[ghost1000]

According to this week's All Ears Net newsletter:

Quote

Effective October 27, 2009, you will again be able to make Disney dining reservations 180 days in advance.

And according to these 2 pages:
http://www.wdwinfo.c...info/dining.htm
http://www.wdwinfo.c...winfo/hours.htm

Theme park hours will also be released 180 days in advance.

[QuickGold]

I prefered the 90 day window. I'm sure Disney will cite changing it back "due to guest demand" but the guest demand for Fantasmic! clearly isn't enough for them

[YoPaulie]

I prefer the 90 as well; however, my GREATEST beef was that the park hours need to be released 180 days out as well. I have no problem with the system as long as those two coincide, as we plan our vacation based on EMH parks (both avoiding and participating)

[HDLady]

While, in theory, having park hours released 6 months in advance really helps with vacation planning, I'm not sure how much help it is in reality. I've seen first hand on numerous occasions where park hours and other items (like Spectro or fireworks) were posted several months in advance only to be changed closer to the actual date. I'm the one who develops the itinerary for my friends' annual vacation so they can get the most out of their week here. I now know to develop the tentative plan and check the WDW calendar a couple of weeks prior to vacation in case they have changed anything. They always vacation in mid December or early January so we rarely make ADRs much in advance because at that time of year it's pretty easy to get reservation the day before as long as exact reservation time isn't critical.

[YoPaulie]

Really? I've planned about half a dozen trips, and the park hours / EMH days have never changed on me once i have them down.

Granted, I haven't ever looked up Spectro dates, Fantasmic, etc., just the general park hours and what days they have EMH.

[TQM]

180 days is way too long to know what I want to eat. Heck, I'd rather it go down to 60 days!
And the lack of park hours being posted earlier makes this decision crazy, in my opinion.

[YoPaulie]

Well, the park hours will be posted earlier. Unless your trip is set for the first or second day of the month, the dates will (should) be set.


For example... June's hours get released in January. If your trip is June 10th, you theoretically have 10 days or so to look at the park schedules.

[QuickGold]

Paulie has a point about the park hours, especially when you get to fall and winter and trying to figure out days where hard ticket parties can affect dining choices in MK.

For those who can plan 180 days out, its a great advantage because I think most people do not plan that far out.