Disney World construction permits yourself, you can do so (freely) on the Orange County Comptroller website (the preface above should assist with parameters to enter to help narrow your search). Suffice to say, it’s safe to expect that 2025 will be a busy year in the permits department–we’ll keep you posted as intriguing Notices of Commencement are filed!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of these construction permits? Do you think these permits suggest projects on the horizon in Haunted Mansion, Grand Floridian, or elsewhere? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
