Has anyone booked a disneyworld vacation LAST MINUTE?

[dalayney]

We are planning on going to disneyworld THIS Febuary 24th-March 3rd. (our family of 4)

Something came up w/hubby's work, and we will not know if we're able to go till Feb. 15th. The only thing we have booked is our dining reservations. So we have NOT booked any room packages yet, or airfair.

Has anyone booked last minute disneyworld vacations before? How did it go? Any tips for this to go smoothly? LOL.

I do realize if this is a go, we'll be paying for everything right at booking, and I'm ok with this.

Am I right that, I will be able to pull this off.. since our dates fall within a somewhat low season?

Any advice on how to do this???? Am I crazy?

 

[dalayney]

Also, we've done disney before back in 2002, and 2005... and we realize if we do this, we will be putting the whole amount down at the time of booking.

We plan on staying at a value resort, and getting base tickets since we don't park hop. We also think getting the discounted room rate is better than the free dining plan, as we somewhat calculated the difference, etc.

And.. we're from wisconsin, so we'll be flying down. HA! Getting airfair might be another nightmare, unless we book w/the disney package... I don't know.

We moved the date out, since the princess marathon should be over that weekend, and people will be leaving, (we're arriving that sunday)

Just giving more info on the whole scenario here.

 

[tinkermommyof3]

Not my favorite way of planning but you still have plenty of time. Less time to wait for your trip! Lucky you, there are discounts now! Regarding airfare, check airlines directly, ie. SW, Airtran, etc. before buying what Disney has to offer. You still may get a better deal. Call ME directly for luggage tags at 866-599-0951. It only takes about 7-10 days to get luggage tags. They have sent them to me express mail as well--no charge. Have a great trip!

 

[padawans]

Yes. I wouldn't consider a month out last minuteYou have lots of time. I have booked a week out. I've booked from mco airport. I've booked a Dl trip in the middle of the desert half way to California. Last minute trips are my favorite. Have fun.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I booked my January 4 to 10th trip on December 18th. Seriously.

I had a free dining pin. I hadn't made ANY dining reservations before the 18th. Still got our trip package, Magical Express Package and tags.. everything came just before we needed it.

I booked a few dining reservations (2) before we left and did the rest on site. I wouldn't recommend that for most folks but we were fairly flexible and had a pretty easy going attitude to the whole trip.

There were reservations I would have liked to had but ... maybe another time.

 

[dalayney]

So it IS doable! Good to know! I mean, we'll be booking our reservations/package and airfair 9 days before we leave! It's just sounds crazy scary to me! LOL....

I'm just thinking our biggest expense might be the airfair. THank you for the tips though!

Keep them coming!

 

[stargazertechie]

Easy solution- don't book a package.

You have 5 days prior to arrival to cancel a room only reservation, so go ahead and book that resort!!!! No penalty as long as you cancel at least 5 days out.

Don't worry about DME tags- you can just give your bag claim tickets to the folks at the ME counter and they'll get the bags. Conversely, you can get them yourself.

How many people are going? Would it be feasible to drive? The last minute airfare... is terrible. Unless you live somewhere with Spirit Airlines and you can get lucky.

If you live near an airport with Southwest, you could always look at the price of tickets right now and buy them. The Wanna Get Away fares can be "refunded" as passenger specific credit that can be used for a full year from the date you make the reservation. So if you are fairly confident that you will be able to travel within the next 365 days *somewhere* as a family, book the airfare too.

If you're feeling really ambitious, go ahead and order your tickets NOW from undercover tourist. They're good forever as long as you haven't used them. So if not now, you can use them later.

 

[dalayney]

""Call ME directly for luggage tags at 866-599-0951"""


You need to have certain luggage tags now? We haven't been since 2005, so they didn't have the magical express.

I am trying to make a list of everything I need to do THE DAY I BOOK!

1.Make room/disney package reservations and put full amount down. (airfair also)
2.Make sure to book magical express
3. Book Pirates adventure for our 7yr old and 2hr pirate excursion
4. Find trip insurance
5. Call Credit card to let them know we'll be traveling
6. Find birth certificates for kids
7. Drink a cold one and calm the crazy down.

 

[padawans]

Why do you need birth certificates?

 

[dalayney]

""How many people are going? Would it be feasible to drive? The last minute airfare... is terrible. Unless you live somewhere with Spirit Airlines and you can get lucky.""


We are 45 min. from Chicago, and 30 min. from Milwaukee and they do have Spirit, so we're hoping! There are 4 of us.

The only thing we're not fond of w/Spirit is their pricey luggage fees. Even for carryons. We are the dorky type that buy alot of souviners! Yes, we are proud disney dorks!

 

[dalayney]

Even though we're obviously not going out of country, we always like to have the boys birth certificates..... is just an over precaution... medical reasons, etc. Silly I konw.

 

[stargazertechie]

""How many people are going? Would it be feasible to drive? The last minute airfare... is terrible. Unless you live somewhere with Spirit Airlines and you can get lucky.""


We are 45 min. from Chicago, and 30 min. from Milwaukee and they do have Spirit, so we're hoping! There are 4 of us.

The only thing we're not fond of w/Spirit is their pricey luggage fees. Even for carryons. We are the dorky type that buy alot of souviners! Yes, we are proud disney dorks!

It's about a 19 hour drive from Chicago... push comes to shove, you can leave right after dinner and be in Disney by mid afternoon the next day

You don't have to have luggage tags for ME. The nice thing with the tags is that the bag handlers at the airport pull them all, and they're delivered to your room automatically. If you don't have the tags, you either have to pull the bags yourself or give the representatives at the magical express check in counter your bag claim tickets so that their handlers can go track the bags down.

 

[Butterflygirl35]

As a FL resident I have taken off last minute to Disney many times... Kind of fun doing a reservation and online check in one right after the other...

Less waiting to is a big plus!! (Patience is not my strong area)

But then again I never have to deal with flights.

 

[kakleckner]

Have you ever considered the Gary Regional Airport? Flights are $52.00 each way and they fly into Sanford, Florida which is very close to Orlando. I recently booked flights for my friend and her family and they traveled in December 2012 and said it was so convenient and close to home. They do charge $7.00 a day for parking. Just a thought since you are right outside of Chicago.

 

[Magic3forme]

we booked a trip 5 days before. the kids decided they wanted to go to WDW for Labor Day. we booked it Sunday morning... left Friday after school.

we stayed until Monday afternoon.

I was even able to snag a Chef Mickey dinner.

it was a great trip!!

 

[mommyoftwo85]

I was wondering about this as well...lol I'm not going to be able to pay until I get my tax refund which will be like a week before we go! I've got all my ADRS taken care of. I just hope the discount isn't sold out

 

[fla4fun]

I've booked on a Sunday for a Tuesday check in. Since some discounts aren't released very far ahead, booking a month out sounds about normal for some of my trips, lol! So long as you can get your transportation issues worked out, I say go for it!

 

[debbie1996]

I booked my January 4 to 10th trip on December 18th. Seriously.

QUOTE]

Too funny - we booked our January 4th to 9th trip on December 14th. I have to say, you need to look at airfares and find out if it works before worrying about anything else. The only way it worked for us was we could use frequent flyer miles. Trying to book a flight with that much notice put the per tix price at $1400 EACH. The rest of the stuff - wasn't really a big deal - but then again we don't get hung up on having to eat at a certain place. I made a few ADR - and there wasn't definitely still availability if you're flexible.

 

[pumba]

one year we decided to go to Disney ...we had just the urge to get out of Maine...we called up ...they had a room at the resort we wanted ...and then she said..oh you get free dining...I forgot (even though being on the restaurant board..) so I thought three weeks to go and they are saying free dining...we wouldnt have a chance with restaurants...BUT we did...we got a few that we wanted and then ended up having to go to a few we never tried but had to because the others were booked...
I do think you can call and try to get in where you want to go...HURRY

 

[Disneymama01]

I booked two weeks before we went one year. Was able to get a few reservations for restaurants we wanted. We mostly just went with the flow and let Disney do its magic!