When do rates/events become available?

[jaelae]

Hello everyone!

First time posting on the family forums as my Disney visits have changed drastically by now having two little ones. We brought my daughter to Disney when she was 11 months old which, although young, she still loved meeting all of the characters. Now that she has a sister we are planning to stop by Magic Kingdom in December 2017. We will also be booking another Disney trip in late 2018 to visit multiple parks since their ages will be 4 and 2 at the time).

Now regarding December 2017, I am planning to just book a ticket and seeing if I can just plan a character dinner since I will just be there for one day. I know I am limited on WHEN i can book that since I am not staying at Disney. My question though, is when can you purchase those tickets? Is it 6 months before? Additionally, how many days before can you book the character dinner?

Thanks!

 

[lanejudy]

WDW has changed their ticket pricing and structure, and 1-day tickets now have different cost based on which park and date/season. They also expire Dec. 31, 2017, though I believe it will always carry the value paid and can be exchanged/upgraded at a later date if unused. Currently the website is showing one-day tickets available through September... so that makes me think tickets for December could become available later this spring, but since this is a new process I'm not sure anyone quite knows for certain. You'll want to have your tickets in time to make your FP+ selections, which is 60-days in advance if staying onsite and 30-days in advance if staying offsite; so you still have plenty of time before you need to buy them for a December visit.

Character dining (any table service dining) can be booked 180 days in advance. No ticket or resort reservation required to book dining.

Enjoy your vacations!

 

[jaelae]

Excellent thanks. I will simply put up a reminder for 200 days before I will be there to buy my tickets and that way I will be ready for that 180 day mark for character dining. By then at least I should know what time the park is opening in the morning (trying to figure out arrival times and if it makes sense to book an early character breakfast).

 

[lanejudy]

Tickets are required for ADRs but you can get them at that time if you'd like. Also, be aware that WDW has been known to change their hours much closer (like within a month or two), so a pre-opening meal could end up during an early-open morning. So just keep watching the calendar for changes to hours and you can adjust your plans as you wish.

Enjoy your vacation!