Planning a January 2023 DC trip

[rottiemom]

It's been a good 6 years since we've been to DC or any of the parks and my planning muscles are out of shape. We've got a wedding in Orlando in January and I thought it would be perfect to spend a couple of extra days so that we could go to DC (and possibly SW).
DC tickets for our preferred dates are $149 right now, is it worth waiting until the Black Friday sales to purchase them? My plan was the basic resort tickets plus a cabana. This is what we had done in the past (granted that was in August, not January).
Any tips or advice are appreciated. I'll be going through the DC threads on the forum but I know that a lot has changed since our last visit.
Thanks in advance!

 

[jaceraden]

Blue Friday sales have limited dates and limited amounts. So if your dates are rock solid, it might not be worth it to wait since the regular price increases the closer it gets to the day.

Not too much advice needed except arrive early if you are planning an extras so you can get the full day's worth and pick times earlier in the day in case the weather doesn't cooperate. Wetsuits/vests are now only needed for the dolphin swim and another extra I forget.

I don't know if you can request specific cabanas and I don't know what your group dynamic is but we had a mix of adults/teens/kids and our cabana on the freshwater oasis was perfection! It opened up right on the beach entry to the oasis where the kids could swim in the warm water and then head over to the smaller lazy river loop or the interactive marmoset talks at the island. I would 100% request that specific cabana again every time.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Since your trip is in January, you can purchase fully refundable tickets from DC now. In the event that the Black Friday deals are better, rebook the better price and cancel the others. Tickets are fully refundable up to 30 days out, so you'll know in time to cancel.

 

[rottiemom]

Blue Friday sales have limited dates and limited amounts. So if your dates are rock solid, it might not be worth it to wait since the regular price increases the closer it gets to the day.

Not too much advice needed except arrive early if you are planning an extras so you can get the full day's worth and pick times earlier in the day in case the weather doesn't cooperate. Wetsuits/vests are now only needed for the dolphin swim and another extra I forget.

I don't know if you can request specific cabanas and I don't know what your group dynamic is but we had a mix of adults/teens/kids and our cabana on the freshwater oasis was perfection! It opened up right on the beach entry to the oasis where the kids could swim in the warm water and then head over to the smaller lazy river loop or the interactive marmoset talks at the island. I would 100% request that specific cabana again every time.

Thanks so much, this is good advice and I appreciate it. The cabana advice is spot on and I had actually planned to request a cabana by the Grand Reef. The prior two times we went to DC we had the same cabana there, at the same location and it was perfect.

 

[rottiemom]

Since your trip is in January, you can purchase fully refundable tickets from DC now. In the event that the Black Friday deals are better, rebook the better price and cancel the others. Tickets are fully refundable up to 30 days out, so you'll know in time to cancel.

Well that is a no brainer! Thanks for pointing this out because I did not realize it. Tickets purchased. The only odd bit is that we're within the window for the free premium drink package but it doesn't show up on the reservation but I can tackle that tomorrow.