Hi Jeff!
How exciting to be starting to plan a fun surprise trip to Walt Disney World for your children! I’m so glad you found planDisney to ask your questions!
By visiting the official
Walt Disney World website, you can actually only book a vacation out through December 31, 2021 at this time. Once May 2023 opens up, you can reserve your reservation with just a $200 deposit. If you work with a travel agent, you could be in contact with them now and have them make a note to contact you once your dates open up.
In the meantime, you can do a couple of things to begin budgeting for your trip. You can check out what a trip for May, 2022 might cost to get a rough estimate of what you will want to budget. You can purchase Disney Gift Cards at a local warehouse club store (with maybe a small discount), or at the
Disney Gift Card website. I try to purchase at least one gift card each month, for $100. You can then use the gift cards to pay for some of your vacation.
We have also cashed in our change jars in our house for money towards our Walt Disney World trip. I've asked my children’s grandparents to give them Disney Gift Cards for occasions leading up to our trips. Since your trip is a surprise, that probably won’t work, unless you have some sly grandparents.
Please come back and visit us again with more Walt Disney World vacation questions!
Happy Planning,
Tracy