2004 reservations

[kimba]

Can you plan a trip for May 2004 now?? Is there a benefit to planning that far in advance. We know we want to stay at a monorail hotel for the sake of the 3 kids and I need to get some discount rates to be able to stay there. Are the discounts going to be avail this far out?

[Belle4]

No way I can't even get rates yet for Jan 2003.

[SimplyAwesome]

There's really no point in planning so far in advance. Discounts are never available more than a year in advance, and for most discounts it's a matter of a few months in advance at best.

[drusba]

Reserving now gains nothing as you cannot even lock in today's rates. The one exception (which I assure you does not apply to any of us normal human beings who look for discounts) is for people who want the big suites (2 and 3 bedroom) at the GF. There are only a certain number of those and they are usually booked well in advance for paltry sums that begin somewhere around $1800 a night.

You seldom see any discounts being offered more than 6 months out and most pop up 2 to 4 months out. Moreover, if you are going to go the discount route just prepared to be flexible as you might hit a time when there are none at monorail resorts but plenty elsewhere. One thing to consider if you are set on a monorail resort is to make a regular reservation maybe 10 months out (a year if a holiday time) to assure you have one and then switch if a discount becomes avaialble.

[Rock'n Robin]

While you can't get any discount rates now, there are things you CAN do. You can get the free vacation planning video at Disney.com. You can go to the library and get a Birnbaum's guide or any other Disney guide. They will help you choose a resort. And most importantly, start saving change, garage sale money, etc. for your trip! And have fun planning!
But beware...when I started looking at Disney I had "a couple of years" in the back of my mind...but it was only 5 months, and now we are DVC members!
Robin M.

[suevee]

If you are going to do Park Hopper passes you could buy them now at today's prices. They are good forever. That would be one major expense out of the way. Of course you would have to be very certain you are going.