The new birdcage bar in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa now has a vertical framework and a roof.
Grand Floridian Resort Construction
Birdcage Bar
The beginnings of the vertical framework were installed a few days ago. There are now four “walls” around the foundation. Steel supports hold up the new roof.
Although the vertical framework is still just exposed silver steel, the roof is brown. Concept art (below) indicates this will be the final color, and pieces of the cage-like roof will remain exposed.
The bar replaces the actual giant birdcage that used to sit in the lobby (also pictured above). The bar will be wider than the birdcage but about the same height. The roof structure is a similar shape to the old cage.
There were several crew members on site today, some looking over blueprints. It looks like another piece will be added to the very top of the roof. This will come to a point level with the second story.
Around the base of the bar are frames for the future counters. There’s an opening in the side for Cast Member access.
For now, the bar is under construction behind walls. The rest of the lobby’s center lounge area is open, but will later be updated. The carpet is set to be replaced.
Check-In Area
The exposed steel in the wall of the check-in area has been covered. There are new wooden framed elements. Ceiling panels remain missing.
It looks like work may be done on the walls around the windows of the check-in area. For now, check-in is in the center of the lobby, near the birdcage bar construction zone.
More Lobby Construction
The stairs next to the check-in area are still blocked by construction walls, with scrim-covered scaffolding in the center of the steps. The walls to the sides are blocked by white curtains. A crew member was working on the wall to the left, apparently applying primer.
Half of the entryway on the second floor, leading to the Monorail station, is blocked off. The other half was previously blocked off to get new wallpaper.
Also on the second floor, one of the elevators was blocked off for work. This appears to be general elevator maintenance and not actually related to the lobby’s theming updates.
The area to the left of the elevators is blocked off again. Over the white curtains, we can see that the moulding near the top of the wall has been removed. The moulding is also gone from above the nearby elevator.
The scrim has been removed from the railings on either side of the elevator bay. These have been covered for weeks. The white wrought iron is visible again. However, there is a strip of exposed plywood beneath the right railing.
In the Garden View Tea Room, we caught sight of something interesting. The tea room has not operated since 2020 and is blocked off as part of the lobby’s remodel. Decorative elements were removed from its interior windows, and scrim hangs there instead.
Through an open doorway, we saw a rough sketch, apparently of the Garden View Tea Room’s entrance. It seems to depict the arched entryways and windows.
Convention Center
Outside, work continues on the resort’s convention center roof. Shingles have now been removed from half of this tower’s roof.
Shingles are also gone from a low rooftop near the tower. There’s scaffolding in the entryway, under rooftops that previously had their shingles removed.
What do you think of the updates to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort lobby? Let us know in the comments.
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