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.

What airline are you flying with?

Good luck @Odellio

First time we applied for ESTAs, we had immediate approval. Second time, it took 24 hours. No rhyme or reason for the difference.

I’m keeping everything crossed for you that you can get out today.

Why does that matter?

To give you some hope, my last ESTA application came through promptly on a Sunday.

The good news is even if it doesn't come in time you won't have ruined your trip. You can fly out a bit later and still have a wonderful time. When you are finally out there you will have a wonderful time and out this a behind you.

Do your children need an esta or is there any chance SC could fly out with the grandparents on the original flight and you follow with your husband and 2 year old a day or so later?

About a couple of hours after I applied. I also helped my Dad do his recently and it came back about an hour tops after I applied.

@Glenthebattleostrich - that is not the official ESTA website. They'll charge you more and it will not be faster.

The ONLY , I repeat ONLY website to use for Estas is the official US government one:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
It's 21 USD.
There is NO other site.
There is no Rush option.
There are tons of phishing sites who
will
charge a lot more and you will NOT , I repeat NOT get an Esta but be out of pocket.
Some come through within 1 hour but most take several.
Sometimes the system freezes processing payment but it eventually goes through.
If you start a new application the old one will be cancelled !!
So wait until
the payment clears.
You can NOT !!!!!!!! check in without an Esta/Visa to the USA, the airline's check systems are connected to US immigration system, it can NOTbbe bypassed, overridden etc.
Staff perform
the document checks, you can not lie or pretend you have an Esta or visa ( to any country where you need one ) utterly ridiculous/ insane suggestion from another poster.
Do not rebook your flights until
you have received the Esta and are cleared to travel.
If you booked direct with the airline they will assist ( there maybe a rebooking fee ), flights to Florida, especially at Easter are packed so might not get one same day/next day.
If you booked tickets via a travel agent /3. party e.g expedia, scyscanner, booking.com you will have to contact those companies to rebook, the airlines do not touch 3. party bookings.
Once you have an Esta it lasts 2 years. If you change your passport you need to reapply as the Esta is connected to the passport no.
If you have been to countries on their " special " list e.g Cuba you can not get an Esta and need to go
to the embassy for a paper visa.
If you transit the USA enroute to another country, even if not leaving the airport, you need an Esta.
There is no way to speed up
the process or check how long it takes.
You get an instant notification and only then can you check in. It can NOT be bypassed by anyone, staff or US immigrations.
Fingers crossed it comes through, hope you used above site OP .

That's usually when you're a "no show" (i.e. you don't tell the airline). In this case, the airline would know about it and would have helped the OP get onto another flight.

This will not work.

We arrived at the airport on Friday bound for Orlando. Me and DD were able to check in online, dp couldn't, got a message to check in at the eesk.

Me, dp and DD have all travelled to the USA in the last 12 months. Dp has a new passport which is not linked to his existing, valid ESTA, so he couldn't fly - they would not check him in until THE SYSTEM could confirm his paperwork matched.

So, he applied at the desk. Time ticked by. DD and I got on the plane (meeting other family who have flown from different parts of the UK), dp left waiting in Manchester.

His ESTA was approved Saturday lunchtime, he's arriving via JFK at stupid o'clock Sunday night.

The systems are linked. Op won't be allowed to check in until the esta is approved.

Wrong.
literally from the first page:

At the airport in Uk I think they just ask if you have them but you don’t need to show them. You could risk it and say yes and pray they are approved before you reach passport control in USA.

God, do NOT do this, US border force is incredibly strict and unforgiving, if you don't play by the rules then you risk a ban and deportation...you'll just have to wait.

Why? Would she have expected him to sort the passport too? Ridiculous expectation imo.

Because different airlines have different flight patterns. If it’s a big one she’ll have more chance of flying as soon as it’s approved. And also they might let her transfer for free. Rather than someone like TUI.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you OP.

If I’m remembering correctly, I applied for mine on a Sunday (about this time last year) and had an email notification the afternoon of the next day saying it was all done.

Everyone needs an ESTA, so the OP's kids won't be able to go without them.

None of which matters in the context of this thread.

We’ve been to Orlando many times, and we’ve never had our estas take more than 24-36 hours. Fingers crossed for you OP! If they don’t come through in time, then I’d second the suggestion above to book a hotel at the airport and add it to the adventure for the kids

That posters early comment has been contrdicted many times now by people pointing out that can't happen

But you're right to be fully correct I should have said expect for the one person hundreds of posts ago who was wrong. I wrongly assumed we were all keeping up

We were nearly stopped from flying out because the name on our Estas didn’t match the name on the ticket

Fingers crossed for you op. 🤞

Update

We are at airport, nothing anyone can do to speed the process up and definitely no checking in with ESTAs.

Waiting until 12:30pm to see if ESTAs appear. If not then travel agency can change our flight to tomorrow.

Keeping everything crossed that they come today OP...

Please keep logging out and logging back in rather than just refreshing to see if they’ve been approved.

God I feel anxious for you, I am praying they appear soon 🤞