Have we ruined our DisneyWorld trip?

[Odellio]

I need some reassurance or advice. We are due to fly to Florida for DisneyWorld this afternoon with SC and DS. We have little knowledge of international travel, I knew we needed ESTAs but didn’t understand the process. I checked with in-laws who are organising the whole trip if they had sorted ESTAs, and they said they had. Obviously I misunderstood that they were talking about their ESTAs only and not ours. We applied yesterday afternoon as soon as we realised we didn’t have ESTAs. Still pending authorisation. I am hugely panicking now that we won’t get them in time to check-in.

so annoying that it happened half hour after closing but still what a relief!!

how much did the flights cost to rebook for all of you the next day if you don’t mind me being nosy 🙈

I hope you are all having a great time @Odellio 😄

The OP is probably airborne right now and can"y answee.. but FWIW what you say is often correct for a complete "no show" where the traveller doesn't communicate with the airline at all...

This case might be a bit different because it sounds like.the OP discussed the reason for not travelling with airline staff yesterday prior to and after flight closure. Given that you'd expect (but I know it's dangerous to assune) the OP to have been able to retain the original return sector(s) or something close.

They’re really not. There’s loads of stories out there of people being refused to fly because they don’t have the right paperwork and I’ve never heard that the airline rebooked them FOC (unless the traveller was on a flexible ticket)

We have arrived in Disneyland! DS and I had 3 seats between us too which was a nice touch, guy who was sat there swiftly disappeared to another seat after speaking to cabin crew once he saw us 😂

Lots of people concerned about our return flight, it’s fine. Not automatically cancelled because we rebooked before check-in closed.

And for those wondering how much it cost, too much! An expensive mistake but when you have 3 kids excited for Disneyland, we had to suck it up and rebook.

Off to sleep and to enjoy our holiday now. Thanks again everyone! For anyone who picks up this thread later on down the line due to being in a similar situation, the ESTAs took nearly exactly 24 hours to come through on a group booking using the official website. (Sat 2pm - Sun 2pm). Hope that helps 😘

Have a fabulous holiday

I thought you said you were going to Disney World?

So glad you got there OP!! You will have the time of your life, hope you enjoy it as much as we did 😀

Thanks for the update. Genuinely pleased to read this. Have a fabulous time.

Enjoy OP - even if it feels like you’ve now got another 100 or so of us with you on your family holiday

I meant DisneyWorld, not land.

If I have learnt anything from this experience it is not to assume what someone means, so thanks for checking 😉

To clarify, we (all 7 of us, not just 2) have arrived at DisneyWORLD Florida.

Does it matter ? She arrived and whether it’s Florida or California she’s there !

Hope you all have a brilliant time - I love Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

Great news. You’re going to have a fabulous time. Where are you going today (although it’s only 4am with you so you have a bit of a wait for park opening!)?

We might need a day by day trip report. 😉

Have the best time @Odellio 😊

I wouldn't go anywhere near that country now.

Well it’s not the same place. If you pay $$$ and tons of research beforehand then I’d assume you’d know where you are going.

But OP took the comment well, so all good. She will have a great time, I am sure. Disney World is fantastic.

I do, been to DLP , Florida and California luckily for me 🥳

Enjoy. Hopefully you have seen the castle and are having an amazing first day.

Still expensive who evers paying, no?

Ah that’s good OP, enjoy your holiday

Pointless life hack I learned recently

DisneyWORld = ORlando

Disney LAnd = LA

I used to always get the two mixed up

Same here. DH also went to Tokyo, that would be pretty cool. But I think I will forever love Disney World in Orlando!

Same , I want to go now !