A Construction Sign Is the Only Notice Disney Has Given That the Grand Floridian Gets a New Entrance on September 10

The sign is doing all the talking. Parked at the new roundabout on Floridian Way, an amber LED message board spells out three lines in dot matrix orange: NEW ENTRANCE, and under it, 9-10-26. That is Thursday, September 10. It is also, as of this writing, the only notice Walt Disney World has given that the way you drive into one of its flagship deluxe resorts is about to change.

WDW News Today published photos of the board on Wednesday; Blog Mickey published an aerial view of the roundabout, credited to Bioreconstruct. Blog Mickey said Disney did not respond to its request for comment about the change; WDW News Today's report did not mention contacting Disney.

The message board at the new roundabout reads NEW ENTRANCE and 9-10-26. Photo: WDW News Today.

The short version: a new entrance to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opens Thursday, September 10. Disney has not said what changes. The roadwork around it is part of a project that runs into late 2027.

Disney has not explained it, and was asked

This is the unusual part. When Disney permanently closed the Seven Seas Drive and Floridian Way intersection in July, it emailed affected resort guests with new directions. This time there is a construction sign and nothing else.

Blog Mickey put it plainly: "The signage does not explain what exactly is changing, and Walt Disney World has not made a public announcement about the update." The outlet also reported that "Walt Disney World did not respond to a request for more information about the changes."

So the date is firm. What happens on it is not.

What the permit says is supposed to happen

There is a paper trail, even if there is no announcement. This change traces to a permit that the South Florida Water Management District approved last November, from an application first filed in September 2025. Per Blog Mickey's reading of that permit, it calls for:

• Adding about 200 feet of new roadway so the Grand Floridian's main entrance meets a new roundabout, part of the World Drive North Phase III project.
• Turning the current Floridian Way roadway into a single-lane, one-way exit route.
• Adding a new entrance for the Grand Floridian wedding pavilion, built south of where it stands now.

WDW News Today expects the new entrance to tie into what it calls "the northern-most roundabout, located near an overflow/Cast Member parking lot." That is the outlet's read, not a Disney statement, so treat it as the likely layout rather than a confirmed one.

The new roundabout, still ringed with barrels. The pine at right is a disguised cell tower. Photo: WDW News Today.

This is the next step after August 10, not a surprise out of nowhere

We covered the previous move in this same corridor. On August 10, the new Floridian Way roundabouts opened to traffic, shifting guests onto newly built southbound lanes between the Magic Kingdom parking lot and the Grand Floridian.

That shift left three entrances running on temporary connector driveways: the Grand Floridian's, the wedding pavilion's, and the one serving the Island Tower at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Those stopgaps were always meant to be replaced. September 10 looks like one of them being retired.

Whether it is the permanent entrance from the permit is the open question. Blog Mickey is careful here: it says only that it is unclear whether September 10 marks the debut of the permanent, permit-described entrance, or just another interim step. Given that World Drive North Phase III is not expected to be fully complete until December 2027, another interim step would not be surprising.

The new Floridian Way in August, running past the Island Tower at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Photo: WDW News Today.

What to do if you are driving in next week

Nothing complicated, just do not trust your muscle memory or your phone. Our own coverage of the July closure warned that GPS apps could take a while to catch up here, and the layout has now changed for a third time since July.

Practical notes: follow the posted signs over your navigation app, leave a few extra minutes on arrival day, and expect the area to still look like a work zone. Construction and law enforcement remain active there, and Blog Mickey's advice is simply to drive cautiously through it.

If you are heading to the wedding pavilion specifically, keep an eye out: its own new entrance, south of where it sits today, is in the same permit but has not been given a date.

Sources

• Blog Mickey: New Grand Floridian Entrance Opening Soon
• WDW News Today: New Entrance to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort Opening Soon
• WDW News Today: New Floridian Way With Two Roundabouts Opens at Walt Disney World

Image credits: all photographs by WDW News Today.