Believe it or not, but we’re already well into the second half of 2022, so it’s time to look ahead to next year!

Sure, there’s still a lot to enjoy this year in Disney World — EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival, Halloween, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party — but, it’s usually a good idea to start planning as early as you can when it comes to Disney World. The parks are still requiring guests to make a Park Pass Reservation in order to get into the parks (in addition to buying a ticket!), and these reservations CAN book completely up for popular dates. So, we’re going to break down the 2023 dates you should book Disney World Park Pass Reservations for NOW!

Major Holidays

Obviously, major holidays are pretty busy in Disney World! A lot of people have vacation time to use, so they go to the parks. And, there are also usually some fun festivities happening that creates an even higher demand. We usually see very high crowds on and around major holidays and the parks are known to book up completely sometimes.

The holidays we’d advise you book passes for soon are Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve and Day. Keep in mind that the days surrounding these holidays are also very busy, so you should book those too.

There are also other long weekends you should look out for like Martin Luther King Jr. day/weekend (January 13th-16th, 2023), President’s Day/weekend (February 17th-20th, 2023), and Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day/weekend (October 6th-9th, 2023).

What to Do If You Can’t Get the Disney World Hotel Reservation You Wanted

Disney Holidays

The other type of holidays you should book Park Passes for well in advance are Disney holidays! These aren’t officially recognized holidays — they’re holidays just for things happening within the Disney universe. The biggest date you should be aware of is October 16th, 2023. This is the 100th Anniversary of The Walt Disney Company, and there are sure to be some major celebrations happening in the parks!

Another important date when it comes to Disney is May the Fourth. This is a big holiday for Star Wars fans and Disney usually celebrates with things like special food items or merchandise. We’d say that getting a Park Pass Reservation for Hollywood Studios would be the most important one to grab since that’s where the majority of Star Wars stuff is located in the parks.

Finally, there are some important birthdays happening next year, too! On April 2nd, Chip ‘n’ Dale are turning 80-years-old, so we’re sure there will be some kind of special festivities happening on that day. But, the bigger day will probably be on November 18th for Mickey and Minnie’s 95th birthday! That’s a big one for the mice, and if their 90th birthday celebrations were any indication, there will definitely be more celebrations happening in the parks.

5 Ways to Save $1,000 on Your Disney Trip (Really!)

EPCOT Festival Opening Weekends

EPCOT Festivals are a big deal in Disney World, so the opening day of a festival is usually packed with people. Everyone is trying to get their hands on that FOOD! A lot of people will book trips for the start of a festival, so Park Passes can book up fast for EPCOT on opening day and the days surrounding it. Usually the weekends book up because the festivals start toward the end of the week, so people will go away for a long weekend.

We don’t know all of the dates for the 2023 EPCOT Festivals yet, but in 2022, the EPCOT Festival of the Arts took place from January 14th through February 21st, 2022, EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival went from March 2nd through July 4th, EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival is running from July 14th through November 19th, and EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays is starting on November 25th, typically running to December 30th. You can expect the 2023 festivals to follow a similar calendar pattern.

Also note that the LAST weekends of a festival can sometimes be popular times to visit as well since it’s the last chance for people to experience the festival offerings.

Click here to see what you should eat at EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival!

Spring Break

Spring Break is a SUPER popular time for people to visit Disney World! Kids from elementary school through college have time off and a lot of families choose to spend their time in the parks. It’s hard to pin down exact dates for the passes you should book during Spring Break, since there is a pretty wide window, but we’d typically suggest not waiting on dates from early March to mid-April.

Some Spring Breaks include Easter in the week, but there are also schools that have a Spring Break AND an Easter Break, so it’s safe to put the end of the Spring Break window a little bit after Easter (which is on April 9th in 2023). We’ve seen VERY big crowds for Spring Break in the parks, with high wait times and even hotel availability booking up fast, so we wouldn’t wait on booking Park Passes during this time if you’re planning a trip.

7 TERRIBLE Things We Recommend in Disney World

runDisney Race Weekends

Multiple times throughout the year, Disney World hosts runDisney race weekends. There are several different events and they bring out a ton of people — the people running in the race along with their friends and families. The races start before the parks open, but a lot of times, runners will go to the parks after their races. The good thing is, we already know when a lot of the races will be in 2023!

The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend takes place from January 4th-8th, 2023 and is the most popular race weekend. This is the BIG one, so expect a lot of people in the parks after the races. The Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend will be from February 23rd-26th, 2022, and the Springtime Surprise Weekend is happening from April 13th-16th.

There will also likely be the return of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend, but we do not have the dates for 2023 yet. Note that the race weekend is taking place in early November of 2022, so we will probably see the same thing happen in 2023.

Click here to learn more about runDisney events!

Dapper Days

Have you ever seen a bunch of people unusually dressed up in vintage clothing in the Disney World parks? Then you’ve probably been there on Dapper Day! This is not an official Disney event, but more of a holiday in the Disney community, so a ton of people will dress in their best and visit the parks.

There are usually 2 Dapper Days in the spring and 2 Dapper Days in the fall. We only have the spring dates for 2023 so far, but we’ll let you know about the other dates as soon as they’re announced! April 29th and 30th, 2023 is when Dapper Day will take place in Disney World.

Click here to check out some of the awesome outfits from the most recent Dapper Days!

Gay Days

Gay Days is another non-Disney sponsored festival that brings a lot of people to the parks! Members of the LGBTQ+ community visit the parks along with there families, friends, and allies. During the festival, participants will usually have an indicated Disney park to visit each day.

In 2023, Gay Days will take place from May 31st to June 5th! We don’t have the schedule of which park will be visited on each day yet, but we’ll let you know when it’s announced. But, if you’re visiting Disney World during these dates, you’ll definitely want to book your Park Pass Reservations soon! This is also right after Memorial Day Weekend, so the parks could already be busy.

Click here to see details from Gay Days 2022!

Cheerleading & Dance Competition Weekends

Cheerleading and dance competitions happen at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports multiple times throughout the year, and they can bring out a LOT of people to the parks. A lot of teams will visit the parks in between competing, along with their families and friends. We’re talking thousands of people, y’all!

Here are some weekends to be aware of:

• UCA/UDA National College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship — January 13th-15th, 2023
• UDA National Dance Team Championship — February 3rd-5th, 2023
• UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship — February 10th-12th, 2023
• The Quest — Recreational Cheerleading Championship — March 10th-11th, 2023
• UCA International All Star Championship — March 11th-12th, 2023
• ICU World Cheerleading Championship — April 19th-April 21st, 2023
• The Cheerleading Worlds — April 21st-24th, 2023
• The Summit — All Star Championship — April 27th-30th, 2023
• The Dance Summit — All Star Championship — April 28th-30th, 2023
• The D2 Summit — All Star Championship — May 5th-7th, 2023

Hotels can get booked up quick for these dates to accommodate all of the people involved with the competition, as can Park Pass Reservations, so don’t wait to book if you’re planning on being in Disney World during this time!

So, those are the important dates and times that you should go ahead and book your Park Pass Reservations for now if you can! Remember, you have to have both a park ticket and a Park Pass Reservation to get into the parks. Disney World also just made some major changes to how you can book park passes, which you can read about right here.

Since these can get booked up, it’s better to have a Park Pass Reservation booked for a park you didn’t necessarily want to visit that day than to not have a reservation at all. You can continue to check to see if more availability is added, or use a Park Hopper ticket to get to the park you want to visit after 2PM.

Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World planning tips and tricks!

These Will Be the Hardest Disney World Dining Reservations to Get in 2023

Are you planning a Disney World trip for 2023? Tell us in the comments!