for those who already have 2009 vacations planned...

[kelmac284]

I have two trips in 09 planned. The ladies only trip in March and a trip for my daughter's birthday in April. As far as the ladies only trip is concerned they have a block of rooms booked and specifically asked for us to book the rooms as early as possible which I did and as for airfare I always like to book that as early as I can as well to save money but as it stands they don't even have the dates I need released yet. They have the date I am flying DOWN available but not my return. It really stinks too because I am afraid by the time the open the rest up the date to fly DOWN will be more expensive or booked.

As it is we are going to have to fly into LAX because the prices to fly into OC have gone up and we are only flying from Sacramento!

As far as our April trip we are going over spring break which automactically means a more expensive time and I booked the hotel as soon as they opened up the dates for our particular hotel. I got a GREAT deal as well. And as I said they aren't even selling air tickets through the beginning of March on Southwest at this point much less April so I can't get those yet but I most likely will have to fly to LAX which I prefer NOT to do but I will have to to save money AND I will buy them NOW rather than waiting till closer because the longer you wait the higher the prices will go and the more the chances of the times I want being sold out.

It just makes more sense to buy early as you almost always can save that way!

 

[mystic_path]

For me I think we book our packages early due to the fact that we want specific hotels, It depends if our dollar is in the strong range being from Canada and the conversion to US Dollars, and also if we can find a good priced package with the airline we want.

 

[50sjayne]

Hmm- my post disappeared. That's good info for the March HOJO dates, I'm still waiting to see if I can add one day to my dates at the et rate. I had my hojo room booked last March-- a year in advance, when they were still doing that. I'm still waiting to see what the Costco city passes look like to buy park hoppers, probably won't end up doing that but who knows. We drive so no plane tickets. I do have Ding downloaded just in case some insane deal comes up on Southwest-('probly not) If they still flew out of Eugene it'd be more tempting but as it is we'd have to drive to Portland. Anyways why all the planning? It's fun. Also vacations go better when it's somewhere like Disneyland these days. I'd love to leave it to the wind but the facts are, it's a lot of money and I want things to go smoothly. I just hope my husband doesn't get all bullheadity when we are there and follows my lead. He thinks he is a pro-- it's a whole different ballgame these days. I'm not completely discrediting my husbands knowledge-- he's smart and quick and has an extreme (long term) memory, where as I am more analytical, methodical.

 

[northshoremama]

well, i just called hojos again..and this time they said that the march 2009 ent rate wouldn't be out until probably mid next month...so another 4 weeks. i'm not sure if they'll even have an ent rate for our stay...and if they don't the 15% discount will still be more than desert inn, which is much closer. this is my dilemma...i want to book something already, but i'm also trying to keep to a budget since we'll be going to DL 2-3 times next year.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Now we not only have our vacation paid for and booked, but I am starting to plan our days too..

Uh oh!!





(And...... at DS's request, and with DH's blessing, we are going to do Goofy's Kitchen on our arrival day for dinner!!)

 

[50sjayne]

well, i just called hojos again..and this time they said that the march 2009 ent rate wouldn't be out until probably mid next month...so another 4 weeks. i'm not sure if they'll even have an ent rate for our stay...and if they don't the 15% discount will still be more than desert inn, which is much closer. this is my dilemma...i want to book something already, but i'm also trying to keep to a budget since we'll be going to DL 2-3 times next year.

If you go ahead and book the room-- Lorealle can change it to the et rate if it comes out for your dates

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

we had to book our 2009 feb trip a year in advance b/c we're gonna be staying at a timeshare (so we booked last feb). but other than that, we probably wouldnt have booked anything yet i usually wait til a few months before we leave to book a hotel or something....im not sure about flights though b/c we dont fly to DL

 

[northshoremama]

If you go ahead and book the room-- Lorealle can change it to the et rate if it comes out for your dates

if i do this, but later find out that the ENT rate doesn't apply for our stay, i should be able to cancel the ressie without any paying any penalties, right?!

we had to book our 2009 feb trip a year in advance b/c we're gonna be staying at a timeshare (so we booked last feb). but other than that, we probably wouldnt have booked anything yet i usually wait til a few months before we leave to book a hotel or something....im not sure about flights though b/c we dont fly to DL

lucky for you...you don't have to fly. we're coming from seattle and there is no way we'd drive with a toddler and an infant. my best friend lives in san jose...well, milpitas now, and i keep telling her to drive down and meet us at DL!

 

[DMP]

We booked our flights last June for a January 17-24, 2009 trip. We had rec'd 2 free flight vouchers after getting bumped and we knew we had to book them ASAP. We got DD's school schedule for the next year and just started planning. It's MLK week/end, so she will only be missing 2.5 days of school, though we'll be gone for 8 days. I just paid for our lodging/park hoppers today.