I am planning my first trip to Disney World in December. I am so excited but have no idea what hotel to choose and not sure when to book my trip. I would like to wait until June because I would be in better financial standing but am worried that if I wait too long places will be booked. I am looking at a value resort for financial sake. I am shocked at how much the other resorts cost. I am planning a 10 day trip and would love to stay at Animal Kingdom but cannot justify spending 5000 when it would be less than 2000 for one of the All Stars. Any ideas or suggestions would be wonderful.
Look into renting DVC points - that should give you the chance to get a better room/villa for your money. However that will commit you to certain dates. You can book a room with just a deposit only through the Walt Disney Travel company, and I believe that you can make adjustments to that booking without penalty so if you realise that a week earlier or later would be better for you, that's possible too. Enjoy the planning!
Depending on when in December you're planning, it might be a good idea to book now. There is a thing called "Pop Warner Week", I think it starts 12/7 this year. It's a big group of high schoolers and they all stay at Values, and some at Moderates. I think they only stay at a couple of the values, so you're going to want to look up where they stay and try and stay somewhere else. Because they are taking up half of the room inventory at the Values it's more important to book early so you can get the class of room you want. If you delay you risk having all of the Values booked and having to stay at a Moderate. Also, if you're thinking about Christmas time, that's the busiest time of the year at Disney and things are going to book up fast then, too. If you book now you can always cancel. Just make sure you know the cancellation terms so you know how much of your deposit you get back at any given time.
These are all good tips and I would agree - look into renting DVC points as an option. We always stay on-site but admittedly had never stayed at a DVC (had always booked via WDW Reservations). This last spring break we decided to try something new and rented DVC points - stayed at Wilderness Lodge Villas and the cost was 40% off rack rate. It was fabulous and I would definitely go that route again. Like PP'ers said you could always reserve via WDW for a 'regular' room/package, and just double-check cancellation policy b/c I do think you could risk maximum availability if you wait until June to book.
