Kidani Village Closes Its Lobby and Front Door on August 17, and Check-In Moves to the Palace Library Through October 9

Anyone checking into Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village between mid August and early October is going to be pointed somewhere other than the usual entrance. Starting Monday, August 17, the resort begins a phased refurbishment of its lobby areas that runs into November, and the opening phase closes both the main lobby and the primary entrance, and the gift shop closes the same day on a shorter window of its own.

Check-in moves to the Palace Library, a sitting room just off the lobby, through October 9.

The Kidani Village lobby, which closes on August 17 at the start of the project. Photo: Disney, via Blog Mickey

The phase schedule

WDW News Today published the calendar on Tuesday, July 28. Each area gets its own closure window, spread across mid August through early November 2026:

• August 17 to October 9: the main lobby and the primary entrance close, with check-in moving to the Palace Library.
• August 17 to 28: Johari Treasures, the resort's gift shop, is closed.
• September 28 to October 9: the north lobby corridor closes. That takes the second floor lobby elevators and the outdoor terrace observation deck out of service.
• October 26 to November 6: the south lobby corridor closes. Community Hall, the laundry room, the lobby restrooms, the outdoor terrace observation deck, the Palace Library and Safari So Good Arcade are all unavailable during that window.

WDW News Today notes that construction may be visible or audible during daytime hours for as long as the project runs.

The thatched arch over the rear of Kidani Village's lobby. The primary entrance, which closes from August 17 to October 9, is on the arrival side of the building. Photo: WDW News Today

The sequencing is the interesting part

Read the list in order and one detail jumps out. The Palace Library is doing double duty as the check-in desk from August 17 through October 9, and then the Palace Library itself closes from October 26 through November 6. The two windows do not overlap. The main lobby closure runs through October 9, and the published schedule does not spell out where check-in sits after that.

The October 26 phase is the one that costs guests the most day to day. Community Hall is the resort's activities room. The laundry room matters to anyone in a villa on a long stay. Safari So Good Arcade is the resort's video game room. Losing all three at once, plus the lobby restrooms and the Palace Library, is a lot to be without across a twelve day window.

What is not on the list

Everything on the published schedule is a lobby or lobby corridor space. Guest rooms and the resort's dining do not appear anywhere in it. The outdoor terrace observation deck is the only area with two separate closure windows, listed as unavailable from September 28 to October 9 and again from October 26 to November 6.

A savanna view balcony at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, the resort Kidani Village belongs to. Nothing on the published refurbishment schedule touches the guest room side of Kidani Village. Photo: Disney, via Blog Mickey

What the schedule also does not say is what any of this is for. It is a list of dates, not a description of a design. There is no rendering, no theme note, and no word on whether the finished lobby looks meaningfully different or simply newer. For a lobby this heavily themed, that is the question worth watching between now and November.

If you are booked at Kidani between August and early October, plan around the closed entrance and the check-in walk to the Palace Library. If your stay falls in the October 26 to November 6 window, the entrance is not on the closure list for that stretch, but Community Hall, the arcade, the laundry room, the lobby restrooms, the Palace Library and the observation deck are.

Sources

• WDW News Today: Kidani Village Lobby Areas to Close for Multi-Month Refurbishment at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
• WDWMagic: Johari Treasures at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani Village temporarily closing in August 2026

Image credits: Disney (via Blog Mickey) and WDW News Today.