New permits confirm Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort is about to get a major overhaul

The Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World opened in 1988, making it one of the oldest resorts on property. The resort has seen various upgrades over the years, but recent permits now confirm a major new facelift is in the works.

The new permits, filed with the water management district, confirm that a new multi-story building is in the works replacing most of the Barbados village of buildings. Six other smaller buildings are also included in the permit, along with a realignment of Cherlonia Parkway.

These permits confirm rumors of a new update to Caribbean Beach that began when height test balloons were spotted at the resort. The balloons are used whenever Disney is building new, taller buildings to help confirm sightlines.

The balloons spotted at Caribbean Beach seem to indicate that the building will be tall enough that the higher stories will be able to see Epcot’s nighttime entertainment. This goes along with strong rumors of Epcot view Disney Vacation Club villas coming to Caribbean Beach.

Currently, the only DVC project in the works is new bungalows and suites at the Wilderness Lodge. Once that project wraps up there will be no new DVC in the works at Walt Disney World. The wildly popular timeshare program has only been at Deluxe Resorts or in its own stand-alone resorts, Caribbean Beach would be the first moderate resort to receive DVC suites but that it is assuming that Caribbean Beach will remain Moderate after the resort updates.

Disney has never moved a resort from one category to another, but they’ve also never rebuilt an entire resort. Currently, only this single building is confirmed, but with the dated nature of the resort, it’s safe to assume more updates, including other buildings, are expected at Caribbean Beach.

The other key to this is a longtime rumor of a new entrance for Epcot that would cross over Buena Vista Parkway. This new entrance could either be a new waterway linking the resort to Epcot, similar to how the resorts on the other side are linked or via an elevated walkway.

The only confirmed information we have at this point is that Disney is planning to add a new building to Caribbean Beach and it will replace a number of guest rooms.