2022 Disney World Hotel Reopening Dates
Walt Disney World continues to update the resort reopening timeline for 2022, with revised dates for hotels that were TBD. This looks at the schedule, how refurbishments and construction are delaying opening dates, and offers predictions for what’s next. (Updated December 22, 2021.)
As a quick recap, all Disney Vacation Club resorts welcomed guests back during the summer, before the parks even reopened. This included the DVC units in hotels that were–and still are–otherwise closed. The most extreme example of this is at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is operating at about ~10% occupancy because the hotel rooms are not in use.
In the months since the parks reopened, Walt Disney World has resumed operations at numerous hotels, starting with those on the Skyliner gondola and monorail routes, and also opening some other properties that are only connected to the parks via bus transportation.
Let’s start with a look at the resorts that are currently operating at Walt Disney World, followed by the hotel reopening timeline for 2022…
Walt Disney World Resorts – Now Open
Here are the Disney Vacation Club & Deluxe Villa resorts that are currently open at Walt Disney World:
- Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
- Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
- Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort
- Beach Club Villas
- BoardWalk Villas
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Wilderness Lodge
- Old Key West Resort
- Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Riviera Resort
- Saratoga Springs Resort
- Villas at Grand Floridian Resort
Here are the hotels open at Walt Disney World:
- All Star Movies Resort
- Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
- Art of Animation Resort
- Beach Club Resort
- BoardWalk Inn
- Caribbean Beach Resort
- Contemporary Resort
- Coronado Springs Resort & Gran Destino Tower
- Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Polynesian Village Resort
- Pop Century Resort
- Wilderness Lodge
- Yacht Club Resort
Note that it might appear some hotels are listed on the ‘currently open’ list above and the ‘reopening timeline’ below. However, that’s because some resorts have both standard hotel room wings and Disney Vacation Club villa wings. In many cases, only the DVC wings of the properties are open, with the hotel side yet to open.
2022 Walt Disney World Resort Reopening Timeline
Since our last update, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside, and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter all reopened as scheduled. These were 3 of 4 major hotels scheduled to reopen in the last quarter of 2021.
The only hotel left to reopen at Walt Disney World is now All Star Sports Resort, which was pushed back from its original return date. However, during the week of Christmas, Walt Disney World announced that All Star Sports Resort will reopen on March 31, 2022.
Note that if you have a stay booked at All Star Sports prior to then, Walt Disney World will relocate you. Usually that means to another Value Resort, but it depends upon where there’s availability.
Back when All Star Movies reopened, there was a lengthy stretch when that hotel was overbooked and Disney was regularly moving Movies guests to Grand Floridian as that was the resort with the best availability. Don’t count on that happening again, but the point is that upgrades are possible!
The likely reason that All Star Sports is reopening so much later than the other hotels is to accommodate its room reimagining. As noted above, this was scheduled but had not yet started when the closure occurred.
Undertaking this overhaul while the resort is not operating would expedite the project and mean that it doesn’t negatively impact guests. No one likes active construction at a hotel where they’re staying. So, bad news that All Star Sports won’t be back until 2022, but good news that it’ll be freshly-refurbished upon returning.
Additionally, Walt Disney World has announced revealed what offerings and experiences will be available when Disney’s All Star Sports Resort reopens:
Dining
- End Zone Food Court
- Grandstand Spirits
Shops
- Sport Goofy Gifts and Sundries
Activities
- Pools
- Poolside Activities
- Movies Under the Stars
- Playground
Transportation
- Bus transportation is available from this Disney Resort hotel to the Disney theme parks, Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park and the Disney Springs area
To our knowledge, that’s pretty much everything!
Prior to this, All Star Music Resort reopened as scheduled.
During the closure, All Star Music’s renovations project was finished. (See our Photos & Video: Newly Reimagined Rooms at the All Star Resorts post for more on the room overhaul.) In addition to the guest room overhaul, All Star Music also received a lobby refresh.
Additionally, the sister Port Orleans Resorts–Riverside and French Quarter both reopened.
Walt Disney World has expedited the return of the College Program and has gone on a hiring blitz, which facilitated the return of both hotels shortly after Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration kicked off.
Before that, Animal Kingdom Lodge returned. This might seem insignificant since the Disney Vacation Club villas in Jambo House have been open for over a year. However, the vast majority of Jambo House is hotel rooms (~1,200 hotel rooms v. ~200 villas), so this is a lot of inventory for Walt Disney World to bring back online.
Along with the hotel rooms reopening, Boma – Flavors of Africa and Victoria Falls Lounge have both reopened, while Jiko – The Cooking Place remains closed. See our Boma Review: Walt Disney World’s Best Buffet is BACK! for more on our recent experience eating there.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort returned in late July. We stayed in the new rooms at the Poly following its reopening, and share our thoughts, photos & video in Review: New Moana Rooms at Polynesian Village Resort.
Note that the porte-cochere, entrance, and monorail station are all finished, as well. Moreover, monorail service is now operating at the Poly!
Ultimately, it’s great to see almost all hotels at Walt Disney World now have returned. With the Port Orleans and All Star Resorts now back, that means another ~10,000 hotel rooms can come back online if those hotels book to capacity.
Obviously, this is a very significant number of rooms, and Walt Disney World does not have the staff to fill all of them. Hopefully, that will change in 2022 if the company is able to hire more housekeepers, food court workers, and other Cast Members.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about these reopening dates for Walt Disney World hotels? Any surprises on this list for you? Excited that Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter now have dates? Happy more Value Resorts are returning with the remaining All Stars set to reopen? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this year, or are you waiting until 2022? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Any inside scoop on when club level might return?
Hi Tom,
Love all your updates. Do you know if the pool at Yacht and Beach Club is reopened? We planned for June 10, 2021, but would change reservations if the pool is not open. thanks in advance!!
Stormalong Bay has been opened for several weeks. The leisure pools at YC and BCV are open. BC resort opens May 30.
Hi, I’m booked in to PO Riverside for Oct 2021, if it doesn’t open do you think it is likely WDW will offer another 4* resort as an alternative?
Thanks in advance
I was supposed to stay at all star movies end of February. Got e mail from Disney I would be moved, I called them and asked where I would be moved too. As you predicted, moved to Pop Century, for the same price I was paying for all star movies. Quite happy with that, stayed at pop century this past October, was moved there from all star music, at same price I was paying. Only problem we had with pop century was ridiculous lines for Skyliner first thing in morning, but I have read they have added bus service to Hollywood Studios & Epcot now , so should be all good.
We are in the U.K. and are booked into POR for late Sept 21. We had an email from Disney some time ago to say if it remained closed we would be allocated elsewhere but I am concerned it will be somewhere we are not keen on so with that in mind if Animal Kingdom Lodge opens I think I may upgrade and not wait for Disney to move us.
Of course we are reliant on the US opening their border to be able to visit at all but as Disney seem to be slowly reopening things they must be expecting overseas visitors to be allowed to visit so here’s hoping and looking forward to a much better year in 2021.
Tom, love the updates.
Have you heard when the monorail from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT will reopen?
It’s probably not going to reopen until they switch the ramp exiting the monorail at Epcot. The end of the ramp is currently beyond the security checkpoint and temperature setting. We were at Epcot last week and they have rerouted the exit to the buses at the front of the park. You used to go straight out once you got past the ticket booths. Now you have to exit through the security checkpoint and then turn. It added a lot of walking from what was once a straight shot to the buses. There are a lot of walls up in the area, so maybe it will change, too.
So disappointed that Riverside is not set to open anytime soon…do you think there is any possibility it may open by December 2021, as we are hoping that will be our next trip to Disney and Riverside is our favorite!!!!!!
We are also hoping to visit DW in Dec. 2021 and stay at PORiverside. Keeping our fingers crossed. We have two family members who have never been.
I will be the first person at POR as soon as it opens. Hope it’s sooner than later.
AndyF
I follow this blog with great interest, being in the UK we find it hard to get any information on what is happening and when from travel agents and the like. So can I first say thanks for being a great source of information and your tips and reviews are always read with great interest. We are booked in a hotel that has no opening date yet and of course we aren’t allowed to travel to the US either so although we had to cancel our 2020 visit and rebook for 2021 it’s probably likely we will have to defer this years holiday as well. Here’s hoping for 2022.
Thanks for the excellent report.
Any news on the Swan and Dolphin?
We normally stay at the Dolphin since I have lifetime status with Marriott, plus we love the hotel and location.
Sadly, with the mask mandate and shorter park hours (plus increased daily prices), we’re probably going to skip this year’s visit (normally early February). Don’t want to have to spend so much and have shorter hours and be required to wear masks the moment we walk out of our hotel room.
Swan and Dolphin are not using Disney transportation. So the Friendship boats aren’t stopping there nor are the buses. They are using a charter bus of sorts.
They are actually using the boats just not Disney buses.
Susan: I had heard that the boats weren’t stopping at the Swan and Dolphin. Good that they are.
We have reservations in a Deluxe Room (so it can fit all 6 of us) at Beach Club for March 2021. Obviously that is now before the projected reopening date. Any ideas on where they may relocate us? The 6 person occupancy room complicates things. We have not heard anything from Disney as of yet.
Hollie -I have read one other family that was in your situation with a Deluxe Room at Beach Club and they got moved to a two bedroom at Beach Club villas which is a huge upgrade. But there may not be any guarantees that you would get an EPCOT resort. I also had a Beach Club deluxe room booked for end of March 2021, but I switched to two rooms at the Yacht club because I really wanted to stay within walking distance to two parks.
They should keep you in a room at a Deluxe Resort that accommodates at least 6, which narrows the options considerably. Pretty good possibility you end up in 2-BR unit somewhere, but that’s pending availability. They also might put you in two standard rooms.
If it’s not at BCV or not a single room, you can always call and say you booked one room in that area specifically to be able to walk to EPCOT and DHS. No guarantees, but most of the time they’ll move you back to a Crescent Lake resort.
Are you dvc? The beach club is open. We just returned last week.
As a DVC member living out of state, we have a surplus of points we would love to use in multiple trips to Disney in 2021. But weekly, I reach out to find out about annual pass sales resuming and there is no date set. We usually buy a pass in late June and use it through early June the following year – in theory getting two summer trips in (with school age kids) and hopefully a fall or T-giving one in between. Without an annual pass, the price of tickets for multiple trips just doesn’t make sense right now. Our last pass expired in 2019. We didn’t come in 2020 – so I can’t renew. I wish they could distinguish between local annual passholders and out of state passholders. We only come with a resort reservation, so I wish there was a way to accommodate those guests. So right now, I have resort reservations without a theme park reservation. I am waiting for an annual pass. Otherwise we might not come in 2021 – which will only add to the surplus of points situation all DVC members will be facing.
I believe the cabins and campsites at Fort Wilderness are also open.
Have you included meal packages for coming year?
Seeing any reopening announcement from Disney makes me excited and hopeful. I hope the trend continues and more CMs can get back to work.
My best guess, these re-opening dates are being driven by the hard data or real bookings.
They see an uptick in bookings at Yacht Club by late May, early June, so re-open Beach Club with the likely increase in demand. But not enough of an uptick to justify also opening Boardwalk.
They see enough of an uptick to open Wilderness Lodge, especially with Poly down for a bit longer.
Bookings are low enough for February, that it makes more sense to push back ASM and move around the guests there.
With summer not being a super-high demand season even in the best of times, they might keep a couple resorts closed through the summer until Thanksgiving/Christmas, even if the pandemic does end.
But I think this is all being driven by the strength of the demand they are seeing in their booking numbers.
I don’t doubt for a second the decisions are being driven by internal occupancy projections. The only problem is that those have already been “wrong” numerous times since May.
It’s really difficult to project anything with a high degree of confidence right now–they’re working with an incomplete view of what the future holds.
I’m sure that they look at reservation numbers, but they’re not as reliable as they used to be because so many people wind up canceling their reservations, either outright or by moving them to a later date.
Glad to see they’re reopening some resorts, but disappointed they aren’t reopening any restaurants to go with that. Not everyone has a car at Disney World. We never rent a car since we don’t need one courtesy of Magic Express.
We have a split stay in spring 2021. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village, will only have a pool bar for its QSR and Sanaa. Boardwalk Inn, with its large variety of restaurants, will only have Trattoria and Boardwalk Bakery. It’s really frustrating for such an expensive trip.
I see a lot of Uber Eats and/or Door Dash in our future
I hope you can do door dash. We tried when we went he first of December this year while at Caribbean Beach and ALOT of restaurants did not deliver to Caribbean. Good luck though!!
Thanks again, Tom, for a very helpful and informative update. My wife and I honeymooned at WDW over 40 years ago (Epcot was not even opened then if you can imagine) and have visited many times since. It has been exciting to watch the evolution over the past four decades which the events of 2020 necessarily have stalled. We watch as Disney finds its footing again and are hopeful for a faster rather than slower recovery. That said, we wonder if WDW (through no fault of its own) can ever be restored to its former glory (pre-COVID). It’s good to see more resorts planning a 2021 re-opening!
“That said, we wonder if WDW (through no fault of its own) can ever be restored to its former glory (pre-COVID).”
On the bright side, I think this year will give Disney pause before building more hotels, which could be healthier in the long term.
Agreed. There is always a silver lining if only we are astute enough to recognize it.
I’ll be curious to see how/if all the cancelled trips from the closure period impact future bookings.
If people begin to want to travel, and international options remain limited I could see a scenario where those with cancelled trips from Spring 2020 are re-booking coupled with new bookings. Could create significant demand for their hotels and resorts…
Hi, thanks for this info! Super helpful as ever.
I have a question if you don’t mind? We’re booked for French Quarter next summer – in the possible scenario where they don’t open, what happens with our booking?
They’ll relocate you–most likely to Coronado or Caribbean Beach.
Great, thanks Tom.
It’ll be a huge shame if we have to relocate – we chose FQ for many reasons (not least because the size means less walking for my father). Oh well, fingers crossed they reopen ahead of time!
“A lot is changing in these redesigned rooms—new feature wall art, walk-in showers, elevated beds, and removal of bunkbeds. ”
What’s an elevated bed, Tom?
Pretty much the same style of frame at all the newly-remodeled resorts–high enough to store luggage under the bed.