Question for those going in December 2005

[FirstTimertoDiz]

What all have you done so far for your trip? I am trying to plan a surprise trip for my husband and son, tentatively for Dec 9 -14. I have no tickets or anything yet- should I start now, or wait a little longer?

What tickets/plans do you already have done? Am I too far behind already?!?!

Lisa

 

[beattyfamily]

I'm going end of Nov thru the first week of Dec and I booked my room first as soon as I could (11 months out). Then I booked the airfare as soon as I could. Got a pretty good rate of $660 for the 4 of us out of Boston.

I have also booked my rental car at National for 8 days at $149 including all taxes and fees and now the rate is over $400!! I think it's because I arrive the day after Thanksgiving though.

I have also already purchased the special event tickets to "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party".

I have also bought special Disney Christmas T-shirts that were on clearance at the Disney Store for $4 for my 2 girls and my niece to wear down there.

I have also bought matching personalized shirts for my family to wear on MY 40th Birthday!! Couldn't resist since they were on sale at www.disneydirect.com!

I have also already bought some Disney Dollars for spending money down there.

I still need to buy our Annual Passes and our Universal passes and book the PS in August/Sept.

I like doing everything I can early on. Sometimes you get a better rate that way too.

 

[SherryNC]

I'm going end of Nov thru the first week of Dec and I booked my room first as soon as I could (11 months out). Then I booked the airfare as soon as I could. Got a pretty good rate of $660 for the 4 of us out of Boston.

I have also booked my rental car at National for 8 days at $149 including all taxes and fees and now the rate is over $400!! I think it's because I arrive the day after Thanksgiving though.

I have also already purchased the special event tickets to "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party".

I have also bought special Disney Christmas T-shirts that were on clearance at the Disney Store for $4 for my 2 girls and my niece to wear down there.

I have also bought matching personalized shirts for my family to wear on MY 40th Birthday!! Couldn't resist since they were on sale at www.disneydirect.com!

I have also already bought some Disney Dollars for spending money down there.

I still need to buy our Annual Passes and our Universal passes and book the PS in August/Sept.

I like doing everything I can early on. Sometimes you get a better rate that way too.

You must be a professional.

We are flying in on the 2nd and out on the 11th. Have not bought tickets. That's all I know so far. I suddenly feel in a panic though.

 

[tlbwriter]

I've already booked our rooms - with the MYW plan, I think more guests might be staying onsite, and I was afraid we'd run out of choices. If I were planning to attend the MVMCP, I would have already bought tickets for that as well.

 

[sue1013]

We are going Dec 3-10. So far I've booked the room and airfare. We have AP's no need to get tickets. We aren't doing MVMCP so there's nothing else to do for a while.

 

[paladin]

We are going in December from the 4th through the 14th. We already have the hotel booked (though not paid for) and the tickets (paid for). Once nice thing about doing things now is that you can spread out the paying for things (a little bit here, a little bit there). Anxiously awaiting Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages so I can book and pay for as soon as they come out.

 

[ccgegg]

You have plenty of time, but depending on your trip specifics, you may want to get started.... especially if you're planning to eat at LTT prior to MVMCP. The most desireable PS time slots for LTT are booking up. MVMCP tickets themselves might start selling out in a couple months for the most desirable dates.

We have our resort booked, but only because we're renting points from a DVC owner. I wanted to do that before the 7-month window opened up and DVC owners could book outside of their "home" resort. (Thanks again, schatterjee!!) It's a popular time for DVC owners to go.

I'm holding out on airfare til Southwest can sell my dates. Plus, there aren't any good ones out there right now.

We have park passes left from our trip in Feb.

We haven't started packing yet.

 

[kandmwedding]

DH and I are going this December. So far we have our room booked, and DU is on the lookout for codes for us. I'm keeping my eye on SW's air schedule and will buy when they've opened up December. I have my ticket (an AP) but still need to get a MYW ticket for DH. We have tickets for MVMCP and a PS (AR) for LTT the night of the party. I'm not planning much else until we get closer to the 90 mark. I'm too busy working on my June all girls trip.

 

[chipmunkfan]

I am going Dec 2-9. I have the room, airfare, and MVMCP tickets booked. I have also been buying shirts and sweatshirts from disneydeals.com...oh yeah, just purchased a few pins from disneyauctions.com. I am trying to be proactive by buying items ahead of time to avoid any temptation

 

[erinz]

We'll be there Dec 3rd to the 12th. I booked the room last December. And I've made LTT reservations for MVMCP on Dec 6th, but haven't bought the party tickets yet. We've been checking daily for good air rates, but still haven't found any. I think once we pay for our airline tickets, it will all become real.

 

[Dooda]

So far we've only gotten our condo booked. Still haven't made up my mind about whether or not to go to MVMCP yet. Waiting for Southwest to release their December info. Oh, we'll be there Dec. 3-10.

 

[ChrisNif]

We're traveling December 2nd-11th (just in time to see the annual passes expire). We have reservations, im driving the car i own so no rental needed. And i have reminders in Outlook at my office to start calling every morning Sept 3rd and on to get the CRT breakfast

Chris

 

[liznboys]

oops, double post.

 

[liznboys]

First, your son is such a cutie!

What I have done:
Room booked
MVMCP tickets bought
LTT booked for MVMCP night
Annual Passes bought

To do:
Buy plane tickets
Plan transportation from/to MCO
Make other Advanced Reservations
Plan which parks/attractions/activities for each day


That's all I can think of right now!

 

[7thdwarf/dopey]

What all have you done so far for your trip? I am trying to plan a surprise trip for my husband and son, tentatively for Dec 9 -14. I have no tickets or anything yet- should I start now, or wait a little longer?

What tickets/plans do you already have done? Am I too far behind already?!?!

Lisa

Aloha FirstTimertoDiz,

Looks like our families will be at WDW during the same time

Yes... If I were you I would at least book your room NOW. Dont take any chances since you are trying to plan a wonderful surprise for you family.

If you are a AAA member absolutley book now because they are going fast.
They discount the room portion of your package if you go with the MYW package. Usually during the value season (your dates) the value and moderate resorts get a 20% off room portion of package and the deluxes get 15%off same. Fort Wilderness gets 20% off also.
I have noticed that this year with AAA room only ressies, they either are being booked at a very fast rate or didnt get as many blocks as usual.

Aloha,
Gary

 

[Therapeutic Smile]

DGF and I are going Dec 11-17.

Done so far:
Picked our dates
Planning budgets

To do:
Decide on whether to get AP for AP rates
Buy AP/MYW tix
Book rooms
Wait for room-only or package codes
Possibly change everything
Book flight
Save money

Last year I went Dec 10-14 and didn't really start planning/booking for real until 100 days out... I'm using it as my rule of thumb again this year, but just planning ahead right now (205 days, 14 hours and counting until our red-eye flight)

Will try to travel Southwest, possibly... those flights won't be availble for another couple months. Alternatively, I'll be keeping my eye on sidestep.com, regardless of airline, to try to hit the $200/ea mark (from Northern California) which I was able to get last year... actually, last November I went from SFO to MCO on business, I bought my flight in September and got round-trip, non-stop for about $260... so if I can get that, I might... though red-eyes are not usually nonstop, and we want to sleep on the flight and maximize the first-day fun!

At any rate... the point of my post is that last year, I booked my stuff at about 80-100 days out... including MVMCP and PS's... and never got turned down for a thing that I wanted. So chill

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

I think I see everyone else plans, and I panic because I have nothing done yet! I just got a quote today from DU, and I think I may book my room through them- my quote was $345.00 for 5 nights at ASMo, tax included. Pretty good deal I think. Now I just have to find the number to get my MVMCP tickets, and I will get that next I guess.

Ok, feeling better...things are coming along....

Lisa

 

[mickey58729]

We are going Dec 2-10th and here is what we have done:

Booked MYW package with Dining Option - staying at Pop w/7 day hopper
Purchased and Received MVMCP Tickets (12/8)
Reserved LTT for MVMCP
Purchased Airline tickets
Reserved Mini Van with National
Picked all the places we want to eat at with the dining package

Still have to do:

Buy Universal & Sea World Tickets
Pay off the MYW Package
Make my PS seating reservations in Sept

Can't wait for December to get here!!!!

 

[MICKEEP]

Going 12/17 thru 12/26

Airfair - done

Booked room - Made about four hotel and about three category changes before we settled on AKL and CSR. Last change was to cancel room only for CSR thru CRO and book CSR with tickets and the Dining plan thru AAA.

Purchased and recieved tickets to MVMCP

Booked a keys to the Kingdom tour for 12/22

 

[Danauk]

We are going December 21st - January 2nd. So far we have:
booked our flights,
booked our rooms (BCV using DVC points)
booked 2 tours (Backstage magic for 23rd Dec and segway tour for 27th Dec.)
decided what to do on what day

Still to do: Sort out hire car
Book tickets (plus tickets to universal and Busch Gardens.)
Book hotel room at airport and parking for trip
Make PS at 90 day window - we know where we will be eating and on what night.
Get some dollars

I love planning which is why I have done so much already. Plus at Christmas I know it is going to be busy so I want to be ready to book things as we can so I am not dissapointed.