Did you know that the Disney World parks can sell out?

Yeah, that might seem obvious, but “selling out” looks a bit different these days thanks to the Park Pass Reservation system. While tickets to the parks might still be available, you still might not be able to get into the parks if they’re all booked up. You need a ticket AND a park reservation to walk through those gates, and it’s pretty common for the parks to sell out, especially on important dates! So, let’s take a look at when Disney World is most likely to sell out in 2023.

TRON Opening

We’ve been waiting for TRON to open up in Magic Kingdom FOREVER. Okay, not really, but it’s seriously been several years since construction began. And, for a while there, there seemed to be no end in sight. But, we finally learned that Disney plans on having the grand opening sometime in the spring of 2023!

We still don’t have an exact date, but we can almost guarantee that when it’s announced, those park passes for Magic Kingdom will fill up QUICK. People have been anticipating this ride for SO long that they’re sure to want to be some of the first people on the ride. We would think that a virtual queue system might be used like it has been for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but we’ll have to wait and see!

Click here to learn more about TRON!

Disney’s 100th Anniversary

The Walt Disney Company turns 100 years old in 2023, and we already know a little bit about the celebrations, like a new logo that’s debuted in front of Disney TV shows and movies, and some cool platinum merchandise.

Disney announced that some major celebrations will be coming to Disneyland Resort for the 100th anniversary, like the park getting some new decor, Minnie and Mickey getting new looks, two new nighttime spectaculars, and more. All of those celebrations kick off on January 27th, 2023.

While similar celebrations have not been announced for Disney World yet, we wouldn’t be surprised if they are soon, since Disney did say the anniversary would be celebrated at the parks around the world. And, if and when they are, we can expect that the first day of the celebrations is sure to be a popular day to visit the parks!

Click here to learn more about Disney’s 100th Anniversary

EPCOT Transformation Completion

The EPCOT Transformation has been underway for a very long time now, and we keep learning more and more, like what’s coming to the middle of World Celebration (spoiler alert: it’s fun stuff for the festivals!). Some things have already been transformed, like Creations Shop and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but we’re still waiting on many things to happen.

One thing that we see progress on quite often is Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana . This attraction has been fun to watch come to life whenever we take the Monorail through EPCOT, and we do know around when it will open! The attraction is set to debut in late 2023. Although it may not be as highly anticipated as TRON, we can see the opening day for Journey of Water being quite popular as well! It is a new attraction after all, so don’t be surprised if EPCOT sells out that day (whenever the official date is announced!).

And, if we somehow see EPCOT’s transformation completed in 2023, the grand opening of the major parts under construction will be a big deal as well. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for any more information!

Click here to learn about the EPCOT Transformation!

Major Holidays

This should come as no surprise, but the major holidays at Disney World are very popular times for people to visit the parks, and we DO see these dates sell out! Some of the most popular dates that you should book as soon as you can include New Year’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

Disney will also usually have some special celebrations happening on these days, especially in Magic Kingdom. You can usually find that Magic Kingdom is the first park to go on these holidays, because the people want to be in the park for all of those celebrations! Just know that you can usually expect major crowds on these holidays, and the park passes will book up quick.

PHOTOS: You Won’t Believe the Thanksgiving Day Crowds in Disney World

May the 4th

Speaking of holidays, while this might not be on every calendar you see, it IS on Disney’s! May the 4th is Star Wars Day and it’s very much celebrated in Disney’s Hollywood Studios! There is special food, merchandise, and more in the park on this day, so know that park passes will probably book up for Hollywood Studios.

The other parks don’t really have celebrations for May the 4th, so if you can’t get a park reservation for Hollywood Studios, you could make a reservation for a different park and hop over to Hollywood Studios with a Park Hopper after 2PM.

PHOTOS & VIDEOS: Check out Disney World’s 2022 May the 4th Star Wars Celebration

Animal Kingdom’s 25th Anniversary

Animal Kingdom turns 25 years old in 2023! The park opened on April 22nd, 1998 and has been the home of adorable animals, delicious food, and thrilling rides ever since. We did see a lot of celebrations for the 20th anniversary back in 2018, so we’re sure 25 will be celebrated as well!

We don’t know what Disney has in store for the celebrations yet, but 25 is a big milestone, so we’d guess that there will be some special merchandise and food offerings at the very least. Animal Kingdom enthusiasts will likely want to be in the park that day for the festivities, so make sure you grab a park pass if you want to be there too, because it can definitely sell out!

We’ve Eaten at Every Restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. These Are the BEST.

EPCOT Festivals

EPCOT Festivals are kind of our thing around here, so trust us when we say that the first days of each festival can be VERY busy! Everyone is trying to get their hands on that new and exciting food, and we can’t blame ’em. If you can wait, maybe visit the festivals a few days after they open up (or even later) if you want better chances at securing a park pass.

We don’t know all of the opening dates for each festival at EPCOT in 2023, but we DO know that Festival of the Arts will open on January 13th, 2023, the Flower and Garden Festival should open sometime in early March, the Food and Wine Festival has been opening in mid-July over the past couple of years, and Festival of the Holidays usually opens the day after Thanksgiving (which would be November 24th, 2023). So, mark those dates down on your calendar! We’ll update you when more are announced.

In addition to these big event we just mentioned, there are also some other things happening next year that could potentially lead to the parks selling out, but we don’t have the official dates yet. A new EPCOT fireworks show is coming AND a version of the Happily Ever After fireworks are returning to Magic Kingdom. So, those parks could sell out whenever those shows are officially announced.

The Hatbox Ghost is also being added to Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom, and since he’s a huge fan favorite, we might see some big crowds on opening day. Another day to look out for is whenever Splash Mountain will officially close for its makeover into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The ride should be closing sometime next year because the renovations should be done at the end of 2024, and we expect work is going to take a decent amount of time!

We’ll be sure to keep you updated with any and all information about the big events we’ve mentioned, so make sure you stay tuned to DFB for more!

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

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When are you heading to Disney World in 2023? Tell us in the comments!

The post When Disney World Will Sell Out in 2023 first appeared on the disney food blog.