Sunset Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios · Jedi94 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror has been under exterior work at Disney’s Hollywood Studios since early May, and the first scaffolding came down this week. Through all of it the ride has kept running, WDW News Today reported on 16 September.
That is the part worth planning around. A guest arriving this month gets the attraction, not a closure notice, and loses only the view. Our Tower of Terror guide covers the ride itself; this is the state of the building around it.
- Started: early May 2026, in the outdoor queue.
- Now: a small section of scaffolding removed, most of it still up.
- Ride status: operating normally throughout.
- Visible change: a weathered and cracked finish, and grey repainting on balcony and chimney sections.
- Completion date: none published, and no Disney statement has been issued.
Five Months, Step by Step
The sequence matters more than any single update, because it is the only thing that gives a sense of pace on a project Disney has not described.
Work began in early May in the outdoor queue. By late May the flags at the gift shop exit had come down and scrim had gone up. In early July scaffolding was erected on the far right of the facade, above the gift shop.
Repainting started in August in that same section. On 2 September the scaffolding expanded to the corner adjacent to the tower shaft, which is the point at which the structure stopped being partly covered and started being mostly covered, as Inside the Magic documented at the time.
This week a small portion came off on the side by the attraction and gift shop exit. That is one section out of a facade that is still largely wrapped, so it reads as a first uncovering rather than a finish.
Four and a half months from the first queue work to the first panel of scaffolding coming down is a useful number to hold. It says nothing about when the rest comes down, but it does say this is not a two week touch up.
The order is worth noticing as well. The work started in the outdoor queue in May and only reached the facade in July, which means the parts guests stand in were handled before the parts guests photograph.
The Facade Under the Scaffolding
What has been revealed is worth describing carefully, because a refurbished building that looks damaged is easy to misread.
The uncovered section shows a weathered and cracked finish with cut out squares revealing a yellow layer underneath, according to the reporting. On a normal hotel that would be a defect. On the Hollywood Tower Hotel it is the point.
The attraction’s premise is a building struck by lightning in 1939 and left to decay, so the exterior is meant to look distressed. Repainting it means repainting the decay, layer by layer, which is slower than painting a wall one colour.
Separately, grey repainting has been reported on balcony and chimney stack sections. Those are the parts of the silhouette visible from furthest away, which is consistent with the work being about the long view rather than close up detail.
No official description of the scope exists. Everything above is observation from the ground, reported by outlets watching the site, not a published specification.
Why the Windows Were Left Clear
The single most telling detail of this project is a small one. Gaps were left in the scaffolding at the ride’s windows.
The Tower of Terror drop sequence includes a moment where the doors open and riders look out over the park before falling. Scaffolding across that opening would have taken the moment away while leaving the ride technically operational.
Leaving deliberate gaps means the ride experience was treated as something to protect during the work rather than something to accept as collateral. For a five month exterior project on an operating attraction, that is a real choice and it costs something to make.
The practical upshot for a visitor is that the ride is not a diminished version of itself right now. What you lose is outside the building, not inside it.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Want to ride | The attraction has operated normally throughout. No closure has been announced and none is currently in effect. |
| Care about the drop view | Gaps were left in the scaffolding at the ride windows, so the view out during the sequence is reported as unobstructed. |
| Want the Sunset Boulevard photo | Most of the facade is still wrapped. The classic shot down the street is compromised until the rest comes off. |
| Are booking months ahead | No completion date is published, so do not plan a trip around the scaffolding being gone by a given month. |
| Are tracking progress | One section is uncovered. Treat that as a first panel, not as the work finishing. |
The Photo Everyone Loses
Sunset Boulevard exists to frame this building. The street bends, the palms line up, and the Hollywood Tower Hotel closes the view at the end of it.
That composition is the single most photographed thing at Hollywood Studios after the park entrance, and it is the one thing this project genuinely takes away while it runs.
There is no workaround that recovers it. A scaffolded tower is a scaffolded tower from every angle on the street, and the alternative views from Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster’s side do not replace the axial shot.
Anyone whose trip is built around that photograph has a real decision to make, and it is the only decision this project forces. Everything else about the attraction is unaffected.
What Has Not Been Published
Disney has issued no statement about the refurbishment. There is no announcement, no scope document and no comment attached to any of the reporting.
The operator’s own listing says the same thing by saying nothing. Disney’s attraction page for the Tower of Terror carries no refurbishment or closure alert at all, shows the standard 40 inch height requirement and lists normal operating hours, which is exactly what a page for an open attraction looks like.
No completion date exists. The work has run five months without one, and the removal of a single scaffolding section does not imply a date for the rest.
The reason is unpublished too. Whether this is routine repainting on a cycle, remediation of a specific problem, or preparation for something else has not been stated, and the visible evidence does not settle it.
Nor has Disney said whether anything changes inside. All reporting concerns the exterior, and no queue, lobby or ride system change has been described.
The gift shop’s status is not spelled out either. The reporting references its exit and the flags that were removed from it, but nothing published describes the shop as unavailable at any point during the work.
And no one has published what the finished facade is meant to look like. Until the remaining scaffolding comes off, the single uncovered section is the only evidence of what the whole building will be.
The ride is open. Five months of exterior work has not closed the attraction, and no closure has been announced.
The drop view was protected. Gaps at the ride windows mean the moment the doors open is reported as unaffected.
The street photo is the loss. Most of the facade is still wrapped and no completion date exists, so plan the photo for another trip.
Is Tower of Terror closed for refurbishment?
No. The attraction has operated normally throughout the exterior work, which began in early May 2026.
When will the scaffolding come down?
No completion date has been published. One section was removed this week; most of the facade remains covered.
Does the scaffolding block the view during the drop?
Gaps were left at the ride’s windows, and the view out during the sequence is reported as unobstructed.
What does the new facade look like?
Reporting describes a weathered and cracked finish with cut out squares showing a yellow layer beneath, plus grey repainting on balcony and chimney sections.
Has Disney said why the work is happening?
No. No Disney statement, scope or reason has been published, and the visible evidence does not settle it.
