What is the absolute latest to plan a DLR trip?

[mefordis]

We will be out west moving our daughter for college and would like to take a side trip to CA, visiting DLR for a few nights. The problem is, we don't know when her stuff is shipping and when to arrange the trip. I guess a spur of the moment, show up and buy tickets and get a last minute resort reservation is out of the question? Right now if I booked I could get everything I want but I'm not ready to commit yet for fear of losing all that money if I have to move the dates or cancel.

What's the likelihood of being able to plan a trip a week in advance?

 

[Whistlebee]

Not great with the reservations being required. You could book an on-site hotel room, and then add tickets after you’re sure. Tickets “should” still be available through the hotel bucket a week out. No guarantees tho. Then if the timing doesn’t work out you can cancel the hotel room 5 days prior to your trip, and still get a refund.

 

[Pluto468]

Last month I booked a trip on Saturday and arrived in Anaheim on Tuesday. I was staying at Disneyland Hotel, that's the only way I was able to get park reservations. I'm not sure if you can count on them being available, though, even with the hotel bucket. No guarantees, as Whistlebee said.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I used to book trips to Disney parks involving flights as little as within 48 hours of arriving. With park reservations, it's now very difficult.

I haven't used them before but Undercover Tourist seems to have fully refundable tickets. If you book an offsite hotel that's fully refundable a day in advance and get refundable tickets, you should be able to book early and just refund everything if you can't go. You just may have to get your flight refund in the form of a voucher that you'll have to use within a year.

 

[Becca1007]

If you are willing to pay for onsite hotels then you can book late unless it is a holiday. We booked Mothers Day weekend on 5/3 for a 5/6 arrival.

 

[mefordis]

Not great with the reservations being required. You could book an on-site hotel room, and then add tickets after you’re sure. Tickets “should” still be available through the hotel bucket a week out. No guarantees tho. Then if the timing doesn’t work out you can cancel the hotel room 5 days prior to your trip, and still get a refund.

That's a great idea. Thank you. I'll book the room now and I guess keep an eye on how soon the reservations fill up. The timing is hard to gauge because the entire reason we are going out there is to move my daughter in her new apartment. We have 14 days allotted and I don't know when her stuff will be arriving and also how smoothly it will go. I could probably book the CA part in the middle of the two weeks so we can be there the first 3 days, drive to CA, then come back for 4 more days to finish up with moving her.

She wants the CA trip as her graduation present.

 

[mefordis]

If you are willing to pay for onsite hotels then you can book late unless it is a holiday. We booked Mothers Day weekend on 5/3 for a 5/6 arrival.

Which hotel did you book that late? I expected the on site hotels to be the ones booked first. This is good to hear. How did you do with your park reservations?

 

[mefordis]

I used to book trips to Disney parks involving flights as little as within 48 hours of arriving. With park reservations, it's now very difficult.

I haven't used them before but Undercover Tourist seems to have fully refundable tickets. If you book an offsite hotel that's fully refundable a day in advance and get refundable tickets, you should be able to book early and just refund everything if you can't go. You just may have to get your flight refund in the form of a voucher that you'll have to use within a year.

This is a great idea. I'll probably go with a Marriott owned property and get the refundable tickets through Undercover Tourist. Can I make park reservations with those? Are the reservations like the WDW ones, where you can book one park then park hop after 2pm?

Thanks so much for all the guidance!

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Park hopping actually starts an hour earlier at DLR, so you can hop at 1pm.

 

[Becca1007]

Which hotel did you book that late? I expected the on site hotels to be the ones booked first. This is good to hear. How did you do with your park reservations?

We booked DLH and ALL days on the calendar were open to select park reservations once I was using the hotel bucket.

 

[mefordis]

We booked DLH and ALL days on the calendar were open to select park reservations once I was using the hotel bucket.

Thank you! I'm sorry, what is the hotel bucket? Does this mean once they saw you are staying at a DLR hotel?

 

[Becca1007]

Thank you! I'm sorry, what is the hotel bucket? Does this mean once they saw you are staying at a DLR hotel?

When you are making Park Reservations, the calendar on the website will show you if your dates will be available (to anyone). But if you link your park tickets and hotel reservations, then you will see a calendar with MANY more options for park reservation days. It is one of the few perks of staying onsite right now.

 

[mefordis]

Thanks so much for all the help! It's so tempting to book a package right now and just get it out of the way, and my plans are growing more solid now. So, I looked up the cancellation policy and is this accurate? If so, even if I had to cancel the entire package/room 2 days prior I'd only be giving up $200? For me that seems worth it, if that is still the policy.

For a vacation package, you can cancel 30 days or more in advance without a fee. If you cancel 29-2 days prior to arrival, there is a $200 cancellation fee. For cancellations 1 day prior to arrival, the fee is 100% of the package price. Keep in mind that policies are subject to change.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Thanks so much for all the help! It's so tempting to book a package right now and just get it out of the way, and my plans are growing more solid now. So, I looked up the cancellation policy and is this accurate? If so, even if I had to cancel the entire package/room 2 days prior I'd only be giving up $200? For me that seems worth it, if that is still the policy.

For a vacation package, you can cancel 30 days or more in advance without a fee. If you cancel 29-2 days prior to arrival, there is a $200 cancellation fee. For cancellations 1 day prior to arrival, the fee is 100% of the package price. Keep in mind that policies are subject to change.

If you book the tickets and the onsite hotel separately, your cancellation window will be 5 days before check-in. You will not be able to get a refund for the tickets, however, you can cancel and rebook your reservations up until the tickets’ expiration date. After that, 100% of what you paid for the tickets can be applied to future tickets.