So is it too early to start to plan?

[Soozeej]

Hi all!! I used this board a few years ago when we went to disney in paris, we have now decided to save to tak the kids to florida in a few years time, hoping to go 2014 as both dh and I turn 40 that year!! By then the children will be 13/14, 10/11 and 3 depending on whether we go April or October. I don't even know where to start and I got sooo many helpful tips before going to Paris that I decided the best place to start was right here I know its a while away but we are so excited, my 7 year old says the best day of his life will be when he is in America
Will be lots and lots of questions coming your way guys!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Although it seems a long time away at the moment it will come around quickly, I'm sure.

It is never too early to plan and you can certainly start researching where you'd like to stay and when you want to go. Although you won't be able to book anything just yet, it doesn't hurt to have an idea in your head of what you want so, when the time comes, you can concentrate on getting the best price

When we booked our October holiday, we had almost two years to go and now we are down to 6 months

 

[joolz1910]

I started planning/saving in 2009. I booked my trip for Oct 2012 last month. I say, start planning now!

 

[starrysky]

I would say its not too early to plan.

First off I would start thinking about where you want to stay and how long for and go from there. Onsite or off, villa or hotel you have loads of options.

October is a great time to go with all the events that are on, did go in the April as a kid but it was 20 years ago so can't really advise on that.

happy planning

 

[2Tiggies]

At this early stage I think you can really make the most of a long countdown.

I would take a different approach however. I wouldn't even start thinking about where to stay, what tickets to get, whether to do the DDP .... none of that just yet.

How about setting yourself a challenge to tackle one aspect of Disney World each month/every other month for the next year. Getting your mind around all the ins and outs of the way things are done, what is available and just really thorough research is great fun, essential for planning in my opinion and you are in a better position to eliminate things that don't appeal to you and start short listing the ones that do. It also gives you plenty time to change your mind several times before you eventually settle on where to stay, how to do it and what you want to do.

 

[Soozeej]

Thank you so much for the lovely welcome back, I love the idea of planning a part at a time and think I will try to do that as otherwise its overwhelming and i don't know where to start!!

I am thinking already that we will be looking for a villa as there will be 5 of us and the older 2 will be needing a bit more space, dd will be 13 going on 14. My reasons for thinking of April are more to do with the schooling that they will miss if we go for October, weather wise is it much the same? I guess Easter is a busy time. I am going to love all this planning think I will be here lots reading all the threads and getting tips!

 

[Pegasus928]

Hi - and welcome back

Weather wise I would say that April are very similar - not too hot but enought that you know you are on holiday. There may be variations on that as when we went in October is was unseasonably humid, and we have also been in April when it was hotter than normal.
Crowds are also likely to be higher in April due to Easter and Spring break. Lots of high school tour groups which some people find noisy and intimidating, but they are really just a load of kids having fun.
We have hired a villa every time we have been, so if you need any help on that score just ask

 

[loobzuk]

I have done far more planning for our August trip than ever before - I've read countless guidebooks and we even have family meetings to discuss our itinerary. The children have really enjoyed looking on line at video clips and photos and when deciding what restaurants we'd like to visit they've enjoyed looking at the menu's on the internet.

I started planning this time last year for August this year and the planning has helped the time to go really quickly. It's also enabled us to save and buy things more slowly (for example we bought tickets for Kennedy Space Center in January when there was a special offer) and we were ready at the 180 day mark to make our all important reservations.

Now as we approach final invoice payment day and our countdown is almost into double digits, the excitement is really building!

So I wouldn't say it's too early to plan, it's enjoyable and sould hopefully make for a trip that is everything you want it to be - I wish I'd planned our previous trips as thoroughly.

 

[Disneytinker]

I have loved the planning stage of my holiday, and i started planning well over a year ago and now its nearly time

My husband thinks i am mad as i am always researching something, but i have really enjoyed it and i feel that all the planning has made me even the more exited

 

[VailaTigger]

Never too early to start researching and planning!!

As for April, we did that for the 1st time last year, and we had fab weather (dry and 80 degrees most days), and the crowds weren't quite as bad as I was expecting. However, we did have a pretty military plan of attack for our park days, up early, get the big crowd-pullers done, then slow down, and have a rest in the afternoons!

Happy planning!

 

[Soozeej]

Hi everyone
original plan was florida 2014 but we are now seriously looking to see if its feasible to go March or July 2013. I have started looking at prices and trying to narrow down my options. Originally we thought a villa would be estter for us but friends have said that for our first trip we might be better in a hotel with everything to hand and transfers etc to the parks i do like the idea of not having to cook and clean which you get from a hotel but I guess we would mostly eat out anyway and with a 2 year old it might be better to have our own space, give him breakfast in the villa then jump in the car and head off to the park Park wise I am still looking into them all and the best ticket angles. Liking magic kingdom, epcot and seaworld. going to go for 2 weeks but also know that I need to factor in a couple of rest days esp for the kids. How many parks would you think was possible to properl getting full enjoyment? how many days in each? kids love idea of water parks too. They will be 12,9 and 2 when we go....if we manage next year I have been reading these boards all weekend, you are all so much help

 

[suw33]

Susie

I could almost be reading our story when I read yours!

I too used this board for lots of great advice when we went to DLRP in May 2010.

We are planning to go to WDW end of May 2014 (also DH's 40th). DD will be 10 so it's before she starts secondary school and DS will be 6. Hopefully it's an OK time of year to go.

We're thinking villa as we'd like to do things other than the parks and like the freedom of villa holidays (we stay in one every year in Spain) and not being restricted to eating, etc when they specify. Also I couldn't be cooped up in one room with the kids for two weeks;-)

I've found some great tips looking on this forum about WDW and the area. Just wish it was the time when we could book;-)

I intend to keep reading everyone's posts, trip reports which are fab and put some notes together of what we will want to do. I'll be keeping an eye out for that all important '2014 bookings now open' post, then once we're booked do some serious planning.

Happy planning

Su

 

[darthtatty]

its never too early

we plan to go for our 10th wedding anniversary and my 40th birthday

 

[Terkina]

It's not to early to start planning
I started planning our trip to the USA for february 2013 in August 2011. I still have a lot of planning to do before I'm done since we are going on a road trip in the USA for 3 weeks as well as going to Disney.

I have been passing the time reading trip reports here on the forums and writing notes on what to do in Disney, where to eat and so on and I have been watching A LOT of videos on Youtube from the parks and other Disney stuff. Finally the time came when I could book our flights and our Disney vacation.

Planning is so much fun and you can never get enough of it before you know it the time has come to book your vacation.

Happy planning

 

[bex7583]

no its not too early but i have been in the planning stage a while and still really struggling , the more i research the more i find we want to do but i do find it usefull to have a outline plan and get a few dummy quotes fo rthe time of year then you have a idea of what to budget for your trip etc

its great fun planning and everybody on here has been so helpful

 

[mollies_mum]

It's never too early I've been planning our October 2013 trip since we came back in October 2011!
You can be starting to look at hotels, what parks you want to visit, where you want to eat etc etc...
You can also do dummy bookings to keep an eye on prices so you know how much to budget for (that's my personal favourite)
Have fun, everyone here is sooo helpful, I'm doing DIY this time, I would never be confident enough to do that if it wasn't for all the great advice here