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!
Tom, funny remark about Eminem perhaps renting out all of the Boardwalk for a birthday blowout. I’m thinking the majority of your readers think that was just a passing comment about a well-known celeb but I happen to know that Oct. 17th is his birthday (I only know that because it’s my wife’s -day as well…haha). Anyway, funny quip by you.
I don’t think Animal Kingdom hotel is going to be open any sooner than fall. We are going in August for a very large group (snap on tools) and we were booked at AK. A few weeks ago we were notified they moved everyone booked there to Grand Floridian.
Kelly, I got the same answers and ended up in pirate room for December. Reading Toms comments about pirate rooms, we have adults only!, I’d love to switch to better beds and location but was told occupancy at CB still low and several sections not open yet. Told travel agent to switch me to standard if any open. It’s not full, just not all open.
Spoke to a Disney rep yesterday (4/24) who told me they just started booking the Beach Club on Friday. I’m trying to book it for the fall, and every date for the rest of the year is not available. Is this a glitch? Could they have sold out for the rest of the year in 24 hours? I want to know if I should keep trying or book elsewhere so we are not shut out of our favorite hotels.
My wife & I enjoy your blog very much! Thank you for providing so many details about the parks. Do you have any information about when Character dining operations will be expanded at such places for breakfast as Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare & Cape May Cafe?
Many Thanks!
Is there anything going on the week of October 17th at the Boardwalk Inn? We wanted to stay at the Boardwalk Inn but since it wasn’t originally available, we booked at Beach Club. We already made park reservations as well. However, after seeing today that Boardwalk is now scheduled to open in July, I went online to try to book there for our week instead and everything is sold out…surely the whole place didn’t sell out in 24 hours since the announcement for one random week in October?? I was hoping some kind of glitch, but it seems other dates seem to have availability. We are happy at Beach Club if I can’t make the switch, but just thought I’d check to see if I am missing something big that week!
I’d say there’s a 99.9% chance there’s a glitch, with a .1% chance that the rapper Eminem is renting out the entire hotel for a giant birthday bash.
(Actually probably a higher probability than .1% that it’s rented out for a special event, but I still highly doubt it.)
Adam: “… and they definitely will have to do something about dining capacity with so many additional resorts opening, bringing more captive onsite guests.”
In order to get more dining capacity, they need to limit social distancing in the kitchens. They reduced the menu items so they don’t need as many people in the kitchen. Once Orange County and Disney reduce social distancing or listen to the science on masks (see the Stanford Univ report). kitchens will be able to open up, get more people in the kitchen, move tables closer together and offer more dining capacity. And people will have to give up the fear of sitting close to someone in a restaurant or demanding outside dining.
Menus have already expanded at a number of restaurants and we’ve noticed tables closer together, so I think physical distancing is less and less of an issue.
There are widespread reports of restaurants in Central Florida (and throughout the US, for that matter) having trouble hiring. If there’s no one to call back or hire, Disney can’t open more restaurants. I strongly suspect that’s becoming more of an issue at this point.
Trying to book rooms in Main Building at Grand Floridian for Christmas but not currently available ….will that change ?
Will Cape re-open or are they still renovating? It is our favorite breakfast.
What are the thoughts of releasing discounts for summer and Sept? Even if aimed at getting deluxe filled a bit more? The current, dismal, offer expires May 2nd for bookings. I’d have a better time convincing my husband to upgrade from Caribbean to boardwalk in early Sept if there was some type of discount.
… and they definitely will have to do something about dining capacity with so many additional resorts opening, bringing more captive onsite guests.
At 60 day marks, there are literally only a handful of open reservations throughout the entire property.
Somewhat good news..
Several additional deluxe hotels open for summer..
Hopefully they re-open Boardwalk dining too (Flying Fish and ESPN Club)
All this points to a near certainty they will increase capacity by summer time. Or at least, increased attendance caps.
And that brings the potential bad news. If they increase the attendance cap, without taking further measures to actually increase park operational capacity (more entertainment options, less social distancing), the wait times could get horrendous and the “feels like” crowds could become a disaster.
At this point, it seems very unlikely much more entertainment is returning before fall. (A “limited” FOTLK had to be announced 5 months in advance, rehearsals 1 month in advance)… They have already increased ride capacity fairly significantly which is making the 35% bearable. Can they increase ride capacity even more (without bringing back more entertainment) to keep the lines bearable at 50% attendance?
In case you missed them, there were a couple interesting comments in the news roundup yesterday about the entertainment union. That could explain to a large degree why entertainment is slow to return.
As for capacity, my guess is simply relaxing physical distancing. That cannot be too far away. Disney needs to do something…like a month ago…about the difficulties hotel guests are having booking park reservations.
Is there any trend for the people getting those magical upgrades from value to deluxe, like if they typically check in later in the day after other rooms have been assigned or anything like that? We booked All Star Movies for my bday over Memorial Weekend, which is fine, but I wouldn’t say no to a little bday surprise from the House of Mouse. 😀
No discernible trend, to my knowledge.
Hello !
Excuse my english… i’ m french !
We hop we will can come this summer (august)
Do you think Riverside Hôtel will be open ?
Which hôtel do you recommand to us at approximatly the same price and near to the parks ?
Thank you so much and have a nice day
Riverside probably won’t be open by then. Caribbean Beach is another Moderate Resort that’s similar in price and amenities to Riverside, but its theme is totally different. In terms of atmosphere, the Fort Wilderness Cabins are probably most similar to Riverside, but they’re very different accommodations.
Has there been any update or talk as to when the Wild Africa Trek private tour will open again at Animal Kingdom? I’m hoping for July!
Any word on when any club-level services will re-open at hotels?
Today I read a post from someone being recalled to Typhoon. Haven’t seen anything official, though.
Kelly: All those guests with hotel reservations might not even have tickets yet. I know I have a reservation for Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan and I don’t have a ticket yet since they aren’t selling Florida Resident APs. The only hotel rooms they might be holding back are the ones that haven’t reopened for business yet.
Looking to book for November and Hotel space is limited? Are they holding back rooms? Example…pirate rooms only at caribbean beach and only tower at coronado? Yet full availability to book the parks on those same times?
Just an fyi – on a CM board I’ve seen housekeepers saying they are being recalled to Boardwalk INN.