when to start planning...

[TheyCallMeStacey]

it's a been almost a year now, a long, long year since our Disney Trip in 2015...it had all the magic I could hope for, and my little ones did so great!

Which...has added to the urge...NEED...to plan another trip. We are trying to balance that magical time between when dd will be old enough to remember some of it and still find princesses magical, and my need to basically be there yesterday Also, I think my son will lose his mind in Toy Story Land, once it's completed.

So, on average, how far ahead of time do you start seriously planning?

 

[tlmadden73]

Because of so many uncertain factors, I don't see the need to plan anything more than 7-8 months out.

You can always have a "rough" idea in your head (how many days, where you want to stay, etc.) .. but the details may simply cannot be refined until it is closer.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I booked our room for next year already, because we are going at Thanksgiving and it will be busy. Not much else I can do until flights come out in April.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We decided this past July that WDW would be our Summer 2017 trip and booked then so about 11 months out. As far as planning I haven't done much since there are no hours posted yet. We do have a list of restaurants that we plan to make ADR's for but that window doesn't open until December for me. So just coming to Dis everyday to get in the mood!

Oh, my 12 year old niece is more excited than anyone and still wants to meet all the characters especially Olaf!

 

[TheyCallMeStacey]

I think i might need to find a friend that needs a trip planned, i love it! I've got the bug. I think we'll go late 2018/early 2019 - which seems like forever...way too far away to seriously plan. I've earmarked our hotel and about the number of days...but oh, what I wouldn't give for a trip in 2017!

 

[dburg30]

Since we do DVC, we try to at least know when we are going so we can book at 11 months to make sure we get the room size we want..

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Here is my timeline:
we go every 3-4 years...usually in December (but we are doing late Oct-early Nov in 2017). We don't start planning until we are about a month from making the reservation (usually about 16-14 months before the trip).

Then one year out I pay close attention to the park schedules because they tend to be pretty similar year-to-year (which parks have EMH on specific days of the week, etc.) and I make a tentative schedule for which parks on which days (and add in any party plans).

Then spend the next few months checking for pin codes or special offers to try to apply to the reservation and bring the cost down.

7 months out is time to check if the schedules are posted (and see how close my guesses were) and select ADR choices to try for.

At 6 months on, I think we all know the key planning dates.

 

[desiree71081]

We are planning for February 2018. We have our top two choices of where we are going to be staying, either Caribbean Beach or Port Orleans - Riverside. We could book the room now but I'm going to wait a bit longer. There isn't much else you can do this far out. I'm so anxious for the 2018 packages to come out so I can get a better idea of which way we want to go.

 

[gap2368]

I go way to often to worry about planing but like other said you really can not do much planing more then 7 month out ( beside hotel and how long to stay)

ADR 6 month out
FP 30 to 60 days.

 

[Klayfish]

We set the dates for our summer 2017 trip already, simply so I can notify my work and we can reserve the townhouse we want (we stay off property). Beyond that, we won't start planning anything until we hit 30 days out and our FP+ would open.

 

[loves to dive]

Another one that goes too often to really need to plan. I generally book my hotel about 3 months out and tend to change that up until about 2 weeks before I arrive. Otherwise, I don't plan anything else. No advance ADRs no advance FPs.

 

[MrsHull]

We book our reservation as soon as we decide to go and have chosen our dates. This is the earliest we've done it-- about 13.5 months out.

I'll have our park days chosen and our TS meals planned in time to book our dining reservations. I'll probably start asking everyone their opinions on favorite restaurants or new ones to try about 8 months out. And then I'll spend the next 6 months tinkering with touring plans.

The short answer is, it is never too early to dream!

 

[dnkmmw]

I think it depends what you mean by "planning". We are DVC and generally book at 11 months but I don't think much beyond the resort reservation at that time. We go twice a year so we always have at least one resort reservation pending. Dining I start to look at the week before 180 days and fast passes I start looking at the week before my two months and coordinate with any park dining. If we do any tours or boat rentals, I usually try to book those as early as I can, but we don't really plan much else since we are there petty often. We leave next week so this past week I reviewed everything again, added a breakfast reservation and placed my grocery order.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I book my resort about a year out but I continuously read here on the DIS between trips (next one for me isn't until 2018) so I'm up to date on any changes, additions, openings, closings, etc. I think doing research is more important than a actual plan. Learning little ins and outs can really save you tons of time, energy and frustration once there.

When park hours are released I plan which park which day so I can book a few ADR's. Then at 60 days out I book FP+.

 

[Farro]

I love planning for all trips!!! We haven't been to WDW since 2014 and our vacations we took this year and last year did not require much planning, so I'm almost annoyingly excited for our Oct/Nov 2017 trip!

We booked our package as soon as available. I just purchased the guidebooks, and like an above poster will be paying attention to times/crowds for this year.

After the holidays (yay! love this time of year) I will start perusing menus to see where we want to eat, I will have in mind what parks on what days, start looking for airfare and then before you know it's ADR time and then FAST PASS DAY!!! I take the day off of work for that, it's a holiday you know.

I said in another thread, we love to travel. Everywhere. But the reason WDW is one of my favorites is because the whole year leading up to it is full of planning and anticipation. I simply love it.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

We are planning for February 2018. We have our top two choices of where we are going to be staying, either Caribbean Beach or Port Orleans - Riverside. We could book the room now but I'm going to wait a bit longer. There isn't much else you can do this far out. I'm so anxious for the 2018 packages to come out so I can get a better idea of which way we want to go.

I have stayed at both of those and would recommend either of them.

 

[d-train]

I usually start planning between 10 and 14 months out.
If there is a more popular resort area or something specific like that, I usually start planning earlier
than later and get those reservations nailed down...

 

[desiree71081]

I have stayed at both of those and would recommend either of them.

We will need a room for 5 so I am trying to figure out the pros and cons of each resort. If we only had 4, we would likely have stayed at one of the value resorts to save a little on the price. The price difference between the two moderates won't be a huge deal so it's pretty much up to which one we think we will enjoy more.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I love planning for all trips!!! We haven't been to WDW since 2014 and our vacations we took this year and last year did not require much planning, so I'm almost annoyingly excited for our Oct/Nov 2017 trip!

We booked our package as soon as available. I just purchased the guidebooks, and like an above poster will be paying attention to times/crowds for this year.

After the holidays (yay! love this time of year) I will start perusing menus to see where we want to eat, I will have in mind what parks on what days, start looking for airfare and then before you know it's ADR time and then FAST PASS DAY!!! I take the day off of work for that, it's a holiday you know.

I said in another thread, we love to travel. Everywhere. But the reason WDW is one of my favorites is because the whole year leading up to it is full of planning and anticipation. I simply love it.

Last year my ADR day was my DD's 9th birthday. And the trip was a surprise. AND I couldn't do my +10 online! I was up at 545 and ready on the computer. So I had to call at 7 am in between getting her ready for school, getting ready for work, going to pick up her class treats, all while hiding in my room on the phone without her hearing. I was really worried about BOG dinner, CRT and PPO BBB so I KNEW I had to call in ASAP because those go quickly. All of the other ADR's I wasn't pressed about. It was madness. Next time I'm taking the day off. lol

 

[kniquy]

I would say planning 9 months to a year ahead would give you plenty of planing time. You have to figure you will want to decide on a resort, then 6 months- dining reservations, 60 days - fast pass and poof your trip will be here. If you enjoy planning disney trips then it is never to early to start.

We are planning an extended family trip for April 2018 trip and we are going to meet over the winter just to finalize our resort and room choices and then to gather requests for dining reservations. Once the dining reservations are made then i make a time line/spread sheet for each day so that we can have some flow of what FP and other rides we want to do. I love the planning stage almost as much as the actual trip!