Helping a friend plan a trip to the World

[Tinkerbell 8]

A co worker of mine asked me for help planning his families first trip to Disney, so I have come up with a few options for him for late next year and I could use some advice since I do not travel with children. His two sons will be 14 and 5 years old at the time of the trip. He said that he has no problem taking his children out of school for the week since this is their first vacation and both of his children are very good students. These are the weeks that I have picked out for them to give them ideas of pricing, park events, etc. Sept 10th-Sept 16th, Oct 22nd-Oct 28th, and Nov 26th-Dec 2nd. I searched the forums to see if there has been any past trends of discounts (room, package, dining plan) for these time periods and I could not find anything. I saw there is a current room discount for now until December, but that's all I've seen so far. Thanks in advance!

 

[GeoDonJac34]

I usually will google wdw historical discounts while planning our trip. This usually takes me to a mousesaver page that has a good deal of info.

 

[Rob562]

Just throwing a few random things out there...

Early September will be hot.

October is good for the Food & Wine Festival if they're into that.

The November dates are right after Thanksgiving. They might have some residual crowds the first day or two of the trip, but it'll ease out, and Christmas stuff will be in full swing.

Personally my vote would be the Nov/Dec week, unless they have an extreme interest in F&WF. Plus, the later they go, the better chance they'll have of waiting out any delays in the opening of the Fantasyland Expansion.

-Rob

 

[kstella]

I would also think that the Nov/Dec time frame would be best. Crowds will be low and weather will still be warm.

 

[patricia27]

Have you advised about resorts? I guess it all depends on budgets. I would have thought the Boardwalk resort area would be good--then it would give the 14 year old a bit of freedom to walk around on his own but in a safe environment with plenty to see.

 

[WDW Vet]

I remember I started helping friend and family plan and that was 17 years ago LOL!

OK first thing is to establish where and how. Work out a budget he will be comfortable with and use that to start. Air is normally cheaper midweek so if he is flexible that will save money. Usually people get a week off and starts and finishes on weekends especially to family destinations.

Now for the when. First thing I do is assume there will be no discounts. Use that budget first as a guide. Sept is about 10 to 15 degrees warmer and a little more humid than PA. This is also hurricane season so it could be tricky especially if one hits on travel dates and causes delays.

However Sept is the least crowded time of the year partially due to the above and that most of the country just went back to school. You will see Disney's best discounts during this time of year. As far as events go Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party started 9/13 this year and runs through Oct. Also park hours run normal times.

October is much cooler and is a little more crowded. During Oct the normal rates for rooms are higher than Sept and parts of Nov due to past occupancy levels. And you still have Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Also Mickey's Very Merry Xmas party runs in Nov to Dec There will be more nights that run park hours later due to attendance. The only reason Disney extends hours is to sell more food and merchandise. I'm not talking about Extended Magical Hour, just normal times.

Nov-Dec will just be after the peak Thanksgiving weekend as the rubber market will hit Disney. That week after will be quiet plus it will be decked out for Xmas and is very magical. And still have Mickey's Very Merry Xmas party dates.

Discounts are tricky with Disney. Normally there are no discounts a year out. As we approach dates normally Dis ney will start with free dining as this is where they loose the least since manypeople will order less expensive menu items. After that Disney looks at occupancy levels and if they still need to make quota they will launch room discounts. Now at this point all dates and all resorts may not be available so lesser popular dates will have more discounts available.

After you book normal rates for a specific date and a promotion opens up you can modify the reservation. So start with what he is comfortable with as a budget. Get his wish list for what resort he would want to upgrade to by still spending the same money and get more resort for it.

I hope that helps. Have fun and good luck

 

[brightlillstar]

I think the Nov-Dec week is perfect. We've gone that week before and once the Thanksgiving weekend crowds clear out (by Mon-Tues) it's absolutely not crowded and SO beautiful. Disney World has SO much to offer for Christmas. The Halloween party is also great, but the kids would not enjoy food and wine and much. Coming from the UK is this is a once in a lifetime event for them, so I would really opt for Christmas. It will be so magical. This year there was free dining offered for that week. I know in years past there have been discounts at that time and I would expect it to be similar next year. I'm sure there will be SOME discount available. I would advise them to sign up on disneyworld.com or call 407WDisney to get in the system so they can get mail and email with discounts. I'm not sure exactly how it works for folks in the UK, but I know they do have special discounts.