The Grand Floridian Entrance Detour Is Over: The Resort's Direct Entrance Reopened Monday Off the Southern Roundabout

Good news if you are driving to the Grand Floridian this week: you can go back to turning in at the southern roundabout, the way guests arrived before September 10.

As of Monday, October 19, the southern roundabout on Floridian Way is open to the road that leads into Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, according to WDW News Today. The main entrance road now connects to that roundabout, and the drive in passes the resort's brick entrance sign. That ends the looping detour arriving guests have been following since September 10. WDW News Today's report covers the way in; it does not say whether the way out, which since September 10 has run back through the northern roundabout, has changed.

The newly opened turn off the southern roundabout, with the blue Grand Floridian Turn Right sign at left. Photo: WDW News Today

What the detour was

When the new entrance arrangement opened on September 10, we laid out the route WDW News Today drove: arriving guests entered from the northern roundabout instead of the southern one, took a turn still signed "Service & Authorized Vehicles Only," passed the overflow dining and Cast Member parking lot, and turned right at a traffic light onto the old Floridian Way to reach the resort. Before that, guests came in through the southern roundabout.

WDW News Today says the work on the road section that has just opened was the reason for the loop. On October 15 that stretch was still getting new curbing and pavement. Four days later, it is open.

The same road section on October 15, closed while crews added new curbing and pavement. Photo: WDW News Today

How to get in now

A blue sign reading "Grand Floridian Turn Right," with an arrow, points to the freshly paved road off the southern roundabout. Take it, and you pass the brick Grand Floridian sign on the way to the resort.

It is still a work zone. WDW News Today reports that "There are still orange and white construction cones around the area," and its photos show heavy equipment still parked along the new road.

Barrels still line the new pavement near the Grand Floridian Turn Right sign. Photo: WDW News Today

More roadwork is still coming

The roadwork here traces back to a permit filed in September 2025 to reconfigure the Grand Floridian's main entrance, which we wrote about before the September 10 switch. WDW News Today says the plan adds a third roundabout farther south, by the Magic Kingdom parking lot, and that the resort's entrance is ultimately meant to tie straight into one of the permanent roundabouts. A new entrance for Disney's Wedding Pavilion, south of its current location, is also expected.

Neither WDW News Today nor Inside the Magic says whether Monday's connection is the permanent one. Blog Mickey, which reported the October 19 date in advance on October 14, says the approved permit plans extend the main entrance road about 200 feet so it meets the southern roundabout, which is consistent with the connection WDW News Today describes as open Monday. Those plans also turn the current Floridian Way into a single-lane, one-way exit for traffic leaving the Cast Member lot, and no outlet has reported whether that part is in place yet. No outlet has confirmed that Monday's layout is the finished one, so keep following the posted signs while the work zone remains. We found no announcement from Walt Disney World about Monday's reopening; the details come from WDW News Today's report and photos, which Inside the Magic also reported.

Did the September loop catch you out on an arrival, or did you figure it out on the first try?

Sources

• WDW News Today, "Floridian Way Roundabout Entrance Reopens, Restoring Direct Entrance to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa" (October 19, 2026)
• Inside the Magic, Grand Floridian entrance reopening report (October 19, 2026)
• Blog Mickey, "Grand Floridian Main Entrance Reopening Soon" (October 14, 2026)
• Parks Magic, Disney's New Grand Floridian Entrance Sends Arriving Guests Down a Road Signed Service & Authorized Vehicles Only
• Parks Magic, A Construction Sign Is the Only Notice Disney Has Given That the Grand Floridian Gets a New Entrance on September 10

Image credits: WDW News Today (all images).