How early to book for on-site hotels for 2020 Thanksgiving weekend?

Tormania

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
I know from previous experience when renting DVC points I needed to book WDW rooms at that max window of 11 months out to ensure I was able to get resort and room I wanted for the specific days I wanted. But obviously booking a room on-site at Universal (premier hotel) would be a different experience. For a 2020 Thanksigiving weekend stay how early should we book a room for at Universal?
 
I think I booked mine in March for Thanksgiving last year. You could do earlier. I had to change some of my reservations later on (had 3 rooms) and the lowest price/category was gone. Most likely the rates won't go down any. If you are staying long enough, the Stay More, Save More rate will probably be best and that does sell out I think.
 
We are going November 13-20, 2020 (the week before Thanksgiving). I have already booked our vacation. We did the Harry Potter Vacation package.
 
Since a room booking usually allows you to cancel and/or change the dates with no penalty up to 5 days before the trip, there really isn't a reason not to grab your rooms as early as possible. While APH rates might not be available for that time period yet (if they ever will be for Thanksgiving week), the only rate changes you will most likely see will be rising rates, not lower rates. And rooms for big dates like Thanksgiving will probably sell out rooms earlier than other times.

So I'd suggest getting the rooms ASAP and keep periodically checking to see if there does happen to be a favorable rate change. And if you will have an Annual Pass, then I'd suggest keeping a watchful eye on the APH sticky thread to see if an APH rate shows up during your stay dates.
 


We just booked ours for THIS YEAR, Thanksgiving 2019! So 3.5 weeks in advance. I would say no rush, but if you know when you’re going, no reason to wait either.
 
Do it as soon as you know the dates to make sure you get max availability. You can always cancel if you find better rates, including AP discounts.
 


I book as soon as I can as there don't seem to be many King Club Level rooms. I book room only so it's very flexible.
 
We went last Thanksgiving, 2018, and I booked the week before...at a premium. I'd been looking a couple months out, and the rates were much better, and there were rooms at all 3 premium hotels. Not sure when APH rates came out, but they seemed to be the best deal, and if at least one person can swing an AP, may be worth it for discounts, and better room rate. I'd say at least book by the summer. Then modify/cancel if need be....we waited until the VERY last minute to plan our trip, and room choices were also slim pickings, Hard Rock ended up being the best deal.
 
We have gone every Thanksgiving weeks for several years now and have always booked it in March.
 
Thanks for the replies. Trying to convince our friends that staying on property makes the most sense (especially with the Premier hotels and EPs), however they are a group of 7 and plan to get two rooms so I know that cost is a much bigger factor for them than for our family of 3. But I feel that the EPs more than make up for it, and as we are only spending two days at Universal (Thanksgiving and the day after) it seems that being able to leverage the EPs for attractions will help us all make the most of our two days there.
 

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