Why You Should Skip Disney World’s Skyliner Hotels in January 2026

2026 is right around the corner, and we don’t know about you guys, but we’re having trouble believing it — time FLIES!

The new year is set to bring lots of changes to Disney World — new attractions, merchandise, and experiences, but we’ll also be seeing construction galore. This construction won’t only take place in the parks, though (but watch out for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as the walls there will be most intense), because Disney World hotels are going through lots of refurbishments as well. In fact, if you’re visiting Disney World in January 2026, there are a few hotels we suggest avoiding altogether just to avoid this GLARING issue.

All the way back in April, Disney announced that the Skyliner would be closed for refurbishment from January 25th to January 31st, 2026 due to its normally scheduled refurbishment. While this doesn’t sound like a lot of time, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s not, this SEVERELY messes up transportation at Disney World’s Skyliner hotels, which are:

• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Riviera Resort

The Skyliner can take you to and from these hotels to one another, as well as to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Due to the Skyliner presence at these hotels, you won’t find Disney buses to these parks normally, but during the closure, the only way to get to the hotels will be the Disney buses that will be running ONLY during this refurbishment.

Notoriously, Disney buses take longer to get to the parks, or other hotels for that matter. This is especially true at hotels like Caribbean Beach, which is so large it has multiple bus stops. Depending on which one you’re at, it’s very possible the bus will pull up to your stop and already be full, or will take an extra 10-15 minutes to get to the park. This is most true during the busiest times of the day, such as rope drop and the end of the park day.

While the Skyliner can certainly get busy too, they can’t cram them as full as a Disney bus just for safety reasons (as no one is allowed to stand on the Skyliner, but you can on the bus). While the Skyliner is closed, traffic to get to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios will be much heavier than you previously may have experienced. While we usually recommend allowing an hour to get anywhere on Disney World property, if you’re staying at a Skyliner resort during this closure, we recommend allowing even more time, perhaps an hour and fifteen minutes.

We’re not saying don’t stay at these hotels during the closure, but we have to be honest — part of the reason these hotels are priced the way they are is because of their Skyliner access. This is especially the case for Art of Animation and Pop Century, because they’re the most expensive of the Value Resorts due to the Skyliner access. To save a few bucks, if you’re traveling during the closure, we recommend staying at one of the All-Star Resorts if missing the Skyliner is going to be a big deal for you. However, if you weren’t planning on using the Skyliner anyway due to a fear of heights, or just general disinterest, then this closure won’t affect you as much.

It’s completely up to you to decide what hotel is best for your upcoming vacation, but we feel it’s important you know exactly what’s going on, and how it could affect your hotel stay before you make your decision. This way, you don’t feel any semblance of regret, or feel uninformed on your vacation.

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

Be sure to stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney World news!

The Story Behind the Disney Skyliner!

How do you feel about the Skyliner? Tell us in the comments!

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