2022 Trip Planning Thread

[mshanson3121]

I'd love to plan a trip for 2022 but am hesitant to book March break (cost & how busy it will be in Orlando) so wondering those of you with kids in high school, do you ever pull them out for a week for a trip? My kiddos are starting high school (gr 9) and I'm wondering what do people do? Seems like missing a week in hs is a pretty big deal.

We homeschool, so...not a big deal here, lol. But honestly, even in grade 9 I wouldn't hesitate to pull my kid out for a week, as long as it wasn't close to exam time (I wouldn't go within a month of exams).

 

[shawthorne44]

removed by me

 

[BlancheNeige7]

I'd love to plan a trip for 2022 but am hesitant to book March break (cost & how busy it will be in Orlando) so wondering those of you with kids in high school, do you ever pull them out for a week for a trip? My kiddos are starting high school (gr 9) and I'm wondering what do people do? Seems like missing a week in hs is a pretty big deal.

I teach high school and often have kids leaving on 1-2 week holidays. Simply touch base with the teacher a week before departure to come up with a carch-up plan. Depending on the situation, I either assign essential work to not fall behind before or after the vacation.

Honestly would not be too concerned about one week in grade 9.

 

[Hopeful8]

We homeschool, so...not a big deal here, lol. But honestly, even in grade 9 I wouldn't hesitate to pull my kid out for a week, as long as it wasn't close to exam time (I wouldn't go within a month of exams).

I teach high school and often have kids leaving on 1-2 week holidays. Simply touch base with the teacher a week before departure to come up with a carch-up plan. Depending on the situation, I either assign essential work to jot fall behind before or after the vacation.

Honestly would not be too concerned about one week in grade 9.

Really? You guys are giving me hope! Yay!

 

[Raye3201]

For fun, because man, I'm really hoping I'm not the only one obsessing ahem... thinking about their next trip. So, for those who aren't returning till 2022, when are you going and what are you planning?

Haha we r obsessing I mean planning also. Beach Club Villas for May 2022. 285 days. Flights are booked already and park tickets and passes done also. I can’t wait. We miss travelling so much

 

[pigletto]

I'd love to plan a trip for 2022 but am hesitant to book March break (cost & how busy it will be in Orlando) so wondering those of you with kids in high school, do you ever pull them out for a week for a trip? My kiddos are starting high school (gr 9) and I'm wondering what do people do? Seems like missing a week in hs is a pretty big deal.

For me it depends on the student and where they are in the curriculum . I’m all for it in general. My daughter really struggled with math though and missing a week even with make up work would have been a bit of a disaster. My son would have no problem but if it was near exams he wouldn’t want to because he wants to study and be there for all the work. So for me it just depends on the student and their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[troll181]

I think for our April trip, we are going to book a flight with a layover. Option 1 is a layover in Toronto but we would get to Orlando around 12:30pm.
Option 2 is a direct flight, but would only get to Orlando around 8:30pm. Basically would have to grab the rental car, drive in the dark to condo, and go to bed. I wish the 12:30pm arrival was direct! We aren’t booking yet so maybe they will switch their flight options anyway.

Where are you flying from?

 

[ElCray]

I'm so excited to share that we've taken some steps toward our Year of Disney and Universal Studios. We've been saving up points and miles to cover as much as we can.

Last night I was walking with my daughter and I asked her about her dream birthday. She loves Harry Potter and said she would be so excited to have a Harry Potter colouring book and a Butterbeer cake.

Her birthday falls during March Break, so of course that got me thinking... of a surprise trip to Universal for March Break 2022.

I went on Airmiles and managed to find two, round-trip DIRECT Westjet flights for my family of 4 at the lowest redemption rate for high season. We'll be heading down on Saturday and coming home on Friday.

Now onto my exciting Air Miles redemption
...

Because I am a BMO Air Miles World Elite credit card holder, I got 15% off the posted Air Miles rate.

Then because I have the Amex Air Miles Platinum card I'll get the travel benefit of 750 Air Miles returned to me. Then, because of the holdover of the 2020 travel benefit til September 30th, I'll get ANOTHER 750 Air Miles back. I did this by making 2 round-trip bookings on the flights - one for my daughter and me, and the other for my husband and son.

The full fee was $2,250 on the Westjet website, and I got the flights for $600 in fees and 10,400 Air Miles, net.

Obviously all the uncertainty about covid applies, but I am feeling pretty excited over here!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

The announcement of quadmesters again for high school students really puts a damper on us making plans. Dds post secondary break and ds' high school won't line up and can't really pull him out because it's like he's missing double. Ugh my plan of one last trip together, just the 4 of us is slowly slipping away. Unless we go during the most expensive and crowded time on Christmas break which I'd prefer not to do.

 

[pigletto]

I'm so excited to share that we've taken some steps toward our Year of Disney and Universal Studios. We've been saving up points and miles to cover as much as we can.

Last night I was walking with my daughter and I asked her about her dream birthday. She loves Harry Potter and said she would be so excited to have a Harry Potter colouring book and a Butterbeer cake.

Her birthday falls during March Break, so of course that got me thinking... of a surprise trip to Universal for March Break 2022.

I went on Airmiles and managed to find two, round-trip DIRECT Westjet flights for my family of 4 at the lowest redemption rate for high season. We'll be heading down on Saturday and coming home on Friday.

Now onto my exciting Air Miles redemption
...

Because I am a BMO Air Miles World Elite credit card holder, I got 15% off the posted Air Miles rate.

Then because I have the Amex Air Miles Platinum card I'll get the travel benefit of 750 Air Miles returned to me. Then, because of the holdover of the 2020 travel benefit til September 30th, I'll get ANOTHER 750 Air Miles back. I did this by making 2 round-trip bookings on the flights - one for my daughter and me, and the other for my husband and son.

The full fee was $2,250 on the Westjet website, and I got the flights for $600 in fees and 10,400 Air Miles, net.

Obviously all the uncertainty about covid applies, but I am feeling pretty excited over here!

Both my children have birthdays within a few days of each other . Both are also on what is usually March Break too ! We did a Universal trip for their birthdays one year and our first day was my then 10 year old sons actual birthday. We went to Olivanders and he was chosen for the special part in the show on his actual birthday . It was amazing . This was 7 years ago but your post brought it all back . It was an amazing birthday trip and I think you guys will have a wonderful time!

 

[PixieT78]

Just cancelled my 2021 plan so now to focus on 2022 and try to get motivated and excited about it. First one is planned for May, second for September. May will be US only most likely and September will be 2.5 weeks of both Disney and Universal with a park break to enjoy AKL for a couple of nights as well.

 

[archdandy]

Does anyone else on here use touring plans to plan out their park days? I've used them in the past but I'm not sure they would be helpful this year, the data they use must be all over the place. I don't think their algorithms account for COVID. Should I give them a go again or is just a waste of money? I know there is another site out there that does similar things with crowd levels. Has anyone used them before? Were they accurate?

 

[2Lunds]

Does anyone else on here use touring plans to plan out their park days? I've used them in the past but I'm not sure they would be helpful this year, the data they use must be all over the place. I don't think their algorithms account for COVID. Should I give them a go again or is just a waste of money? I know there is another site out there that does similar things with crowd levels. Has anyone used them before? Were they accurate?

Lots of "here now and just back" posts saying TP Lines app was quite accurate for them. They use crowd-sourcing as well as their algorithm, so they have ppl in-park updating daily (from what I understand )

 

[bababear_50]

Does anyone else on here use touring plans to plan out their park days? I've used them in the past but I'm not sure they would be helpful this year, the data they use must be all over the place. I don't think their algorithms account for COVID. Should I give them a go again or is just a waste of money? I know there is another site out there that does similar things with crowd levels. Has anyone used them before? Were they accurate?

I was thinking about this the other day.
My son & daughter in law asked me. They are thinking Feb 2022.
So I think many things that the touring plans cant take into consideration right now are
: pent up crowd levels
:time allowance for CM to clean & disinfect
:available staff (CMs)
:entertainment to spread the crowds out (shows, parades, fireworks, etc.)
:FP+ availability
:re-opening of restaurants
: Spa/salon offering re opening
: Tour availability
: Special after hours activity

Covid 19 levels & vaccination rates in Orlando.

I hate to say this but I told them guys I think you are going to be flying by the seat of your *Magic Carpet* pants.


Best wishes in your planning
Hugs
Mel

 

[Donald - my hero]

Does anyone else on here use touring plans to plan out their park days? I've used them in the past but I'm not sure they would be helpful this year, the data they use must be all over the place. I don't think their algorithms account for COVID. Should I give them a go again or is just a waste of money? I know there is another site out there that does similar things with crowd levels. Has anyone used them before? Were they accurate?

I used them for a trip that our adult children and their Disney-virgin spouses joined us for and I've never looked back! It was like herding kittens and the ability to see real time wait times coupled with the feature to search for specific foods/ snacks based on where we were standing was invaluable. It also gave our highly distracted son something to do in the stand-by lines he chose to use, time our waiting and then submit them to the system.

we didn't ever use any of their canned plans or create our own just really liked the boots on ground features. The next trip was just us and we used it to decide which park to hop to after we'd used our fastpasses based on crowd levels. We also used the room request feature and I think for the trip with the kids we had every one met if not by the exact room then one directly beside it and last year all 4 I submitted got us the exact rooms (had several different reservations) i think the value was more than worth the cost

 

[archdandy]

Lots of "here now and just back" posts saying TP Lines app was quite accurate for them. They use crowd-sourcing as well as their algorithm, so they have ppl in-park updating daily (from what I understand )

Thanks! I think I'm going to give them another try, it can't hurt right??

I was thinking about this the other day.
My son & daughter in law asked me. They are thinking Feb 2022.
So I think many things that the touring plans cant take into consideration right now are
: pent up crowd levels
:time allowance for CM to clean & disinfect
:available staff (CMs)
:entertainment to spread the crowds out (shows, parades, fireworks, etc.)
:FP+ availability
:re-opening of restaurants
: Spa/salon offering re opening
: Tour availability
: Special after hours activity

Covid 19 levels & vaccination rates in Orlando.

I hate to say this but I told them guys I think you are going to be flying by the seat of your *Magic Carpet* pants.
View attachment 595382

Best wishes in your planning
Hugs
Mel

I guess it doesn't hurt to try and use them for park suggestions. It's a very minimal cost and I do like some of the other features. But if we end up flying by our magic carpet pants, then so be it!

I used them for a trip that our adult children and their Disney-virgin spouses joined us for and I've never looked back! It was like herding kittens and the ability to see real time wait times coupled with the feature to search for specific foods/ snacks based on where we were standing was invaluable. It also gave our highly distracted son something to do in the stand-by lines he chose to use, time our waiting and then submit them to the system.

we didn't ever use any of their canned plans or create our own just really liked the boots on ground features. The next trip was just us and we used it to decide which park to hop to after we'd used our fastpasses based on crowd levels. We also used the room request feature and I think for the trip with the kids we had every one met if not by the exact room then one directly beside it and last year all 4 I submitted got us the exact rooms (had several different reservations) i think the value was more than worth the cost

I have used them in the past. I'm more worried about their predictions for which park is the best on which day. But you're right the menus and in park wait times make it worth it!

 

[pigletto]

Thanks! I think I'm going to give them another try, it can't hurt right??


I guess it doesn't hurt to try and use them for park suggestions. It's a very minimal cost and I do like some of the other features. But if we end up flying by our magic carpet pants, then so be it!



I have used them in the past. I'm more worried about their predictions for which park is the best on which day. But you're right the menus and in park wait times make it worth it!

And the resort room view finder isn’t a must have but it’s a really fun feature. I love playing around with it from home .

 

[CanucksRock]

Does anyone else on here use touring plans to plan out their park days?

I used for my trips in 2020. I’m not so good at following the plan, but I definitely use it to find the “actual” wait and it was usually pretty accurate.

I had a cousin today say, I hear your the one to talk to about going to WDW Turns out he and his GF want to go and they wanted to know the “best time”. Once I mentioned I was going with my Mom in Jan 2022, he asked if they could tag along. So, he’s booking the same dates so they can have a guide to Disney. I have been a number of times with different family members so I’m used to being the guide.

 

[Mickeynickynaka]

For fun, because man, I'm really hoping I'm not the only one obsessing ahem... thinking about their next trip. So, for those who aren't returning till 2022, when are you going and what are you planning?

I’m really torn between a cruise and DL. Anyone have any input?
My kids will be 4 and 6

 

[Dznefn]

We've done the Disney Vancouver-Pacific Coast relocating cruise in the past and really enjoyed it. The benefit is the relocating cruise is a bit shorter, and Disneyland is pretty much right there so you could do both.