How soon to book park tickets?

[shaycamp21]

How soon should we book tickets and park reservations for our August trip (we are staying off site at the Element Anaheim Aug 11-18 and are planning on 3 days in the parks 2 at DL and 1 at DCA)? I tried to look up park hours and the entertainment schedule so I know which days would be best to book but it is only showing up to park of June. When would the August hours and entertainment schedule be released? We are newbies to the park reservation system and I don't know how soon our dates would book up. I am also afraid I may choose a day where say the parks close earlier or have limited entertainment (though not sure if that is an issue in the summer) so I don't know if it's better to wait until that info is relased or if I should just go ahead and book our tickets now?

 

[Federalist45]

I wouldn’t wait to see the calendar before booking. You can book, with the plan of making slight modifications if the calendar looks better on other days. Genrerally, August will have the nighttime stuff on weekends and weekdays.

If you want to be sure you can do all the nighttime shows, a good rule of thumb is to have at least 2 of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening as part of your trip.

 

[shaycamp21]

I wouldn’t wait to see the calendar before booking. You can book, with the plan of making slight modifications if the calendar looks better on other days.

Oh so you can make changes to the days once you book? I thought for some reason you were locked in but that's great if you can change your days.

 

[Federalist45]

Oh so you can make changes to the days once you book? I thought for some reason you were locked in but that's great if you can change your days.

You can cancel up to 11:59 on the night before your reservation. After you cancel you can rebook available reservations.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

You can cancel up to 11:59 on the night before your reservation. After you cancel you can rebook available reservations.

If you have regular tickets and not Magic Keys, there is no penalty if you don't cancel your park reservation by midnight the night before. It just goes away and you can book a new reservation for another day. But if you know you're not going it's nice to cancel as a courtesy to other guests who might be trying to get a reservation for that day.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

You cannot 'change' a reservation though - you cancel and book a new one.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

If you have regular tickets and not Magic Keys, there is no penalty if you don't cancel your park reservation by midnight the night before. It just goes away and you can book a new reservation for another day. But if you know you're not going it's nice to cancel as a courtesy to other guests who might be trying to get a reservation for that day.

Ok I ran into this issue: they called our park hoppers magic keys