Hi Julie!
You are definitely planning ahead for your trip, which will help you put together a perfect vacation itinerary that includes your "must-do's"! Keep in mind that you can make your
advanced dining reservations 180 days in advance, so you still have a little bit of time to decide on the table service restaurants that you would like to enjoy during your trip.
Guests are welcome to link their theme park tickets to
My Disney Experience at any time and linking your tickets will not cause them to activate. If you purchased your theme park tickets after 2004, your tickets will expire 14 days after you use them at a theme park for the first time (unless you added the "No Expiration Option", which is no longer available). If you purchase your tickets after October 16, 2018, then you will be purchasing
date-based tickets, which have expiration policies based on the length of your vacation. Regardless, you will still be able to link your tickets to your My Disney Experience account whenever you are ready without altering the expiration date of your tickets.
Personally, I like to link my theme park tickets to My Disney Experience as soon as possible because this keeps them safe as I countdown the sleeps until my trip. Once they are linked to My Disney Experience, if for some reason I misplace my admission cards, I can link new admission cards or MagicBands to My Disney Experience and still access my theme park tickets. You can also view the expiration date of your tickets right from My Disney Experience once they are linked.
T-T-F-N, ta ta for now!
~Crystal