Reservation Sell Out

[Critter3]

There is probably a lot that can effect the answer to my question, but I am planning to be at Disneyland May 20-23 (4 days) and I’m in Canada and because of Covid I am trying to hold out as long as possible before I commit since tickets aren’t cancellable. So my question is, when do you recommend I need to commit and get my tickets and reserve the parks? Do reservations fill up a typical amount of time prior to the date (e.g. a month out)? This would be friday to Monday. I’m guessing the Grad nights on the 20 and 21 could affect this as well. Thanks

 

[MikeRx]

It it helps ease your mind, tickets from Undercover Tourist are refundable….They say there is a 5% restocking fee, but I called to cancel a ticket last week and they did not charge me a return fee, but we did buy another ticket (with Genie +) so it was more of a swap/upgrade then a refund. They have fast processing of tickets so that you can link and get park reservations and wonderful customer service.

 

[MikeRx]

If you have a resort reservation there is a far better chance that there will be availability. If you are off property there is a chance that a weekend could book up, but recent history (post Christmas) has seen far better availability, but be more cautious.

 

[Critter3]

Thanks Mike. We’ll be staying off resort (HOJO). Good to know about UT. I’m waiting for the travel agent I have been chatting with (originally went through him for tickets in 2020 before we had to cancel - because of insurance we got a refund) to get back from his own vacation, but I’ll hopefully be chatting with him in the next week. I’ll have to see what he says and if he has any advice. The 5% would be cheaper than the insurance for sure, but there is more to our trip (road trip).
The other reason I wanted to try and wait is to see if there would be any sales now that things are opening up. There used to be a sale for Canadians so I’m holding out hope that it comes back .

 

[smartlabelprint]

There are sell outs in February. You can look at the calendar. I wouldn’t go this close for late spring though.

 

[Critter3]

Yeah my fear is seeing April start to be booked up and then when I go to book May it becomes sold out, lol.

 

[cndkanga]

I am in the exact same situation! I am holding out until them moment I hear about the travel changes this week and then I'll hop on and purchase my tickets if the changes seem like they will work for us...just hope that everyone in Canada isn't planning to do the same thing! We have booked the hotel (Hojo too). I guess worst case is I have to cancel the reservation tickets and wait to use them another time. As this is our second try at getting down there for a vacation we are used to having to make adjustments and even if this time doesn't work I know we will get down there eventually so the tickets won't go to waste.

 

[StormyCA]

Thanks Mike. We’ll be staying off resort (HOJO). Good to know about UT. I’m waiting for the travel agent I have been chatting with (originally went through him for tickets in 2020 before we had to cancel - because of insurance we got a refund) to get back from his own vacation, but I’ll hopefully be chatting with him in the next week. I’ll have to see what he says and if he has any advice. The 5% would be cheaper than the insurance for sure, but there is more to our trip (road trip).
The other reason I wanted to try and wait is to see if there would be any sales now that things are opening up. There used to be a sale for Canadians so I’m holding out hope that it comes back .

One thing to remember, if you book a package through WDTC the whole thing is refundable (including the tickets). I think HoJo is on the 'Good Neighbor' list.

We always 'package it' when we go to WDW for that reason. We RV cross country and if we should have to cancel we don't want to be 'stuck' with WDW tickets when we just don't know when (or if) our next trip would be.

 

[Critter3]

WDTC is the Disney site, right? I looked there and the tickets (with hotel) is considerably higher than buying them separately. Separately (and a better room) is about $2850 for 4 days and through the package it’s $3600. I have already pre booked the hotel using AAA.

 

[StormyCA]

WDTC is the Disney site, right? I looked there and the tickets (with hotel) is considerably higher than buying them separately. Separately (and a better room) is about $2850 for 4 days and through the package it’s $3600. I have already pre booked the hotel using AAA.

Yes, it is. I'm surprised. When we've booked packages the WDTC prices have always been within a few bucks of the price for separate purchase, sometimes even cheaper if they have a 'package special' going on. We stay onsite, maybe that's why. Maybe you can get a better rate for an offsite hotel booking directly.

 

[Critter3]

Yeah this is for HoJo Waterpark. I have prebooked the Building 1 (which I understand is updated and away from the traffic) with Queen and bunk beds for 5 nights for $1100. Then the tickets for 4 days will be about $1700. That includes the taxes. But for the package, and a Room with 2Queen (don’t think it said a building) it was $3600.

 

[pokee99]

I'm from Canada and I bought hopper tickets in January because I figured they may go up in price. I figured if travel restrictions didn't loosen up, I'd just change my reservations to sometime in the summer.

Because our govt is lame, and still requires us to test to even cross at land borders, I just changed my entire March vacation to ensure we'd have enough time to quarantine in Bellingham before school starts again, in case one of us tests positive. I know someone else on the boards who did that, too. I'm hoping they just remove the testing by then, but at least we're prepared in case they don't, and aren't at their mercy anymore!!!

Changing my reservations for each day was easy... but mid March was filling up fast, so I got lucky!

 

[Kender]

Yeah this is for HoJo Waterpark. I have prebooked the Building 1 (which I understand is updated and away from the traffic) with Queen and bunk beds for 5 nights for $1100. Then the tickets for 4 days will be about $1700. That includes the taxes. But for the package, and a Room with 2Queen (don’t think it said a building) it was $3600.

California does not charge sales tax on entertainment tickets (this includes theme park tickets). No authorized retailer should be charging you sales tax. Many of them do charge a service fee of some sort in a line labeled "taxes and fees", though, to hide that they charge fees.

 

[Critter3]

I'm from Canada and I bought hopper tickets in January because I figured they may go up in price. I figured if travel restrictions didn't loosen up, I'd just change my reservations to sometime in the summer.

Because our govt is lame, and still requires us to test to even cross at land borders, I just changed my entire March vacation to ensure we'd have enough time to quarantine in Bellingham before school starts again, in case one of us tests positive. I know someone else on the boards who did that, too. I'm hoping they just remove the testing by then, but at least we're prepared in case they don't, and aren't at their mercy anymore!!!

Changing my reservations for each day was easy... but mid March was filling up fast, so I got lucky!

I am hoping/thinking they wouldn’t increase ticket costs because they just increased in Oct (I think it was).

The requirement for PCR is dropping at month end but you still have to do a rapid test. Yeah I’ll be getting some sort of insurance so that if we do test positive it won’t cost us. Because we are doing a big road trip I am more worried about catching it along the way or right before Disney which totally screws up our trip if we have to isolate/quarantine.