We are staying on resort in Oct. Right now there's no deals on stays during that time and the flights are not able to be reserved that far out. I want to make sure we get the resort we want for the dates we want but seems a little backwards to me to book that before flights. Thoughts?
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When to book flights & hotel
- Thread starter MRoth11
- Start date
It will depend on when you are going and where you want to stay.
If you want something hard to get like a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation or Club level theme park view at the Contemporary and/or you are traveling during peak or holiday season then you will want to book a room as far in advance as possible (499 days)
If your resort is not critical and/or you are not traveling during peak or holiday seasons you can wait a little, but you do not want to wait past about 181 days.
Dining reservations open up at 180 days and a room reservation at a Disney resort will allow you to book dining for your entire trip (up to 10 days) at that 180 day mark. This is absolutely essential for getting into restaurants like Be Our Guest and Ohana regardless of the time of year you are traveling.
If you want something hard to get like a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation or Club level theme park view at the Contemporary and/or you are traveling during peak or holiday season then you will want to book a room as far in advance as possible (499 days)
If your resort is not critical and/or you are not traveling during peak or holiday seasons you can wait a little, but you do not want to wait past about 181 days.
Dining reservations open up at 180 days and a room reservation at a Disney resort will allow you to book dining for your entire trip (up to 10 days) at that 180 day mark. This is absolutely essential for getting into restaurants like Be Our Guest and Ohana regardless of the time of year you are traveling.
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Figgy1
Well-Known Member
^^^^This is quite correct! Always listen to @Master Yoda when it comes to things like this. If you make room only now you can change it if a better deal comes out.
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Awesome points thank you! We are looking at a moderate resort in oct with just the standard room. It's my understanding that if they run specials I can call and a CM will adjust my balance for the special if rooms are still available at that rate? So there's little downside to booking hotel early, right?
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Correct on both accounts.
Your other option is to book through travel agent that specializes in Disney Vacations and let them do all of the re-booking, dining reservations, etc.
Kingdom Konsultants is the travel sponsor of this board and I have been using them for years. They don't charge for their services and they take all of the hassle out of booking, searching for promotions, re-booking, dining reservations, etc. All you have to do is give them a little info and they can do everything else.
@Kingdom Konsultant
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I do not think it is up yet, but the 2015 guide should be pretty close to what 2016 will be aside from a handful of new restaurants opening in the coming months.
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jackson2005
Active Member
We got a good deal on our flight last year and booked it first. Problem, when deals came out we were stuck with those days. And couldn't change our days around to get free dining! So I would book your room, you can change it if you need to. And book your flight later.
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Thank you. Yes, I'll be booking room soon. Can some explain why I don't want to add dining plan now also? Is there an advantage to waiting until closer to adr 180 time frame to add dining? I understand the trick of booking all ADRs for entire stay at 180 day mark.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Figgy1
Well-Known Member
Because you may wind up spending more on the DDP than paying out of pocket depending on where and what you want to eat. If you choose less expensive places or know you're going to choose less expensive dishes and not get dessert every meal it winds up being cheaper not getting a plan
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I've been thinking about this. I know that they don't charge. One question, do they have access to special deals general public doesn't or is the advantage that they have the time/commitment to searching for these?
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No. No one does.
They do however know every promotion that is available. They also have a pretty good idea when they will come out so they can bang the phones the second a deal drops. Promotions are often very limited and a few hours can be the difference between you getting and not getting a promotion.
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Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
There is a potential downside to booking your resort early, but it's virtually negligible. If the resort you book actually books out, it won't be included in discount offers that come out later. It's highly unlikely that that would happen, but it's technically possible.
2016 DDP Brochure:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...alog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2016Dining.pdf
2016 DDP Brochure:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...alog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2016Dining.pdf
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prfctlyximprct
Well-Known Member
Say HYPOTHETICALLY one wanted to book a WDW trip for this September... when would one book? Should they suck it up and just do it now, or should they wait until March around the 180 day mark?
Thoughts?!
Thoughts?!
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JourneysEnd
Well-Known Member
I got my best price at POFQ by booking 10 months out. Airlines I got my best price with Southwest booking the morning the flight schedule was released for the days I wanted to fly.
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