How early do you start planning/booking?

[Alexx]

Okay, so you wanna go on a trip to disney world (as we all do!:lol how long is it before you leave that you start planning and booking things? A few months? A year? A few weeks? I don't mean a last minute trip either I mean a proper trip which has been planned out etc.

I'm asking because I'm going on a trip next year (solo as i'll be 18) so I was wondering when I should start planning things. I know I can't book yet as prices haven't been released etc.:sohappy:

 

[Master Yoda]

From my experience most somewhat experienced WDW travelers will book about 7-12 months out. Less seasoned WDW travelers seem to come in between 3 and 6 months.

My family members call me 2 days before a trip occurring during peak or holiday season.:brick::lol:

 

[Philo]

I'll normally aim to book about 11 months before a trip but start (seriously) planning a little before.

By "seriously", I mean I start working out a budget, the best time to go within a given period etc. I am, like most people here, ALWAYS kind of planning the next visit, even if it might not be for a couple of years.

 

[Disney_Belle]

I have done trips in which I planned from 16 months before we left, to trips in which we planned 12 days before we left. We are heading to POR for a week next month, DH and I decided this last Monday lol. We also have a trip lined up for November as well. For us, if we reallllly get the urge to go to WDW, and we have the means to do so, then we do, but normally I book 7 - 8 months before hand, however planning is another thing!

I think you can plan even before the package prices come out. Make a list of the times you want to visit, where you want to stay, where you want to eat. Factor in special events such as MNSSHP and MVMCP, As well as Food & Wine and Flower & Garden festivals (many people, I being one of them, plan around my favorite WDW events and holidays). Once you have that in order, when package prices come out, it will be much easier to figure out which direction you want to go in. Plus planning is so much fun - so I don't think its ever too early to plan... have fun with it!

 

[nepalostparks]

For a trip that you want to have well planned, I'd say you need to start planning at least 7 months out, because ADRs begin booking at 180 days out.

I usually start thinking about 10 to 12 months out, and start booking as it approaches the 6 month window. But I also love the planning process, so that's a part of it for me.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

We normally book flights about 11 months out as it tends to save money. Then it all falls into place from there.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

At least 6 months so you don't miss out on ADR's.

Preferably I start planning about 9-10 months away, because any earlier than that and I wouldn't have a clue what dates I'd have open to go. I start going through the boards & guide books to pick a new resort for each trip. I get park hours & fireworks schedules as soon as their available, and try to figure out which days I'd like to do each park. Then I would wait until my 180 days out, and make my ADR's accordingly.

Then I start counting down and visiting the boards frequently because I'm so excited

 

[Disney_Belle]

At least 6 months so you don't miss out on ADR's.

Preferably I start planning about 9-10 months away, because any earlier than that and I wouldn't have a clue what dates I'd have open to go. I start going through the boards & guide books to pick a new resort for each trip. I get park hours & fireworks schedules as soon as their available, and try to figure out which days I'd like to do each park. Then I would wait until my 180 days out, and make my ADR's accordingly.

Then I start counting down and visiting the boards frequently because I'm so excited

We'll be your neighbor at POR! April 26 - May 3! :wave:

 

[alanbrai]

The day i return home from WDW i start planning for my next trip

 

[Mikester71]

I usually start planning the day we get back, like others have said. Nothing really to plan though, as we always stay at Pop and go the same time (Spring Break) every second March. But you can never start planning too early I think. I usually start my little countdown when I know we are going for sure, just to make it seem more official. And we usually decide how long we are going to stay and what other non-Disney adventures we would like to do while down in Florida (last year we went to the Gulf Coast to explore, next year will be the Space Coast). A cool thing we did a few years ago that REALLY helps us out though is we went in to my wife's bank and had her Christmas Savings Account (from her work) switched over to become a WDW Vacation Account. Every two weeks, $120 automatically goes to this account. By the time we head down to Florida, we have the trip part all paid off well in advance and around $3000+ spending money for the 10+ days down there. Works out nicely and we hardly miss that money each pay.

Usually, the March before we are heading down, I will go in to our local CAA office here and sit down with my agent and have her make our room only reservations. That gives my brother and mother-in-law (who come with us each time) the year to pay on their portion of the trip. We usually put down around $500 or so and then wait until August, when the new prices come out, to pay off the rest. Whenever I see any new package discounts on here or in my email, I call her up and she switches over the reservation to apply them for us. We don't do the DDP, so have no need to make ADR's. So we sit back after this and count the days down!!! :sohappy:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Our last trip (Christmas 08) was booked as soon as the Virgin brochure came out. We had our Christmas Day fights booked AND our Disney Resorts booked in April 07 - 20 months in advance

Well, if you could save around $2,000 by booking that early, wouldn't you

 

[Susan Savia]

We made our reservations for January 2011 last week. In July we'll book a couple ADRs. We'll begin to plan 2012's trip sometime this fall. The planning is just part of the fun!!

 

[matt_taylor1985]

Our trip just there in March was booked in January so that was 2 months, but usually it's about 9-12 months.

 

[Disney_Belle]

The day i return home from WDW i start planning for my next trip

I start planning on the Magical Express ride back to MCO :animwink:

 

[DisGal]

We usually always book our next trip while we are still on vacation, which is around a year out since we always go in the fall. This year we booked our flights 9 months in advance - the deal was too good not to. We've never done that before.

 

[need2go2wdw]

I start planning before I have even gone on the upcoming trip that I have planned! I am pretty much always thinking about when I'm going to pick up the phone to make my next set of reservations, so I guess you could say I'm in a perpetual state of planning :lol:

I guess you could blame that on being a DVC member and having points to use annually, so I always have the ability to plan out when I want to use them, making it soooo easy to always think about and plan my upcoming trips!

 

[disneynut4u]

Start????? I never STOP!!!! :lol: I always have a Disney trip in the works. We used to go every other year, but since we bought into DVC, we're going every year. I always have a Disney trip journal for plans, etc. On every Disney trip, I buy up journals, calendars, etc., just for planning my trips!

 

[sbkline]

Okay, so you wanna go on a trip to disney world (as we all do!:lol how long is it before you leave that you start planning and booking things? A few months? A year? A few weeks? I don't mean a last minute trip either I mean a proper trip which has been planned out etc.

I'm asking because I'm going on a trip next year (solo as i'll be 18) so I was wondering when I should start planning things. I know I can't book yet as prices haven't been released etc.:sohappy:

You can book your resort as far as 18 months out, if I'm not mistaken. Rates for the following year just aren't locked in until around August or so, but you can reserve your room before that. For our upcoming trip in 3 weeks, I booked my room a year ago, even though 2010 room rates were not released and locked in until August.

So, having said that, I officially book my room a year out. Unofficially, the wheels in my mind are always churning as to when the next trip could be, where to stay, etc.

 

[EnchantedRose]

This up coming trip was booked as a very last minute thing...so we booked about 55 days before! Managed to get great deals including airfare...however our 2 last trips were booked at least 6 months in advance. But if you are waiting for rates/packages to come out for when you are going, start doing research...where do you want to stay? how many days? where do you want to eat? etc. Buy a few planning books...I just got PassPorters guide & I loved it. The great thing is that I can then have it as a scrapbook since it has pages for you to fill out about your trip. Planning is half the fun in my opinion. I love to browse Disney Sites. WDWMagic, allears.net...etc. It gives me lot's of ideas of what I want to do & things that i've never done before...or even knew about!

I hope you have fun planning you trip!!

 

[Master Gracey 5]

I plan months or years in advance for my trips. I've been working on getting down for SWW in May-June 2012 with my brother and a couple friends and a trip next January with my mom, brother and sister.

Booking the trip I tend to do as far out as possible. At least six months so we can make ADRs, and then I book flights as soon as they become available.

My last couple trips we booked 3 and 2 months out since outside factors kept us from making the commitment until then. We didn't get every ADR we wanted and made a few adjustments but had no problems otherwise.