Booking March 2013??

[Dec2009Mama]

Newbie to WDW ~ when should I look at booking our hotel?

I have read that i should book a room now and wait to see if any packages are released for our dates then call to change/re-book?

[Drince88]

If you know you want a package, I'd just book that now - and then if any DISCOUNTS on the package are relased, call to change/rebook.
I believe today is the first day you can book packages for 2013 - so the systems may be a little slow (just a warning)

Are you going the last week in March (Easter is the 31st this year)? If you are, don't hold your breath for a discount! It's usually busy then, and there are rarely discounts the week before and the week after Easter.

[danyoung]

If you're booking just a room, you only need to pay for one night, and then pay the balance at check in. And yes, book now. Disney is really good at making changes and applying new discounts. You might book at a cheaper resort like one of the values, and then move up to a moderate as the discounts are announced.

Good luck!

[Barberella]

Looking at your location - here is some information that you may or may not be aware of and may find helpful.

If you have not yet bought airfares - Alaska Airlines is the only major Pacific Northwest airline - Canadian or US - with daily non-stop flights from SeaTac (Seattle) to MCO (Orlando). Flight time from SEA to MCO is 5 to 6 hours (with 3 hr time difference between west & east coast).

Alaska (and their regional partner, Horizon) do have flights from a couple of major BC cities, but generally speaking, you will likely save money if you are able to drive to Seattle, even calculating the expense of parking and an overnight Seattle airport hotel stay before boarding your flight to MCO in the morning.

[Dec2009Mama]

Thanks for the flight info - we haven't booked flights yet but are avid travellers and from what i have found we don't save enough to fly out of seattle rather than vancouver.

[Princess of Pi]

I completely agree with Barbarella. We went for the first time March 2011 and though the drive to Seattle did take a day on each end of our vacation we saved about 45% over doing a Horizon flight to Seattle and paying the HST or choosing any other airline. Unfortunately the Westjet flights to Orlando, at the time, only flew out of Toronto in the morning so we needed an extra day and a hotel anyway. I liked the idea of a direct flight since it made for the shortest travel day and most other flights have layovers in cities that I don't trust to not have a winter storm in March causing cancellations or delays.

We booked about 7 months before our trip because I didn't want to take the chance of it selling out early since it was spring break and as it turned out the prices never dropped when I checked later.

Have a great trip!

Shannon