Walt Disney World: October 2025
- Bobby Spina
- Oct 3
- 6 min read
The heart of the Fall season is officially upon us, bringing a quiet change with it. That change has more to do than just the season itself though, as October is shaping up to be one of our quietest months yet in terms of changes and updates happening at the most magical place on Earth, hence why this monthly article is getting published a little bit later than usual.
In short, despite the fact that a new fiscal year is also in full swing (as of the first of the month), October's silence (or quietness, more accurately) is certainly speaking volumes. This month's updates aren't really anything substantial, but for the sake of consistency, here's everything scheduled to take place during "spooky season" at Walt Disney World.
October 2025
While this article will certainly be on the shorter end of things, similarly to my recent September 2025 update, the spotlight will once again be focused on Disney's Animal Kingdom. We'll also briefly cover EPCOT as well, but don't expect anything "major" to come out of today's article. (We'll save that for next month!)
Monday, October 6th
Beginning over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Kali River Rapids will be closing for its annual [Winter] refurbishment. Only, it's not Winter, is it?
You'd be correct. In fact, Kali River Rapids just wrapped up with its actual annual Winter refurbishment that lasted from January through mid-March. So, why another 2025 refurb?
The answer is simple, and it all has to do with Dinoland U.S.A. Or rather, what it will eventually become. As you know, Dinoland is currently undergoing a massive phased reimagining as Disney works to transform the land into the Tropical Americas. You may also recall that Disney has been taking a phased approach when closing certain parts of Dinoland. As a quick refresher, phase 1 closures occurred this past January, with Chester and Hester's DinoRama being the first to go. Then most recently, the Boneyard and Dig Site closed in early September. This means that the third and final closure of Dinoland will include both DINOSAUR and Restaurantosaurus.
But when exactly? Well, last month, Disney officially confirmed that both these experiences will have their final day of operation on Sunday, February 1st before closing permanently the next day on Monday, February 2nd. You may notice that these dates coincide right in the middle of Kali River Rapid's usual annual Winter downtime, but for the sake of keeping Animal Kingdom at a semi-normal operational capacity, Kali's usual refurbishment has to get moved up. Enter, October 2025.
While no reopening date has been announced yet, it's almost a sure bet that the attraction will reopen sometime in the first half of December. If this is the case, this timeline would remain consistent with Kali's previous two-month long refurbishments, and would also be prove to be operational just in time for the holiday season crowds.
Going into 2026, it'll be interesting to see how much foot traffic Kali River Rapids will be able to draw, especially considering the colder Winter months of January and February. But again, for the sake of keeping Animal Kingdom as open as humanly possible, it's crucial that Kali closes now so it can remain open in the future, colder temperatures aside. I personally wouldn't be surprised if this is the last refurbishment Kali River Rapids gets for a while, as I don't see Disney closing anything else at the park until the Tropical Americas project is fully complete in 2027.
Monday, October 20th
Fast-forward exactly two weeks later and we have another closure happening at Disney's Animal Kingdom, with the only difference being that this one is permanent.
Another permanent closure can only signal us back over to Dinoland U.S.A. On Monday, October 20th, both the Trilo-Bites and Dino-Bite Snack Stands will permanently close, with their final day of operation being on Sunday, October 19th. As mentioned earlier on, this is all in preparation for the land's reimagining into the Tropical Americas.
I know I just got done saying that Disney has taken a 3-phase approach to the Dinoland U.S.A closures, but these closures aren't anything major. The decision to close these two snack stands almost seems like a last-minute decision, but I think it's a good decision nonetheless. To me, these closures indicates some excellent progress from Walt Disney Imagineering and park operations in moving forward with the land's construction and aiming to meet that 2027 timeframe. So for the time being, we'll call the closure of these two snack stands "Phase 2.5."
As far as where these two snack stands are located, Trilo-Bites is the very first facade guests will notice walking into the former main entrance of the land, situated off to the right-hand side. Here's some official concept art of how the Dinoland U.S.A main entrance will be rethemed, but the Trilo-Bites snack stand is nowhere to be found. It's unclear if the stand will be completely demolished or repurposed in some way, but we'll find out soon.
As for Dino-Bite Snacks, the stand is semi-attached to the far right side of Restaurantosaurus. Unlike Trilo-Bites, this one is not a stand-alone snack stand, so it'll be interesting to see how exactly Disney plans on taking advantage of the space for early construction.
We don't have much concept art to work off of regarding either of these locations, so here's some concept art of what Restaurantosaurus will soon look like, followed by a conceptual overview of the Tropical Americas land in its entirety.
Taking a closer look at the concept art itself, we can see that there is some sort of structure at the very bottom of the image towards the main entrance of the land, cut-off ever so slightly. This is the exact location of the Trilo-Bites snack stand, so I think it's safe to argue that Disney will more than likely retheme the structure rather than just demolish it entirely.
Dino-Bite Snacks is a different story though. Because the stand itself is actually attached to Restaurantosaurus, it's harder to tell if it will be staying or not, or rather, how it will be repurposed. Going based off the concept art, the Dino-Bite Snacks stand is located roughly where the yellow umbrellas are, right past the land's main entrance. I personally think it may be in Disney's best interest to simply expand the seating available for what will soon be the large Hacienda, but only time will tell. If we hear of any new details regarding what Disney's exact plans are, I'll be sure to let you know.
Once again, the Tropical Americas will officially open at Disney's Animal Kingdom sometime in 2027.
Saturday, October 25th
Wrapping up our October article, we'll shift gears on over to EPCOT for something more minor. EPCOT will be doing the exact opposite of Animal Kingdom, as instead of experiencing a closure, something will be reopening instead!
You may recall that back in late August, Spaceship Earth closed temporarily for a scheduled refurbishment. At the time, we didn't exactly know how long the refurbishment was intended to last, but now we finally have a reopening date. Spaceship Earth will reopen in World Celebration at EPCOT on Saturday, October 25th, making the closure last exactly two months long.
The reason for this refurbishment according to Disney was simply "routine maintenance," so don't expect to see any major changes when the attraction reopens. At most, we could see some refreshed show scenes with new coats of paint, restored effects, and maybe some enhanced lighting. Again, that would be the extent of it, if anything.
There's not really much else to report on regarding Spaceship Earth, but I'm excited to have this EPCOT classic return back to the park later this month!
That's all for the month of October! Get ready for November... as next month is shaping up to be quite a doozy of updates as the end of the year draws closer. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Thanks so much for reading everyone, and I'll see you all next time!
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