Devastated they’ve shut Disneyworld

[thegreenlight]

We have a holiday booked for 23rd May and have to pay the full balance at the end of March. Flights BA so separate and probably non-refundable. Totally don’t know what to do. Will have a very disappointed 3 and 7 year old. I know I will get people telling me to get a grip because of the wider situation but that doesn’t change how I’m feeling right now.

Do I cut my losses and cancel (but situation may be improved and we have missed out on our long planned holiday) or do we sit it out and wait?

What comes as no surprise however is the fact that the orca prison is still open.

Gotta get them damn animals performing their tricks, is no doubt their mantra.🏦👿

Could you pay for it and make sure you have travel insurance so if it gets cancelled you should get your money back? Then cross your fingers and hope the worst is over by May.

Our friends flew out yesterday! 😩

One of the issues I see is that although the parks are closed, the resort hotels are remaining open.
So although Disney will be obligated to refund park tickets, neither Disney or travel insurance will be obliged to refund flights or accommodation costs? People can still go although of course may well not want to

Disney World is renowned for staying open, so to close is a huge deal, but they are only staying closed until the end of March. A lot can happen before then.

We have been to Disney World several times so I totally get the free dining and room availability, in fact we are waiting for free dining to open in April.

Disney customer service is incredible, so I would hold out and see how things stand just before you are due to pay your balance. Still plan it like it is going to happen.

It is shit and having had to postpone my Disney World holiday one year to the next year because of a fucking wedding where my Dh was best man, I know the devastation from the children and me and Dh, we love that place.

I understand your disappointment, but children devastated?

It’s closing until the end of this month, It should be back up and running as normal in May I would have thought!

Poor you, my children would be so disappointed as well. I think Disney will be very accommodating. I'd be tempted to hold out a bit longer.

Yes Nanna50 my daughter will be devastated. She is supposed to spend her birthday in Magic Kingdom on 10th May and has been so excited. We have all sorts of plans for it.

She's had a tough few years with one grandmother being diagnosed with dementia, a grandfather having a stroke and my mum having multiple illnesses as well as issues at school.

Obviously we will comfort and downplay but she is allowed her emotions and as she's a child is still figuring them out.

We’re due to go at the beginning of April. Flights, accommodation, park tickets all paid for separately. Bolloc*s!!!

We have had to cancel our holiday, yes we are disappointed but devastated is an over reaction. There will be other holidays.

If you are not able to fly they will let you change flights and Disney will alter the dates but you need to hold on, it's a while yet and things are moving fast (which means it could also get better fast)

They’ve shut for 2 weeks. You go in 10 weeks. A huge amount will change. Just wait.

We've booked for July. Flights, accommodation and park tickets all paid for. I checked with my insurers and was told that as long as everything is booked through reputable firms (BA, Virgin etc) then insurance should pay out (although the first port of call would be whoever you are travelling with).

That said, I hope everything will be sorted by then. We've been saving every penny for 2 years for this and are really looking forward to it.

We're going at the same time as you and also wondering about paying the balance. Apparently there is a bit on Martin Lewis about what to do in this situation.

We had to cancel last minute last year due to ill health, I really don't want to tell my ds that we can't go again, once was bad enough.

I would contact BA and Disneyworld, or at least see what they've got on their websites. See if BA allow you to transfer the flights with no or minimal charge. The more people who ask, the more that's likely to happen. DW might be allowing a delay in balance of payment, or a wait and see.

It's a large amount of money and an event you were looking forward to. You can both be upset by this and be aware of the wider picture. I'm worried I can't get to my parents, who live in another country from me. I know it's better not to, but I still want to see them.

Devastated? You went last year.

Another family in the same situation here. The one glimmer of positivity is we hadn’t told the DC we were going yet and weren’t going to until about two weeks before.

For now we’re just sitting back and doing nothing, we’ve got a couple of weeks until the balance needs paying. FWIW they seem to be offering refunds already for anyone travelling up to June 30 who has a reservation, I’m not concerned on getting my money back or a booking moved for that, although if need be flights and car hire may need unravelling.

I don’t have anything very useful to say (not least because the situation is changing so quickly who knows where we’ll be in two months time) but I understand how’re you’re feeling - DH and I are both gutted (although rationally understand what’s going on and appreciate that if Coronavirus continues to escalate WDW absolutely has to be closed).

hold fire on cancelling. BA might stop their flights, the USA might ban flights from the UK as they have with europe and if so, you'll get your money back.

Or, things might not be as bad and disney reopens again and everything be fine. Hold fire til the last minute to be sure.

For those worried about BA flights and making changes, this came from an email I got from them last week.

We are giving additional levels of flexibility to customers with bookings made between 3 and 31 March 20200_. If you need to change the travel date on your booking, we are waiving all change fees (a fare difference may apply). This applies to any British Airways flight, in any cabin, whether booked directly with us or through a travel agent. If you need to cancel your flight, we will give you a voucher to the value of that flight which can be used across the British Airways network up to 12 months from the original date of departure. (Changes exclude franchise airlines Comair and Sun-Air)

Totally understand why you’re gutted. Hold fire for now.

They are allowed to be devastated. Don't post mean comments, they make you look like a dick.

Based on Italy, the situation in the USA is likely to worsen. The impact on health will be worse due to the US healthcare system. I would take the hit and cancel. Hopefully if flights stop BA will have to give you a refund.

The situation here is also going to worsen so Trump may ban flights in anyway.

I totally understand your disappointment. We went to Disney after a major family bereavement and it was the thing that kept us going.

Obviously it’s stressful, particularly being in limbo but I have more sympathy for people for whom this is a once in a lifetime opportunity than people who went last year!

It’s the question of whether to pay the balance or not that’s the immediate issue, given that holiday balances are in the thousands. I know my travel insurance company will cover any balances I pay from now, if the holiday is subsequently cancelled due to corona, could you phone your insurer and check their policy? That would be the first thing to try. You’d probably have needed to take the policy out before all this happened though.

Devastated might be too much.

Obviously only you know how to feel, but many are worried about elderly relatives overseas and what will happen with travel there.

A missed holiday, even costly, is not quite that bad.