How far in advance do you plan your trips?

[mkla2015]

Tomorrow will mark 1 week from the end of our last Disney trip and I'm already looking for when to go next, where to stay, WDW or DLR, etc.

Last year we booked 1 month after returning from a trip- 11 months in advance (renting DVC) but once plane ticket prices were released we had to adjust some dates and add a few nights.

So- how early do you start planning and booking?

 

[CAS239]

We're AP's and only about 2 hours away so we only plan about a month in advance.

I couldn't imagine being out of state and planning like a year in advance

 

[minnie mum]

Usually 7-8 months in advance. But we don't usually go every year.

 

[soniam]

It depends. Minimum just a little over 180 days, maximum 2 years.

 

[LovePug]

I have started thinking about the next trip, after our upcoming June trip, already. Looking at Thanksgiving 2017...

 

[Pesky]

Ummm, I started thinking about and roughly planning our WDW trip when we returned from DLR. About 3 years ago. The real planning started about a year out when we chose the resorts, rough days, and put in to rent points at the 11 month mark.

 

[Farps]

I start planning in my head before we even leave the resort to go home, but real planning starts about 8-10 months out.

 

[squeezle]

As a DVC owner, I am also in the 8-11 month range. But we only go every other year so we an save up our points for a longer stay in a larger room.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I have been planning our March 2017 trip since September 2015 lol...we usually go once a year but couldn't go this year so planning for 2017 makes me happy lol...now it's just a waiting game for when the 2017 packages come out to put all my plans down in black and white lol

 

[marchingstar]

we're always talking about future trips, but the actual planning we usually start around 4 months in advance. we're really far away (4512 km/2804 miles, and one national border) so the planning has to start early, but we're also both contract workers, so we don't often know what our schedules look like 6+ months in advance. We usually start with flights and figure out dates from there.

 

[mshanson3121]

Tomorrow will mark 1 week from the end of our last Disney trip and I'm already looking for when to go next, where to stay, WDW or DLR, etc.

Last year we booked 1 month after returning from a trip- 11 months in advance (renting DVC) but once plane ticket prices were released we had to adjust some dates and add a few nights.

So- how early do you start planning and booking?

We've been planning/thinking ahead to our next trip, basically 18 months out. We'll book the rental home at about 12 months out.

 

[CarrieR]

Anywhere from 6 weeks to 18 months. Usually we'll scope out an AP six or so months from the start and plot out the "big" trips (i.e., buy for Spring break, plan for Christmas, summer, the following year's Spring Break.) Then as the year goes on, we "sneak" trips in as airfare etc allows. We'd probably do some on shorter notice if airfare wasn't so expensive!

 

[mkla2015]

Glad to know I'm not alone in the early planning!

We've really been thinking about taking the kids to DLR for the first time BUT we have 150 DVC pts to use by 2017 and I know we won't get into the Grand Californian so I'm thinking maybe WDW in Oct or Nov would be nice as we've never been at that time of year.

 

[AnnaS]

As a DVC owner - usually 11 months in advance.

 

[mernin]

We used to plan about 6-10 months out. Our last trip was shorter than that - about 5 months out (we cancelled a bigger trip to Beaches T&C and went to WDW instead). This time we were back about a month when I started planning a trip just about a year away. We are thinking a trip every 2-3 years (we've talked about DVC but need the exchange rate to improve before we'll do it) for the foreseeable future with the kids.

 

[DoingDisney]

As a DVC owner - usually 11 months in advance.

Kinda where we are at now too, even more to be honest since we plan our trips in bundles of 2, and the second trip is dependent on the first.

 

[LSUfan4444]

So- how early do you start planning and booking?

We usually rent DVC points so at least 11 months out is our usual. Last week we decided to plan a trip for this May and that's been pretty fun.

 

[soniam]

Actually, I guess I am sort of planning a DLR trip in 2018. I started thinking about this back in December. I am thinking of doing the Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic Tour to hit the opening year of Star Wars Land there. Probably do summer 2018, because I worry Spring Break might be cutting it close considering Disney's current construction performance I probably won't be able to book this until about 18 months out, or when ABD releases their schedule.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Bounce back. 365 days.

 

[Kimberly9701]

For the first time EVER I planned our vacay almost a year out..beginning stages anyway.. After arriving home from a 16 night vacay..8 of them at Disney World.. I was so exhausted that I thought a Disney Cruise would be better for us next time. (I'm an extreme over scheduler and wore my poor 5 year old out on that trip). From what I've been told about DCL very Merrytime cruises, they book fast so need to do far in advance. So once I decided on ship/itinerary/dates I went ahead and booked. So glad that I did as the price has increased and only a few cabins left in my category. I know this bc after reading bad reviews about the overhang on deck 10 verandas, I switched to Deck 9 last month.
We are combining a 3 night CR stay with the cruise..and it's so crazy to me to be planning this far out with so many months to go!!!lol.
I have another cruise in June, and Disney is dominating my planning time more than that one.lol