Help Me With Potential Last Min Christmas Trip

[RuthLS]

My husband always does this. At the last min he says, "let's plan a holiday trip." And it's always too late to plan anything, airfare is out of control, and we don't do it.

So just yesterday, ironically the last day to sign up for free dining, my husband says "what about dis world this Christmas?"

Now I LOVE dis and would go every year if we could. He's not as enthusiastic and is already regretting he mentioned it.

I haven't planned a dis trip in a while and we've never done Christmas so I am in need of some serious help.

The boys are in K and 1st grade so we were thinking the week between Christmas and New Years so we don't have to pull them from school.

However, the week before starting the 16th-airfare is cheaper. (We live in MA). So we are potentially thinking that week and coming home the 23rd or the 24th to celebrate Christmas here. (His idea) I would love to arrive in FL around Christmas as a present to the boys.

I've looked at the Dec 2009 codes thread and the Christmas thread for some ideas-but just see a whole lot of-we're going these dates-types of posts.

So here are my questions....

1. Which week would you go, is best, etc. Christmas week or the week before?

2. Is it possible more codes will come out for those periods?

I saw on the Dis site there are room discounts for the week before Christmas if we book I think through end of Oct. Can I expect to see anything else?

I'm feeling a bit behind and a rush of if we do this we need to start planning asap. Is it crazy to plan a Christmas trip this late?

edited to add: I got a dis postcard with a pin for I don't know what a month ago and threw it away because I didn't think we were going anytime soon. Any chance it's attached to my name?

[NeverBeen2DW]

The pin would still be attached to your name just call and tell them you received a pin in the mail and misplaced the post card.

I would not go Christmas week. That is be busiest week ever. They close the parks early. My 7yr old and I are going the 15th to the 20th. I am pulling him out of school early.

It is not to late to get a deal. I called for the free dining yesterday and priced it out. It was actually cheaper to book with the room only code and then add dining. It worked out to be $108 dollars cheaper than the free dining code. People get all excited about these discounts but you have to compare them apples to apples so to speak. The free dining is not always the cheapest route. If the 4/3 comes out I plan to compare that to my current rates. Because my last days are the more expensive days of my trip because I will be there for peak season on the 18th and 19th. I would also add one more day to make it a 7 day vacation rather then a 6 day one since it would be free. (the additional day). Good luck!

[wishing4PA]

Originally Posted by RuthLS

The boys are in K and 1st grade so we were thinking the week between Christmas and New Years so we don't have to pull them from school.

However, the week before starting the 16th-airfare is cheaper. (We live in MA). So we are potentially thinking that week and coming home the 23rd or the 24th to celebrate Christmas here. (His idea) I would love to arrive in FL around Christmas as a present to the boys.

Unrelated to Disney's specials, crowding, etc., but on a personal note, I know my DD would rather go the week before, and spend the week after Christmas at home with her new toys.
Besides, then you can pick up a few nice mouse-y gifts if you haven't completed your shopping and have any other mouse fans on your gift list.

[Bete]

More details on Mousesavers but the jest of this deal is

For values: Buy 5 nights of room and tickets and you get 2 more days added free for both.

For resorts above value the deal is buy 4, get 3 free.

Dec. 24 thru Jan.2 is excluded.

Nov.1 thru Dec. 23 and Jan.3 thru March 27.

Visa Disney card holders get to book now and the general public can start Thursday.

This is going to be it for the deals through the year.

You may be able to check in on Dec.23 for this deal to count; check with your agent.

[clanmcculloch]

Phone and find out if your pin is still valid. You may get a helpful CM who will look it up let you use it.

If crowds are in any way an issue for you then I'd go the week before Christmas. The crowds get so bad, especially on Christmas Day, that Disney every year has to close some of the parks to new entries (last year I think MK was as early as maybe 10am). We'll be there over Christmas but for Christmas Day we're not even going to a park; I've scheduled it as a quiet resort day.

Will it feel like Christmas if you're not at home? Does your family go to church on either Christmas Eve or Day? Do you have any kind of family traditions with extended family? All of this should be taken into consideration when making your decision about dates.

You can call and find out if you can use the new 4/7 deal starting on 12/24. I'm not sure if your entire trip has to fall in the valid dates or if just the first day of your trip has to be in those dates. No harm in calling.

The only other discount I know of past 12/24 is through Magical Vacations. They offer huge discounts on select rooms at select resorts. Take a look at their website for more info. Note that you can not even buy a dining plan if you book this type of deal.

The existing room deals do cover all dates up to 12/24, subject to availability, though I'd price the trip using the existing deals as well as the new 4/7 for the week before Christmas.

Don't expect anything else at this point. I'm shocked that the new 4/7 deal covers November and December of this year. They've already offered several great deals for this time of year so it seems really unusual to offer yet another discount. The chances of anything else beyond these at this point in time are pretty much slim to nil.

[marcielm]

While the 4/3 or 5/2 deal is out there, this is still the room-only discount offer that goes up until 12/24. I would recommend going the week before, even if the crowds a busy, at least you got a discount on it.

Feel free to PM me if you want any additional information!

[RuthLS]

Thank you so much for the responses and the information.

I was hoping another deal might come out, but was not sure as others seemed to think that might be it.

I think I'll give them a call to see what deals we can get/what the best prices are.

And I think we will go the week before Christmas. Nothing preventing us from going the week of-except the crowds etc. I was more concerned about pulling the kids from school and how that is perceived. But they are only 5 and 6-not like they will be missing a whole lot.

Thanks again!

[NeverBeen2DW]

I called today as I am a disney card holder and opted not to take the 4/3 deal. It increased my package by almost $600 dollars. Now mind you I am currently paying for 5 nights with the room only discount. After booking that and with out even hanging up the phone I added dining and received a lower package deal then the free dining package. The room only discount rate seems to be the best way to go. The reason why my package went up was because you pay for the higher priced hotel days. If I rebook I would of been there from Dec 15 to the 22. Right now my ressie is for Dec 15 to the 20. I have value season up until the 17th and peak season on the 18, 19th. With the buy 4/3 deal I would of had to pay Peak season for the 4 days and I get the value season 3 days free. You pay for the higher priced days. But I will say this. I did do this last year the buy 4/3 deal and I bought the basic park passes. When I went there I up graded to a 10 day non expiring passes and that made it an incredible deal.

[RuthLS]

Okay, now I'm in code/pin overload!

I called today and had a free dining pin and some other room only pin attached to my name. I am assuming the room only was around a 40% off pin as the room rate was low-but since our dates go over 2 periods it's hard for me to tell. (Math is not my best subject)

So here is a break down I think....

Dates 12/16/09 to 12/23/09-7 nights 8 days-2 ad and 2 kids
Stand. CBR room w/ room pin attached to my name $897 ($2046 after prk hop tickets added in at reg price, $2760 with meal plan) FSC code-fall savings code for room only came to $969.

7 for 4 deal CBR room w/park hopper tickets $1939. ($2653. w/ meal plan)

CBR, prk hopper, free dining plan pin $2625.

I'm inclined to go with room only as I hate doing packages from a changing and cancellation point of view. Also, I'm hoping to potentially get tickets from a friend for a discount (don't ask) but it's not def.

If I'm correct, the meal plan for 2 adults and 2 kids is about $100/day which seems like a steal. I think we would def do some TS and could I guess do one each day. But I'm also wondering if we didn't do the meal plan if we'd be within the $100 each day anyways...know what I mean?

All these numbers just drive me crazy trying to figure out what is best.

That being said, some other ?? I have are:

Do I want prefer. room at CBR or is a standard okay? I guess the prefer rooms are closer to the pool, dining, etc.

And now I can't remember the other ?? I had...

Anyone care to help me think this all through?

TIA!

[marcielm]

Originally Posted by RuthLS

Okay, now I'm in code/pin overload!

I called today and had a free dining pin and some other room only pin attached to my name. I am assuming the room only was around a 40% off pin as the room rate was low-but since our dates go over 2 periods it's hard for me to tell. (Math is not my best subject)

So here is a break down I think....

Dates 12/16/09 to 12/23/09-7 nights 8 days-2 ad and 2 kids
Stand. CBR room w/ room pin attached to my name $897 ($2046 after prk hop tickets added in at reg price, $2760 with meal plan) FSC code-fall savings code for room only came to $969.

7 for 4 deal CBR room w/park hopper tickets $1939. ($2653. w/ meal plan)

CBR, prk hopper, free dining plan pin $2625.

I'm inclined to go with room only as I hate doing packages from a changing and cancellation point of view. Also, I'm hoping to potentially get tickets from a friend for a discount (don't ask) but it's not def.

If I'm correct, the meal plan for 2 adults and 2 kids is about $100/day which seems like a steal. I think we would def do some TS and could I guess do one each day. But I'm also wondering if we didn't do the meal plan if we'd be within the $100 each day anyways...know what I mean?

All these numbers just drive me crazy trying to figure out what is best.

That being said, some other ?? I have are:

Do I want prefer. room at CBR or is a standard okay? I guess the prefer rooms are closer to the pool, dining, etc.

And now I can't remember the other ?? I had...

Anyone care to help me think this all through?

TIA!

I may be late in my recommendations... did you already book something?

If it were me, I think I'd go with the 4/3 deal, doing the dining plan. 1 TS meal is going to be $100 easy for a family of 4. At least on the plan you can also get your QS and snacks. Plus, I like that the trip is paid in full, and there is very little extra cash needed for the trip. Even if you are able to get discounted tickets (like through Undercover Tourist) they will only save you a couple of bucks. A 7-day park hopper from UC is $12 cheaper than the gate price, so a $3 savings per person compared to the 4/3.

If you didn't want to do a TS each day, you could do some 2TS meals... like Hoop Dee Doo review or the Poly's Luau show. Not to mention the Candlelight processional is a 2 TS credit this year, if you chose to do it one night.

[RuthLS]

Thank you for the response!

I actually booked room only for now for the flexibility. I ran all the numbers for us and it made the most sense.

The pin I had attached to my name got us 7 nights 12/16-12/23 for $897 at CBR-standard room. I thought that was pretty good considering the time of year.

If it was just DH and I, I would LOVE to do the dining. But with kids ages 5 and 6 and the time of year (super busy) I can't see doing so much TS or feeling like we HAD to be limited by a meal plan.

Anyways-thanks for your thoughts and opinions though!