Is anyone planning (have planned) a trip REALLY far in advance?

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

want me to put 2014 on the list? ROFL

 

[mabdallah]

HI i have been reading this thread for a week now and am finally able to post. We have been planning a july 2012 - august 2012 trip for some time now. It will be my daughters 3rd birthday and we have been so excited. I even have a list of things to start putting aside each month starting this july. Like a swimsuit, a princess dress, etc I figure that if I buy things early it will not be such a burden right before the trip. So far our dates are july 28- august 5. we have not figured out if we are going to fly or drive yet? we also will like a day at the beach and we have lots of family in the area too. So excited !!! We would like to stay at the hojo with a disney view room does anyone know which room is the best and how far in advance can you book your hotel?

Thanks

 

[Misskitty3]

HI i have been reading this thread for a week now and am finally able to post. We have been planning a july 2012 - august 2012 trip for some time now. It will be my daughters 3rd birthday and we have been so excited. I even have a list of things to start putting aside each month starting this july. Like a swimsuit, a princess dress, etc I figure that if I buy things early it will not be such a burden right before the trip. So far our dates are july 28- august 5. we have not figured out if we are going to fly or drive yet? we also will like a day at the beach and we have lots of family in the area too. So excited !!! We would like to stay at the hojo with a disney view room does anyone know which room is the best and how far in advance can you book your hotel?

Thanks

Tons of info on Hojo's can be found here: http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/

 

[Misskitty3]

We got back from WDW (our first trip ever!!) about a month ago, and I was having some major post Disney depression, so I told my mom and husband that the only thing that would make me feel better would be to plan another Disney trip. They agreed, but only if the trip could wait until after my youngest turned 4. So...that's how I ended up with a 3 year long ticker.

Are you the Amanda from the Kevin & Amanda blog?. I love that blog!

 

[knitster]

Are you the Amanda from the Kevin & Amanda blog?. I love that blog!

LOL no, but I can't even tell you how weird it was stumbling upon that blog for the first time!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I'm seeing that my hotel only has dates 6 months out. Gr.

 

[Misskitty3]

I'm seeing that my hotel only has dates 6 months out. Gr.

Are you getting closer to picking actual dates?

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Yeah I THINK I'm looking at leaving on the 8th and being home on the 17th (of June). That allows for drive time both ways (one night in Las Vegas each way)..5 days in park and 1 day at beach.

We MAY go the week before that if school schedule allows. I need to find that actually

 

[sophies*mom]

So, how is everyone organizing their trip plans? Do you have a binder that you put all your info in?

I bought a binder but nothing is printed off yet. I have our tentative itinerary in a folder on my desktop. I have some stroller signs that I made (though am reconsidering that because I just bought some self sealing laminated pouches that are luggage tags so I might use those instead).

I like hearing how other people organize their plans!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Mine are all internet for now. I make a folder and put it all in there in bookmarks (and I have a folder on the computer itself usually..with itinerary typed up)

Mostly I'm gonna have to be super careful. I'm trying to surprise the kids on the WAY to disneyland so I'm gonna have to be really careful on what they see. DS keeps sneaking over my shoulder when I'm on the comp and asking about this board. I guess I'm gonna have to switch to night time viewing or something. Darn that blasted learning how to read!!

 

[sophies*mom]

ha ha!

I have a folder in my bookmarks, too. I had to reorganize it yesterday because my bookmarks were getting out of control! lol

If you can pull off the surprise, they'll be so excited!! How fun!!

I have a Disneyland sing-a-long dvd that I personally love, he he, but have been putting it on a lot for my little one. She is in LOVE with Minnie Mouse right now and since it shows the park, I want her to get used to seeing the characters and hopefully be excited by the time we go (she's only 16mo right now. She'll have just turned 2 by the time we go).

 

[allgrownup]

Late August-early September 2013. Daughter wants to do the Disney Half-Marathon!

My dreams/plans consist of figuring out how to time it so we can have the most rides open. I have a long time to prepare!

 

[Misskitty3]

Yeah I THINK I'm looking at leaving on the 8th and being home on the 17th (of June). That allows for drive time both ways (one night in Las Vegas each way)..5 days in park and 1 day at beach.

We MAY go the week before that if school schedule allows. I need to find that actually

5 days in the park sounds awesome!

 

[Misskitty3]

So, how is everyone organizing their trip plans? Do you have a binder that you put all your info in?

I bought a binder but nothing is printed off yet. I have our tentative itinerary in a folder on my desktop. I have some stroller signs that I made (though am reconsidering that because I just bought some self sealing laminated pouches that are luggage tags so I might use those instead).

I like hearing how other people organize their plans!

Don't laugh but I actually use an Excel spread sheet. I have made a spread sheet up for our last four trips with a timeline for each day. For us, it works great. Before we leave, I plug in all of the things we want to see and do. I definitely like to plan but we also like to be spontaneous with the kids.

The other great thing about my spreadsheets is that now I can go back and review what we did last time and what things worked great and what things we might want to change.

 

[Misskitty3]

ha ha!



I have a Disneyland sing-a-long dvd that I personally love, he he, but have been putting it on a lot for my little one. She is in LOVE with Minnie Mouse right now and since it shows the park, I want her to get used to seeing the characters and hopefully be excited by the time we go (she's only 16mo right now. She'll have just turned 2 by the time we go).

Is that the video from the late 80's? If so, we have the same one! Love it! When we first took DS, he was 13 months and we would watch a little bit of that video each day before our trip! DS is now 8yrs old but we still watch the video occasionally!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Well we're visiting DLR over Thanksgiving and I had that planned *hotel booked since early Dec. last year.... and the park hoppers have been purchased!

I want to make it back to WDW next Oct. *during UEA break* so our dates for that would be starting on 10/18/12 - we could go earlier *have the UEA break be the end of our visit but we visited WDW early Oct 2009 *our 1st day was 10/1 and dang it was hot and humid - I'm hoping by visiting later in the month it'll be a bit better.

We probably won't make it back to DLR *after Thanksgiving* until 2013

 

[Thumper_Man]

We stay at my parents' timeshare (Worldmark Anaheim and Dolphin's Cove), so we have to make our reservations 13 months in advance. We will be there the first week of December, but haven't bought our tickets yet.

DW and I own the same timeshare. We've thought staying at one of these in the future. Right now we're saving our points for WDW next year. So the answer to OP's question is yes. We're already planning for December 2012 in WDW. We'll be staying at the World Mark resort over there. We need one of the two 3-bedroom units. So we have to book exactly at the 13 month mark.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

5 days in the park sounds awesome!

We've always done 3. Like when I was little..then we did 3 for honeymoon. This last time my inlaws took us and we did 5 days and it was AMAZING. It was relaxing instead of rushed. It's a lot more money but we also only go once every few years so I'd rather try to do it if possible.

Excel spreadsheet huh? Hmmmmmmm.... Now you're coming up on my level of obsessive scheduling ROFL. I hadn't thought of excel. MWAHAHAH

 

[Misskitty3]

Excel spreadsheet huh? Hmmmmmmm.... Now you're coming up on my level of obsessive scheduling ROFL. I hadn't thought of excel. MWAHAHAH

Hey now....I said no laughing!! Ha!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Hey now....I said no laughing!! Ha!

You didn't say no EVIL laughter. You've given me a new way to obsess