Hi there, Kandi! Welcome back to planDisney! We appreciate you taking the time to reach back out and ask us another wonderful Walt Disney World Resort vacation question!
Visiting
Walt Disney World Resort during the holidays is particularly magical, in my experience! All of the
Disney Resort hotels are decorated in their seasonal trimmings and there are holiday traditions to be experienced at every theme park. My personal favorite is the
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays! This wondrous event allows Guests to celebrate holidays from around the world through music, storytelling, and food. I just love tasting all of the delectable eats found at the
Holiday Kitchens in the World Showcase!
It was actually recently
announced that the Extra Magic Hours benefit will be replaced with another wonderful perk! Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel will soon be able to enter any of the four theme parks up to 30-minutes prior to official park opening hours. This will allows Guests the opportunity to visit with more flexibility while still taking advantage of a wonderful perk! With this in mind, I would suggest reserving your park passes through the
Disney Park Pass system as soon as possible. This way, you will be able to go ahead and plan which parks you will visit throughout the duration of your trip.
In my experience,
advanced dining reservations have not been harder to get with the updated 60-day reservation window! As with the previous policy, it is highly recommended that you make your reservations as soon as possible so you are able to book your ideal time and day, though. If you are unable to get an advanced dining reservation or you end up wanting to make a last-minute switch, there is a new feature on the
My Disney Experience app that you may find helpful! With the
Mobile Dine Walk-Up Availability feature, you can now check to see if there is last-minute availability at participating restaurants, add your party to the walk-up list, and then receive a notification when your table to ready. It’s an excellent feature that lets you be a bit more spontaneous in your planning and try restaurants you may not have been able to test out otherwise!
I hope you are able to plan a perfect getaway to Walt Disney World Resort this December! Please reach back out if we can answer any other questions for you!
~Wyatt