Should I Cancel My Disney World Vacation?

[Disney4me]

With all that is going on in the world these days, we think it’s safe to say a lot of us are feeling uncertainty about the future. And if you have a trip to Disney World planned in the next couple months, you may be feeling extra stress because you have to make the call of whether to cancel your Disney trip or not.

Cinderella Castle and Main Street USA in Disney World

Although we can’t find you a treasure trove of toilet paper or make you the world’s best homeschooler overnight, we can help in the Disney planning department! Here are a few things you should be considering while you’re wondering whether to cancel outright, reschedule, or actually take your trip to Disney World.

When will Disney World really reopen?

When Disney first announced the closure, April 1st sure sounded like a long way away. But, we are only a week away from the end of the currently stated closure dates. If you have turned on the news between your loop of Frozen 2 streams (Just us? Cool.), you may have seen the Mayor of Orange County, Florida issued a “stay in place” order beginning Thursday, March 26th, and lasting at least two weeks.

Tree of Life

We aren’t mathematicians (or licensed therapists, oops) buuuuut we aren’t sure that Disney Parks opening to the  public will fall under the exempt “essential businesses,” so that April 1st reopening sounds a BIT ambitious. Shanghai Disneyland Resort began to reopen to open certain shopping, dining, and recreation areas earlier this month after initially closing down about two months ago.

©Disney

Although the closures may not directly mirror those in Shanghai, we want you to be prepared. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more information, but if you had your sights set on rope dropping next weekend, you may want to rethink your plans.

Check out our full post addressing whether we think the parks will really open April 1st here!

And check out our post on the closure timelines and what they mean for reopening here.

What will the parks be like when they reopen?

Even when the parks reopen, they could NOT be what you expected when you originally booked your vacation.

Phased Reopenings Or Necessary Attraction Closures, and Lower Hotel and Restaurant Capacity

Although we will be thrilled when we hear word of Disney World reopening, we have to wonder if they will follow Shanghai Disneyland’s lead and open the resorts, parks, or even attractions in phases. With the importance of “flattening the curve” and social distancing, we could see Disney lower capacity in hotels, parks, and restaurants all throughout Disney World.

Fantasyland Crowds

It may not be feasible to socially distance in certain queues or attractions, so could your favorite ride be closed down or at least modified as a result? I mean, the Haunted Mansion stretching room certainly isn’t ideal if we’re all trying to avoid passing around germs. Will you still be able to have the full-on Disney World trip you were hoping for even if you face unexpected ride closures? It all depends on you and your family, your expectations, and what a Disney World visit needs to be for you to enjoy it and consider it worth the cost.

Haunted Mansion May have Modifications When Disney World Reopens

Remember, phased reopenings, limited capacity decisions, and ride modifications are a long way off — and definitely NOT confirmed by Disney. But they do seem like a good way for Disney to reopen more safely.

So if your trip is scheduled for the first few months the park may reopen, consider carefully if a half-open or modified park experience will be worth your vacation time and cost outlay, or if you’d rather reschedule for later in the year — or even 2021 — to have a better chance of taking the vacation you expected to take originally.

Potential Crowd Pattern Changes

Again, we really don’t know 1) When the parks will reopen, 2) If people will flood the parks as soon as they reopen (people may continue so socially distance for safety’s sake), 3) If economic difficulty will prohibit many guests from taking Disney trips this year, and 4) If guests will want to spend money to go to parks that may be modified for safety concerns.

But we are anticipating that the current closures will reposition at least a portion of the Spring Break crowds to later in the year.

Tomorrowland Speedway Line

If your schedule is flexible, you may be better off to avoid the summer months and aim for a trip in the fall when schools are back in session, or potentially early in 2021.

Check out our post ALL about how these closures could affect Disney World crowds levels this year HERE!

What type of planner are you?

In the midst of these closures, nearly everyone’s normal routine has been thrown off. The chaos may be less of a jolt for the more “go with the flow” folks, but both Type A and Type B personalities have to make the call of whether to wait it out or reschedule their trip for various reasons.

Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire

If you’re more of a “fly by the seat of your pants” type planner, or if you’re a Florida resident or Annual Passholder who’s been to Disney World multiple times, you may be able to get away with taking things one day at a time and making the most of whatever your trip ends up looking like.

Slinky Dog Dash Sign

But, if you have spent months (or years) planning the perfect Disney World trip and have a very clear vision for your BEST DAYS EVER in the parks (We’re sending you a virtual hug! Keep your Disney dreams alive!), it may be worth waiting on your trip until we have a better picture of what the future holds.

What about Advance Dining Reservations and FastPasses?

Speaking of planning, you may have set your alarm super early and/or assembled a whole squad to take on booking your Advance Dining Reservations or FastPasses. So, now what happens?

Well, if you plan to reschedule your trip, your fastpasses and advance dining reservations can’t go with you to the new dates at this time. (Disney has not created a policy allowing us to just pick up our whole planned vacation and move it to new dates.) You’d have to modify current reservations or re-book all of them. And if your rescheduled dates fall within 180 days from now…it might be really difficult to construct the trip as you did before if you had chosen very popular or hard to get reservations.

However, if you’re rescheduling your trip for more than 180 days out, you should be able to reconstruct the same vacation. It’ll just be a hassle, because you’ll have to get up early and master the reservations all over again.

Fastpass Entrance for Splash Mountain

Beware that your FastPasses may be linked to your Disney hotel reservation, so if you cancel or reschedule, it may wipe your FastPass reservations, too.

Dining reservations often have a cancellation fee attached to them, so if you no-show while the parks are open, you’ll be charged (usually $10 per person on the reservation)…and that can add up. So if you decide to cancel or reschedule your vacation, be sure to also cancel your dining reservations if they don’t fall during a time that the parks are already closed.

Can you get more (or different) vacation time?

Getting super logistical here: you may have been planning your trip to Disney World for over a year now. You requested the vacation time from your employer months ago and you may not have the flexibility to push your time off to a few weeks later.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2019

Consider this when choosing to reschedule or cancel: do you HAVE to take the vacation time you secured?, can you postpone the vacation time until a later date?, what kind of penalties will you encounter if you do so?

All of these answers can help you decide whether to just go for it and take the vacation regardless of what the parks are like, or save the time off for later when you can be assured of a great vacation.

So should I cancel?

When to Wait it Out

Very little is certain right now — on a global scale and a local Orlando scale. We don’t know how this situation is going to evolve, or how long it will take to return to some sort of “normal.” If your trip is scheduled for April through July, it’s much more difficult to predict how things will pan out than if it’s scheduled for September to December or in 2021.

Our advice to guests with trips scheduled in April is to wait to cancel (if you can) until Disney World announces an official closure extension. This way, you can take advantage of the best possible refunds and rescheduling flexibility.

2019 Epcot Food and Wine Festival

If your trip is scheduled for later in the year, hopefully the points we made above in this article will be helpful for you as you come to your own conclusions that are best for your family.

How To Reschedule Easily

If you are already in the window of refund or rescheduling flexibility and decide to go ahead and change your plans, check out our how-to guide for rescheduling or canceling and refunding your Disney trip here! You can also take a look at what Disney World is refunding so you’ll know what to expect if you move forward with changing up your trip.

If you need even MORE tips on rescheduling, check out our recommendations for when you should move your Disney trip to in the latest DFB Video:

We feel your pain. It’s so hard to determine next steps when all we have is uncertainty from a safety perspective as well as an economic perspective. This is a difficult time for everyone, and we hope this article helps you to come to some conclusions that work for you.

Do you have any more questions about whether you should cancel your Disney World vacation? Let us know in the comments below!

Related posts:

1. Disney World Skyliner Gondola PRO TIPS: Here’s What You Need To Know Before You FLY!
2. BREAKING NEWS (Again): Orlando International Airport to CLOSE on September 3rd As Hurricane Dorian Nears the Florida Coast
3. DFB Video: 16 Things That Are Still Free in Disney World

View the full article