Though the hotel’s Victorian façade is no longer the maze of scaffolding that it was over the summer, exterior refurbishment work remains ongoing at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. We noticed additional work taking place on portions of the roof and moved exterior construction walls during a recent trip to the Magic Kingdom area lodging.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Construction
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has been under renovation for quite some time, with the hotel’s extensive refurbishment impacting most of its offerings including the lobby, guest rooms, eateries, and its façade. Work, though not complete, is momentarily quiet in the lobby, but the same cannot be said for the other areas of the resort.
Some exterior scaffolding has come down since our last update on October 27. The photo above was taken on December 1, while the image below was included in our October update. Comparing the two images, we can see that the section of the building near the center of each photo is no longer surrounded by scaffolding.
That said, scaffolding is still constructed around several portions of the main building. Its primary function is seemingly to give workers access to the hotel’s iconic red rooftops, as roof refurbishment work remains ongoing.
We spotted several workers on or around the edges of the roof, even noticing numerous areas where shingles were absent and roof deck protection was visible.
The work pictured here is occurring near the main entrance. Both sides of the primary entrance pathway remain walled off, but peeking over the walls from the Monorail platform gives us a glorious view of cinderblocks, construction materials, and mulch.
Shingles are currently absent from the sloped roof that connects to the Monorail platform overhead covering. The decking protection is visible.
Some red shingles are visible just to the right of the Monorail platform roof. These are likely left over as opposed to recently installed.
Hopping off the Monorail and heading outside, we can see that construction walls have been moved.
Previously, guests accessed the back entrance of the main building through a maze of construction walls. White walls were constructed along the pathway around the greenery, forcing guests to enter through a tunnel. For reference, included below is a picture from our late-October update.
They’ve been moved back in recent days, again exposing the greenery.
The walls now line a covered pathway directly outside of the entrance.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opened on June 28, 1988, and has since served as Walt Disney World Resort’s flagship hotel. It’s currently in the midst of a multi-year reimagining, of sorts, that kicked off in 2017 when now-former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, then in charge of the Parks & Resorts division, deemed the hotel substandard.
Subsequent additions and alterations include the introduction of the “Beauty and the Beast”-themed Enchanted Rose Lounge, which replaced Mizner’s Lounge, a “Mary Poppins”-inspired redesign of CÃtricos, and updated guest rooms. The Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa lobby will also be eventually updated with “some fresh new enhancements;” the remodel was scheduled to start earlier this year but was ultimately delayed until 2024 as to not interfere with the construction and display of the resort’s iconic Christmas tree and grand gingerbread house.
Are you happy to see renovation work steadily progressing at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa? Let us know in the comments.
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