How far in advance did you book your trip?

[Jen_G]

My first trip to Disney as an adult, I booked about 8 days out. My mom and I stayed in a standard room at All-Star Movies. I didn't have any trouble making Fast Pass+ reservations for the rides I wanted, including 7DMT (FEA wasn't open yet), but I was also only making them for one person and we didn't have anything else scheduled. If we wanted to eat table service we'd pull up the Disney app and find a reservation for sometime in the next few minutes. It was a really relaxed trip.

I've actually got two more trips to Disney planned and both of those I booked at around the 9-10 month mark, the first because I was going with my cousin and her family and we needed to make sure we'd have room for all of us, and the other because I rented DVC points. I honestly am not a fan of booking things so far out, but sometimes it's necessary.

 

[luluj11]

we booked 10 months out - rented DVC points and our first choice was already booked. But we were booking a 2bedroom so our options were limited.

 

[BoatDriver]

No harm in booking now if you want a specific resort. You can reserve room only at 499 days in advance by phone, not online. If you decide you want to switch to a package you can convert your reservation later. You can also have future discounts applied to your reservation. We are going in May 2018 and already have booked our rooms, but we want a specific resort and need three rooms so we wanted to reserve early.

This, exactly. This year's December trip was booked last November as a bounceback. We also have standing orders with our TA to book us for November 2018 as soon as it's available. Once they're booked, you can always apply later discounts, offers, etc to the reservation.

Doing it this way allows us to plan ahead, ensure we have access to the discounts we want and can take advantage of, and finally, keep the excitement rolling from one trip to the next.

 

[disneyfan128]

I booked my April 2018 trip on March 25. I think it really depends on what resort you want and the time of year you go. March can be a very busy month because of Spring Break so I would probably book early.

 

[JK World]

This, exactly. This year's December trip was booked last November as a bounceback.

Great to know, I wondered if bounce back deals had to be for trips taken within a year. Going in late October, returning Nov. 2018 and curious if I'll be a bounce back offer is available.

OP, booked my upcoming trip at 190 days out to allow for ADRs. Planning to book next trip at 11 months for DNC rental (if no bounce back offer).

 

[Derry Wade]

We're going at the end of Jan 2018 and booked 1/2 of our split stay (renting DVC points) in Mar 2017. Am still considering various onsite options for the other 1/2 of our stay. We're going in a "value" season week so I don't have to be on top of it so early except for the renting points part. There's a chart on Mousesavers that gives the historical info about when lodging discounts for various seasons have been announced in the past. I attended a conference at WDW in late March of this year (in a "peak" season week) and there wasn't much available last minute. I think early March is not necessarily peak - probably more moderate. Have fun!

 

[VACamm]

We booked 12 months out... actually while we were still on vacation last year we booked our next trip for the same week the next year!