How far in advance do you book your next trip?

[m 'n c]

How far in advance do you book your next Disney vacation? Do you book it as soon as you know your dates or do you wait for codes or promotions to be announced? Do you book and then rebook if something better comes up?

Last time I booked a few months in advance during the free dining program since BF and I were discussing going on vacation and it just happened to work out. This time around we have a full year and a half month until our trip but since the packages are out and I have some gc's buring a hole in my pocket I am wondering if I should book so that we have a guaranteed vacation planned or should I wait in case a good promo is announced. We did not preplan or book a vacation this year (was going to cali wine country but due to a change in jobs that isn't happening) and we are missing out on a vacation because of it (wasn't prebooked and so he won't take vacation right now). So now I'm nervous and obsessive over our vacation for next year.

[bs4free]

Lets See! I have Booked our first trip 27 days before we went! Full Price Everything!
I Booked our second trip with 32 days before we went, with rerelase of FreeDining code.
I booked our thrid and fourth trips about 6 months out as soon as Free Dining Codes were release!

For the last two trips we planed around haveing codes released! and just waited.

The first two trips were not planned far ahead and were very special since we did not have to WAIT so very LONG!!!

[Hedy]

I booked my Dec trip in January, but my work's vacation rules are weird (you have to ask for a week before you can take a day, so I wanted to vacation dates so I could do that).
I figure you can always get your deposit back. :)

[Magical JenK]

I've booked the last two vacays 9 months prior just to start the excitment of planning! I say book it, put your GCs towards it & have fun planning it all! I'm a planner though. I like to see everything printed out in front of me (or online) for it to be real.

[zoodoyle]

We're planning on going in August of '08, and now that they've released pricing, I'm already getting antsy....I LOVE planning our trips!!!!! :love: This time my parents and my brother and sister are going with us, so when I go see them next week, we'll decide on specific dates, and which hotel, and then when I get back I plan on making our reservation! I can't wait!!!!!! :sunshine2:

[jnorth1007]

I booked in January for my December trip and then in February I got a discount postcard and went back and added my October trip. I like having a year to pay off the trip. I book exactly want my dream would be and put the 200.00 down and then I tweak as i go along. I add or remove days, changed the week on the December trip once and I am able to break the trip down into 10 equal monthly payments and make it a monthly bill.

[linanglab]

We always book the December or january before we go. We usually go in July, so that is about 6 months in advance.
Angela

[jnorth1007]

If anyone has a Disney Visa card they have discount right now so I would call to check your dates and if they are available I would book now.

[m 'n c]

Hey guys how hard is it to tweak reservations after you book it and start paying. ie if I save enough to add on a day or if they release free dining next April/May would it be a pain to tweak my reservation or cancel and rebook??

[jnorth1007]

The first thing to remember if you are going to be tweaking and fine tuning...DONT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. I did it the first time this time because I was new to the obsessive planning thing and thought that she would be able to get me better rates because of her position. However, with TGM I have found out about codes before she has and I am not, of course, her only client. I would have loved to be able to do all of the tweaking myself. That said, it is not hard at all to call Disney and make changes to your reservations if you need to. I changed my first trip by adding a day to the end. I changed my second trip by moving back one week. I changed the December trip from a family sweet at ASM to 2 connecting rooms at POP. From me and DH and kids and MIL to add FIL and BIL. I did all of these things on seperate occasions and transactions. Im sure my TA is wishing she could get rid of me. It would have been super easy and quick if I could do it myself but I couldn't. Even so all changes were made and confirmations sent. The other thing is that by booking through Disney itself you can see your trip info online. You cant do that through a TA.

[m 'n c]

The first thing to remember if you are going to be tweaking and fine tuning...DONT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. I did it the first time this time because I was new to the obsessive planning thing and thought that she would be able to get me better rates because of her position. However, with TGM I have found out about codes before she has and I am not, of course, her only client. I would have loved to be able to do all of the tweaking myself. That said, it is not hard at all to call Disney and make changes to your reservations if you need to. I changed my first trip by adding a day to the end. I changed my second trip by moving back one week. I changed the December trip from a family sweet at ASM to 2 connecting rooms at POP. From me and DH and kids and MIL to add FIL and BIL. I did all of these things on seperate occasions and transactions. Im sure my TA is wishing she could get rid of me. It would have been super easy and quick if I could do it myself but I couldn't. Even so all changes were made and confirmations sent. The other thing is that by booking through Disney itself you can see your trip info online. You cant do that through a TA.

Thanks Janet. I'm a control freak so I'd of course book it myself through disney. Ok I think I'm going to book my trip this weekend. Make a big celebration out of it. :minnie: :mickey:

[bs4free]

The first thing to remember if you are going to be tweaking and fine tuning...DONT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. The other thing is that by booking through Disney itself you can see your trip info online. You cant do that through a TA.


I second the NO TA mind of thought! I did it once and only once, be cause the TA was the only one with ROOMS at any VALUE for my DATES!!!! I ended up not even bother my TA with ADR changes or request it would take her 2 or 3 days to get back, and just called disney and found out how easy it was and knew right away! Now i book all my own!

Its also great to see your trip info, balance, what you booked, SAVE any ADR (Hopeing they will have it some day), I enjoy being able to login and see my reservation and know its in Disneys Computer!

BTW TGM has so much great info! Its almost the only way i would plan any Disney Vacation!

[llgray16]

Hey guys how hard is it to tweak reservations after you book it and start paying. ie if I save enough to add on a day or if they release free dining next April/May would it be a pain to tweak my reservation or cancel and rebook??

It isn't hard at all! For instance, for our Sept trip, I started out at 40% off at POFQ. Then free dining came out an I switched to that (my $200 deposit just carried over.) Then I decided to switch to POP - no problem just another call to CRO. Then I was really missing the idea of staying at POFQ so you guessed it another call to CRO!

As for how far in advance I book, I set everything in place as far as dates about 9 - 12 months in advance. Then I wait for specials to be announced (unless I am renting DVC points.) If I remember, you are going in late Sept. next year - right? There will almost certainly be some sort of offer announced. I would wait till next spring to book until a great deal comes out. If it would make you feel better to have a reservation (and you are a AAA member) I would make a reservation thru them at the AAA rate now. I souldn't handle seeing a reservation at rack rates.

I have been known to book a trip less than a month in advance but that is not common and tends to stress me out!!!

[m 'n c]

It isn't hard at all! For instance, for our Sept trip, I started out at 40% off at POFQ. Then free dining came out an I switched to that (my $200 deposit just carried over.) Then I decided to switch to POP - no problem just another call to CRO. Then I was really missing the idea of staying at POFQ so you guessed it another call to CRO!

As for how far in advance I book, I set everything in place as far as dates about 9 - 12 months in advance. Then I wait for specials to be announced (unless I am renting DVC points.) If I remember, you are going in late Sept. next year - right? There will almost certainly be some sort of offer announced. I would wait till next spring to book until a great deal comes out. If it would make you feel better to have a reservation (and you are a AAA member) I would make a reservation thru them at the AAA rate now. I souldn't handle seeing a reservation at rack rates.

I have been known to book a trip less than a month in advance but that is not common and tends to stress me out!!!

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll book now and see how bad it will be without any codes or promotions so we know how much we will need to save as a worse case scenario and then once a promo is announced in the spring I'll call up disney and get it switched. :)

[Magical JenK]

I've never had any problems tweaking my ressies & I do go through a TA. So I may be the minority here, but I've been very lucky w/that I guess. But anyway, with the exception of our very first trip waaaay back in 2004 :rotfl: when I didn't know anything about (GASP) codes, I've changed my ressies for my last 3 trips! This year I started w/the 40% code at AKL & then added 1 night at POP to move our AKL back one night, then free dining came out & moved to CSR, cancelled the POP ressie & all 11 nights are now at CSR w/free dining. No problem at all.

I think as long as your on top of the codes helps a lot when it comes to your ressies! My TA has been great & humors me w/all my code rumors & things I learn online. But I usually know before they're ever told so she appreciates it!! :)

Book it! Book it! Book it! Then make your countdown of when 180 days is & start planning your ADRs!! :p

Heck-I haven't even left for our trip (woo hoo 3 weeks from today!!) & I'm already thinking of when next year & want to plan w/sis-in-law, but KNOW DH would be like, "Seriously?! We haven't even gone THIS year yet!" He does get "it" but sometimes not so much!!

[Mom2aPrincess]

I've never had any problems tweaking my ressies & I do go through a TA. So I may be the minority here, but I've been very lucky w/that I guess. But anyway, with the exception of our very first trip waaaay back in 2004 :rotfl: when I didn't know anything about (GASP) codes, I've changed my ressies for my last 3 trips! This year I started w/the 40% code at AKL & then added 1 night at POP to move our AKL back one night, then free dining came out & moved to CSR, cancelled the POP ressie & all 11 nights are now at CSR w/free dining. No problem at all.

I think as long as your on top of the codes helps a lot when it comes to your ressies! My TA has been great & humors me w/all my code rumors & things I learn online. But I usually know before they're ever told so she appreciates it!! :)

Book it! Book it! Book it! Then make your countdown of when 180 days is & start planning your ADRs!! :p

Heck-I haven't even left for our trip (woo hoo 3 weeks from today!!) & I'm already thinking of when next year & want to plan w/sis-in-law, but KNOW DH would be like, "Seriously?! We haven't even gone THIS year yet!" He does get "it" but sometimes not so much!!


I've had great luck with my TA too. I like it because I don't have to think about codes at times like this when I can barely get online once a day. I know she's there and will take care of it for me. Maybe it depends on the agency you use? (I used Dreams Unlimited) Or maybe just the agent?

I can also see my vacation stuff online on their site, and I have the disney information so I can call and do my own ADR's myself (we both tried for CRT because I wanted to make sure we got it).

As far as the original post, I booked our December trip, last December. As soon as we get back in December, I'll be booking our next one (though I'm thinking maybe a cruise this time)...I :heart: planning for Disney...

[Soccer Princess]

I normally never use a TA. The only exception would be booking a package through AAA when they are the only discount. This usually changes as more codes are added, and I switch my package through just CRO and then I am in control! :)

How far out -- We started planning our Dec 2007 trip as soon as we got back from our August 2006 honeymoon! lol I planned a quick Sept trip with my mom a couple months ago. If the bounceback promotion is offered again this December, we will def. be booking for next fall! :)

[ligrumpygirl]

I am DVC so as soon as my 11 month window opens I am on the phone to Member Services! I have April booked and I am trying to decide my July dates.

[sammielynn]

We always go in late May and I start booking our trip in Janurary. We are off site people so I don't book anything through Disney. I love having a three bedroom condo, so at the end of the day everyone has their own space.

[Alice28]

it varies-

1st trip we planned about 6 months in advance- that was our honeymoon

2nd- 9 months

3rd- ~6 months

4th- 4 months

5th- 3 months

6th- 7 months

7th- 11 months (this is our next trip)

We usually book rooms first. We don't usually wait for a code. We have stayed either at SOG or at the Contemporary but with a SOG discount 3 times, and we can book a year out for that hotel and the rates can't be beat. This upcoming trip is our first staying DVC with my parent's points- we booked as soon as we could. We will be at BWV, but are contemplating seeing if BCV has anything available at the 6 month window.

[DisneyMa]

I make sure we book our trip before we leave Disneyland. It helps with the "Disney depression":rotfl:

One time we were on our way home and realized with very little tweaking DH and I could go back for the rest of the week without kids. So within 2 hours of leaving Disneyland, DH and I were booked for another trip at the end of that same week!!! It took 6 hours to drive home and two days later it took 6 hours to go back:D

I might have a very slight Disneyland addiction:love: