Hi Danielle!
Welcome back to planDisney!
Let’s start with your first question! Your advanced dining reservation and Lightning Lane booking windows will be determined by where you’ll be staying during your Disney World vacation.
If you’re staying at a
Disney World resort, your
advanced dining reservation booking window will open for your entire trip (up to a 10-day stay) at 6 AM Eastern, 60 days prior to your resort check-in date. And your
Lightning Lane booking window will open at 7 AM Eastern, 7 days prior to your resort check-in date.
If you’re staying off property, your advanced dining reservation booking window will open at 6 AM Eastern, 60 days prior to the date you want the reservation. So, you may have multiple booking windows if you want reservations for multiple days. Your Lightning Lane booking window will open at 7 AM Eastern, 3 days prior to the start date of your ticket.
I always like to use a date calculator online and stick a reminder in my calendar for my booking dates!
Now, moving on to the
MagicBands! If you’re staying at a Disney World resort, your MagicBand will be able to unlock your resort room door, and you can link a credit card to your band so that you can make purchases throughout your vacation. You’ll also use it for scanning into the park and Lightning Lanes.
Unfortunately, they are not included in your resort stay, so you’ll have to purchase them separately. You can purchase them in advance by visiting
Disney World’s website, hovering over My Disney Experience, then clicking My MagicBands and Cards. Or you can purchase them on
DisneyStore.com.
If you don’t want to purchase MagicBands, you can ask for a Key to the World card at the front desk of your resort or set up
MagicMobile on your phone. Both of those options will have similar functions. It’s good to note that if you do decide to purchase MagicBands, you’ll be able to reuse them on future visits.
I hope that helps! If you have any other questions as you continue to plan, please let us know!
Jenn J.