mshanson3121
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
- Messages
- 7,211
I just wanted to share my experience planning a somewhat "last minute" (62 days out) trip, especially compared to how we did it last time, planning 7 months out.
Lodging: this was the hardest part of all. Absolutely nothing in our "value" price range (and almost nothing in the moderate range) was available for our first two choice of dates (first two weeks of May), so we had to "settle" on a somewhat later date than we wanted (May 14-21).
Dining: I was actually pleasantly surprised at how many character dining options were left. Now, obviously the "biggies" like Akershus, Cinderella's Table etc... were gone. And breakfast character meals were fairly few and far between, but we snagged the one we wanted (1900 PF) and actually at a great time, too! However, there were several options left every day of our trip for lunch and supper. Supper times tended to be later (6:30-7:45), but again, at least there were options. For general table service meals (not character meals) there were plenty of options, for all three meals per day. For parties, there was no problem booking those at all. There was availability for every one Disney offers (we checked).
Experiences: to be fair, I wasn't trying to book Pirates League, BBB etc... I do know from our last trip BBB especially sells out extremely fast. So I doubt there would have been anything available. We did check for the Pirates & Pals Fireworks Voyage and there was availability every night. Early Morning Magic was also available at all parks - including Toy Story Land.
I know the big thing always being said for those trying to plan last minute is that there'll be nothing available. Aside from the rooms themselves, I definitely didn't find this to be the case. Now, to be fair, I know the first couple weeks of May are often booked up due to the cheerleading competitions, so I'm sure that was a factor in the lack of rooms. On the flip side, May isn't typically a busy time normally, and I'm guessing given the announced opening of SWGE, many are now waiting until August 29th, so perhaps it's lower than normal. Which may be why so much is still available for dining etc... I'm guessing that if you were 60 days out from August 29th trying to book a trip, you'd have a vastly different experience.
But overall, I honestly didn't find it any harder booking a trip at 2 months out, than 7 months out - other than it's more work all at once. Where before I had a month to think about our dining and several months to think about rides/Fast Passes etc... this time I had 2 days. I feel like I haven't left this computer. I'll be glad when tomorrow's FP+ bookings are done and I don't have to think about Disney again until we go! But all in all, we were able to get everything we wanted to, with using a bit of flexibility in our dates, and dining times. So, I definitely wouldn't hesitate to encourage someone to plan a last minute trip (granted, I'm sure availability does go down the closer you get). Just thought I'd share!
Lodging: this was the hardest part of all. Absolutely nothing in our "value" price range (and almost nothing in the moderate range) was available for our first two choice of dates (first two weeks of May), so we had to "settle" on a somewhat later date than we wanted (May 14-21).
Dining: I was actually pleasantly surprised at how many character dining options were left. Now, obviously the "biggies" like Akershus, Cinderella's Table etc... were gone. And breakfast character meals were fairly few and far between, but we snagged the one we wanted (1900 PF) and actually at a great time, too! However, there were several options left every day of our trip for lunch and supper. Supper times tended to be later (6:30-7:45), but again, at least there were options. For general table service meals (not character meals) there were plenty of options, for all three meals per day. For parties, there was no problem booking those at all. There was availability for every one Disney offers (we checked).
Experiences: to be fair, I wasn't trying to book Pirates League, BBB etc... I do know from our last trip BBB especially sells out extremely fast. So I doubt there would have been anything available. We did check for the Pirates & Pals Fireworks Voyage and there was availability every night. Early Morning Magic was also available at all parks - including Toy Story Land.
I know the big thing always being said for those trying to plan last minute is that there'll be nothing available. Aside from the rooms themselves, I definitely didn't find this to be the case. Now, to be fair, I know the first couple weeks of May are often booked up due to the cheerleading competitions, so I'm sure that was a factor in the lack of rooms. On the flip side, May isn't typically a busy time normally, and I'm guessing given the announced opening of SWGE, many are now waiting until August 29th, so perhaps it's lower than normal. Which may be why so much is still available for dining etc... I'm guessing that if you were 60 days out from August 29th trying to book a trip, you'd have a vastly different experience.
But overall, I honestly didn't find it any harder booking a trip at 2 months out, than 7 months out - other than it's more work all at once. Where before I had a month to think about our dining and several months to think about rides/Fast Passes etc... this time I had 2 days. I feel like I haven't left this computer. I'll be glad when tomorrow's FP+ bookings are done and I don't have to think about Disney again until we go! But all in all, we were able to get everything we wanted to, with using a bit of flexibility in our dates, and dining times. So, I definitely wouldn't hesitate to encourage someone to plan a last minute trip (granted, I'm sure availability does go down the closer you get). Just thought I'd share!
