Booking for September

[Alex2kMommy]

I have several questions regarding booking a trip for the late September - early October timeframe. Please jump in and provide your input if you have some!

1. I read an earlier post where someone mentioned booking at one of the onsite hotels, but waiting for a special rate to come through after that. How does that work? Can you book now to make sure you get a room, then if a better rate comes along, you can get the better rate?

2. Someone else mentioned booking directly through Disney Travel, then calling AAA to have them 'take over' the reservation so they could get the multiple fast pass option (as well as the other goodies.) What was the advantage of this over just booking directly through AAA? Or maybe the poster discovered about the fast pass benefit after the initial booking?

3. We are hoping to make it to DL (our first trip!) during the 50th celebration. If the celebration officially ends Oct. 2nd, would late September still hit the 50th parade, fireworks, decorations, penny presses, etc.? Or will they start dismantling everything before then? I don't think we could go sooner than the last week in September...

4. Someone posted recently that special offers for the fall should be coming available this coming week. Should I try to book now for September? Should I wait to see what the new deals are? How fast does this stuff go?

5. If we can't go late Sept-early Oct timeframe, DH's 2nd choice would be in Nov. I know this means the crowds die down a lot, but how about the weather? I know the last fall/winter/spring has been very wet on the whole coast - Is this considered a La Nina year, and this next fall should be drier?

Thank you!

 

[samkj]

If you book a room only with Disney travel you can easily convert it to a package later, or you should be able to convert form one package to another if/when it becomes available. It sounds like you are staying onsite, if you want to wait and see the package deals for the fall, I always recommend to my clients, to at least make the hotel reservation. That way you know you have your room guaranteed, the rest can come later. November actually has great weather. We were there Thanksgiving week last year and it was sunny and 80 degrees most days! You will be missing out on the 50th celebration, but you will get to see DL decorated for Christmas. It sounds like the Parade of Dreams and Remember fireworks may still be running. I'm not sure when the fall packages will be coming out, but it should be soon.

 

[boosmom96]

If you book a room only with Disney travel you can easily convert it to a package later, or you should be able to convert form one package to another if/when it becomes available. It sounds like you are staying onsite, if you want to wait and see the package deals for the fall, I always recommend to my clients, to at least make the hotel reservation. That way you know you have your room guaranteed, the rest can come later. November actually has great weather. We were there Thanksgiving week last year and it was sunny and 80 degrees most days! You will be missing out on the 50th celebration, but you will get to see DL decorated for Christmas. It sounds like the Parade of Dreams and Remember fireworks may still be running. I'm not sure when the fall packages will be coming out, but it should be soon.

My DB's looking to go in September. Are you saying he should book the rooms now and then transfer them to a package? I've been telling him to hold off and see if the "book 3 nights get the 4th night free" promo is running. I figured they would be out soon.

 

[amw]

My DB's looking to go in September. Are you saying he should book the rooms now and then transfer them to a package? I've been telling him to hold off and see if the "book 3 nights get the 4th night free" promo is running. I figured they would be out soon.

If you can, I would wait until next week. The current promotions finish at the end of this week, and there should be new ones posted for the Fall.

 

[samkj]

If you have a certain hotel you want to stay at, then it doesn't hurt to make a room only reservation. Your room is held with a credit card and no deposit is required. For DLR hotel reservations only you can call (714) 956-MICKEY (6425) If you have more flexibility in where or what kind of room you stay then its ok to wait. Personally I would rather book my hotel ASAP and cancel later if I had to.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Samkj, so if I book the room reservation now, then later change to a package (or change dates or whatever to accomodate a special), is there a change fee involved?

I'm thinking I would like to reserve the room if possible (as you recommended) and wait and see what deals are offered. I talked with the TA today (actually the owner, and he seems much more knowledgeable and helpful), and he said there's usually (tho not always) a Kids Fly Free deal in the fall. We're hoping we can get a few specials together like we did for the last one that we had to abort (Kids Fly Free, Kids Play Free, $150 gift card, etc.) so it will be roughly the same cost.

DH would rather file a change (rather than a cancellation) for the trip insurance, just in case we don't have/can't get the documentation the insurance needs. (He's worried they are going to require some document that specifically says 'DO NOT FLY!', which we don't have.) A change is a $75 fee, but a cancellation is 1/2 our package price.

 

[samkj]

Ok I need to make a correction. I was mistaken about changing to a package. The Disneyland room only reservations are completely separate from their packages, with a completely different room inventory. You can hold a room reservation with just a credit card, but you can not convert that to a package since they are from separate inventory. You can purchase tickets separate from a package, but you won't get all the package deals. There is no fee for cancelling/changing room only reservations provided you are prior to the cancel by date (usually 48-72 hours prior to arrival) In your case to prevent the 50% fee you definitely should just rebook the package. The fee for changes more than 30 days out is $25, so its up to you if you want to rebook now(and possibly have to pay $25 to convert to a different package later) or wait for package deals to come out. Do you have a time limit for making changes to your package?

Now I'm going to keep quiet and leave this up to more experienced people, or double check my answers before answering questions like this......

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I think we have to notify Disney within 10 days (if we're going to re-book, and if so, for what dates.) That's probably 10 days from our date of first notification, which would have been Sat. 4/22. I'm not sure if the new package deals will come out as soon as 4/28 (the day after the current deals expire) or if it will be much later than that...? And I'm guessing our claim paperwork will arrive toward the end of this week at the earliest.

No real rush (other than making the decision whether to 'change' or 'cancel'), I guess I'm just eager to start planning and get it set. I want to make sure we don't lose out because I didn't move on it fast enough.

Really, thank you for helping!

 

[EnnEss]

Im also going in september and find it irritating that they have yet to role promos out that last beyond april.

As for going in December, I would highly reccomend early December. It is amazing. Everything is decorated, special parade, huge tree. I was there last year Dec 1 - 5th and it was wonderous. I want to go at that time again but my gf wants to see the park undecorated as she has never witnessed that.

The weather last December was very warm, although one day a jacket was required. They also have carrolers and all types of other great things. I definately found the park to be much less crowded than any other time i've been, including in February. You also still recieve value season prices until christmas break hits, its the best of all worlds.

 

[agoofylover]

Unfortunately I already booked my trip through walt disney travel and now I guess I should have waited? The week I'm going 10th-16th in Sept. was showing a lot of filling up in the off site hotels...in January!! Atleast, for our trip dates...probably due to the marathon later that week? Anyhow...if the 4th night becomes free/or kids fly free on Alasksa, can we get any type of refund for the difference? Probably not, right? Atleast I know I'm already saving 40$ a person on airfare(since the gas hike)