Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is getting its first major room refurbishment since opening in 2012, running in phases from mid-June 2027 through October 2028, and the Disney Skyliner has two more routine closures already on the books for late January 2027 and 2028.
The Art of Animation project will move through the resort’s four themed sections one at a time rather than closing the whole property at once, so the resort stays open and bookable throughout. Finding Nemo, Cars, and Lion King each hold family suites, while the Little Mermaid section is standard rooms, and all of it is getting updated. Disney is calling it a “hard goods” refresh, meaning new furniture and fixtures throughout, and one detail that’s surfaced beyond Disney’s own announcement is that the Little Mermaid standard rooms are expected to add pull-down Murphy beds, the same style that’s shown up at several other Disney World resorts in recent years. Outside of new laminate flooring that replaced carpet between 2019 and 2021 and some lobby flooring updates, this is the biggest work the rooms have seen since the resort opened.
This also isn’t coming out of nowhere. Disney executives previewed the project back in May 2026 during a media briefing on the resort’s classic-attraction reinvestment strategy, showing a first look at the new room style, though concept art hasn’t been released publicly. It fits a pattern playing out across Disney’s Value Resorts right now. Pop Century already finished its refurbishment, and the All-Star Resorts are mid-project on work expected to run into 2028 or 2029, so Art of Animation lines up as the next Value Resort in the rotation rather than a standalone surprise.
The Skyliner closures are a separate, much shorter story, and one Disney runs almost every year around the same time, including a closure back in January 2026. The 2027 closure, January 24 through 30, is actually one of the shortest Skyliner refurbishment windows since the gondola system opened. The 2028 closure runs longer, January 24 through February 2. Guests at Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Riviera will lose Skyliner access to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios during both windows, though complimentary buses will run in its place, and boats between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios keep running regardless. One detail worth knowing if you’re planning rope drop: EPCOT guests normally arrive through International Gateway via the Skyliner, but during the closure, bus guests get dropped at the park’s main entrance instead, which changes your walk to Guardians of the Galaxy or Test Track. Skyliner refurbishments have historically wrapped on time or a day or two early, so the posted dates are a reasonable planning baseline.
None of this is a reason to steer clear of either. The room refresh should make Art of Animation feel less dated without taking rooms fully offline, and the Skyliner closures are short, predictable, and come with a real transportation plan in place. If a trip lands during either window, a quick room request or a mental note about bus timing covers most of it.
