Disney Makes New Rules About Walking Through the Magic Kingdom Resort Area
Getting from point A to point B at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa got a little more complicated this week. The rerouted pool walkway is just the latest in a series of access changes reshaping the Magic Kingdom Resort area.
A Familiar Path Gets Blocked Off
WDWNT reported on July 14 that a new A-frame plastic sign had appeared on a walkway to the main pool area at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, directing guests to “please utilize alternate walkway.” Rolling planters and plastic green fencing physically block both the sidewalk and the grassy area alongside it, cutting off the route entirely. Additional A-frame signs throughout the area guide Deluxe Disney Resort hotel guests toward alternate paths to the pool entrance.
Walt Disney World Resort hasn’t explained what specifically triggered the reroute. Construction of a new traffic circle in the Magic Kingdom Resort area is currently underway and is affecting access to both Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Part of a Larger Pattern
The pool walkway closure is one small piece of a much larger shift in how Walt Disney World Resort is managing movement through its most premium hotel properties. The changes have been accumulating steadily over the past several weeks.
Late last month, bus and boat transportation from Disney Springs was restricted to guests holding valid onsite hotel reservations or dining reservations, with proof required to board. Days later, Walt Disney World Resort confirmed that the life-size Gingerbread House would not return to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa this holiday season — a major draw for off-property visitors — and a Disney Parks Blog post stated explicitly, for the first time, that the resort’s Christmas decorations were intended for guests staying at or dining at Disney Resort hotels rather than casual visitors dropping by.
Security on the walkway between the Transportation and Ticket Center and Magic Kingdom Park through Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort has also been tightened, with cast members now turning away guests who don’t have hotel or dining reservations at the Polynesian or Grand Floridian.
For now, Monorail, Disney Skyliner, bus, and watercraft transportation from the four theme parks to Disney Resort hotels remains open to all guests regardless of reservation status. Extended daytime parking at on-property hotels, however, has come under increased scrutiny as part of the same broader effort to reserve the resort experience for paying hotel guests.
Have you noticed any other changes at the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks or hotels? Share your experience with Disney Dining in the comments!
