When to book our Disneyworld trip?

[kymomof2]

Good morning. We are planning a trip to Disneyworld the second week of November 2014 with our twin 8 yr old girls. We will not have a car and are going to stay near MK (Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Towers or Polynesian). We are also trying to decide if a vacation package is worth it with the dining plan. My husband says we have plenty of time before we have to book our vacation. I think we should book now because of where we want to stay. The last 5 years Disney has run the deal of 30% off your room or Free Dining so I am hoping they continue the pattern. We are also considering using a Disney travel agent but I am not sure which one and what are the chances they will get us one of these discounts.

Thanks everyone for any help or suggestions.

 

[caisland]

The last few years the special has not come out until late July or early August for the free dining.
In order to book dining reservations you should book at least 6 months out.
You only need to put $200 down and can cancel or change should the special not arrive

 

[MichaelH]

For the time of year you are planning to go, I would book early to make sure you get a room at the resort you want. You may be able to change your booking if they come out with the 30% off or free dinning offer in the summer. I know we have done things like that in the past. We are DVC members, so I am not sure if you can still do that.

We got the dinning plan once with our vacation package and decided not to do that again. The dinning plan is way more that we could eat in a day, so for us it was not worth it. We did not use some of what we were allowed in a day. Hope that helps some. Maybe others will give more info on the dinning options.

 

[FrugalFashionista]

Good morning. We are planning a trip to Disneyworld the second week of November 2014 with our twin 8 yr old girls. We will not have a car and are going to stay near MK (Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Towers or Polynesian). We are also trying to decide if a vacation package is worth it with the dining plan. My husband says we have plenty of time before we have to book our vacation. I think we should book now because of where we want to stay. The last 5 years Disney has run the deal of 30% off your room or Free Dining so I am hoping they continue the pattern. We are also considering using a Disney travel agent but I am not sure which one and what are the chances they will get us one of these discounts. Thanks everyone for any help or suggestions.

When deciding on the dining plan look at whether or not you are going to be doing any character dining. We (fan of 4) just went for 4 nights. Had we not received free dining the basic dining plan would have cost us $608. We did 3 character meals and the fantasmic dining package on top of our counter service and snacks. I totaled receipts and all of that would have cost us $828.55. For us it was worth it bc we used everything. FYI our counter service meals were appx 40-50 every time. We also used our snack credits for higher priced items. We also used camelbacks in the park instead of buying extra drinks.

Also there is a trade off when booking early vs later. Early guarantees you a room but may decrease your chance of a discount later on. Disney only releases discounts if they need to fill rooms. Booking later may increase chances of a discount but you may not get the room you want.

Hope this helps!

 

[Hootch]

calculation on whether "free dining" or the discount is better today. The dining plan costs and room costs are known.

For a hypothetical six night, seven day trip:

2 adult dining plans - $821 ($58.66/day)
2 child dining plans - $ 264 ($18.88/day)
Total - $1,085

Poly Standard View

4 Weekday Nights - $2,040 ($510/night)
2 Weekend Nights - $1,148 ($574/night)
Total - $3,188

35% off Poly - $1,1116
30% off Poly - $956

If you want a particular hotel and room level, I would book now. Sometimes they will book up, but looking at the rates, Disney does not expect a huge demand. (The time is considered a regular period for hotel rates.)

This may be a good time to use a reputable travel agent. They are good at monitoring deals from Disney and should automatically review any deals that impact your time travel dates.

This can be changed quickly for your actual days