Too early to start planning 2022?- Easter/April Vacation

[murphy625]

I just googled Good Friday 2022 and saw it coincides with our school vacation here in MA. Public school teacher- Yay! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge on Easter 2002 which I think was in March that year. It was sooooo packed but one of my favorite trips. The cast members kept saying it was busier due to Easter backing into spring break. So I have to start thinking about banking/borrowing (BRV) to make it happen!

The past few years have been hard to coordinate since college schedules and public school/teacher schedules don't match up (and don't like to travel over the winter holidays), but my youngest will be done next year so hoping they can taking some time adult vacation time off in April -plus Patriots day up here as well. My youngest was 3 for that trip and my grand-daughter will be 3 for this trip.

I was surprised my Annual Pass was not blacked out for April 2020 vacation but I'm assuming it will be in 2022 due to Easter. And the points were not that bad when booking April vacation 2020. How far in advance do they come out with points charts and blackout dates?

Thanks!

 

[LittleFishy101]

Assume that a gold AP will have blackout dated around Christmas/new year and easter, whenever it falls.

 

[Matty B13]

Airfare during that week will be very expensive, along with the number of points for a villa.

 

[Marionnette]

I just googled Good Friday 2022 and saw it coincides with our school vacation here in MA. Public school teacher- Yay! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge on Easter 2002 which I think was in March that year. It was sooooo packed but one of my favorite trips. The cast members kept saying it was busier due to Easter backing into spring break. So I have to start thinking about banking/borrowing (BRV) to make it happen!

The past few years have been hard to coordinate since college schedules and public school/teacher schedules don't match up (and don't like to travel over the winter holidays), but my youngest will be done next year so hoping they can taking some time adult vacation time off in April -plus Patriots day up here as well. My youngest was 3 for that trip and my grand-daughter will be 3 for this trip.

I was surprised my Annual Pass was not blacked out for April vacation but I'm assuming it will be in 2020 due to Easter. And the points were not that bad when booking April vacation 2020. How far in advance do they come out with points charts and blackout dates?

Thanks!

The Gold AP was blacked out this year beginning on Palm Sunday. I would expect the same for every Easter week, regardless of when it falls. Blackout dates for Easter 2022 will be published no later than 51 weeks prior to that date so that anyone purchasing an AP or redeeming a voucher is aware of the restrictions right from the beginning.

Points charts for the next year will be released no later than Jan. 1. That is done so that members can book December vacations at the 11-month mark.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Hey New England neighbor...although it is early I would certainly lay out all your plans with notes on your calendar when you can book what. We ALL want to go to WDW that time of year and my hubby gets GF off, so I've been thinking about it too, but I think we'll wait for F & W when we can get decent flights etc. on SW (direct) from MHT. I agree with OP that prices will be high but I always try to book the day the dates are released when I usually do pretty well! It is never too early to plan a trip to WDW so plan on!!

 

[murphy625]

Airfare during that week will be very expensive, along with the number of points for a villa.

yes its the worst. Right now I'm looking at $800 rt/direct for school vacation 2020. I actually might need to add on a day or two to get it down.

 

[Matty B13]

yes its the worst. Right now I'm looking at $800 rt/direct for school vacation 2020. I actually might need to add on a day or two to get it down.

We do a February vacation the years that Easter falls on our April MA School vacation weeks. Between the points and airfare, it is to rich for our blood.

 

[kniquy]

How far in advance do they come out with points charts and blackout dates?

The gold AP will be blacked out -- I had this happen when i traveled in 2017 Easter fell right at the beginning of school vacation, but luckily that was when they had the DVC platinum deal on AP. They should have the points charts out at least by the end of 2020. you could look back at what the point charts looked like for 2017 - that is when Easter fell at the beginning out our April school vacation. So if you are on the same schedule as us then use that point chart to get an idea of what the point cost will be. You could increase it by 10% just in case they play around with the points charts and make it even more expensive.

I do agree with @Matty B13 -- Airfare will be insane. We live in MA and simply for our April vacation 2018 (not around Easter) the flights were in the $450 range flying out of BDL. This was booking as soon as SW flights came out and the prices never dropped. Of course we were flying out on Saturday morning but oh my was the magical express area packed - wall to wall people. On the other hand when I did travel in 2017 I left on the Tuesday right after Easter- the flight was cheaper as Tuesdays are usually the cheapest and magical express was a ghost town. The parks themselves were not that bad with a good plan of attack. I think the week before Easter is worse than the week after.

Funny if you are asking if it is too early to plan -- I was just plotting out our point usage for our 2020 trip, 2021 trip and figuring out where we go for 2022. I don't want to be caught with my pants down and no points in my account.

 

[drusba]

The blackout period for the Gold Pass during the Easter break has been the same every year since its inception--from the Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, through the Friday after Easter, for a total of 14 nights. In 2020, the period is thus April 4 through 17. In 2022, it will be April 9 through 22.

Annual point charts for any given calendar year are typically released a bit more than one year before a year begins, e.g.,for 2022, they will likely be released late December 2020. They need to be released by no later than Jan 25 of the year before because beginning Jan 26 of any year, members can start making 7 night reservations at 11 months out that include the night of Jan 1 of the next year.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

The Gold AP was blacked out this year beginning on Palm Sunday. I would expect the same for every Easter week, regardless of when it falls. Blackout dates for Easter 2022 will be published no later than 51 weeks prior to that date so that anyone purchasing an AP or redeeming a voucher is aware of the restrictions right from the beginning.

Points charts for the next year will be released no later than Jan. 1. That is done so that members can book December vacations at the 11-month mark.

You've been around far longer than I have so please have patience with me. I would think the charts would need to be out by Feb 1 so that Jan 1 bookings could take place at the 11-month mark.

 

[Marionnette]

You've been around far longer than I have so please have patience with me. I would think the charts would need to be out by Feb 1 so that Jan 1 bookings could take place at the 11-month mark.

Actually. @drusba has the date right. Feb. 25 so that members booking Dec 26 - Jan 2 stays know what it will cost to book the night of Jan. 1

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Actually. @drusba has the date right. Feb. 25 so that members booking Dec 26 - Jan 2 stays know what it will cost to book the night of Jan. 1

Got it. Thanks.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I just googled Good Friday 2022 and saw it coincides with our school vacation here in MA. Public school teacher- Yay! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge on Easter 2002 which I think was in March that year. It was sooooo packed but one of my favorite trips. The cast members kept saying it was busier due to Easter backing into spring break. So I have to start thinking about banking/borrowing (BRV) to make it happen!

The past few years have been hard to coordinate since college schedules and public school/teacher schedules don't match up (and don't like to travel over the winter holidays), but my youngest will be done next year so hoping they can taking some time adult vacation time off in April -plus Patriots day up here as well. My youngest was 3 for that trip and my grand-daughter will be 3 for this trip.

I was surprised my Annual Pass was not blacked out for April 2020 vacation but I'm assuming it will be in 2022 due to Easter. And the points were not that bad when booking April vacation 2020. How far in advance do they come out with points charts and blackout dates?

Thanks!

You can also get some idea of what to expect for points from the current charts as the Premier Season for Easter always goes from Palm Sunday thru the Sat following Easter afaik. April 10-23rd, 2022 will be Premier Season. DVC may adjust the points required but it's unlikely they will change the dates of the Premier Season so you can expect them to be the highest possible.

 

[DebbieB]

Actually. @drusba has the date right. Feb. 25 so that members booking Dec 26 - Jan 2 stays know what it will cost to book the night of Jan. 1

January 25. Last year they released the new charts earlier than that, then all the complaints happened. They changed them back I believe January 24. They will likely try it again, I would be surprised if they are released early.