When to book for early 2020?

ColdSun

ColdSun

Member
Hi everyone,

yes, I know 2019 has barely started (Happy new Year :D)...

Nevertheless we are planning a Florida/Universal/Disney trip in either late January, February or early March in 2020. And well, there are so many questions, so hopefully some of you can and want to help :). I'm not a total newbie, been twice to WDW before (2012 and 2018)

So, here we go:
- When do you think is the best time to book the Disney package? Is it better to book right when the dates are available for booking?
- what weeks would you recommend to go to WDW? In 2018 we were there in late March and of course it was so much fun but also very crowded due to Spring Break
- does anyone know a website that lists all Spring Break Dates nationawide or at least by state (without having to click on every single university/school)?
- What's your experiences with booking via a Disney Travel agency such as MickeyTravels or SmallWorldVacations? Is there an agency you can recommend? Usually I like to book everything myself but maybe using an agency would be beneficial for us (for example we need to book 2 rooms)?

Here are some info regarding our travel party:
- hopefully 3 adults (boyfriend, myself & hopefully my mom)
- 2 rooms
- aiming for Pop Century ( love the hotel + would love to experience the gondola system)
- about 11 or 12 nights with 10-Day Park-Hopper Tickets

Any general comments/recommendations/things I should take into account? I'm sure I'll come back with more specific questions once planning progresses but right now aiming for a more general overview.
I appreciate alkl the help, thank you so much.
 
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ColdSun

ColdSun

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the tip. We are from Germany. And I actually meant to type 10-day-Park Hopper-Tickets, 20 days would be a bit much ;)
 
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zeebs758

zeebs758

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
- When do you think is the best time to book the Disney package? Is it better to book right when the dates are available for booking?
I see you are from Germany so booking packages might be different than the US. But if you know when you want to go, book as soon as you can. If if discount or new package comes up, you can contact Disney to get that offer.

- what weeks would you recommend to go to WDW? In 2018 we were there in late March and of course it was so much fun but also very crowded due to Spring Break
I've been to WDW in the first week of March for the past two years and it's amazing! The crowds are minimal and the weather is perfect. The two weeks before is Presidents Day Weekend as well as a RunDisney weekend. Then after the first week of March starts Spring Break. I highly recommend that first week of March.

- does anyone know a website that lists all Spring Break Dates nationawide or at least by state (without having to click on every single university/school)?
It usually starts Mid-March and lasts through later April.

- What's your experiences with booking via a Disney Travel agency such as MickeyTravels or SmallWorldVacations? Is there an agency you can recommend? Usually I like to book everything myself but maybe using an agency would be beneficial for us (for example we need to book 2 rooms)?
I personal have never used one. In this case, it be worth working with a travel agent since you want to book far in advance. They can keep you updated on everything including discounts that Disney announces.

Good luck!
 
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RMichael21

RMichael21

Well-Known Member
ColdSun said:
- does anyone know a website that lists all Spring Break Dates nationawide or at least by state (without having to click on every single university/school)?
Click to expand...
As @mattchu758 said, Spring Break usually lasts between mid-March and late April. But, a quick note to add on, many Northeastern schools have an additional break mid-to-late February that sees an increase in crowds at the parks!
 
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ColdSun

ColdSun

Member
Original Poster
mattchu758 said:
- When do you think is the best time to book the Disney package? Is it better to book right when the dates are available for booking?
I see you are from Germany so booking packages might be different than the US. But if you know when you want to go, book as soon as you can. If if discount or new package comes up, you can contact Disney to get that offer.

- what weeks would you recommend to go to WDW? In 2018 we were there in late March and of course it was so much fun but also very crowded due to Spring Break
I've been to WDW in the first week of March for the past two years and it's amazing! The crowds are minimal and the weather is perfect. The two weeks before is Presidents Day Weekend as well as a RunDisney weekend. Then after the first week of March starts Spring Break. I highly recommend that first week of March.

- does anyone know a website that lists all Spring Break Dates nationwide or at least by state (without having to click on every single university/school)?
It usually starts Mid-March and lasts through later April.

- What's your experiences with booking via a Disney Travel agency such as MickeyTravels or SmallWorldVacations? Is there an agency you can recommend? Usually I like to book everything myself but maybe using an agency would be beneficial for us (for example we need to book 2 rooms)?
I personal have never used one. In this case, it be worth working with a travel agent since you want to book far in advance. They can keep you updated on everything including discounts that Disney announces.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you so much :jawdrop:. This is really helpful. Do you by change have any idea when one will be able to book for 2020? Right now it only goes up to December 31st of 2019...

RMichael21 said:
As @mattchu758 said, Spring Break usually lasts between mid-March and late April. But, a quick note to add on, many Northeastern schools have an additional break mid-to-late February that sees an increase in crowds at the parks!
Click to expand...

Thank you for that insight, will keep that in mind as well :).
 
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Kingdom Konsultant

Kingdom Konsultant

WDWMAGIC Board Sponsor
Premium Member
WDWMAGIC Sponsor
I'm the owner of Kingdom Konsultant Travel. We are the travel sponsor on WDWMagic. The packages for 2020 should be out roughly at the end of June/beginning of July 2019.

Pam
 
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Jewels0621

Jewels0621

New Member
ColdSun said:
Hi everyone,

yes, I know 2019 has barely started (Happy new Year :D)...

Nevertheless we are planning a Florida/Universal/Disney trip in either late January, February or early March in 2020. And well, there are so many questions, so hopefully some of you can and want to help :). I'm not a total newbie, been twice to WDW before (2012 and 2018)

So, here we go:
  • When do you think is the best time to book the Disney package? Is it better to book right when the dates are available for booking?
  • what weeks would you recommend to go to WDW? In 2018 we were there in late March and of course it was so much fun but also very crowded due to Spring Break
  • does anyone know a website that lists all Spring Break Dates nationawide or at least by state (without having to click on every single university/school)?
  • What's your experiences with booking via a Disney Travel agency such as MickeyTravels or SmallWorldVacations? Is there an agency you can recommend? Usually I like to book everything myself but maybe using an agency would be beneficial for us (for example we need to book 2 rooms)?

Here are some info regarding our travel party:
  • hopefully 3 adults (boyfriend, myself & hopefully my mom)
  • 2 rooms
  • aiming for Pop Century ( love the hotel + would love to experience the gondola system)
  • about 11 or 12 nights with 10-Day Park-Hopper Tickets

Any general comments/recommendations/things I should take into account? I'm sure I'll come back with more specific questions once planning progresses but right now aiming for a more general overview.
I appreciate alkl the help, thank you so much.
Click to expand...
I'm definitely watching this thread but we have already nailed our dates down to February 29-March 8.
 
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Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
My best advice is the advice I did not take: avoid President's Day week! As for spring break, check a few crowd calendars (yourfirstvisit, touringplans, undercovertourist) and you should be able to get a feel for when the crowds are expected to wax and wane.

(Unfortunately, we've reached the age where we can no longer take the kids out of school for vacations - they're just too busy - so we're forced to choose between their vacations over President's Day week and over Easter break. We know it's going to be crowded (more so at Easter, so we went with President's Day week) and that we'll have to employ every strategy we know to avoid long lines - happily, we've trained for this.) ;)
 
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ColdSun

ColdSun

Member
Original Poster
Yes, I've heard about President's Day week... Sadly this might indeed be exactly when our only possibility to travel might be.
What about Martin Luther King Day week? Is it as busy as President's Day week or is it a (slightly) better call?
 
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Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
ColdSun said:
Yes, I've heard about President's Day week... Sadly this might indeed be exactly when our only possibility to travel might be.
What about Martin Luther King Day week? Is it as busy as President's Day week or is it a (slightly) better call?
Click to expand...

(Oh, I just saw you're from Hamburg. Herzlich wilkommen! :))

MLK week would probably be a slightly better call in terms of crowd levels -- only because for most people, it's just a long weekend, so the crowds are likely to be huge Fri-Mon, but slightly quieter for the rest of the week. President's Day week, the crowds are heavy all week because so many schools in the northern U.S. (like ours, in New York State) give students that entire week off, and when you've been surrounded by snow and slush for 3-4 months, nothing sounds better than a week in Florida! In fact, so many people from my area travel to Disney World each year during February break that it's not uncommon to see multiple posts on social media that week about all the hometown folks everybody has happened to "run into" among the crowds of tens of thousands at WDW.

Still, a couple of ticks up or down (in terms of crowd levels) doesn't make a giant difference in your in-park experience, in part because Disney deliberately adjusts ride staffing and capacity to match crowd levels. The biggest "influencer" of your wait times will always be your ability to arrive early and have a smart touring plan in which you prioritize headliners (within the first 1-2 hours of park opening, or the last hour before closing), make good use of Fastpasses, etc. For me, that also includes avoiding the parks altogether during the most crowded times of day. (I say it's "so the kids can rest up," but honestly, it's as much for me as for them: I have some hearing/processing issues that make it difficult for me to function effectively when things get too noisy and crowded - after awhile, I need to get somewhere quiet so I can refocus.) We tour until lunchtime, go back to our hotel to swim and grab a nap, and don't go back to the parks until after 4pm, when the number of tired, sweaty, cranky families leaving the parks starts to outstrip the number of families entering.
 
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