The Blonde Diaries

Disney Planning: Important Dates to Know

When planning your Disney vacation, there are some important dates you should know about. Many first timers do not know this and well it could lead to a very disappointing trip because not all guide books will tell you how important they are. If you aren’t a first timer but have not visited in the past 5 years or so these dates will help you as well since Disney frequently changes things. So lets break them down into Parks and Other.

Parks:
Disney has added many themed weekends and themed “private” parties throughout the year that are fun to attend such as Pirate and Princess Parties, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, ESPN Weekend, Soap Opera Weekend, and Star Wars Weekend. Knowing the approximate times of year these parties happen can help you plan your trip around these weekends or avoiding them if they are not your up of tea!  One thing to note is that the parks get “themed” to match the event and the characters wear special costumes and as a bonus some really rare characters come out to play.

• Pirates and Princess Parties - this year they are occurring Jan - June in prior year it was August so you just have to watch this one.
• Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party - mid-September until Halloween night.  Tickets go on sale May 1st each year for the selected dates
• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party  - mid-November through Christmas.  Tickets go on sale May 1st each year for the selected dates
• ESPN Weekend - no special tickets required!  All you need is park admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  This is typically one weekend in February.  There are many sports related activities and stars that show up for this event.  Check with Disney for the exact date.
• Soap Opera Weekend - same as ESPN weekend but with Soap Opera stars!  Occurs in one weekend November each year.  Check with Disney for the exact date.
• Star Wars Weekends - Yes this event is so big and popular it is every weekend in June.  No additional admission is required other than your park tickets to the Disney Hollywood Studios.  I’m not a huge fan but this is one I’d love to try and attend one year.

Other Dates you should know:

These are not so much plan your trip to Disney around them but they are important while planning your trip.

• Dining -> Dining at Disney has become a huge deal even during non-free dining periods.  To make sure to get the reservations you want call at the exact 180 day before your trip to book.  If you book online just check the Disney website and they will tell you how many days you have until your trip.  When it hits 180 call WDW Dining!  This is extremely important when you go in peak times because most restaurants will not allow walk ups.  So if you want to avoid burgers at every meal, make some reservations!
• Free Dining -> you are probably wondering what that is in my previous bullet point.  Basically during peak hurricane season (late Aug - Sept) Disney offers the basic dining plan to guests booking their trips and you basically eat for free the entire trip.  Free dining promotions are announced in early April each year for the dates in August and September and book up fast so keep an eye out if you want to catch this special.
• 45 days -> 45 days out your trip package must be paid for in full if you booked a Magic Your Way Package.  It is also when you should be getting your package details in the mail including your Magical Express luggage tags and information on how to use the Magical Express service.  Make sure to read carefully to ensure they have your reservation information (both Disney stay and your airline information) correct.

I hope this installment of Disney trip planning helps you.  If you have any other dates to share please leave a comment.