Can you even really plan for an October 2021 trip?

[vivianmarie244]

I'm am a huge planner when it comes to DW. I'm one of those crazy people who makes a binder each trip (every 4 years) with hotel info, restaurant info, menus, FP times, etc. With all of the changes due to Covid though, I'm not sure how to even start to plan. Is there anything I can do other than make reservations for each park?

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

I'd definitely recommend planning for your trip as soon as you can.

I'm headed down mid-September and I got a deluxe studio at the Beach Clubs Villas for $4200 with park tickets for my dates. It's a week after I booked and that same package is now $6175!

So if anything, I'd recommend monitoring the resort prices (especially if staying on property) and narrowing it down to a few places to focus on....

 

[Rusty2rules]

Other than make hotel and park reservations, not much. I'm going mid-September. I'm a huge planner, too. It's making me crazy knowing there's nothing to plan for right now. LOL I've gone onto Touring Plans and laid out a pseudo schedule for each day. But, the way things are changing almost weekly, that's just an exercise to keep me satisfied for now.

 

[Farro]

We are going - 9 nights.

So far I've:

Made park reservations.

Picked out where we want to eat based on what's open now and also where we want to eat based on what we hope is open - this way can finalize when 60 days out rolls around.

We bought hoppers, so playing around with where we might want to hop - again based on hours now vs based on historical October hrs. (used 2019 hrs)

Looked at the Halloween treats and food/wine offerings based on 2020 and seeing what we might get, what we might want.

Really, the only thing I'm not planning is fast passes and I'm thrilled about that!

 

[vivianmarie244]

Other than make hotel and park reservations, not much. I'm going mid-September. I'm a huge planner, too. It's making me crazy knowing there's nothing to plan for right now. LOL I've gone onto Touring Plans and laid out a pseudo schedule for each day. But, the way things are changing almost weekly, that's just an exercise to keep me satisfied for now.

YES!!! It's driving me absolutely batty! I just want to plan! I've looked at a few menus but a good many of our favorite restaurants aren't open right now. Praying they open up more before October!

 

[vivianmarie244]

Looked at the Halloween treats and food/wine offerings based on 2020 and seeing what we might get, what we might want

Where do you find the menus for the food and wine and Halloween treats? I'd really like to look at those!

 

[Farro]

Where do you find the menus for the food and wine and Halloween treats? I'd really like to look at those!

I just googled!

AllEars and DisneyFoodBlog have everything listed from the 2020 season.

 

[kanerf]

Where do you find the menus for the food and wine and Halloween treats? I'd really like to look at those!

You won't see those until late summer. You can look at last years though.

 

[JakeAZ]

In the same boat. Soooooo much planning went into our large (12) group trip that got canceled last year. We are reschedule for later this year and there's just nothing to do haha. I haven't bothered making park reservations yet (we are going in Nov) because I'm hopeful things start to come back. Hard to make a park reservation if you don't know what time the park will open / close (for hopping purposes).

That being said, I was very critical on these boards of the planning process "required" to have a successful WDW trip. I do not miss it. I do not want the old way to come back. I do want the old experiences to come back though.

 

[gharter]

We will be there in October.
Room reservation, park passes and tickets is all you can do at this point.
Unless things change, ADRs are at 60 days and no FPs.

 

[gharter]

That being said, I was very critical on these boards of the planning process "required" to have a successful WDW trip. I do not miss it. I do not want the old way to come back. I do want the old experiences to come back though.

I don't know that you can get the old experiences back without all of the planning that went with it.
On most days (unless it is a not busy day), the lines seem much longer and it seems like people cannot do as many attractions as they did with FP available.

 

[JakeAZ]

I don't know that you can get the old experiences back without all of the planning that went with it.
On most days (unless it is a not busy day), the lines seem much longer and it seems like people cannot do as many attractions as they did with FP available.

FP, if it comes back, needs to change. I just created a string to see what people would like to see it come back as.

By "old experiences" I meant things like longer hours, after hours events, fireworks, meet and greets, more dining options, etc

But I do see your point if FP comes back as it was.

 

[Pixie Dusted Snow]

You can book your resort/tickets and make park reservations and I would do it sooner rather than later.
Plus a lot can change between now and then so you should have your ducks in a row in case say advanced dining reservations become available to book more than the current 60 days, or FP returns, or parties return etc.

 

[twinmom13]

I am facing the same conundrum. We are also planning on October 2021, tentatively. We booked the resort and made the park reservations, and that is basically it. Normally by now I would have the entire plan done and laid out on a spreadsheet, but this year there are just too many variables to get that specific yet. I have several scenarios in my head, and as we get closer and have a better idea what October will bring, I will be able to whittle those scenarios down to the most likely, and firm up plans from there.

 

[Rusty2rules]

FP, if it comes back, needs to change. I just created a string to see what people would like to see it come back as.

By "old experiences" I meant things like longer hours, after hours events, fireworks, meet and greets, more dining options, etc

But I do see your point if FP comes back as it was.

Totally off topic, but since you brought it up, IMO the only way FP comes back is as a paid add-on. I think as we knew it is gone. Just a hunch.

 

[JakeAZ]

Totally off topic, but since you brought it up, IMO the only way FP comes back is as a paid add-on. I think as we knew it is gone. Just a hunch.

I agree with you 100%.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

We can't even make park reservations, since we are waiting to see about military tickets. We have resort reservations and that is it.

 

[kanerf]

We can't even make park reservations, since we are waiting to see about military tickets. We have resort reservations and that is it.

Attach your reservation number to My Disney Experience and you will be able to make park reservations.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Attach your reservation number to My Disney Experience and you will be able to make park reservations.

I thought you had to have tickets? We have a room-only reservation.

 

[Farro]

I thought you had to have tickets? We have a room-only reservation.

Yes, you need a valid park ticket to make reservations.