How far in advance do you plan your trip?

[Carolynleanne]

Morning all

It's been exactly a week since we got back from our Disney trip. The glow is starting to wear off a bit and I'm beginning to go through withdrawls. You understand right??

And so, I am looking ahead to our NEXT trip already. The plan is for the first week of December next year (2015)

Does anyone else plan a year and a half out? We had our previous tripped plan that far in advance. It's about the time it takes us to save up to go again

 

[Phoenixrising]

I always over plan my trips. Our current trip to DL isn't till Nov/16, as it takes that long to save for a trip. That may change if I can find part time or full time work in the coming months. I'm the saver in the family, so it takes a while to save up for trips. By planning that far in advance it keeps me focused on saving the money, and I tend to be frugal by nature anyway.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

We are usually planning several trips at one time!

I agree that it takes time to put plans in place, and save the funds, and we like to have as much as possible, prepaid/cash set aside, before we leave, so we don't have to rely on credit cards(emergency only).

We do plan our Christmas trips a year ahead of time, and our other trips about 5 to 6 months beforehand.

We have taken a few spur of the moment trips, however, which turned out to be really fun, and were paid for out of our always present/growing "Disney Fund"!

 

[BARBARAL26]

I'm a big fan of Getaway today, they have a layaway plan. Depending how long you plan is what you pay monthly. Also there is no penalty if you cancel. With that said we might be canceling due to the fact we purchased annual passes, and waiting to see what kind of discounts we get. I've been buying gift card also for the trip. We're going I the 2nd week in Dec. and I've been planning a year.

 

[Leveretttltl]

I start planning as soon as the trip is booked! It's never too early in my opinion and it gives me a little Disney fix!

 

[Moonwolf]

I started planning my WDW trip for 2015 pretty much the instant I got back from my 2013 WDW trip. I started planning my DLR trip for this Aug about a month ago once I realized my family had no clue where they wanted to go this summer and I could suggest a trip to CA.

 

[rootbeer]

Never too soon! For us, planning is half the fun! (OK, that might be stretching it a bit), but really, researching when, where, how long etc. keeps us in "the mood" till we go. Most times we start planning and reserving 8-12 months ahead. We're blessed with incomes that allow us to have enough in the bank to go on vacation once a year. Sometimes it's Disney, sometimes it's not.

 

[Carolynleanne]

I always over plan my trips. Our current trip to DL isn't till Nov/16, as it takes that long to save for a trip. That may change if I can find part time or full time work in the coming months. I'm the saver in the family, so it takes a while to save up for trips. By planning that far in advance it keeps me focused on saving the money, and I tend to be frugal by nature anyway.

Totally agree! When we know the 'plan' of when we want to return, it keeps us focused from over spending on other things. It sets our goal ahead of us

 

[tiffjoy]

I always have to be planning at least one of our vacations so I have something to look forward to. It's not always a Disney vacation, though, but right now, I'm planning both our August DLR trip and our January 2015 WDW trip.

I love planning trips in general, but this forum and all the many Disney blogs makes it a lot of fun to plan Disney trips. As a sidenote, I am stressed for the first time ever planning a WDW trip (FP+) and it makes me appreciate planning a DLR trip so much more.

 

[Midnightred]

My cousin and I were standing in line at POC last July, 2013, and we set a time to return July of 2016! Already planning!

Midnightred

 

[Georgieut]

6 months planning for our first upcoming Disneyland resort trip in just over a couple weeks.

 

[MichaelaF]

I've planned as far out as 18 months (to WDW, when we rented points so we booked those about a year out) and as short as three weeks out to DLR! Currently planning for a trip for November this year.

To me "planning" looks a lot more like "research" for much of it. Meaning Dis boards and podcasts and websites perusing. I don't usually start to do the framework of my play-by-play (what parks are we going to what day) until I have to make dining reservations, so 180 days out for WDW ADRs. I do more detailed plans closer to 1-2 months out.

 

[Carolynleanne]

I always have to be planning at least one of our vacations so I have something to look forward to. It's not always a Disney vacation, though, but right now, I'm planning both our August DLR trip and our January 2015 WDW trip.

I love planning trips in general, but this forum and all the many Disney blogs makes it a lot of fun to plan Disney trips. As a sidenote, I am stressed for the first time ever planning a WDW trip (FP+) and it makes me appreciate planning a DLR trip so much more.

Me too! I actually plan trips that I know I can't afford to do right now in case 'one day' we can do it. I would have loved to have been a travel agent in the days when those were still popular

 

[sandysue]

We didn't take a trip in summer of 2013 so we started planning for this year in the spring of 2013 - so over 12 months in advance. Once the dates for the school year and summer schools calendars were available, we knew when our trip window could be.

After DLR, we are headed to Zion and Yellowstone and to get reservations inside these and most national parks, you have to make your plans as soon as the dates are available, which is about a year ahead.

Then we decided to include DLR. We rent points from David's for DVC so put in that request in the off-chance they would have something at the 11-month mark. They didn't, but got it right at the 7-month mark.

So I've been planning for a year and obsessing for the past 6 months.

Glad I'm not alone.

 

[gerilyne]

I don't start "planning" for my next trip right away, but only because after each time we went the last 2 years the deal was we weren't going to go again the following year. But I would say I do start dreaming about going again about the time the English toffee we brought back runs out. And then I move into what I call the "well, if we did go what would it look like phase" which then turns into the "if we do this, this and this we could swing another trip".
This has successfully worked so we will be going for our 3rd year in a row in Aug.

I think though if I were to go to WDW where I haven't been since 1991, I would probably start planning about 12-18 months in advance.

 

[crystal1313]

I'm always thinking of our next trip! LOL.

We are going next week for the 24 hour event, without the kids. DH and I have APs. We live 6 hours away. Then, we are going in July for 3 days with my parents. My dad hasn't been in 10 years! And last time my mom was there DCA was almost all construction walls, so she hasn't seen Cars Land or BVS yet. Should be awesome!! Can't wait for my kids to go with my parents!

And in the works is a possible Oct MHP trip again! And/or a trip at Christmas time! We just won a contest on FB for a free two night stay at the Ramada Maingate.......so we are trying to decide when to use it!

 

[rentayenta]

I plan so far out. Our first trip to WDW I planned 2 years out and wrote a pre-trip report. It's never too early to plan and share those plans.


I've been planning our December trip to Disneyland for almost 3 months. I couldn't even make reservations until 7 months from the trip.

 

[Aspoonfullofsugar]

We live about 5 to 6 hours from Disneyland, depending on traffic. We tend to be more flexible about going. Two or three months is usually the farthest out we have planned. Occasionally we have called to find out if they have a room for later in the week when we've decided on Monday we'd like to go there on Friday.

Our daughter got married in Disney World a few months ago so we did do more planning. We knew the date a year out and booked our room about 9 months in advance. That was advanced planning for us.