About a month ago, we brought you news that there was some land clearing work underway west of Magic Kingdom. The work is to support a rerouting of Floridian Way, the roadway that takes guests to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and connects Walt Disney World to neighborhoods north of property. The construction is part of a multi-year effort to expand World Drive and Floridian Way to allow for easier navigation in the Magic Kingdom area.
New aerial photos from friend of the site Bioreconstruct give us a better idea of the work that’s taking place. We’ll also discuss some of the speculation that a new Magic Kingdom area hotel could be the endgame of this roadway reroute.
Land Clearing West of Magic Kingdom for Roadway Expansion…and A New Hotel?
In the aerial photos below, we can see the land clearing taking place to cut through a forested area west of Magic Kingdom. The perspective of the first photo below is looking south, with Magic Kingdom barely visible in the lower left of the image, and Grand Floridian on the Seven Seas Lagoon in the middle of the image. We can see the existing 2-land Floridian Way in the middle of the image and forested areas everywhere else.

Here’s another perspective of the work, showing how Disney is working on a major rerouting of Floridian Way, leading to some speculation that the area in the lower left of the image below could be prime real estate for a new Magic Kingdom area hotel.


The land clearing is taking place near where there will be laydown yards for construction equipment for the upcoming Cars-themed expansion to Frontierland and Villains land in Magic Kingdom. It’s important to distinguish that the work taking place here is not associated with the theme park project, which is still awaiting approval from the state to move forward.
Going back to the recent land clearing west of Magic Kingdom, the permit below shows the planned roadway adjustments for the Floridian Way/World Drive Phase III work. We can see Magic Kingdom on the right side of the screenshot below, the Grand Floridian near the middle of the image, and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in the lower left. The work is outlined in purple, with the most recent land clearing taking place at the light blue section.

For reference, the image below shows the northern portion of the World Drive Phase III permitted work with a look at the unrelated laydown yards (blue) that are still awaiting final permit approval from the state. While the work is in the same area, the cleared areas are separate. The roadway reroute is clearly part of some bigger plans, but it’s unclear what those plans are right now.

It’s also worth noting that while the Magic Kingdom laydown yards/Rivers of America demolition is still awaiting final approval from the state, the roadway project has been approved for years. Other impacts from the roadway project include adjustments to Disney’s Magnolia golf course and a new entrance to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!