Hi Misty!
I’m so happy you brought your question to planDisney! You can certainly plan your Disney vacation experiences if you are not staying at a Disney Resort hotel. There are some specific dates you should keep in mind, so let’s talk about what steps you should take.
One item you can take care of now is your theme park tickets. First, I recommend checking the
Special Offers page on the Walt Disney World website. At this time, I don’t see offers for theme park tickets, but you can continue checking to see if any are added before your visit. Since you want to visit all four theme parks, make sure you purchase the Park Hopper Option, or Park Hopper Plus Option if you also want to visit a water park, miniature golf, or golf course.
Currently,
Guests who are not staying at a Disney Resort can book their dining reservations and Enchanting Extras up to 60 days in advance of their visit. This means 60 days before your first park day, you can visit the Walt Disney World Resort website at approximately 6:00 AM to book your dining reservations for that date. You will book reservations 60 days before each date. Guests of Disney Resorts can book for their entire length of stay (for up to a 10-night stay), up to 60 days in advance of their arrival. Be Our Guest Restaurant can be a popular dining experience, so I would prioritize booking that as soon as your reservation window opens. My suggestion is to try to be flexible with your park plans. If you’re unable to book Be Our Guest on your first park date, keep trying to book for your second or third.
Enchanting Extras can also be booked 60 days in advance.
You can purchase
Lightning Lane Passes 3 days before your park visit. With date-based theme park tickets, you should be able to purchase your Lightning Lane Passes three days before the first date of your ticket, for the total number of valid admission days on your ticket. You must have your theme park tickets linked to your MyDisney account before purchasing Lightning Lanes.
To purchase a
MagicBand+, select designs are available on
DisneyStore.com; or you can purchase them in the theme parks. The MagicBand+ can easily be linked to your My Disney Experience app after you purchase it, so you should be able to use it right away.
At this time, character meet and greets are not included in Lightning Lane experiences. You could book a
Character Dining reservation, where you’ll meet several characters during your meal. I like these options because you can enjoy a meal knowing you’ll have the opportunity to see these characters. You can also use the Walt Disney World website or the My Disney Experience app to see
where and when characters are meeting. Some characters meet at certain times, like Aladdin and Jasmine in Adventureland, while others meet Guests all day, like Mickey at Town Square Theater.
I hope this helps you get started, Misty! Everyone does Disney vacations a little differently, so I encourage you to come back to
planDisney with any future questions. There are many panelists answering questions, which means many different Disney vacation experiences!
Kaitlin