First timers plan august trip -- help

[dexter007]

Hey Guys,

This is going to be our first time to Disney.
We went through a travel agent who is a close family friend, and was able to match Disney price.

So far for the 2 adult and 2 six year olds with everything but flight were at about $4200. Thats staying at one of the moderate beach resorts.

Can anyone give us any assistance with Promos for the middle of August.
Or any suggestions,

THANKS

 

[Sue M]

Is your travel agent at all familiar with WDW travel? There are promos that do come out for August from Disney. Your TA has to watch for them, then apply it to your reservation. It is important to book the promo as soon as they come out. There is usually free dining or room discount. TA will have to do the Disney Math to see which one would be better for you.

When they come out with a promo, only a limited amount of rooms are released for each promo, and when they're booked, that's it. Which is why it's important to book right away. Most Disney Specialized TAs are on the phone for their clients the moment the Disney booking lines open to get the deals for their clients.

Mousesavers.com has a chart of historical discounts, when they were released, and for what dates. So you can get an idea of past releases.

You've come to the right place, do lots of research, people on this board have lots of experience. Get a good tour book. I like WDW, The Unofficial Guide.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I second the unofficial guide book.

I also second using an experienced disney TA. Friends are great but an experienced disney TA is the only friend I would be looking at to book my disney trip.

Check out the mousesavers site as they list the deals/discounts for each year.

I also suggest you check out trip reports to get ideas for your own trip. Ideally I would look for a trip report from august last year from a family that had kids around the same age as yours.

 

[darwinsrule]

Still early for the most part for offers for next summer. We have done three August trips to WDW, and booked next August yesterday. The first trip was a family escape with our girls after my MIL passed away in 2009. We booked in it in early June and went down the last week of August with free dining. It was AWESOME. Hence why we keep going back.

I want to say that we booked the other trips around February-ish. We didn't do WDW last summer so my memory is a bit foggy. The free dining (FD) offer is one of those offers people wait for and if you search the boards you will find lots of info on it. It does have the potential to save you $$$ but you have to do the math to see if it works in your situation. It may not work with your vacation dates either.

$4700 doesn't sound out of line for what you are planning. There are ways to save money (we fly out of Buffalo which usually saves us 1k). Only reason we booked for August 2013 was the fact that DW got a discount PIN for next summer which made the pricing on the room too good to pass up ($214 a night for AoA)

 

[sweetcanadian]

We went this past august. For 3 adults (son is in that category) we paid about 3400 total with 6 days of tickets, staying at CSR. We also got free dining, depending on what dates your trip is you may be able to get the free dining if they offer it next year. I think it came out around this time or early december last year.

 

[Glennie5]

The free dining is usually offered for the end of August - I want to say the last 2weeks but I could be wrong about that. We went the end of August in 2011 with free dining and loved it! The free dining for Aug 2012 came out in March.

 

[KandyM]

Actually, the free dining for Canadians for August 2012 came out in August 2011. I was so excited about that because I was hoping for the same thing this year , but no luck. In March the 2012 free dining for August was expanded to include US visitors.

 

[darwinsrule]

The other thing to keep in mind are dining reservations. You can start making ADR's 180 days out. It may seem strange but start reviewing where you want to eat now. 180 days out will be in Feb (depending on your dates). Some of the restaurants fill up quick, including some of the more popular character meals.

 

[CKCruising]

Hey Guys,

This is going to be our first time to Disney.
We went through a travel agent who is a close family friend, and was able to match Disney price.

So far for the 2 adult and 2 six year olds with everything but flight were at about $4200. Thats staying at one of the moderate beach resorts.

Can anyone give us any assistance with Promos for the middle of August.
Or any suggestions,

THANKS

$4200 seems a bit high. Does that already include the dining plan?

I just looked...A Std. View at CBR for August 10-17 runs 2600 including Park Tickets. The dining plan will set you back another 1K.