Is it too early to plan? Fall 2022

[cbianco96]

I'm currently planning a big trip for Oct/Nov 2022. We originally wanted to do Oct/Nov 2021 for the 50th, but decided to postpone it because of COVID, and I think it'll be even better because of it. The combination of the 50th, Epcot's 40th, and the Halloween/Christmas transition is very exciting for me, so I've been obsessing a bit. I find the excitement of planning to be almost half the fun, so I don't think there's such a thing as planning too early.

 

[Davey Jones II]

People generally imagine that the standby lines will be the same now as when there was fast passes. But remember getting to the front of the standby line (if you ever took it) and then having it still take forever because it seemed they let 50 fast pass people through before letting a standby group through. Pre-fast passes, the headliner (Tier 1) lines were very long, and everything else was minimal. So, plan on riding the headliner rides when the lines are shortest, probably either at rope drop or just before close.

So wait times for everything else are now reasonable all day?

 

[Disneytrippin']

We are Canadians planning our first family trip (DH & I have been but not our DD's) I would have loved to go this fall but with COVID things are just too unpredictable so we are aiming for Oct 2022 instead and praying that life is a bit more "normal" by then.

I have severe anxiety and I work in a healthcare setting so covid does not help!! to keep my mind off things and focus on something positive and because I LOVE to plan I've started to make tentative plans/lists for our trip. DH thinks I'm being silly and getting too far ahead of myself. am I nuts? how far in advance do you all start planning?

I plan the next trip as soon as we get back. We are skipping this year which means I am planning 2 years in advance for our fall 2022 trip. That is how many people are able to afford Disney. I just do it for the joy of the journey. You aren't being silly and once he goes he won't ever call you silly again.

 

[shawthorne44]

So wait times for everything else are now reasonable all day?

For example, I looked at the predicted wait times for today. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (would have been a Tier 1 if it had tiers) looks to peak at about 60 minutes. Haunted Mansion is a little over 20 minutes. Pirates peaks late morning just under 60 minutes, but drops steadily after that to just under 30 minutes before closing. Space Mountain peaks at 33 and drops to 14 at the end of the day.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

I'm currently planning a big trip for Oct/Nov 2022. We originally wanted to do Oct/Nov 2021 for the 50th, but decided to postpone it because of COVID, and I think it'll be even better because of it. The combination of the 50th, Epcot's 40th, and the Halloween/Christmas transition is very exciting for me, so I've been obsessing a bit. I find the excitement of planning to be almost half the fun, so I don't think there's such a thing as planning too early.

That Halloween-to-Christmas transition is the BEST! While you don’t get the full Christmas experience, you do get plenty, plus you get two “seasons” in one trip. We went to MNSSHP on Oct 31, and 11 days later, MVMCP. Loved it!

Also, you can find sales on Halloween merchandise, as well as the shop for Christmas stuff. I would love to do this again.

 

[Davey Jones II]

For example, I looked at the predicted wait times for today. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (would have been a Tier 1 if it had tiers) looks to peak at about 60 minutes. Haunted Mansion is a little over 20 minutes. Pirates peaks late morning just under 60 minutes, but drops steadily after that to just under 30 minutes before closing. Space Mountain peaks at 33 and drops to 14 at the end of the day.

Where are these predictions posted? They are generally accurate?

 

[rideswithchrist]

We are also thinking Fall 2022. We want to be there for the 50th, but we still have some debts we are paying off. Disney will be a little reward for our payoff, plus birthdays for my hubby and eldest.

 

[shawthorne44]

Where are these predictions posted? They are generally accurate?

Over at TouringPlans.com. Line wait-times is their thing. Anyone can go to look at the wait times for the immediate future. Where it shines is when you get a subscription and the app. You tell it what rides/shows/meals you want to see/do, then how fast you want to walk, and it comes up with a touring plan that tells you what rides in what order. Since it is an app, while there you can click "Optimize" and it reorders things left on your list with the latest data. When there was fast passes, you could enter those in your plans. Once you have a subscription you can see a graph of predicted wait times for each ride and each day of your trip.

It seems to be pretty accurate. Immediately when they opened up there was problems because they don't have any data on current Disney rides with no fast passes. The frequent and unpredictable ride cleaning schedule caused a problem too.

One advantage they have is they never deliberately inflate certain wait times for example just before closing, unlike Disney and to some extent Universal. Since everyone that is in line before parks close, can ride, they don't want a bunch of people getting in lines right at parks close. So a 20 minute wait is reported as a 60 minute to discourage people from getting in line.

 

[Chughes812]

That Halloween-to-Christmas transition is the BEST! While you don’t get the full Christmas experience, you do get plenty, plus you get two “seasons” in one trip. We went to MNSSHP on Oct 31, and 11 days later, MVMCP. Loved it!

Also, you can find sales on Halloween merchandise, as well as the shop for Christmas stuff. I would love to do this again.

Just booked non refundable for this spring and now thinking ahead to Fall 2022. Love this idea. Will have to see if I can talk DH into another extended trip. We shall see how this upcoming one goes.

 

[Shughart]

We're planning December 2022, but I just can't pull the trigger and book, because what if things open back up and we can go 2021

 

[shawthorne44]

We're planning December 2022, but I just can't pull the trigger and book, because what if things open back up and we can go 2021

That doesn't seem like a problem. Book December 2022 and when/if 2021 looks possible then book that. No lose. If after the 2021 trip you don't want to or can't do the 2022 trip, then cancel it.
I think as things ramp up, that demand will exceed supply.

 

[LiveLifeLoud]

I always start planning a year or more out. We only go every 2-3ish years so when we’re back from a trip I’m not planning another Disney trip right away but I’m thinking about it. Within a year I’m thinking of dates and when we’d like to go. Usually 18 or so months ahead I’ve locked in new dates (in my head). Then for the next few months I think about leaving a day early, or maybe two days earlier, or coming back a day later until I’m officially set on dates. We usually officially book about 11-12 months ahead. This gives me time to slowly pay it off.

We’re planning for November 2022 and I’m set on dates but can’t book yet. I would love to rent points to stay at BCV but I’m afraid to. We won’t go if Disney isn’t closer to normal and we won’t go if masks are required. (We are not anti maskers but we don’t want to wear them on vacation). I also don’t want to purchase tickets from a reseller for the same issue.

So I’ll be working with my travel agent who gets conference rates at times. This why I can cancel without penalty. I’m hoping we can get beach club at a semi decent price but if not I would prefer POFQ if it’s open.

In the meantime I make lists of restaurants we want to do, QS places we’d like to try, must do snacks, how much time we’d like in each park, any new rides, bars/lounges we’d like to go to.

Now that my kids are older and my youngest graduates HS in 2024, DH and I are discussing an adult only trip in 2024. So once I’m back from my 2022 trip I may be planning our next trip. I’m already thinking of when should we go (no worrying about school schedules!), food and wine time?, where we should stay or where we should eat. With lots of time in Epcot.

Basically Disney is always on the brain. Lol

 

[Shughart]

That doesn't seem like a problem. Book December 2022 and when/if 2021 looks possible then book that. No lose. If after the 2021 trip you don't want to or can't do the 2022 trip, then cancel it.
I think as things ramp up, that demand will exceed supply.

We buy tickets from UT and stay off site, so while it's all refundable it's not as quick/easy as cancelling a disney package I only paid a $200 deposit for lol.

 

[TaraWasHere]

I am happily planning for June 2022 like Covid will be a distant memory. It's been a rough year, and planning makes me happy. Talking about planning makes me happy. So I say it's never to early to start.

 

[CindysMice]

I agree - never too early to start planning!! However I’m finding it hard to plan for my Jan 2022 trip right now as I’m clueless what the parks will be like then. ADRs aren’t as tough as I’m pretty confident most, if not all, restaurants will return, but FP are tough as I’m not sure what that will look like.

 

[shawthorne44]

I agree - never too early to start planning!! However I’m finding it hard to plan for my Jan 2022 trip right now as I’m clueless what the parks will be like then. ADRs aren’t as tough as I’m pretty confident most, if not all, restaurants will return, but FP are tough as I’m not sure what that will look like.

Yeah, I'll be there then too. I have the house booked (and therefore the dates). But, I can't wrap my mind around making park reservations this far out. I'm in the camp that FP+ won't return in the same format as before. I'm hoping for a MaxPass system.

 

[CindysMice]

Yeah, I'll be there then too. I have the house booked (and therefore the dates). But, I can't wrap my mind around making park reservations this far out. I'm in the camp that FP+ won't return in the same format as before. I'm hoping for a MaxPass system.

Yep same for me. I’m nervous what the price will be as I feel like FP make it so much more enjoyable and I’m going to be tempted even if it’s astronomical. I did made our park reservations, but feel like they are pointless. Till I know where and when my ADRs and FPs are, I don’t know what park we will be need to be in the mornings. I ended up just booking what I think will be the least crowded park each day, but I’m hoping it won’t be hard to swap around for my party of 4 after I make ADRs and hopefully FPS. Also I’m praying FP isn’t 60 days out when it remerges because just thinking about booking them and ADRs at the same time gives me anxiety lol. I don’t think they will do that but who knows lol.

 

[shawthorne44]

The Max Pass was pretty reasonably priced. Also, everything was day-of. From memory you could do it for free, but reserve at the ride, or pay a small fee to use your phone. Paris had an interesting variation. I started to get envious so I stopped looking into it.

 

[c3h3a3r]

DH and I are booked off site for a 14 night stay Nov 1st 2022 and I have just ordered tickets, but there's not info for crowds etc. So I am unsure whether it's worth booking park days at this point Thoughts please?

Will Halloween decorations still be up on the 2nd Nov and when do they start putting up Christmas decorations?

Thanks in advance.

 

[shawthorne44]

I've been giving the park reservations a lot of thought. I think that they will keep them around even after things return to normal but they won't be checked unless the park might reach capacity. Even pre-lockdown there were days that they reached capacity and people were turned away. Being turned away irritates people even if they did something stupid like arrive at 2pm on the busiest day of the year. So, park reservations give Disney some cover. Disney also likes to rank guests with onsite guests over offsite and ticketed over AP locals. They've grouped the park reservations by guest type so it is possible for an offsite AP guest to not get a reservation, but a onsite guest can. Disney likes that. Park reservations automatically prioritizes guests who travel in, and make ADR's etc and therefore already know which park on which day.