Construction will once again resume at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, with work finally moving inside the lobby in 2025. This post shares the latest news from Walt Disney World and our thoughts on the impact to guests with stays here for the rest of this year. We’ll also address the reimagining of rooms, restaurants, lobby, and more.
This project has been several years in the making. It actually started shortly before the closure of the parks with a lounge update, and continued shortly after reopening with more restaurant reimaginings. Then with the pause of what’s now Disney Lakeshore Lodge, the company determined it “needed” more Disney Vacation Club points to sell, leading to the DVC overhaul of the Big Pine Key building.
Following that, all of the outlying buildings in the hotel were redone in a similar style. (See Grand New Rooms at Walt Disney World’s Flagship Resort for a look inside.) That happened building-by-building approximately two years ago, and was expected to culminate with the main lobby towards the end of the year. But it didn’t.
The expectation at the time was that Walt Disney World was unwilling to lose the lobby of the Grand Floridian during the holiday season, which is an incredibly lucrative time of year. Resort occupancy is high and there’s the famous gingerbread house in the lobby that draws guests and sells treats. It’s totally normal for Walt Disney World to pause hotel construction projects for October through December as a result, even at resorts that don’t have gingerbread houses.
Accordingly, we expected work to resume early last year on the lobby. But it didn’t. Then there was the announcement that 1900 Park Fare would be reimagined prior to reopening in the spring, and we thought surely the Grand Floridian lobby would be redone alongside that. But it wasn’t. Perhaps after 1900 Park Fare reopened, which would provide the opportunity to close Grand Floridian Cafe at the same time? Nope.
After months of radio silence and Walt Disney World not including the Grand Floridian when it released the 2025 hotel project ‘warnings’ late last year, we assumed the lobby overhaul had quietly died. But it didn’t!
Here’s the latest update from Walt Disney World:
“Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will be receiving enhancements to select areas in phases, including the lobby and convention center, from April through November 2025. Guests may see and hear construction during daytime hours, and portions of the lobby will be closed at times. All pools and most resort dining and other amenities will remain available. Please allow extra time for travel, as path adjustments may be in place.”
As of publish time, this notice (with details & date range) only appears on the Disney Vacation Club Member site. It does not appear on the consumer-facing DisneyWorld.com page for the Grand Floridian. To the best of my knowledge, no notice has been sent to travel agents, either.
That declines to state what, exactly, the lobby and convention center overhaul will entail, but we do have this from a couple years ago when this was first announced:
“2023 will also be a momentous year for Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa as it celebrates its 35th anniversary on July 1! The resort has been receiving some grand touches that weave familiar storybook charm into the Victorian elegance of this flagship resort. Guest rooms are currently being updated as we speak with more to come as the beloved Grand Floridian ushers in its third decade of magic. The ongoing renovation will also include an upcoming refurbishment of the lobby, which will maintain the classic theming you know and love with some fresh new enhancements.
The story doesn’t end there, as you can dine underneath the lovely London sky at Citricos, inspired by ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ … and maybe bookend your evening with a shimmering sip at Enchanted Rose Lounge, inspired by “Beauty and the Beast.” And our beloved Victoria & Albert’s – the culinary crown jewel of Walt Disney World Resort and AAA Five Diamond Award winner – reopened its doors this year to rave reviews featuring a renovated interior.”
Beyond this, it was rumored that Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort would receive a substantial overhaul to the lobby with “Enchanted Gardens” as the unifying visual style. (This rumor was corroborated by the official Disney Files magazine for DVC members, which used the exact same term.)
In terms of timing, our expectation is that work starts on the Grand Floridian lobby reimagining no earlier than April 22, 2025. There’s currently the popular Easter Egg display in the lobby, and that’s another holiday (along with the whole of spring break season) that’s a popular time for the hotel. It’s highly unlikely work will begin before Easter. It’s possible they’ll wait another full week after that, as some school districts still have recesses the week after Easter.
As for when work will wrap up, the target date is likely before Veterans Day. Typically, the Grand Floridian is one of the first resorts to open its gingerbread house, and construction often starts in late October. We’d expect that to remain true here, and for walls to come down around everything in early November 2025.
Of course, that’s assuming the project is far enough along–but we strongly suspect that Walt Disney World would pause the project over having work cut into a portion of the holiday season. That would mean leaving too much money on the table. (And remember, this work also encompasses the convention center–there’s nothing to say the lobby work won’t be done on a tighter timeframe and the convention center will be what drags into November 2025.)
As for the guest impact, we’d expect it to be fairly significant.
While there have been other lobby projects that have been relatively minor initiatives, swapping out furniture and furnishings overnight with zero impact on guests (BoardWalk comes to mind), that’s not what we’ve seen with the outlying buildings at the Grand Floridian. Moreover, there wouldn’t be a new construction warning–for April through November–if this were a simple swapping of furniture. Disney can be glacially slow, but it doesn’t take them over 6 months to remove and replace some sofas.
To each their own, but if we were planning a stay at the Grand Floridian from late April through early November 2025, we’d switch resorts. The lobby is too important of a feature and the resort is too expensive to settle for it being a construction zone. Of course, you shouldn’t substitute our judgment for your own. If you’re staying at the Grand Floridian for its guest rooms, pools, or proximity to the parks–and seldom step foot in the lobby–obviously this advice may not apply to you.
Regardless, it’s incredibly frustrating that Walt Disney World waited until late March 2025 to issue a warning for a project that’ll start one month later. It’s not the construction about which we’re upset–that has to happen sometime–it’s the lack of notice and disregard for guests.
This is not some urgent maintenance that’s being scheduled last-minute. We’ve seen that happen with a few recent pool projects, and are completely understanding of those because it’s impossible to plan for problems that arise out of nowhere. (Well, perhaps better preventative maintenance, but you get the idea.)
By contrast, this is a lobby reimagining that’s elective in nature. It absolutely needs to happen, but the timing certainly is not catching Disney by surprise. They’ve undoubtedly been planning this for months, and have known exactly when it would happen for a while. So why not proactively provide advance notice? It’s frustrating, to say the least.
Even if you’re unbothered by the lobby project, guests should still demand better give the nightly cost of the Grand Floridian and Walt Disney World’s own standards. (One of our favorite hotels in the world, Park Hyatt Tokyo, is in the midst of a similar project. That hotel closed entirely for the refurbishment, and made the announcement one full year in advance so prospective guests could plan accordingly. Hyatt is a better hotelier than Disney, but these are comparably priced hotels.)
As noted above, Walt Disney World already announced that the lobby “will maintain the classic theming you know and love with some fresh new enhancements.” What that means is unclear; it leaves a lot of latitude for a range of changes. Our expectation is that the scope and scale is on par with the other buildings, creating a consistent visual style with those.
What’s also unknown is what happens with Grand Floridian Cafe and Grand Floridian Tea Room, the latter of which has still not reopened. Our expectation is that both receive reimagined interiors, with the former closing over the summer to accommodate that overdue update and the latter not reopening until the lobby project is done. (So perhaps the Grand Floridian Tea Room will finally return this holiday season? Another Festivus miracle!)
That’s just our speculation, but it would make sense. October through December is the busiest stretch of the year for Walt Disney World restaurants, so they’d likely want Grand Floridian Cafe to reopen by then. As for Grand Floridian Tea Room, there’s been fan speculation that it has been indirectly “replaced” by the Cake Bake Shop. I don’t buy that. Walt Disney World loves upmarket offerings, and Grand Floridian Tea Room squarely fits the bill. There’s no reason why the resort can’t sustain both.
Ultimately, I’m pleased to see that the lobby reimagining of the Grand Floridian is finally moving forward. I wish the announcement were made much earlier, and hope it’s not too late for impacted guests who don’t want to deal with this to relocate. But as for the substance of the news, I’m happy to see this wasn’t quietly cancelled.
That’s probably going to get me excoriated among Walt Disney World purists. As a realist, I think the ‘Enchanted Gardens’ style of the outlying buildings is pretty much the best-case scenario when accounting for tastes of modern guests and the price point of the Grand Floridian.
While WDW diehards might love the current lobby and overall aesthetic, I’d hazard a guess that the hotel does not comport with the expectations of the first-timers or casual guests who actually book it. As I’ve said before, it does not strike me as “pure” Victorian themed design, but rather, the early 1990s interpretation of Victorian.
With that said, my hope is that Imagineering can marry the visual style of the new rooms with the opulence and grandiosity of the main lobby. It should not become an Ethan Allen showroom, but with a higher ceiling. Modernized doesn’t need to mean dull and devoid of character. There is a way to have the best of both worlds, a lobby that’s both well-themed and luxurious. It’s a tough balance to strike, but hopefully it can be accomplished, if that’s what Walt Disney World opts to do.
With all of that said, one thing is certain: we must protect the masterpiece monkey and bunny paintings at all costs.
I’m not one for petitions, but if someone were to start one to get these puppies added to some historic register of culturally significant works of art, I’d sign it. Perhaps the Grand Floridian should even be added to the National Register of Historic Places as home to these priceless treasures. They’re arguably why it’s called the Grand, and is the flagship resort at Walt Disney World.
Regardless of the rabbit and monkey paintings, we’re cautiously optimistic about the end result. The Grand Floridian is arguably the most well-rounded Seven Seas Lagoon Resort, with fewer drawbacks than the Polynesian or Contemporary (speaking of which, redo the Grand Canyon Concourse next, Imagineers!). So long as common spaces and remaining restaurants are modernized in a respectful style consistent with the outlying buildings, the Grand Floridian will emerge from this as a better option than before, and a resort truly deserving of the flagship distinction.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Grand Floridian’s lobby overhaul finally happening in 2025? Excited for the continued reimagining of Walt Disney World’s flagship resort, or worried it’ll lose its personality and richly-themed spaces in the process? Have you stayed at the Grand Floridian since the new rooms debuted? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? 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!
