Credit: SJ Grant, FlickrDisney Springs was never really built for just children, families yes, but specifically for children no.
That is not a criticism, it is just what the district is. It started as Disney Village Marketplace, then eventually became Downtown Disney, and grew into what it is now, which is a shopping and dining destination aimed squarely at adults with money. Table service restaurants. A two story Coca Cola store with a rooftop bar. UNIQLO, Sephora, Zara. A World of Disney the size of a grocery store. The whole place is designed around browsing and eating, both of which are activities that children famously excel at for about eleven minutes.
So parents learn to work with what is there. The LEGO Store, where the build areas have rescued more afternoons than Disney will ever get credit for. The Marketplace Carousel and the little train. And the face painting kiosk, which was the only option on that list where a child sat still, got attention from an adult who was not their parent, and came out the other side looking like something.
That last one is going away for good.
The face painting kiosk at Disney Springs is permanently closing on September 26, 2026, according to reports.
What Is Actually Closing
The kiosk is operated by Enjoy Your Face, a third party that runs face painting locations across Walt Disney World Resort.
The closure applies to the Disney Springs location only.
That distinction is worth repeating, because this story is already being read as face painting disappearing from Disney World, and it is not. The Enjoy Your Face kiosks at the theme parks are unaffected and continue normal operations.
If you want a design at Disney Springs specifically, September 26 is the last day.
No reason for the closure has been announced, and no replacement has been named for the kiosk location.
Why This One Stings More Than It Should
A face painting kiosk closing is, on its face, small news. There are bigger stories at Walt Disney World this month.
But the reason parents are reacting to it has nothing to do with face paint.
Disney Springs has an unusually thin inventory of things a child can actually do. Count them honestly and the list is short: the LEGO Store, the carousel and the train at Marketplace, the Happy Hound kiosk if you count buying a stuffed animal. Almost everything else in the district is a store you walk through or a restaurant you sit in.
Face painting was different because it occupied time. Fifteen or twenty minutes where a kid sat in a chair, was entertained, and produced a result they were excited about. For a family three hours into a shopping trip with a tired four year old, that was not a novelty purchase. That was a reset button.
Nothing currently at Disney Springs performs that same function.
It Lands in a Busy Week for Disney Springs
The timing is worth noting, though the connection is not established.
On Tuesday, September 22, Walt Disney World filed seven construction permits covering locations across Disney Springs.
The most significant covers the bridge over the lagoon connecting the Marketplace and Town Center neighborhoods, filed for the approximate address of the footbridge with Buena Vista Construction Company listed as contractor for general construction.
The other six cover Paddlefish, Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant, UNIQLO, The LEGO Store, the Happy Hound merchandise kiosk, and The BOATHOUSE. Same contractor, same general construction description.
All seven expire September 21, 2027, and Disney has not publicly acknowledged any of them.
Here is the detail that tells you how to read those filings. They came from Disney’s Facility Asset Management Team, which typically handles maintenance and refurbishment. Projects that would fundamentally change the character of an area usually run through Walt Disney Imagineering instead.
So the permits point toward upkeep rather than reinvention. That is reassuring in one sense and worth watching in another, because two of the seven, The LEGO Store and Happy Hound, are among the handful of kid facing spots in the district.
None of that is connected to the face painting closure in any announced way. They are separate items that happen to be landing in the same week.
The Footbridge Is the One Families Should Watch
If you are visiting with a stroller, the bridge permit matters more than the rest.
Disney has not announced any closure for the footbridge. But if it does need to close for structural maintenance, the alternative is the land route between Marketplace and Town Center, which is considerably longer.
That is a manageable walk on its own. It is a different experience entirely with a stroller, a diaper bag, and a child who has already decided they are done.
Again, nothing has been announced. It is simply the filing with the most direct effect on how families move through the district if it results in a closure.
What to Do Before Friday
If face painting at Disney Springs was part of your plan, the kiosk operates through the end of the day on September 26.
After that, the theme park locations remain your option. Enjoy Your Face kiosks in the parks are not affected by this closure and are continuing as normal.
For families who used Disney Springs as the low key day in the middle of a park heavy trip, it is worth rethinking what fills that gap. The LEGO Store build areas are still available and it is free!
What Disney Has Not Said
Disney has not commented on the closure, has not explained it, and has not announced what takes the kiosk’s place.
The company has also not acknowledged any of the seven construction permits or shared plans for the locations named in them.
For now, the only firm date in this story is Saturday, which is when Disney Springs loses one of the few things there for kids to do.
Sources: Reports on the Enjoy Your Face kiosk closure, and Notices of Commencement filed with the Orange County Comptroller’s Office on September 22, 2026.
