How far ahead do you plan?

[DisneyStarWisher]

I'm old school and still use a notebook and pen! I love writing things out! Pages and pages of planning!

I plan in my head a year or 2 out and then book as soon as I'm able too. Our travel plans are changing as our kids are getting older (college and high school- they are still big Disney fans) We have Christmas 2024, summer 2025 and Fall 2025 planned. Disney Break and bank points in 2026 since dd will be studying abroad and we will visit her. 2027 dd wants to go to Disney for spring break with friends so will gift some nights for that and tentatively trying to get to Aulani to celebrate college and high school graduations.

Same! I have a notebook full of numbers! It's all pen and paper for me, too.

 

[Chili327]

I'm old school and still use a notebook and pen! I love writing things out! Pages and pages of planning

Same! I have a notebook full of numbers! It's all pen and paper for me, too.

Do you mean actual paper?? Do you have to cross things out or use whiteout (or eraser. lol) Or just make new sheets every time you make changes or if you make a mistake on point amounts or whatever?
I “write” things down on word documents or notepad programs, etc but it’s all digital.

 

[AnnaS]

Pen and paper here. First I play around with home resort/will I waitlist another resort/number of nights. Write down # of points needed for weekend/weeknights. As I narrow it down, I re-write on a new piece of paper. When all finalized and booked, I re-write it in a spiral book. I end up scribbling notes on here too many times. Definitely technically challenged here

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Do you mean actual paper?? Do you have to cross things out or use whiteout (or eraser. lol) Or just make new sheets every time you make changes or if you make a mistake on point amounts or whatever?
I “write” things down on word documents or notepad programs, etc but it’s all digital.

Actual paper. I write with a pen and if anything changes I mark it out and write new numbers above it. Once it gets too messy, I rewrite it on the next sheet of the notebook.

I’m very old-school. I don’t enjoy technology. Disboards is as close to social media as I get. FWIW I also keep our budget and all bills in a spiral notebook.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Same! I have a notebook full of numbers! It's all pen and paper for me, too.

I have an excel worksheet but all the real work is done with paper and pen.

 

[WeIcomeHome]

I plan out about 24 months in advance for myself but also have about 8 years tentatively planned for when I'm bringing extended family so they can save up for their trip. After I've brought my family who wants to go, I'll be planning 12 to 18 months in advance on big trips with smaller trips sprinkled in with less planning.

Spreadsheets for the win.

 

[E2ME2]

Wow - were an eclectic bunch!
I am always scribbling big-block plans on notepads at my desk(s) or kitchen table, but then I flesh out the detail plans in my excel spreadsheet. I usually have 2-years of trips planned pretty thoroughly. Beyond that I try to have a 5-year plan, to anticipate fluctuations if needed to accommodate family/ friends joining us.
My financial analysis extends out to 2042, when my BWV points will expire. That will be a decision point for us, as our age may also impact our travel habits by then.
I also like to look at the long-term impact of our DVC investments. My simplistic approach shows us averaging $200/Night for DVC rooms by 2030! This justifies our choice to use DVC for our snow-birding, rather than buying/renting a home, RV, or Condo. I was a Senior Planner & Project Manager for most of my career, so the planning part of DVC suits me fine.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I have a stupid question as a brand new DVC member (joined October). So I have 450 points with a December use year at BLT. As a magical beginning or welcome home or something my guide switched my cash 2 Bed TPV stay in January 2025 to a points stay. This used all of my 2024 points and 3 points from 2025 (couldn't buy 3 one time use points because I hadn't closed on my contract yet). So here's my dumb question, I want to book a trip for 2026 during MLK day week. I know that I can book 11 months out at my home resort but if my use year is December I won't have any points for 2025 yet. Can I just make a booking because I will be getting points in December? I'm assuming this means I will always be borrowing my points? If I want to modify my reservation to somewhere other than BLT at 7 months will that he a problem? If I have to for some reason cancel that trip I would be OK because to bank my 2025 points I'd need to do it by end of July 2026? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I just started thinking about planning for the next few years.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm old school and still use a notebook and pen! I love writing things out! Pages and pages of planning!

if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

i roll the same, no soul-less spreadsheets need apply to my DVC planning

have been accused of enjoying the logistics of planning as much as the trip, not quite

retired now, even prior, we tended to visit the same 'seasons, if not weeks each year with a bonus one or two tossed into the mix. I do set calendar reminders when it's time to book as early as possible.

recently, dipped into wdw race weekends. that's a whole other sort of planning, has its own set of booking challenges

 

[Disdreaming479]

I have a stupid question as a brand new DVC member (joined October). So I have 450 points with a December use year at BLT. As a magical beginning or welcome home or something my guide switched my cash 2 Bed TPV stay in January 2025 to a points stay. This used all of my 2024 points and 3 points from 2025 (couldn't buy 3 one time use points because I hadn't closed on my contract yet). So here's my dumb question, I want to book a trip for 2026 during MLK day week. I know that I can book 11 months out at my home resort but if my use year is December I won't have any points for 2025 yet. Can I just make a booking because I will be getting points in December? I'm assuming this means I will always be borrowing my points? If I want to modify my reservation to somewhere other than BLT at 7 months will that he a problem? If I have to for some reason cancel that trip I would be OK because to bank my 2025 points I'd need to do it by end of July 2026? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I just started thinking about planning for the next few years.

For MLK week 2026, you’ll book in Feb 2025 at 11 months out. This will use your 2025 Dec UY points. No borrowing is necessary unless you need more points than are in that UY. Modify at 7 months as you want.
ETA: if you cancel prior to 31 days before the trip starts, you can bank those points until end of July.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

For MLK week 2026, you’ll book in Feb 2025 at 11 months out. This will use your 2025 Dec UY points. No borrowing is necessary unless you need more points than are in that UY. Modify at 7 months as you want.
ETA: if you cancel prior to 31 days before the trip starts, you can bank those points until end of July.

Thank you! That was the one thing that wasn't clear to me if I was borrowing points if I spend them before the use year date! I don't plan on spending more than my points for 2025 because I'm planning to book a standard or lake view for that week and it's a lot less points than TPV.

 

[CarolynFH]

I have a stupid question as a brand new DVC member (joined October). So I have 450 points with a December use year at BLT. As a magical beginning or welcome home or something my guide switched my cash 2 Bed TPV stay in January 2025 to a points stay. This used all of my 2024 points and 3 points from 2025 (couldn't buy 3 one time use points because I hadn't closed on my contract yet). So here's my dumb question, I want to book a trip for 2026 during MLK day week. I know that I can book 11 months out at my home resort but if my use year is December I won't have any points for 2025 yet. Can I just make a booking because I will be getting points in December? I'm assuming this means I will always be borrowing my points? If I want to modify my reservation to somewhere other than BLT at 7 months will that he a problem? If I have to for some reason cancel that trip I would be OK because to bank my 2025 points I'd need to do it by end of July 2026? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I just started thinking about planning for the next few years.

You can always book your home resort at 11 months out and swap to non-home resort at 7 months out. UY has nothing to do with when you can book. UY only affects which points you can use for that reservation.

As pointed out above, a trip in January 2026 will be in your December 2025 UY. You’ll be able to use your remaining 2025 points, which will be current year points for that trip, and if you need more points you can borrow from your 2026 UY that starts on December 1, 2026.

You might find this thread helpful: https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-february-10-2021.1942668/

 

[AZMermaid]

I like to write it out too!

We usually have a fairly firm plan 1-2 years out and a loose plan 3-4 years out. We try to WDW and Aulani every 4ish years, alternating the two every two years. We go to DL varied amount too. For sure every two years for my daughters dance (which we never get the date till realllllly close to the 7 month mark. It kills me), then we sprinkle in other trips too generally once a year. Our DL trips seem to be planned more on the 7.1-12 month cycle.

Our next WDW trip is planned for spring/summer 2026. We have some moving parts with my kids’ sports schedules which are unknown. We are trying to avoid July but realistically that may be our best window. We usually know much more firmly by now. Right now Easter week is our first choice, March spring break second choice and late July is the back up. We should know one kids’ schedule in July and the other kid in early September. So I’ll probably book March at 7 months in August and then change it accordingly.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

You can always book your home resort at 11 months out and swap to non-home resort at 7 months out. UY has nothing to do with when you can book. UY only affects which points you can use for that reservation.

As pointed out above, a trip in January 2026 will be in your December 2025 UY. You’ll be able to use your remaining 2025 points, which will be current year points for that trip, and if you need more points you can borrow from your 2026 UY that starts on December 1, 2026.

You might find this thread helpful: https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-february-10-2021.1942668/

So if I want to do a short trip in say September 2025 for Destination D23, would that be borrowing my 2025 points since it's before December?

 

[CarolynFH]

So if I want to do a short trip in say September 2025 for Destination D23, would that be borrowing my 2025 points since it's before December?

Yes. A trip in September 2025 would be in your 2024 UY, which runs from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025. You said all of your 2024 points have been used, so that means you would have to borrow 2025 UY points.

DVC’s UY system requires you to forget calendar years and think in fiscal years. Our UY is September, and I quickly figured out I needed to keep a chronological spreadsheet. September 1 of every year I get 300 points, and the dates of our trips are listed in chronological order so that I always know which points I can use.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Yes. A trip in September 2025 would be in your 2024 UY, which runs from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025. You said all of your 2024 points have been used, so that means you would have to borrow 2025 UY points.

DVC’s UY system requires you to forget calendar years and think in fiscal years. Our UY is September, and I quickly figured out I needed to keep a chronological spreadsheet. September 1 of every year I get 300 points, and the dates of our trips are listed in chronological order so that I always know which points I can use.

Excellent idea!

 

[Chili327]

@foodiddiedoo

 

[Chili327]

Technically the whole playlist is super helpful!!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1oGx7aOVSWpzi-Jf38ixUFmhzM03xuu-&si=e6h_Vqq2I5hIKbWK

 

[zackiedawg]

Most of my trips are planned 3-4 months ahead, some as little as 2 months ahead. I occasionally have to plan a trip up to 9-11 months ahead if it's for a big, planned gathering or group event. I don't so any paper planning, computer or spreadsheet planning...I just think about when I might want to go, search for room availability, and book.

I'm flexible about where I stay - I'll take my home Boardwalk if I can get it, but when I'm booking 2-3 months out, I know I'm not likely to find much, so it often ends up being OKW or Saratoga, which is fine by me.

In a perfect world, I'd be able to 'plan' my Disney trip about 1-2 months out and get whatever resort I wanted, would not book any ADRs or advanced LL stuff, decide what restaurants I wanted to eat at that morning or afternoon, and call to grab a ressie. Make random decisions each morning which park I feel like hitting. That used to be how I did Disney trips for decades, until 15-20 years ago or so when they started putting more and more advanced planning options out there, which squeezed no-planners like me out of most restaurants, resorts, rides, etc. Now I participate only as much as I need to in order to hit a few of the resorts, rides, or restaurants I want to hit while I'm there - I still never buy Lightning Lanes, some nights don't book any ADRs, and never do online check-in.

 

[Zubon]

Years are sketched in advance so that we can plan big years with Annual Passes and then years off, plus inviting friends along who may need years in advance to plan.

For example, we are ending an AP year in January 2025. That will be our only trip in that use year, banking about half our points into the next. The next AP year will be September or October 2026-September 2027, with three trips planned. That will give us 2 years of points for those three trips, plus half a year banked, plus a year available to borrow. We have a minimal amount of points, but boy does it feel like a lot of points for that binge year, especially given the September and January point charts.