Disney World Permanently Closes a Key Road to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian on July 13, Rerouting Every Driver
If you are driving to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort or Grand Floridian this summer, your route is about to change for good. On Monday, July 13, 2026, Walt Disney World will permanently close the intersection of Seven Seas Drive and Floridian Way near Magic Kingdom, and Disney has started emailing guests with new directions, including a rather blunt request not to drive to the Polynesian's Great Ceremonial House.
Car access to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort changes permanently on July 13. Photo: Lexi Scott, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What is closing
The intersection sits between the Polynesian and the Transportation and Ticket Center parking lots. After July 13, Seven Seas Drive will no longer connect through to Floridian Way. Instead it dead-ends at the Polynesian's main guest entrance. The old Seven Seas Drive entrance to the resort is being converted into a bus-only entrance, part of a relocation of the Polynesian's main entrance that has been under construction since May 2025, with a new guard house along Floridian Way.
New directions, by resort
Because this reshapes how cars reach two of Disney's flagship Deluxe resorts, Disney is emailing guests with upcoming Polynesian stays specific routing instructions:
- Guests headed to the Polynesian's Island Tower (the newer DVC tower) are told to use Floridian Way directly to the Island Tower.
- Guests on the Polynesian's main campus are being routed onto North World Drive, following new directional signage.
- Guests bound for Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, which also sat off Seven Seas Drive, will now reach it via Floridian Way.
The emails are direct about it. Island Tower guests are told, in Disney's words:
please do not travel to the Great Ceremonial House at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.
Disney is asking drivers to follow the updated signage and build in a little extra travel time, especially in the first days after the switch.
The old Seven Seas Drive entrance to the Polynesian is becoming a bus-only entrance. Photo: Sam Howzit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of a bigger road project
The closure is one visible milestone in a much larger, multi-year overhaul of the roads around Magic Kingdom, led by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The broader World Drive project eventually calls for three roundabouts, a single-span bridge, and rerouting part of Seven Seas Drive through what is today the Magic Kingdom cast member parking lot. That larger effort was pushed back by roughly 15 months earlier this year, with phase three now targeted for completion by the end of 2027. For now, though, the July 13 intersection closure is the change that will actually affect your drive.
The bottom line
If you have a Polynesian or Grand Floridian trip in the next few weeks, read that Disney email closely and trust the new signs over your muscle memory (or your GPS, which may take a while to catch up). A few minutes of planning now will save some confusion at the gate later.
Sources
Image credits: Polynesian Village Resort photos by Lexi Scott and Sam Howzit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
