Best time to book hotel?

[Boardwalk_bride]

We are now firm on a September/October 2023 trip, YAY! We wanted to go in 2021, which turned into 2022, ugh. Anyway, how far in advance do I book an offsite hotel to get a good deal? I'm in Canada, so I'm also watching the exchange to decide if I should pay up front or wait.

Any advice on best times within Sept/Oct would be great. We haven't done Disney for Halloween, so I want to ensure all the Halloween decorations are up. We are currently looking at the last week of October, as our daughter has a PD day that week, but are flexible. She starts school first week of September, so we want her to have at least a couple weeks in class before we pull her out for a week, especially as she will be moving from kindergarten to gr.1.

TIA!

 

[sophy1996]

Book when you’re comfortable with the price. Usually the earlier the better. That is a very busy time of year and prices stay high as you get closer. If you book a cancellable rate, you could rebook if you find a better deal.

September will probably be slightly less crowded than October. Halloweentime started on Sept 2 this year.

If you’re interested in Oogie Boogie Bash, buy tix as soon as they go on sale. All dates sold out within days of the on-sale date this year.

 

[starlite_]

October is madness, if you can go in September do Sept. That's my plan next year too .

 

[ParkHopper1]

Book as soon as you have dates. If you book direct with the hotel vs a third party site virtually every property has a cancellation policy that would allow your to rebook should the price drop

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

Agree with Parkhopper1 book as soon as you have the dates firmed up. We are Canadian and are going in May/23. We just booked our hotel now and wished we would have done it sooner. Just make sure the booking can be cancelled if something better comes along or plans change. I would also say book your flights sooner rather then later as well.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

October is madness, if you can go in September do Sept. That's my plan next year too .

Oh really? I looked at the crowd calendar and I thought it would be okay. But I know, from my WDW experience, they can be wrong.

We could also go late August. I just worry about the heat - even though it’s usually unbearable here at that time, too.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Agree with Parkhopper1 book as soon as you have the dates firmed up. We are Canadian and are going in May 23. We just booked our hotel now and wished we would have done it sooner. Just make sure the booking can be cancelled if something better comes along or plans change. I would also say book your flights sooner rather then later as well.

We wanted to go in May but it seemed like all the hotels were booked up! That said, we are picky and want one with at least one bedroom and a kitchenette. We also need to get out passports renewed and I wasn’t sure how long it would take - guess I should look into that now!

 

[Blue32]

Oh really? I looked at the crowd calendar and I thought it would be okay. But I know, from my WDW experience, they can be wrong.

We could also go late August. I just worry about the heat - even though it’s usually unbearable here at that time, too.

Trust the locals that post here. Crowd Calanders are wrong. Avoid October if possible.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Trust the locals that post here. Crowd Calanders are wrong. Avoid October if possible.

okay, thank you. I’d rather go when crowds are lower - going west is much harder and expensive for us vs going to WDW (flying from Toronto or Buffalo).

 

[gelatoni fan]

Book a refundable rate as soon as you have a good idea of your dates and then cancel and rebook whenever the price drops. I find that the best rates are usually about a month out for non-busy times and about 3 months out for busier times unless there is a conference but most people are not comfortable waiting till then for an international trip. I sometimes book as little as 2 days before the start of my stay.

Avoid October, especially the later part of the month. For September, you ideally want to avoid the first weekend of Halloween.