Impromptu Trip- What's the Fastest You've Planned?

[DisneyMandC]

I just booked at the beginning of September for the week of Dec. 13th for my son and I (annual Mom-Son trip - until next year when my 5 year old daughter joins us!). We originally planned for the week prior, but the People Mover is down for refurb that week and we cannot have that during our vacay so we pushed it out a week. Usually we are booked months ahead of time, but we just could not decide if we wanted to do Halloween or Christmas time. We did MNSSHP last year and it was seriously the best time ever! But we decided that we wanted to go during Christmas time this year since we have never been during that time. We are usually quick service eaters, so the ADR's really are not a priority, except for BOG lunch - we have to have that (YUM!) and we were lucky to score a lunch ressie in the middle of our stay (we seriously stalked the MDE app for that one!). We are also trying Le Cellier for the first time and we were also able to grab a lunch ressie there as well. We are all about our FP+ picks as opposed to dining ressies and we get to pick our FP's beginning of October! We prefer to visit during low crowd times as my son and I are all about the rides and we don't mind the heat. I know it is going to be more crowded during the week we decided on, but to see all the decorations, doing our first MVMCP (just bought tickets last night!) and to be able to see the Osborne lights before they are gone will so be worth it!

Sounds like a great trip! We were also able to score a BOG ADR on our April trip for lunch. It was kind of a bummer though, because we had reservations at Jiko for our last night of our honeymoon and they had to shut the restaurant down! So we ended up stuck at Tony's for dinner, but they did manage to get us in at BOG for lunch the next day. So that was nice at least.

And Le Cellier is awesome! We went in April and loved it. Didn't get the cheddar soup because I was just too hot that day, but I've heard it's amazing. The pretzel bread is excellent!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ha ha... "I'll just take a look..." what famous last words those are! Seems like everytime I go on Disney.com to "just look", a trip happens. Booking this one was really strange (probably partly because I was ill ). I actually didn't find any hotel availability on Disney, but went out to Expedia and they had everything I was interested in, so I did an air/hotel bundle and even got my preferred non-stop flights. I had just had my Visa shut down due to fraud, so I was paying with Visa gift cards and had to call, and the Expedia Rep did an excellent job figuring it out. I dread anytime I have to call Disney because none of the agents ever seem to be able to answer the question. I only ended up saving about $40 bundling, but I figure that's a couple QS meals so I'm good with it. I have an AP this year because I knew I would have two trips (May and December), so some how this extra trip feels free, even though it did cost me a nice chunk of change.

Haha I know! But believe me, if I was booking a trip every time I went on disney then I'd be booking one everyday! That's my go to "I need something to remind me why I'm still working this job" website. Usually seeing the price for a savannah view villa at AKL that I can take my whole family to reminds me "oh yeah, I do have to work."

 

[Carriemel]

I planned for an Easter weekend solo trip about a week prior. Got all the fastpasses I wanted (and then some, cause I used my DH's magic band (we have annual passes)). Stayed at All Star Sports.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

For our April 2015 trip we booked a week before our 60 days FP+ picks, got all the FP we wanted and scored on the ADR too. We also went cause we booked a great price for our flights with Southwest. I'm always checking at random times for Southwest, they will occasionally drop prices with no notice. Now I'm hoping my DH will say screw it lets go to Disney in December ( he has the time off scheduled), but I'm going to hold my breath.

 

[lovin'fl]

For our April 2015 trip we booked a week before our 60 days FP+ picks, got all the FP we wanted and scored on the ADR too. We also went cause we booked a great price for our flights with Southwest. I'm always checking at random times for Southwest, they will occasionally drop prices with no notice. Now I'm hoping my DH will say screw it lets go to Disney in December ( he has the time off scheduled), but I'm going to hold my breath.

It's the last year for the Osbourne Lights at HS. So there's some leverage for you (if your DH likes the lights).

 

[skuttle]

We just booked earlier this week a trip for Dec 20-23 to see Osborne Lights one more time. We were just at WDW in April, and planned on going next Christmas. We decided to squeeze in a quick trip when we heard this was the last year for osborne lights. Last time we saw the lights, our middle son was only 11 months old and I was unknowingly pregnant with our third son. Can't wait for them to see the lights! Luckily it's a short trip and we aren't planning any dining since most of it is booked. Thankfully the FP booking hasn't started yet! Although I'm a little nervous because all of our prior trips have been at least 7 or 8 nights!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

It's the last year for the Osbourne Lights at HS. So there's some leverage for you (if your DH likes the lights).

oh oh believe me I used it in conversation

 

[Terapin]

Just out of curiosity, what's the fastest my fellow DISers have ever planned a Disney trip? And I mean an actual trip, not a "we went to Disney for the day!" type (though I am very jealous of those of you who have that opportunity!). I got an email this morning about some really low fares for Southwest from our airport (we can get a direct flight to Orlando) and I thought about how nice it would be to just book a cheap flight and a couple days at Disney and hop down there for a three or four day weekend. Not sure that it will happen for us any time soon, but I figured it might be nice to keep my eyes on my email and see when I could cash in some Southwest points to fly down there!

So what's the fastest you've gone from zero to "we're going to Disney!"? How did you manage to do on FP+ and ADRs in terms of getting what you want? And yes, I know how many of you feel that it's impossible to do an impromptu trip anymore because of FP and ADRs! We don't need to see Anna and Elsa or eat at CRT, just a nice weekend getaway with maybe a Space Mountain and Tower of Terror ride thrown in

We planned for a trip for 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) and booked at 9pm Thursday, and left the house 4am Friday. When we arrived at the GF we had ADRs for meals, FP+ all arranged, and I bought seasons passes on my iPhone on ME from the airport! We stayed until Monday. I did a trip report of our spontaneous trip. We lucked out and had amazing ADRs and were able to get on most rides.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

2 weeks. Last fall, the day they announced Maelstrom was closing we booked a long weekend trip and off we went. Got a studio at BWV and went to ride one last time. Of course we did other fun things too but that was the reason we went.

 

[thornton0511]

I just booked a short stay for DH and myself on a whim Monday evening. We are going Thurs Oct 1st and returning Sun Oct 4th. We just returned from our annual visit with our kids 8/23 and booked a free dining bounce back for next May, however, we have never gotten away just the 2 of us without the kids, to Disney, and my DH might be starting a new job soon so if there was ever a time to do a spontaneous trip this is it lol! The best part if it all is that it's only costing us $550 for round trip flights for 2 (we had a flight credit with Southwest due to expire in Feb), 3 night stay (2 onsite value, one free night at Hyatt MCO), and 2 day tickets (free due to a mishap from a few years ago). No FP+ scheduled due to the comp tickets that we will have to pick up when we arrive but they are supposed to include 3 to any ride we choose for each ticket (excluding M&G). I don't have any ADR's booked yet and not sure if we will just wing it with QS or not. Planning on F&W at Epcot for sure!! Major Pixie Dust here considering the timing and how everything fell into place

 

[DisneyMandC]

I tried telling DH we needed to go see Osborne Lights... dangit, why do we have fiscally responsible?!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I just booked last night for a 4 day weekend...first weekend in Dec. I've never seen the Osbourne lights and have always wanted to. I figured it was now or never!

 

[kerplop]

About a month and a half? If I'm remembering right. We decided to just go right after Thanksgiving week, so I hopped on eBay and got us an off-site condo for $450. Bought our tickets on Undercover Tourist and got them with 2 days to spare making FP+ at the off-site 30 day mark. We weren't interested in Anna/Elsa M&G so our only tough get was 7DMT, which happened about a week from our trip through a kind Dis member. We did score all the ADRs we wanted too, again just a matter of waiting it out and checking obsessively. Best trip yet!

 

[AnnieLytical]

I had a four day trip this August that we booked just a hair less than 45 days out. We got all our FP+ including 7DMT ( August is supposed to be a very busy month, so I don't understand why now people are not able to get 7DMT FP's right at 60 days). We got a dinner reservation at BOG using Dining Buddy - we did not try for any other ADR's.

On Sept 10 we booked for Dec 13, so just a hair over 3 months. I was able to get the Spirit of Aloha Luau, and Kona Cafe (Poly) for lunch, and a Mama Melrose Fastasmic package on my own. I used Dining Buddy for BOG lunch and CRT dinner. I have not hit 60 days for FP, but am already worried I won't be able to get 7DMT FP's, from what I've been reading on here lately.

 

[Pmlocke]

20 minutes. We were back only two months from our usual February trip and my wife came by the office to see me. We have a niece who was getting married in the September of that year in Jacksonville and after pricing a weekend at 5 thousand we decided not to go. As it happens, I was turning 60 that year on the day following my niece's wedding. My wife stated that it would really be special to spend my 60th BDay at WDW. I deserved it and it would be a special trip for me that I would never forget. I knew where she was going with this so I asked, "Can I do anything I want?' to which she replied, "of course". I told her, great but I am still not going to the wedding. "WE ARE GOING TO THE WEDDING" was her reply. I called my favorite 407-939-5277 number while she sat there and made all my room and dining reservations in 20 minutes. By the way, best trip ever and with the deals we got, only cost $1,800 for the whole week for the two of us. Yes, we went to the wedding. Rented a car and made the drive up to Jacksonville in the early AM and got back to the hotel that night around 2 PM.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

In 2012 --- 2 months
This year --- 3 months

These were both trips we didn't expect to take. We usually book 10-12 months out.