Happy New Year! It’s 2025 and there’s a whole line up of Disney news to talk about. We’ve got a new magical year ahead of us! Have you planned your Disney trip for the year yet? Maybe you’re visiting a few times! We’ve got everything you need to know here for planning purposes. We’ll take a look at lots of upcoming dates to look forward to for 2025 along with our regular line up of recent news.
Disney World News Dates to Remember January 2025
Here we have some dates related to Disney World news January 2025 and beyond.
January 6 | Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closes for year plus refurbishment
January 6 – March 15 | Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros closed for refurbishment
January 8 – 12 | Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
January 13 | Dinoland U.S.A. starts phased closure
January 13 | Astro Orbiter closes for refurbishment
January 17 – February 24 | Epcot Festival of the Arts
What’s New at Disney World January 2025
What’s Coming to Disney World in 2025?
Late last year Disney confirmed a lineup of time periods we can expect for new and refurbished openings in 2025. We don’t have specific dates yet but if you can’t decide when to visit, seeing these might help if there’s something particular you want to plan around.
- Late Spring: Spaceship Earth Lounge at Epcot
- Summer: Disney Starlight parade at Magic Kingdom
- Summer: Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After Show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Summer: Little Mermaid Show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Late Summer: Test Track reopening at Epcot
- Late 2025: Pirates lounge at Magic Kingdom
- Winter 2025: Zootopia: Better Zoogether!
What’s Closing at Disney World in 2025?
When new attractions debut, sometimes older things go away. We’re seeing that happen at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with the Dinoland U.S.A. area becoming the tropical Americas land. That is scheduled to open in 2027. While some of Dinoland is closing this month, the Dinosaur attraction will stay open through 2025.
We don’t have a closing date for the Rivers of America yet but the Cars land at Magic Kingdom will take over this area.
We’re expecting the new Zootopia show to take over for It’s Tough to Be a Bug in winter of 2025. We don’t have a closing date for this attraction though it would probably be some time in 2025.
With the Muppets and Monsters switch up, the Disney Parks Blog said fans have plenty of time to enjoy them still. That kind of seems like they will stay open through 2025 the way they are. We’ll have to wait for updates to be sure.
There are some other new things coming to the parks in the distance too. The villains land headed to Magic Kingdom doesn’t seem to be replacing anything in addition to The Rivers of America and surrounding trees.
See more: What’s closing at Disney World in 2025?
Disney World Refurbishment Schedule for 2025
In addition to attractions that are closing permanently, some are just closing for refurbishment.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will close starting January 6 for nearly the entire year of 2025. It’s scheduled to reopen in 2026.
The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros closes for refurbishment from January 6th through March 15th.
Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom closes from January 6th through some time in March of 2025.
The Astro Orbiter will be temporarily closed for refurbishment starting January 13th, 2025. It’s scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2025.
For additional refurbishments, see our Disney World refurbishment schedule.
Disney World 2025 Event Dates
There’s always a long list of special events at Walt Disney World Resort throughout the year. These are the dates we have so far for 2025.
runDisney 2025 Disney World Dates
Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend January 8-12, 2025
Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend February 21-24, 2025
runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend April 3-6, 2025
Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend dates not announced yet for 2025. We can expect an announcement this month based on past years.
Disney After Hours 2025 Dates
Disney has announced some of the Disney After Hours dates for 2025. Typhoon Lagoon has had a summer time after hours event the last few years. It hasn’t been announced until later though.
Magic Kingdom Disney After Hours 2025 Dates
January 6, 13, 20, 27
February 3, 10, 17, 24
March 3, 17, 24, 31
April 7, 28
May 5, 12, 19
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Disney After Hours 2025 Dates
January 22, 29
February 12, 19
March 5, 26
April 1, 30
May 14, 28
June 4, 11, 25
July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
August 6, 20, 27
September 3
Epcot Disney After Hours 2025 Dates
February 27
May 8, 29
June 19, 26
July 10, 24, 31
August 7, 14, 21, 28
September 11, 25
DVC ROFR Slow Down
In late 2024, we saw DVC ROFR buybacks slow down again. This was after a steady stream of buybacks throughout the year. November had no ROFR buybacks. See our 2024 DVC ROFR annual stats for a look at the whole year.
If you’re ready to buy DVC resale this year, talk to an Expert about the Right of First Refusal and if it’s likely to affect your sale. You can also follow along in our ROFR DVC series that’s posted when there are buybacks.
New Polynesian Island Tower Building Open
Last month, Disney’s newest DVC rooms opened. They’re right next to Magic Kingdom, too! The Island Tower building brings hundreds of new rooms to Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Here you’ll also find a special observation deck, the Terrace Gardens, just for guests of this building. The Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows has its own pool and restaurant as well.
Excited about new accommodations? Members who own at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows have access to priority booking for all DVC rooms at this resort. It’s a delight when Disney expands a home resort that’s one of the original 14 DVC home resorts. That means you can buy resale or use your resale points to stay in brand new villas.
Recent DVC Updates
If you were busy over the holidays you may have missed some of these top stories and updates.
- DVC Maintenance Fees for 2025 have been shared.
- The Polynesian Island Tower has a new restaurant: Wailulu Bar and Grill
Continued Reopenings at Walt Disney World Resort
We’ve been covering Disney World’s pandemic closure reopening come back for years. Disney World reopened in 2020 running a very lean operation. So many things have returned to the parks and resorts but many have not. There are still many temporarily unavailable closures. Some of which may greatly impact your trips. We want to help you set expectations and plan your trip based on what is available.
What’s not back at Disney World?
- The tea room at the Grand Floridian is still closed and appears to be open as just a place to sit.
- The Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage has not returned to Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
- The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutiques at the Grand Floridian and Disney Springs are still not open.
- It’s A Wonderful Shop, Stage 1 Company Store, In Character and Disney Studio Store are still closed at Hollywood Studios. The Monsters and Muppets news changes expectations here.
- Disney says DVC pool hopping is still suspended.
- Saratoga Springs Senses Spa and Beach Club’s Ship Shape Massage Salon Fitness are still closed.
- Services like having your purchases delivered to the front of the park or to your room are paused.
- Disney Annual Passholders still need park reservations to visit parks for a full day.
- Many shows have not reopened like: Citizens of Hollywood, Jedi Training, Citizens of Main Street, Main Street Trolley Show, Move It! Shake It! Street Party, Once Upon a Time, The Jeweled Dragon Acrobats, Serveur Amusant, Swotu Waya Pandora Drummers, Pandora Utility Suit Pilot and more.
- The Little Mermaid show is still closed but will reopen this summer at Hollywood Studios!
We do our best to continue to share things as they come back.
The Disney World news January 2025 update did not bring any returns that we saw.
DVC Resale Experts Can Help, Disney World News January 2025 and Beyond
Does this Disney World news January 2025 edition leave you needing more Disney trips?
DVC Resale Experts is a licensed real estate broker with a team that specializes in resale DVC. Whether you’re adding on points, buying or selling Disney Vacation Club, the Experts can help you find the right price to place a bid with or list your contract for. Our independent, licensed real estate agents are former Disney Vacation Club Guides. They have decades of pixie dusted experience selling DVC and delight in providing excellent service to their clients. The Experts have seen it all and are happy to answer your questions throughout the process.
See our resale DVC listings for a look at real time availability and pricing.
Get in touch for a complimentary valuation of your specific contract to sell DVC.
