Originally Posted By gaydsnywitch OK, I'm going to do my best to make my first summer LP meet this July. I was just wondering, when do most people start checking out hotel and airline prices for July?
Originally Posted By wendebird Speaking of planning. I had a friend tell me 3 weeks before Christmas that he was thinking of taking his family to Disneyland. For Christmas! lol Obviously they've never been before & had no idea how busy it would be or that they needed to start planning about 6 months ago. I gave him the best advice I could. Without being a downer to him. I would advise you to start planning now though for July.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP well, I think how long it takes to plan a trip like that is a function of how far away you are. ElderP and I take about 15 minutes total to plan a trip and it's always within a week: "Looks like we have this Monday evening free, would you like to head down to the park?" "Sure, sounds like a plan." There, done
Originally Posted By wendebird True MrsElderP. The friend I was referring to was a family of 5 who lives 600 miles away taking a once in a lifetime first ever trip to Disneyland.
Originally Posted By AJTW I am local and I plan 6 months ahead. Reservations at the resort at 4-6 months, appointments and dining at 60 days, and tours/premier seating at 30 days. If it is their first time, my biggest suggestion is not to plan too much. It's too stressful. The most important planning is accomodations and air. Oh, and Character breakfasts. On most busy days, same day reservations are nearly impossible.
Originally Posted By Elderp I disagree, I start scheming (um, I mean planning!!) for my next trip as soon as I hit the exit gate. Although, making reservations more than 6 months ahead is a bit much in my opinion.
Originally Posted By AJTW 6 months is a bit much unless you are talking about DLH. You never know when there is a convention or something going on where they blocked out tons of rooms. I know if I book way ahead it will bypass any possibility of being booked. This is my goal in making reservations. If I don't care where I stay, 3-5 days notice is enough.
Originally Posted By tooele13 I think part of the fun of going to disneyland (especially if you need to travel a distance to get there) is planning. So I say the earlier the better. We started planning our Oct2005 trip in Nov-Dec 2004. That's when we did the leg work of checking airfares, hotel rates, etc. We booked airfare, car rental, and GCH in early Feb 2005. A month later my sister booked her family and airfare rose abouit $100 a ticket and the rental car jumped about $100 too. We're currently planning a trip in April and have all the hotels booked already. We're driving this time around so no need for airfare or car rentals. But I'm alreading thinking about what PS's need to be made for what days. We're planning another trip in Oct with extended family and I'm already checking hotels for those dates as well. We live in WA state. I just get so excited about planning the next trip. Luckily my husband is willing to indulge me in these vacations.
Originally Posted By LilliBelle >>Although, making reservations more than 6 months ahead is a bit much in my opinion.<< I disagree. I booked our hotel rooms the week after we returned from the Big Meet in July. I knew where I wanted to stay and I wanted a good price. I now have 4 nights at the Carousel Inn at 69.00 a night. So when we attend the Meet in July 2006, we will have had our reservations for 51 weeks. My advice is to start planning now and make your reservations. Hotel rooms will only go up in price before July.
Originally Posted By ploeb909 I always book as soon as the hotel lets me! I once booked my stay for July of 03, while sitting at the hotel pool in July of 02.Whe I arrived in 03 I had everything I wanted and then some! Please tell me we are getting close to summer!!!
Originally Posted By 5formickey I called Friday for a late May, early June trip. Vacation planning is still working on the details for me but some things are already starting to book up.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg if you are able to book ahead ... the earlier the better. We booked hotel and bought our park tickets and took care of reservations as early as we could. This got us some good deals as well as letting us pay for it in advance. When we actually got to the park we already had that part of the vacation paid off and the only thing we needed to pay for was food. It freed up a lot of 'playtime' money for us and took off the finantial edge so we could have worry free fun. So that said I would start planning as soon as you can. Have a great Trip.
Originally Posted By kmbear If you are needing flights, I would recommend ASAP. I booked our trip to DL 6 months before and got tickets for $99.00/pp from Washington. Now I am seeing them closer to $ 300/pp for the same flight.
Originally Posted By ploeb909 Mickeymeg, I thought I was the only "wacko" that paid for vacation wayyyyy..early. My inlaws think that its weird that I do this, but as you know Disney fun can add up! Have a blast! Where are you staying?
Originally Posted By hammertime We are going the end of June 2006 and we already have our hotel Reservations. We're driving down and will be buying our Park passes thru AAA so for the most part were set! I just checked the hotel were staying at and prices have already gone up from when we book about 3 weeks ago.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg plobe909, the trip I was talking about in the last post was this past summer. And we did have a blast, Thanks. Paying for the trip as much as we could in advance was probably the best thing we could have done for ease of mind and maximum fun time while there.
