Hi Hannah and welcome to planDisney!
How exciting that you're in the planning stages of your first ever visit to my absolute favourite holiday destination -
Walt Disney World!
I honestly love nothing more than a brand new Disney countdown so completely understand your eagerness to get something booked. When travelling from the UK our trips tend to be for at least 2-weeks at a time so it certainly makes sense, from a budgeting perspective, to book early and start paying it off ASAP.
It is indeed now possible to
book 2026 holidays to Walt Disney World from here in the UK. That said, typically, in the past, a Free Dining
Deal has been released in April for visits during the following year.
In my experience, the Hotel + Ticket price has never increased after a Free Dining promotion has been launched but, at the same time, it's also worth noting that typically, not all Disney Resort hotels and room types are included.
When booking direct with the Walt Disney Travel Company, it is not possible to simply apply a new Special Offer to an existing Hotel + Ticket package.
So, for example, if you were to book a 2026 Hotel + Ticket package today and then in April a Free Dining promotion was announced, in order to take advantage of that Special Offer, you would need to cancel your original booking (which could incur a cancellation fee) and then make a new one.
There is, of course, no guarantee that a Free Dining promotion will be offered in April 2025 for stays in 2026 but, this has been the case for the past couple of years. Because of this, if I were you, I would probably hold off booking until April.
I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on the
Walt Disney Travel Company website from early April to see if details of a Free Dining Deal for stays in 2026 has been released. This way you'll be ready to book as soon as the promotion goes live.
I hope that this information has been of help, Hannah and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you're able to book your trip really soon.
Wishing you a magical holiday filled with memories which will last a lifetime!
Emma