NEWS: Permit Filed for LENGTHY Disney World Hotel Refurbishment

The EPCOT Transformation may be complete, but we’re still keeping an eye out for work to be done in other areas of the Most Magical Place on Earth.

From Animal Kingdom to Magic Kingdom and beyond, Disney World is always changing. And, right now we’re taking a look at some new changes that could be on the way!

We’re always on the hunt for the latest construction permits Disney has filed to get an idea of what projects might be on the horizon around the parks and more! We search for Notices of Commencement to find out what sort of work might be going on. Let’s take a look at what we found this time around!

It looks like Disney’s Wilderness Lodge might be set to undergo a lengthy refurbishment soon. A new permit has been filed for “site and facility improvements” with Balfour Beatty listed as the contractor. Specifically, the area near the Copper Creek Villas and Cascade Cabins.

And, the expiration date on this permit leads us to believe this will be a long project, since instead of the standard, one-year expiration, the permit lists March 31, 2027, as the expiration date — a whopping two and a half years from now. Disney hasn’t shared any details on a potential expansion for these cabins yet, but we’ll let you know if that changes.

Test Track is being rethemed and it officially closed on June 17th, 2024. These changes were originally announced in 2023 and we’ve already seen a couple of permits that were filed earlier this year. But, another Test Track permit was just filed!

The permit description is listed as “install set design,” which isn’t all that specific. However, the contractor listed on the permit is Spitz, Inc., which also worked with Disney to bring Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT to life. Since the expiration date on all the Test Track permits we’ve seen so far have had the standard, one-year expiration date, we’re hopeful this ride will reopen sooner rather than later!

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In the meantime, we’ll be on the hunt for the latest news from Disney World, so stay tuned to AllEars for more!