Hi Patrick,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Dining packages are a great way to get reserved seating for spectacular shows!
Unfortunately, there is no set time that dining package dates are released, but
Fantasmic! dining packages are showing availability up through February 22, 2018 as of now. So package dates for your trip should be released soon! When I checked,
Rivers of Light dining packages were only showing availability through the end of October.
I do encourage you to keep checking. On our last visit, we did the Rivers of Light dining package with
Tusker House Restaurant and it was a wonderful experience. Our girls loved the characters at the restaurant, we all enjoyed the food and the reserved viewing area was fantastic.
When I made dining reservations for our last trip, I went ahead and made a reservation at Tusker House Restaurant before the dining package dates were released. When the package dates opened, I just canceled that reservation and made one for the dining package.
Patrick, while at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, I do hope you plan to visit Pandora - The World of Avatar. Our favorite ride now is
Avatar Flight of Passage. Sivako! Rise to the Challenge. It is a breathtaking entire sensory experience flying through the Valley of Mo'ara on the back of an ikran.
As we say on Pandora, Eywa ngahu, Eywa be with you as you plan this magical expedition!
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell