Heads Up! You can now book Disney World tickets, rooms, and dining plans for 2024! Yes, dining plans are back!

As you can imagine, their systems got bogged down with the high volume this morning, but it looks like bookings are open again. If you’re interested in booking a 2024 trip, now’s the time.

Unfortunately, there is no one nice list of the prices for next year though. You just have to plug in your possible trip dates with the options you’re considering and see what the total is…or have a travel agent like me help you do the legwork.

In general, 2024 will cost more than 2023 though, but there are many factors that go into the total. Disney uses dynamic pricing, so the prices will vary depending on popularity and availability. Days that tend to be busier, such as weekends and holidays, will generally cost more than other days. The length of your stay and which resort you stay at will also affect the overall cost.

Finally, many people have been waiting for the dining plans to return. These are basically prepaid meal plans that folks like for the convenience. You should evaluate which restaurants you plan to really dine in, including what you might order there, to see if the plans are worthwhile to you though. Everyone in your booking will have to get the same plan if you opt-in for it, even the kids.

There are two types of dining plans that you can add to your resort packages. These are the prices and allocations per person per day of your resort stay. Both plans also include 1 Resort Refillable Drink Mug per person per stay.

Quick Service Dining Plan:

$57.01 per adult (ages 10+), $23.83 per child (ages 3 – 9)

• 2 Quick Service Meals
• 1 Alcoholic/non-Alcoholic Beverage per Meal
• 1 Snack

Disney Dining Plan:

$94.28 per adult (ages 10+), $29.69 per child (ages 3-9)

• 1 Table Service Meal
  
• 1 Quick Service Meal
  
• 1 Alcoholic/non-Alcoholic Beverage per Meal
  
• 1 Snack

If you’re thinking about a 2024 trip, you can now begin to crunch the numbers. Resorts can fill up for popular times of the year, and prices will just go up the closer you get.

Packages (which means booking a resort room and tickets together) just need a $200 deposit and that’s fully refundable if you cancel at least 30 days before your check-in date.

Room-only bookings need to pay the first day’s amount and are refundable if you cancel at least 5 days before your check-in date.

Ticket-only bookings are not refundable but the tickets can stay in your account for future use. You’ll just have to pay the additional difference if ticket prices increase for the days you eventually use them.

If a special offer comes along in the future, you can get that applied if your booking qualifies for it too.

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about booking a Disney World trip! See ya real soon!

Breaking News! Disney just announced that the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience in Orlando will be closing after the September 28-30, 2023 voyage!

If you’ve been meaning to book this, now’s the time. New reservations are paused for now but are expected to reopen on May 26th.

If you already have a booking for after September 30th, Disney will be contacting you in the coming days about your options.

The Galactic Starcruiser is a revolutionary 2-night experience where you will embark on a first-of-its-kind Star Wars adventure. Throughout the ship, you’ll interact with an eclectic collection of characters, sit down to exotic galactic cuisine and perhaps even plot a secret mission together. Seek out the inner workings of the legendary starship, learn the traditional art of wielding a lightsaber, and even jump on a transport to the planet Batuu—where your mission continues at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge!

There are tons of YouTube videos if you want to see what the experience is like. For more details, visit the Galactic Starcruiser page.

If you would like me to help book your voyage, feel free to contact me.

The Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is returning this Fall to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World! The evening extra-ticketed event will take place on select nights from Aug 11 – Nov 1, 2023. Party festivities begin at 7pm but you may enter the park after 4pm with the party ticket.

Partake in all of this spooktacular fun:

• Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular! – three sinister sisters bewitch and bedazzle the residents of Magic Kingdom park in this fun stage show.
• Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular – a wickedly wild fireworks display featuring some of your favorite Disney characters, hosted by Jack Skellington from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade – fun parade unique to the party. Must see!
• Disney Junior Jam – dance with some favorite Disney Junior friends at Cosmic Rays. Perfect for young partygoers!
• Trick-or-Treat – collect candy as you roam trails around the park in search of some of your favorite sweets.
• More treats – eat more Halloween-inspired food and beverages
• Dress in costume – revel in the festive atmosphere around the park with fellow party-goers and Disney favorites in their Halloween finest.
• Photo Ops – commemorate the night with themed back drops and magic shots.
• Shopping – of course, there will be themed party merch!

Ticket sales for this party start TODAY for Disney resort guests at select resorts and on May 2, 2023 for everyone else. Prices range from $99-$199, depending on day. Annual passholders and DVC members get $10 savings per ticket.

For more details about the party and to buy tickets, go to this Disney World party page:

• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Be sure to read the costume guidelines and other Know-Before-You-Go before you go. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or want help planning your Disney trip.

©Disney

Recently, a friend of mine went to Disney World with her young kids, as a group of 8 people altogether. She was kind enough to write this awesome article offering her insight on her trip. Hopefully, this helps you if you fit this demographic too. There are great tips for anybody going to Disney though. Thanks, Linda!

6 Tips for Traveling to Disney World with a Large Group and Young Children

The Disney Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass will resume sales on April 20, 2023, online only.

Eligible Disney Vacation Club Members can purchase the DVC Disney Sorcerer Pass online on April 13, 2023 as part of Membership Magic.

The quantity of passes will be limited and may become unavailable for purchase at any time, so be online early when the window opens and be prepared for a potential virtual queue that could have a very long wait.

Annual passes give you discounts at various Disney dining and merchandise locations, as well as free parking at the parks. There are also frequent passholder events and benefits such as discounts on resort stays.

Even if you buy the passes now, they will not start until the first day you activate them (when you go into a park), so you can buy them now for a trip later in the year. They will be valid for 1 year after that first day you activate them.

Since park admission prices can vary by the day, it’s hard to give an exact cost comparison, but on a high level, the annual passes generally pay for themselves after about 12 theme park days. The initial price may seem daunting at first, but if you calculate how much it would cost if you were buying tickets individually, you can see how it adds up.

Folks who already have an annual pass can continue to renew them per your usual renewal schedule, though you can use this opportunity to upgrade your pass immediately outside of your normal renewal window. Florida residents are able to purchase the Pixie Pass already anytime. This is primarily for new sales of the 3 other annual passes for folks that do not have one yet.

The key difference between the various passes is the number of blackout dates and park reservations. However, if you live outside the state of Florida, you are only eligible to buy the Incredi-Pass.

For details and comparison of each annual pass, visit the Disney Annual Pass page.

Since there’s no telling when they may stop selling annual passes again, if you are seriously thinking about getting them, I suggest getting them as soon as this window opens.

If you want to chat about annual passes or Disney trips in general, feel free to contact me. We have been passholders for many years now and it’s been great being able to pop in for short trips or long trips anytime.