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?

A lot of flight companies are waiving their change fees

They’re just trying to spread it out so not everyone is ill at the same time , you should be ok .
My dh’s friend is out there now and trying to get home .
Feel terrible for them as lost their first trip last year due to Thomas cook going under

If it’s closed you’ll get your money back. If you’re told you can’t travel - Trump bans UK travellers you’ll get a refund. You can change your flights with Ba.
I would wait a couple of weeks I case official bans come in place and you get all money back.
But then I would contact Disney and Ba and reschedule the whole thing to autumn. Do you really want to go in May? What if one of you gets ill on holiday and feels shit the whole time, or worse - have to go into hospital? Make sure your travel insurance has good medical coverage, we had a £30k hospital bill for a few days in hospital with an asthma attack. Insurance covered it thank goodness.

Do people have to be so bloody nasty? If you don’t like the content of the thread, bugger off and read a different one. It literally has no effect on your life at all if the OP is upset about the prospect of losing her holiday, except as an excuse to show how superior you all are. I bet if it was the south of bloody France you wouldn’t be sneering, because that’s a naice acceptable holiday destination.

@thegreenlight don’t cancel yet for goodness sake. Don’t even phone up, just sit tight. The way things are going if The Orange One bans us all from travelling to the US then BA will have to pay up, same if there’s any other sort of travel ban.

I will say Disney don’t have to honour the terms of your original booking though, this seems to be a bit of a misconception. They are pretty good and will try, but when my daughter’s holiday last year got screwed due to the hurricane they lost a couple of days of their dining plan in exchange for an upgraded hotel simply because Disney didn’t have any other rooms. They will work with you to find the best solution all round though.

Given that we're being told that many people will die prematurely from the virus it's understandable that people are going to be offended by the possible loss of a trip being described as devastating.

No one can tell you what to do for the best, personally I'd go on the basis that 10 weeks is a long time and things could change either way so I'd wait it out for more clarity either way.

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

Well said. Why wouldn’t you be devastated if a much-anticipated, very expensive, family-focused holiday has to be cancelled? Especially for a child - Disneyworld is a massive deal for a seven year old.

And yes, obviously compared with losing a loved family member, it’s not the biggest deal. But it’s still a blow, ffs.

Have you contacted BA to see if you can change your flight dates? Most places are usually pretty good especially with everything that's going on! But the end of may is a fair way away in terms of the coronavirus so I would wait a little and see how things go? Make the decision later down the line. Contact Disney and see if you can delay paying your balance

I completely understand your pain though me my husband and our daughter were due to travel to Disneyland Paris on Sunday which we've had to postpone, but we've lost some money on the Eurostar and train tickets/hotel in London the night before

If I came over as a dick then I apologise. I’m thinking OPs trip is weeks away yet and what about the people who are there now.

May be it’s their day one at WDW and they can’t go or to the parks or those people who go in the next week or so. 10 weeks is a vast amount of time to speak with the 7 year old and explain. Yes they will be disappointed but it’s time to understand.

10 weeks is a long time. Don’t panic. See what happens but being honest staff working for airlines and hotels etc have a massive job on their hands right now. You are probably way down the list at the moment because until otherwise confirmed, you can still go.

The children won't be devastated unless you pitch it to them as ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING NEWS I'M SO SORRY DARLINGS sobbing. The 3 year old doesn't give a damn either way (because of being 3) and the 7 year old is just told that Disney is closed, and what would they like to do that week instead?

That having been said, I wouldn't panic yet - 23rd of May is a long way off and the worst of it should be diminishing by then. I would still behave as though the trip is happening. The flight money is already spent and you'll be able to get a refund from Disneyworld if they're closed, surely? Ring them and talk to them.

I am sure by May it will be open again. They've only shut it for the next two weeks at the moment.

Not so good for me who is meant to be flying out next Saturday :(

Could you still fly over and do other things?

I totally get it. I wish other people were just a little more sympathetic. I am in a similar situation, booked end of April. We were keeping in under wraps, so at least kids won't be disappointed. It is a big deal, as we didn't go on holiday last year and I have been looking forward to it for months. If I were you OP, I'd wait a bit longer before making final decision. I feel sorry for everyone who has to cancel their holidays, will loose money etc. For people who are commenting about priorities, I'd suggest you change thread. A little kindness goes a long way, especially in those uncertain times.

Currently Disneyland Paris is allowing for existing bookings that are due to arrive during the closure to be changed for later in the year so check to see if Disneyworld are doing this too. Although you should def hold off till closer to the time, that will give time for the companies to cancel so you won't lose out.

I think given the situation is expected to worsen, I wouldn't assume you are going unfortunately. However I would hold fire because the UK may well be added to the no travel list or outgoing flights could be banned by Boris when we hit the peak. Either way you will get your money back then

My DH is a mathematician and he was boring me shitless last night discussing exponential growth. Basically coronavirus will eventually tail off before disappearing entirely as all other viruses before it have. It’s like everyone has forgotten swine flu, it was only 11 years ago and it killed half a million people worldwide. It did disappear though, we’re not all still dying from it now.

Basically, I’d pay the last instalment because I think everything will be fine by May.

Thanks for the reports, folks. We've now moved this thread to the Coronavirus topic. Hope you get things sorted, @thegreenlight

I'm so glad.
Lives are more important than holidays and company profits.
So sorry you have lost your holiday, though.

It's sad but I'm afraid it's how it is. Estimates are that it will start tailing off June time.

Can you rebook for end of August?

I agree, dickish comments comments bit unnecessary

We are due to go at the beginning of June flying with BA. I am not cancelling at the moment, if I do that (we’ve not paid our villa balance yet) then I’m still going to have BA flights that need rescheduling and paid for Disney tickets.

So, if the time comes and we can’t fly then I’ll reschedule for later on in the year. But no point me cancelling now as I’ll still have flights and park tickets left

We were due to go on 27th this month. 😔

People whose much loved relatives have died painfully and slowly must be pretty gutted too.

For some perspective.

We warned our kids when this first started so it hasn't t been a huge shock, they are gutted but OK. I would suggest you prepare your children op.

That's totally uncalled for @madcatladyforever