How early is too early to plan?

[mavlax20]

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?

 

[Weather_Lady]

You shouldn't start planning while in the womb, because there is nothing in there to write with. Once you are born, you are free to begin planning your first Disney trip. You may not know the words for it yet or have the capacity to read a planning book, but your heart will know that next to heaven, there's some other magical place you haven't been, and it will ache to get there someday.

 

[Stellajack]

Dreaming and pre-planning go hand in hand and you can start that as far out as you wish! Disney will decide when you can firm up those plans and make them permanent (if that is even possible anymore). You can always look at historical data as far as best dates to visit, resorts rates, etc. but remember that everything is fluid, and can change quickly, sometimes even after you have made reservations. Touringplans.com gives great information on best park days, crowd levels, etc. I enjoy planning tremendously!

 

[SDisney90]

Dreaming and pre-planning go hand in hand and you can start that as far out as you wish! Disney will decide when you can firm up those plans and make them permanent (if that is even possible anymore). You can always look at historical data as far as best dates to visit, resorts rates, etc. but remember that everything is fluid, and can change quickly, sometimes even after you have made reservations. Touringplans.com gives great information on best park days, crowd levels, etc. I enjoy planning tremendously!

Great advice and I agree! I am 342 days out (whose counting anyway) and we have already started planning our dining, amount of park days, actual physical stays etc. But nothing can be set in stone until official prices are released for 2016 and we can officially book. But even then we have a majority of it planned out and the rest will come in the final months. Even last year when we had all of our parks planned to coincide with EMH, a month before our trip the hours changed and we had to work around that. As you said anything can change also at any time.

 

[mavlax20]

I love the tips I am getting here. I have started the Disney Vacation Account, pretty much now have set up how I will be saving money (for the account and some petty cash to go to the side). I will begin to think how I am going to surprise my wife with the trip, and when...I hate that I want to tell her about it now, but I am not, and it is harder than I thought it would be lol

 

[kels650]

Never Never Never to early! Plans can always change, and that's okay! Starting to plan now will just give you excitement, watching the vacation fund grow will be exciting, and planning on all the fun new things you will get to do as new experiences open will be exciting too! I do not see any downsides! Enjoy!!!

 

[Roakor]

I'm planning our next trip which isn't till dec 2016 right now. and have already planed out trips for 2019 (nov for food and wine) and 2021 (march for spring festival). You can't make reservations that far in advance but you can still plan out the trip. Just keep in mind things could and likely will change so just keep things felxible til the date gets closer. But it always fun to plan out a future trip no matter how far in the future it may be. Makes for a nice break on a stressful day at work

 

[mavlax20]

Well....Disneyworld's 50th Anniversary is in 2021...That seems like a must do year for me...so maybe I can add money saving for that after the 2017 trip.

 

[disneygirl76]

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?

Never! Its never too early! I think we all have a trip in the back of our mind. Where we would dream to stay and when we want to go and for how long. And you can kind of get an idea of things based on previous years. You can open a vacation savings acct with your bank - credit unions have good ones. Or if you don't mind Disney holding on to your money, they have a savings program too. The money can be automatically. deducted and put into a vacation acct for you. So its never too early to start planning that next trip! Good luck and have fun!

 

[Disney Karen]

It's NEVER too early to start planning your trip! As soon as I leave WDW, I am already thinking about making a return visit!