Season's Greetings, Samantha!
Welcome to planDisney, and thank you for stopping by. It sounds like you are in the early planning stages of a
holiday magic magic-filled Walt Disney World vacation. It is truly one of the best times to visit the theme parks and resorts. My husband celebrated his first holiday season at Disney about four years ago and has not stopped talking about it since then. We are looking at a late November visit this year to see some of the decorations spread across the Disney Resort. My only worry is that I fear we will be a few days shy of being able to enjoy
EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, so we might have to adjust our dates because that is something I don’t want to miss.
Samantha, you can usually find package availability released ahead of schedule for future visits. Currently, there is availability to book now through October 2026, and based on the past, I’d imagine we’ll see December 2026 bookings open up sometime between early to mid-summer. As Princess Tiana would say, "We’re almost there!", so hang tight!
In the meantime, now is the perfect time to check out the different
Disney Resorts Collection hotels so that you can create your wishlist. That is, if you don’t already have a resort in mind. I also recommend adding the
Disney Parks Blog to your favorites tab. That’s where any exciting announcements for the upcoming seasonal offerings can be found. My favorite reads are the Foodie Guides. I just love reading through those and creating my “must-enjoy” snack list. It also helps give me an idea of what I should plan to budget for food per day. And when we aren’t visiting with a Dining Plan, I like to visit with a
Disney Gift Card. It’s an easy way to keep track and stay on budget during our visits. We’ll visit with a couple of them, one for food purchases, and the other two are assigned to each of our children to use towards their souvenir purchases. Which they love because it gives them a sense of independence and helps them prioritize which souvenirs are a purchase now and which can be purchased on their next visit.
I know I got carried away talking about all the other planning details, but they are great options to help keep the excitement of booking and planning going. It will also help distract you from the short wait for those booking dates to become available. I can’t wait for you to book this future trip; it's going to be magical. If any other questions come to mind, you know where to find us!
‘Tis the season,
Shantel