The way things are looking in my life right now, my next Disney World trip wont be until Nov 2019 (might be able to sneak in Disneyland this summer 
) I still feel the urge to plan. Is there anything yall start planning 22 months in advance? I have a spreadsheet with the title ready to go lol.
At 499 days out, you can make hotel reservations. If you have your heart set on a place, grab it early! That far out, you have to call.
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This latest trip is roughly 20 months in planning. I started with the lenght of stay and hotels with money allocation mainly. What could I afford, where could I stay, what to do to get gift cards, deals, discounts, etc… also looking at flights with the expectation of flying in whatever month I was expecting to go.
Then there was a lull for a WHIILLLE… where I basically mocked up trips with current available time frames.
After that, it’s mostly focusing on park gear. What can I shave/combine so I can carry less and less into the parks with me. What could I buy to make the trip even better?
But other than that, basically just stalk these forums like an obsessive ex. 
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lol obsessive ex is a great way to describe it. I just got back from the world and I feel so left out.
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I want to rent DVC points, so I have to wait a year basically 
Did you write up a trip report? I found that helped on the withdrawl. (well not much really, but it was cheaper than immediatley booking another trip! lol)
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No, but that’s a great idea! Maybe i’ll do one soon- I know I loved reading others. I just don’t know if i’m a good enough storyteller 
I like to think about where I want to eat. Go through the list with family and see what they can skip, what they must repeat. Where didn’t they get to go last time that they want to do this time. Same thing with rides. Which ones did we not do that we want to do, or which ones can we skip.
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Well, you can keep tabs on the DVC rental boards to get some leads on private points rentals. Also, the following post has a few ideas on what to do more than a year out:
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I also am planning for Nov 2019. It took me several weeks to figure out best time to go - I am looking for dry weather and no crowds. Last time we went was April 2014 and crowds were not bad, but it was just a tiny bit wetter and hotter than I like, plus April is out this year. If you intend to be a serious planner like me, you do need to start early to get some idea of what restaurant reservations you need to make 180 days in advance. I just bought the new edition 2019 of the Unoffical Guide book, and it is quite fat and takes quite a while to read and digest. Last time we spent 2 days Epcot, 1 HS Disney, and 3 or 4 days Universal. This time I am planning 5 days at Disney, 1 Universal. I really enjoyed the touring plans, which I modified to include bathroom breaks, snacks, entertainment, and so on, and they were a great help in choosing fast passes, and we stayed pretty much on schedule. Initially I included an afternoon of going back to the room, but instead we just plowed on. Traveling without kids made it a bit easier to keep going without a nap, even for us “old” folks (67 and 74 at the time). We stayed at Universal Lowe and Dolphin Disney. This time I am thinking it will be Pop Century for all 7-8 nights. If you are using the touring plans and printing out your own modified day schedules, that will take several weeks of planning and readjusting and printing. You can actually book rooms now for 2019, but the crowd schedules for nov won’t be out til nov 2018. Also major discounts for rooms then look like you might need to wait til April to book. I did find some interesting discounts already available at Costco Travel. Seems like the Dolphin has some good rates, but they are building another tower nearby so there could be noise issues. We liked the Dolphin, very convenient if you are going to Epcot and Hollywood Studios at Disney, and super comfortable beds. So I plan on keeping abreast of sales, but my guess is I probably will not book rooms until 2019. Another consideration is airfare. You generally cannot book more than a year in advance, but if using frequent flyer miles on some airlines you will want to book just as soon as your dates open up, which could be more than a year in advance, to find good flights or lower mileage. This sort of means the first thing you need is to figure out your exact dates ASAP, which means you also need a general idea of which parks you are doing and length of trip. Once you have that firmed up, you can look for hotel bargains, which should be solid before the 180 mark for dinner reservations. If however, you are not a total planner like I am, you can wing it a lot more, especially if you are going in less crowded seasons.