Whats the first step?

[Hallfam726]

Just started planning an Oct 2014 trip. Where should I start? Do you book the airplane tickets first to try to get the best deal there, and then hotel? We're flexible on which week we go and we're only planning 3 days/4 nights hotel and 3 days in the park.

 

[kiramay]

Being so flexible, I'd suggest checking flight prices first. Avoid holidays. Look at the MNSSHP dates if you want to do a party. Then research which resorts you want to use. Then book.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We usually book through Disney so it is easy to make changes. We check the airline flights before booking. Then we book the hotel with Disney. After that we get the tickets. If we need to make changes to the hotel - Disney allows you to make changes.

Then start planning your ADRs and book 180 days out.

Enjoy!

 

[Marionnette]

Just started planning an Oct 2014 trip. Where should I start? Do you book the airplane tickets first to try to get the best deal there, and then hotel? We're flexible on which week we go and we're only planning 3 days/4 nights hotel and 3 days in the park.

I usually book the room first, just because it can be switched later to suit my flights without any penalty. Flights, OTOH, are pretty much set in stone once you book them. Disney will require the equivalent of one night's stay as a deposit on a room-only reservation or $200 for a package reservation.

If I want a rental car for the visit, I will also book that right away but I won't jump on the "pay now and save" option. Rental car prices fluctuate as much as airfare does but there's no penalty for cancelling or modifying a reservation at most of the major companies.

Then I stalk the airfares until I find a rate that I can live with. The key is being willing to "pull the trigger" as soon as I see what I like. If I wait, I run the risk of that great fare being sold out. You can go to websites like kayak.com and they will have fare predictors that will help you decide whether the price you're seeing is likely to go up or down.

Then, once airfare is locked in, I try not to look back (unless I'm booked on Southwest, because they have very lenient change rules). I'll switch my resort reservation if I need to and alter my car rental accordingly. If a discount comes out for the resort, I call to check for availability for my dates. Sometimes I have to switch resorts to get the discount. Sometimes, I can't get it for the full stay.

Good luck!

 

[little miss minnie]

We always pick our week and decide on our hotel. We look at different websites to see which crowd calendars are better as well as check up on any rehabs or ride closures. We then call to book and do everything through disney (room, tickets, dining). After we call and book then we do flights.

 

[mm1971]

Just started planning an Oct 2014 trip. Where should I start? Do you book the airplane tickets first to try to get the best deal there, and then hotel? We're flexible on which week we go and we're only planning 3 days/4 nights hotel and 3 days in the park.

We usually plan the time first, but we have limited flexibility. In order to reduce the cost of airfare, we will plan mid week travel.

Since you are flexible on the dates, I would price out each the airfare first and look for the best deal since that is usually pretty expensive. Disney discounts will should be either a % off or FD around some October dates. Do you have a resort in mind or is that flexible as well?

Basically we would:

Check when airfares are lowest (usually Tuesday/Wednesday for us).
Check for WDW deals and room availability at any discounts.
Book Airfare for dates at best rates.
Book resort and tickets if package.
Book rental car if needed.
Book ADR's at 180 days.

Typically we try to line up the discounts on both the resort and airfare. When that doesn't work we will go with whatever saves the most $$. We are planning an October long weekend as well.

 

[MandiC]

We decided on a time frame, searched flights, booked the flights and then decided on hotel and booked it. We booked in late September for an early February trip so once we were booked that was that. I got straight to booking ADRS. I'd definitely look at the time frame, if there are any must-dos make sure they have them within your dates (Halloween party, Electrical Parade, ect)

 

[disneyisawesome07]

My suggestion: Log on to the official disney parks website: http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=..._dt|disney%20parks|34067078893|e|1540vg513990 and look for a hotel package that's right for you. You can also find additional information on restaurants, what activities are available for whatever ages you have in your group, etc.

 

[msmama]

I usually plan with many tabs open on my web browser at the same time. I kind of cross check flights (I only fly SW to MCO so at least I don't have to deal with multiple carriers) with whatever promotions Disney might be having at the time. This is assuming that you're planning on staying on Disney property.

You could also check vacations through third parties, AAA, etc, but in my experience, the numbers don't get better than booking directly through Disney (sometimes you can find better deals, I know orbitz recently had one but I would argue that they are not common).

 

[noahdove]

I do the time first, then the resort and then airline tickets.

 

[Aliceacc]

I bood the resort first. For us, a trip to WDW is a BIG thing, and we tend to book as soon as the next year's prices come out. So I contacted our travel agent last June about our upcoming trip for July.

Airline tickets won't be available that far out. And, as others have stated, you can always change your resort to accomodate a good price on flights. And, to be honest, the best deal on a resort won't be available until pretty close to your vacation; we got a HUGE savings on our trip when the Summer deal came out a few weeks ago-- our travel agent had it applied to our reservation.

For airfare, I check just about every day. Again, using our upcoming trip as an example-- I started looking in about November. I know that we like to fly Jetblue-- we like their prices. And, in addition, the first bag flies free. And each of us has our own TV, and they serve a free snack, all of which makes my family happy. I checked every day for about 2 months, and the total price for flights we wanted was the same every day: $1474 for 5 tickets. Then, one day in January (the 3rd I think) it dropped by about $200. That day I bought, and the next day the same tickets were back up to $1474.

They say it's cheaper to fly midweek. I'm not sure about that, but I figure the airports are probably less crowded. And, as teachers in July, we have the luxury of being able to do that, so we do.

We also have the luxury of having a choice of airports. (For us, JFK, LaGuardia and Islip MacArthur are all very close.) If you have a choice, don't forget to check all of them. As it turns out, this trip we'll be leaving from LaGuardia and returning to JFK.


I love using a travel agent-- I can reccommend ours if you want. I love the freedom of emailing her with our request, then checking my email when I get to work to find out it's been done. She handles our booking, makes any changes when discounts come out, calls in our ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations) and answers all my questions-- she's a delight to work with, all at no cost to us!

OK, on to Disney basics: do you know where you'll want to stay? Onsite or off? if you're on, do you have an idea of the resort? If not, then take a look at www.allears.net -- they do a great fact sheet on each resort, complete with slide shows.

 

[MandiC]

I got a much better deal booking through a travel agent than directly through Disney. We actually booked through Disney and then a friend recommended a AAA Magic Creator and so we canceled through Disney and rebooked through her and she got us an awesome price, plus she handled changing us over to different promotions and all of our special room requests and helped with any questions I had. I'm sure if you have a lot of time and know where to look you can get a good deal without a travel agent but I'm not out any money for booking her and I don't have a whole lot of extra time so it was perfect for us.