When to buy tickets?

[SilentFeline]

My bf and I are thinking about going to DLR this year around the end of June/beginning of July. When is the best time to buy tickets and book an on-site hotel? I know that the current promotion ends in April. Should we wait until the current promotion ends before buying tickets in case they have a promotion this summer or should we buy them early? When we made reservations for a trip we made in May 2009, I booked very early and ended up paying a fee in order to receive the discounted tickets and hotel price. I want to avoid the change fee if possible. TIA for any help/suggestions!

 

[sonnyjane]

Usually it is far more expensive to book the tickets and room together. Since you want to stay on-site, you can book a room-only reservation now and then if a special promotion comes along later, you can cancel it and book the special. Since this isn't your first trip to DLR, I'm just assuming that you already know that the off-site hotels are cheaper and can even be closer than the on-sites and are choosing on-site for the "magic factor".

I don't see a reason to buy your tickets far in advance. You can wait and see if a new promotion comes out. I have an AP, but whenever I go with friends or family we usually buy their tickets the day before or even the day of at home and print it out. It's super easy that way.

 

[MissAxemaker]

We were browsing the promos on the Disney site the other day and noticed this small print on the 3 Days in Both Parks for Only $169:

"Ticket valid beginning January 4, 2011 and first day of use must occur on or before April 14, 2011. These tickets expire 13 days after the first day of use or April 27, 2011, whichever occurs first."

We haven't done Disney a ton (yet!) so I don't know if this is a common disclaimer, but I just wanted to make sure you saw it!

 

[starshine514]

We were browsing the promos on the Disney site the other day and noticed this small print on the 3 Days in Both Parks for Only $169:

"Ticket valid beginning January 4, 2011 and first day of use must occur on or before April 14, 2011. These tickets expire 13 days after the first day of use or April 27, 2011, whichever occurs first."

We haven't done Disney a ton (yet!) so I don't know if this is a common disclaimer, but I just wanted to make sure you saw it!

Actually, I think it is quite common. Unlike WDW tix, all DL tix expire; and of course promo tix expire at the end of the promotion. We had originally ordered the promo tix from GetAwayToday, but then had to cancel our trip the week before due to health problems. Even though we know our dates now (we'll be going after the current promotion ends), I'm holding off on purchasing, hoping that they'll be another promo for our dates.

Also, I made our (refundable) hotel ressie a while ago. I do keep checking back, but haven't found a better deal for us (prices have actually gone up at the hotel we reserved at, so I'm happy I locked in early). Since it's refundable, I can just cancel if something better comes along.

Happy planning!

 

[SilentFeline]

Usually it is far more expensive to book the tickets and room together. Since you want to stay on-site, you can book a room-only reservation now and then if a special promotion comes along later, you can cancel it and book the special. Since this isn't your first trip to DLR, I'm just assuming that you already know that the off-site hotels are cheaper and can even be closer than the on-sites and are choosing on-site for the "magic factor".

I don't see a reason to buy your tickets far in advance. You can wait and see if a new promotion comes out. I have an AP, but whenever I go with friends or family we usually buy their tickets the day before or even the day of at home and print it out. It's super easy that way.

Thanks for the response, sonnyjane! The reason we booked the hotel and room together in 2009 was to get the package deal that Disneyland.com was offering. It included a lanyard with exclusive pin, luggage tags, priority seating for shows, tickets to TTMM, coupons, and special edition park tickets. This year they are offering new deals so we would like to book with them again if possible to get the extra goodies.

We are aware that other hotels are much cheaper than staying on-site, but we chose the DLH for many different reasons and we will always stay there if we can afford it.

We were browsing the promos on the Disney site the other day and noticed this small print on the 3 Days in Both Parks for Only $169:

"Ticket valid beginning January 4, 2011 and first day of use must occur on or before April 14, 2011. These tickets expire 13 days after the first day of use or April 27, 2011, whichever occurs first."

We haven't done Disney a ton (yet!) so I don't know if this is a common disclaimer, but I just wanted to make sure you saw it!

We are aware of when the promotion ends, but we don't know when a new promotion will start or if there will be a new promotion. Last time we got 2 free nights in our hotel room and 2 free days in the park. No promotions have been announced for the summer yet so we just wanted to know if we should buy our tickets now and rebook if another promotion becomes available, or if we should just wait until we know what the summer promotion will be.

Thanks for the response!

Actually, I think it is quite common. Unlike WDW tix, all DL tix expire; and of course promo tix expire at the end of the promotion. We had originally ordered the promo tix from GetAwayToday, but then had to cancel our trip the week before due to health problems. Even though we know our dates now (we'll be going after the current promotion ends), I'm holding off on purchasing, hoping that they'll be another promo for our dates.

Also, I made our (refundable) hotel ressie a while ago. I do keep checking back, but haven't found a better deal for us (prices have actually gone up at the hotel we reserved at, so I'm happy I locked in early). Since it's refundable, I can just cancel if something better comes along.

Happy planning!

Thank you for your reply! We would probably just do what you have done, but we wanted to book through Disneyland.com to get the package deal with extra goodies, so we have to book the room and the tickets together. We just want to avoid the hassle of booking through 2 different agencies because we don't want to have to speak to 2 separate parties if the summer deal this year is the same as last year (5 for 3 deal).

 

[DahliaRW]

Right now I would book a room only reservation for DLH. If a deal comes out, you can upgrade to a package (or if it doesn't you can as well) or call and have a room only deal applied to your reservation. But either way, at least you'll have a room.

 

[SilentFeline]

Right now I would book a room only reservation for DLH. If a deal comes out, you can upgrade to a package (or if it doesn't you can as well) or call and have a room only deal applied to your reservation. But either way, at least you'll have a room.

This is a great idea! Thanks, DahliaRW!