Planning trip for July 2023 and am completely OVERWHELMED and discouraged :(

[LandonDunes]

Lot's of great advice here, not sure if I have anything too valuable to add.

Probably the most critical is making park reservations as soon as you have tickets--especially if you want to go to Hollywood Studios, as that park tends to fill up the fastest. If you have Park Hoppers, you can hop to a new park after 2 p.m. (although I think that has been the standard for a while now).

If you want the Extended Evening Hours, right now they are Monday nights at EPCOT and Wednesday nights at Magic Kingdom. My understanding is you can get A LOT done in those two extra hours. Just make sure your family is up for the late night. You also get a half hour of Early Entry into the parks. If you use those, you need to be at the park at least 45 minutes BEFORE the posted Early Entry time. This extra morning time can get you on to 1-2 extra rides (one ride if you choose an attraction that regularly has 60+ minute waits, two if you choose less popular rides).

Advance Dining Reservations are now 60 days out, and the cancellation window is down from 24 hours to 2 hours. This gives more flexibility for walk up seating. Many restaurants now also have the option to join a walk up waitlist on the app as well.

If you're going in July, the ride that is most likely to use a Virtual Queue (VQ) system is TRON, which opens in Magic Kingdom in early April. Make sure you check before your trip to see which rides use VQ and how to get your spot. Disney themselves don't explain the process well, and I've overheard some pretty exasperated people in the park asking "how can a ride be sold out?"

If you decide to use Genie+ I would recommend looking at the guide on Disney Tourist Blog. He updates the guide each time the app gets updated, so it stays pretty up to date generally. Read it once through to understand how it works on a basic level, then check back right before your trip to see if anything has changed.

When did ADR’s switch to 60 days?

 

[StarCruzer]

When did ADR’s switch to 60 days?

I'm not 100 percent sure, but maybe around 2019?

Edit: Looks like it was when the parks re-opened post-pandemic: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/ways-disney-changed-for-better/