Documents filed late last month by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District identify a new end date for the ongoing work to widen World Drive north/Floridian Way. The project has been delayed by some 15 months, with a new project completion date now targeting late 2027. Here’s the latest.
World Drive North Project Delayed by 15 Months
As you may know, Walt Disney World is in the middle of a lengthy, multi-phase expansion and improvement of the World Drive roadway. World Drive is the main artery that runs north and south through Walt Disney World, connecting Interstate 4 to the south with Windermere neighborhoods to the north.
The effort to widen and improve the northern part of World Drive from the Magic Kingdom toll plaza to a service area north of the theme park has been ongoing for years, and was divided into three phases. We’re now in the middle of the third of the three phases, but the project has been recently delayed.
First, here’s a look at the project area that we’re talking about when discussing World Drive north phase III. As you can see, the project begins to the west of the Magic Kingdom parking lot, south of Seven Seas Drive, and continues north past Grand Floridian, connecting to existing roadways near Maple Road west of Magic Kingdom. This phase of the project will introduce three roundabouts, connecting to a roadway for the new entrance at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and a readjusted entrance to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort.
Here’s another permit for the project, showing the stretch of roadway and related roundabouts to be built as part of this phase of the World Drive project. As you can see, the project would not only reroute a section of the existing Floridian Way, it will also widen portions of the road and add three roundabouts.
Here’s the project description from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD):
The World Drive North Phase III project involves extending the four-lane divided World Drive and replacing the existing Floridian Way from south of Seven Seas Drive to north of Maple Road. Key project elements include three roundabouts, a single-span bridge, and the relocation of a portion of Seven Seas Drive.
The CFTOD says that the original project was intended to be awarded in a single package, but “funding availability required the construction to be split into two separate phases”. The CFTOD document says that the subdivision of the project “significantly extended the total project duration”, but that’s not all.
CFTOD said that there were additional challenges that caused the project timeline to slip. The CFTOD pointed to complex sequencing of additional utility work within a constrained corridor. They also pointed to the “initiation of a major resort development adjacent to the roadway”. That’s likely in reference to the Island Tower addition to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Additional factors contributing to the slipping timeline included expanded work at the entrance to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort entrances, and the mid-construction addition of a new force main.
All of this adds up to a delay for the World Drive north phase III project. Originally, the project was set to be completed this year. A construction completion date was previously set for September 30, 2026.
Due to the challenges outlined above, a new construction completion date of December 21, 2027 has been set. This represents a nearly 15-month delay for the project. As such, the project team needed to revise the contract it had with Consor Engineering to the tune of $2.1 million.
So, where do we stand right now? Friend of the site Bioreconstruct took to the skies high above the Magic Kingdom Resorts area last month to snap some photos. Work is progressing nicely, but clearly still a long way from being completed.
In this overview photo below, Bio is to the west of the project, looking east. We can see Magic Kingdom on the left side of the photo (north) and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort on the right side of the photo (south).
As we get couple of closer looks, we can see that one roundabout is substantially complete, with the two remaining roundabouts being far more complex. The roundabout seen immediately below will primarily be a Cast Member entrance to their separated parking lot, also pictured.
The area in front of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort appears to be ready for a roundabout soon, but it’s unclear how the sequencing of construction here might impact arrivals to the resort later this year and into 2027.
In the photos below, we can see the project from a vantage point to the north of the site. Here, we can see the existing roundabout completed in the middle of the image, with the Maple Road connector being prepared for traffic.
To the south, work is continuing at the Seven Seas Drive intersection, but we have yet to see anything substantial in terms of the addition of a roundabout. Technically, the roundabout will be further south, off the right side of the frame in the image below. A new entrance to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort was the priority, and it is now complete.
We’ll close by noting that this is a Central Florida Tourism Oversight District project, not a Walt Disney World project. Yes, this impacts your visit to Walt Disney World, which is why it’s great that the District and Walt Disney World are playing nice and it’s back to business as usual.
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!
Has there been any talk about the Shades of Green crosswalk that was removed for this project? The removal of this has made access to the Resort Monorail much more difficult for military visitors using Shades of Green. I had heard there were offers of a foot bridge…
It will not return