Disney Confirms Major Attraction Removal at Disney World, Shares What’s Next

Across the Walt Disney World Resort, numerous attractions are currently under refurbishment, and for the first time in years, the team behind guest safety at the theme parks has revealed why rides must shut down.

Big Thunder Mountain and Astro Orbiter are out of action at Magic Kingdom. Test Track is getting updated at EPCOT. Multiple rides have closed permanently at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And soon enough, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will lose the Grand Avenue and shutter Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. It’s all changing at Disney World, but why is there so much disruption in 2025?

There are perhaps two solid reasons the Walt Disney World Resort is embarking on such a transformation this year. Bob Iger’s flagship theme park resort has received scrutiny for not announcing a fifth gate in the wake of Univeral Orlando’s Epic Universe park–something that seems unlikely as executives look to transform the current offering, instead.

Additionally, Disney Experiences (formerly Disney Parks, Experiences and Products) has been criticized in the past for not following through on concepts and promises. Remember D23 Expo 2022? Those ‘blue sky’ ideas didn’t amount to much, leaving Experiences chief Josh D’Amaro to only reveal confirmed projects at the Expo event two years later.

Aside from the bigger changes coming to Disney World, such as the Frontierland overhaul in Magic Kingdom and the DinoLand U.S.A. transformation in Animal Kingdom, the resort will often shut rides and attractions throughout the year to conduct important maintenance and ensure guest safety.

Now, Disney has let the media peek inside the workshop and understand why this work is necessary to keep guests safe while they are on vacation. Fox 35 Orlando explained why the Disney Central Shops are an important part of the machine.

Central Shops is where Disney engineers, mechanics, painters, and artists ensure rides, like the Mad Tea Party and Space Mountain, are safe and in tip-top shape,” the outlet reported. “After every 200,000 laps, which is about 3-5 years, each train of each ride at Walt Disney World is brought to Central Shops to be inspected, tested, repaired, and painted if needed.”

“The rides will spend about 12-18 weeks inside Central Shops before they’re tested for an additional two weeks after that,” Fox 35 explained.

When speaking to Director of Manufacturing Fredrick Cox Jr., the truth about what they do behind the scenes was revealed.

“We do that to help make sure that from a safety perspective, everything is functioning properly. That there are no indications, no cracks in the chassis, and there are no issues with the brakes,” Cox Jr. said. “We do a complete teardown and do an entire rebuild, make it shiny, fix any kind of bodywork, any panels, and send it back out looking brand new.”

Disney World guests can be thankful that the upkeep of these attractions is seemingly so thorough. Aside from the recent permanent closures of certain attractions (so long TriceraTop Spin and It’s Tough to be a Bug!), the current refurbishment list includes Test Track at EPCOT and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Astro Orbiter, and The Hall of Presidents at Magic Kingdom Park.

Surprisingly, the latter has still not reopened following the election of President Donald Trump. Some believe that Disney World officials may be retooling the concept of the attraction especially when considering the controversial views of the 47th President of the United States.

Do you feel more safe knowing this procedure for Walt Disney World Resort attractions? Let us know in the comments down below!