How early is too early to plan?

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mavlax20

Active Member
Just like the title states...how early do you start planning? With recent events, my wife and I are unable to go to WDW this summer. We are hoping to have a child around April of next year (we are teachers, we try to plan things to happen around state testing lol) so that would rule out summer of 2016. Is it too early to plan for summer of 2017? I figure if I start saving X amount every month, I would be able to have a decent amount to be able to get a room in her dream hotel, the Contemporary, however I do know that pricing will change from here to then.

Thoughts?
 
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CheshireCat12

Well-Known Member
Start saving now for 2017, and make your plan/budget based on this year's prices. Yes they will go up but probably not too much overall percentage. It's never too early for WDW planning- I always have at least two future trips in the works :) Good luck!
 
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belledream

belledream

Well-Known Member
Never too early to save, especially for Contemporary prices! In the meantime before booking, you can research off-the-grid things to do, restaurants you may want to try, and order things like the free planning DVD to keep yourselves happy in anticipation. :)
 
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officialtom

officialtom

Well-Known Member
Never to early to start saving and blocking off potential dates, but we generally don't get into any type of detailed planning (which parks on which days, ADRs, etc.) til our reservations are confirmed somewhere inside 6 months before leaving.
 
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LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Never too early to start planning, especially if you are bringing a young child. I agree with Cheshire, use this year's resort prices and calculate based upon a 3-5% increase each year in room rates. The bonus will be if your selected time is during special offers on rooms, dining and tickets. You can look at rates for 2015 to see when Disney offers discounts and how much - typically a deluxe resort is discounted 30-35%.

And congrats on the planned addition to the family. Nothing beats watching someone, especially your child, experience visiting Disney for the first time.
 
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EdwardThomas

New Member
If you are going in August of 2017 make sure you make room in your schedule to see the total solar eclipse, first time in many decades. You would have to drive up to the North Georgia and Western Kentucky. Hotels will fill up quickly.
 
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CAPTAIN HOOK

CAPTAIN HOOK

Well-Known Member
mavlax20 said:
Is it too early to plan for summer of 2017?
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Quite simply - yes. You can only really start to plan when Disney starts publishing the park operating hours (subject to change) at around 200 days in advance, then the real planning should start in time to book the ADRs at 180 days.

However, its never too soon to start saving
 
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brifraz

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
mavlax20 said:
Just like the title states...how early do you start planning? With recent events, my wife and I are unable to go to WDW this summer. We are hoping to have a child around April of next year (we are teachers, we try to plan things to happen around state testing lol) so that would rule out summer of 2016. Is it too early to plan for summer of 2017? I figure if I start saving X amount every month, I would be able to have a decent amount to be able to get a room in her dream hotel, the Contemporary, however I do know that pricing will change from here to then.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Too early for detailed plans, sure....but, we have often started coming up with ideas for day plans and meals that we want to target well over a year in advance. Our plans often go through a number of permutations before we actually get operating hours and start to nail things down. Then when ADRs open up, things change again. The more research and planning you do, the better prepared you will be! A trip with a very little one often requires a lot of plan changing on the fly and the more you know the easier that is to do. (and, yes, I'm currently reading the 2015 Unofficial Guide cover to cover - which I've done every year since 2008)

My wife and I are also teachers and we really enjoy the early planning and idea brainstorming as a diversion for the daily grind!

BTW - planned for a Spring Break baby here and by the time things worked out, she was a MLK day baby!
 
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JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
It's never too soon to start saving dates, researching attractions and restaurants, and considering what experiences you do not want to miss. I enjoy planning possible park touring scenarios. But you can't really plan your schedule until park hours are released and you make your ADRs.
 
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SDisney90

SDisney90

Well-Known Member
JillC LI said:
It's never too soon to start saving dates, researching attractions and restaurants, and considering what experiences you do not want to miss. I enjoy planning possible park touring scenarios. But you can't really plan your schedule until park hours are released and you make your ADRs.
Click to expand...

I agree, since you can't obviously have anything set in stone until the open window is available to make FP + ADR selections we just picked out places we would like to go again, and try for the first time. Just to get a rough idea on what where we want to go to eat, what we would like to do etc. As the time comes closer we will start to finalize our selections and finally book them all.
 
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PrincessNelly_NJ

PrincessNelly_NJ

Well-Known Member
I say no!
I have one trip this year and then we aren't returning until Sept/October 2017.

That will be an expensive trip... 10/11 days split between a 1 bedroom at AKL and studio at the Grand Floridian, Bay Lake, or Poly.

We are saving for it now & have a list of places we would like to eat but most of the real planning wont happen until later.
 
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Gaston's gal

Gaston's gal

Well-Known Member
I definitely agree that's never too early to plan or to save. Also, watch for any resort discounts that are offered this year, like the one they have out now, so you can get an idea of approximately when they may have them in 2017. Usually, they have them the same time of year each year.
 
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mavlax20

Active Member
Original Poster
Thanks everyone. I have heard from my wife that 2017 also marks the 10 year anniversary of her and her best friend meeting for the first time....and they met at Disney World...so it seems like it's a good time for a surprise trip for her. I just have to figure out now how much to save each month for the trip it seems.
 
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Saxtongoof

Member
We usually start planning about 18 mos out for a trip to WDW. We will be going this April and planning on going back to WDW in December 2016. So we will start saving up when we get back. The money we don't spend this trip goes to our next. We will check if we can make our reservations while we are there in April.
 
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