Anyone with a crystal ball? Rebooking advice wanted.

[ClapYourHands]

I've been trying to get down to WDW for a year now for my daughter's first real trip. Canceled last November due to my mother's illness, Disney closed for our rescheduled May trip, and we just got word that DD has to quarantine due to COVID exposure at school - so there goes THIS November's trip. So three canceled trips, and I'm back to the drawing board.

1) We have 7-day tickets that are good until Sept 2021. Since they were purchased before the last price increase, I'd like to use them rather than apply their cost to new tickets with fewer entitlements.
2) I can go pretty much anytime before September. While going during school breaks would be good, I'm willing to pull DD to hit a good timeframe.
3) Hoping for low(er) crowds (or return of FP so we can strategically avoid some of the longer lines) and possibly some increased entertainment options.
4) Preference is for cooler weather, but can make summer work if other factors come together.

I realize no one can say with certainty when things will change, and crowds might not follow typical pre-COVID patterns, but I'm hoping some of you have good guesses or advice. Thoughts on planning?

 

[Rockbro]

As a former teacher and current Ph.D. student, I would never suggest pulling a kid from school. It's very difficult to catch up, and even when they do, they are often behind.

Depending on where you live, I would wait until the earliest the week following the end of school 2021, but if you can taken the heat, the week before school starts, 2021.

Also, I wouldn't count on fastpasses coming back anytime soon, if ever.

 

[SL6827]

I pulled mine out of school numerous times. She was 3rd rank at graduation. Last week of January or first week of February.

 

[ClapYourHands]

As a former teacher and current Ph.D. student, I would never suggest pulling a kid from school. It's very difficult to catch up, and even when they do, they are often behind.

Depending on where you live, I would wait until the earliest the week following the end of school 2021, but if you can taken the heat, the week before school starts, 2021.

Also, I wouldn't count on fastpasses coming back anytime soon, if ever.

Thank you for your concern regarding my daughter's schooling. I agree loss of instructional time is not ideal, and I originally planned for last year because she was in preschool and we could go without regard to the school schedule. I'm not too worried about pulling her in K, especially with so much of her material available online this year. With older kids, yes, I agree. Her brothers are in middle school and have never been pulled for more than a day or two.

Why would your first choice be the last week of the summer vacation? With three cancelled trips in our history, I worry about something preventing that trip, and then being out of time to reschedule before ticket expiration. Also, why would the first week following the end of school be the second choice? Snow days are possible through March, and can affect the end date.

 

[Rockbro]

Thank you for your concern regarding my daughter's schooling. I agree loss of instructional time is not ideal, and I originally planned for last year because she was in preschool and we could go without regard to the school schedule. I'm not too worried about pulling her in K, especially with so much of her material available online this year. With older kids, yes, I agree. Her brothers are in middle school and have never been pulled for more than a day or two.

Why would your first choice be the last week of the summer vacation? With three cancelled trips in our history, I worry about something preventing that trip, and then being out of time to reschedule before ticket expiration. Also, why would the first week following the end of school be the second choice? Snow days are possible through March, and can affect the end date.

First choice is weather and heat. It would be much more ideal than a summer month. I wasn't aware that she was a K grader. But that pretty much eliminates (at least for me) June, July, August. I don't have kids, so take this with a grain of salt, but it can be oppressive here during the summer. The earlier, the better.

But, now that I know her relative age, I would still wait as long as possible hanging on before the humanity arrives hoping for FP to return. Again, though, I don't think it's coming back anytime soon.

 

[RanDIZ]

I’d try Dec. Use part of the schools winter vacation as 14 day quarantine so it won’t be many days to miss if any.

 

[akg1128]

I've been trying to get down to WDW for a year now for my daughter's first real trip. Canceled last November due to my mother's illness, Disney closed for our rescheduled May trip, and we just got word that DD has to quarantine due to COVID exposure at school - so there goes THIS November's trip. So three canceled trips, and I'm back to the drawing board.

1) We have 7-day tickets that are good until Sept 2021. Since they were purchased before the last price increase, I'd like to use them rather than apply their cost to new tickets with fewer entitlements.
2) I can go pretty much anytime before September. While going during school breaks would be good, I'm willing to pull DD to hit a good timeframe.
3) Hoping for low(er) crowds (or return of FP so we can strategically avoid some of the longer lines) and possibly some increased entertainment options.
4) Preference is for cooler weather, but can make summer work if other factors come together.

I realize no one can say with certainty when things will change, and crowds might not follow typical pre-COVID patterns, but I'm hoping some of you have good guesses or advice. Thoughts on planning?

That stinks about your third canceled trip! We have gone in early December and had good luck with the weather and crowds. We have early December booked again this year and I know it will be different, but hoping for the best. I also agree with the poster above that mentioned last week of January or first week of February. We haven't traveled those weeks, but I recall hearing that it's a good time.

One question for you too. My DD is also in quarantine due to exposure. Our trip isn't for another month, but the reality of us potentially having to cancel at the last minute is feeling much more real now. Have you had any issues with a last minute cancellation with Disney?

 

[ClapYourHands]

I pulled mine out of school numerous times. She was 3rd rank at graduation. Last week of January or first week of February.

Thank you, and congratulations on your daughter's success. I agree the individual child and their grade level should be considered, as some are better poised to miss school. Why would you recommend the end of January and early February?

 

[ClapYourHands]

One question for you too. My DD is also in quarantine due to exposure. Our trip isn't for another month, but the reality of us potentially having to cancel at the last minute is feeling much more real now. Have you had any issues with a last minute cancellation with Disney?

No problem at all. We had room-only reservations, so we're well within our 5-day standard reservation cancelation window. At one point, Disney had the cancelation window down to 1 day, but I don't know if that's ongoing. We booked a refundable room through Hot Wire last fall (I canceled easily online), and were booked through Undercover Tourist this fall (called and spoke with a very nice agent who said they'd process my refund on Monday). We actually had a non-refundable Hot Rate (blind booking on Hotwire) reservation last May, but since Disney was closed, it was refunded, too. I had added a few dates to the May trip directly through Disney for a split stay, and those were auto-cancelled for me, too.

I have definitely learned my lesson, and will not be booking anything that's non-refundable for the foreseeable future. Even if I'm 100% committed to coming, things are so unsettled that there's always a surprise that could turn up.

 

[Marthasor]

That stinks about your third canceled trip! We have gone in early December and had good luck with the weather and crowds. We have early December booked again this year and I know it will be different, but hoping for the best. I also agree with the poster above that mentioned last week of January or first week of February. We haven't traveled those weeks, but I recall hearing that it's a good time.

One question for you too. My DD is also in quarantine due to exposure. Our trip isn't for another month, but the reality of us potentially having to cancel at the last minute is feeling much more real now. Have you had any issues with a last minute cancellation with Disney?

This is WDW's cancellation policy through the end of 2020:
"As a reminder, you can book with confidence when planning their next Walt Disney World vacation. If your plans change, any Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees will be waived up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through December 31, 2020."

I just cancelled a package reservation yesterday that had a check-in date of November 13. I got a 100% refund.

 

[akg1128]

This is WDW's cancellation policy through the end of 2020:
"As a reminder, you can book with confidence when planning their next Walt Disney World vacation. If your plans change, any Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees will be waived up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through December 31, 2020."

I just cancelled a package reservation yesterday that had a check-in date of November 13. I got a 100% refund.

Thank you!!!!

 

[ClapYourHands]

This is WDW's cancellation policy through the end of 2020:
"As a reminder, you can book with confidence when planning their next Walt Disney World vacation. If your plans change, any Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees will be waived up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through December 31, 2020."

I just cancelled a package reservation yesterday that had a check-in date of November 13. I got a 100% refund.

That's great to hear! I assume that any 3rd party reservations would go by their reservation policies, even though Disney's is more lenient.

 

[dachsie]

So you couldn't have a Covid test done on your daughter and she test negative and then be able to go on your trip?

I have been at various times and my favorite is right after Thanksgiving and the end of Jan/early Feb. Crowds are generally lower and the weather is great. If you could swing it for Dec, I would go so you could see the Christmas decorations. With the parks not having all they usually offer, that extra holiday decoration will keep it magical.

 

[ClapYourHands]

So you couldn't have a Covid test done on your daughter and she test negative and then be able to go on your trip?

I have been at various times and my favorite is right after Thanksgiving and the end of Jan/early Feb. Crowds are generally lower and the weather is great. If you could swing it for Dec, I would go so you could see the Christmas decorations. With the parks not having all they usually offer, that extra holiday decoration will keep it magical.

She already tested negative once, but she is still subject to quarantine by our state's regulations due to the 14-day incubation period for COVID. I think it's pretty likely she doesn't have it, but it's also possible we tested too early and she might still develop symptoms.

 

[SL6827]

Thank you, and congratulations on your daughter's success. I agree the individual child and their grade level should be considered, as some are better poised to miss school. Why would you recommend the end of January and early February?

Because that seems like the time that most parents WON'T take their kids out of school for Disney. Kids have just gotten back into class after a 2-3 week break at Christmas. It is just a "down time" to travel anywhere, not just Disney. Plus the tempatures are wonderful. Not hot, just a little cool. Perfect. And I will admit, if my daughter had not had the ability that she had with learning, I wouldn't have pulled her out either.

 

[dchronister]

I love when people tell you to do this or that with your children, or suggest! Your the parent, you know your child’s potential and their ability to deal! So obviously I’m the parent that would and did pull my child from school! We would usually go the 2nd week of nov or the 2nd week dec, for weather and crowds! We tried spring break one year and said NEVER again, we tried the long weekend over Presidents’ Day, also another NEVER again! The years when I could not pull them, we would go the very first week out of school, trying for a week where not all schools were out yet! The weather is still fairly pleasant and the crowds not terrible! I personally would not do summer in Disney, we went the 2nd week of October in 2018, it was still very hot and the humidity was high, I could not imagine what August would have been like!

 

[DisMommyTX]

As a professor and mother of 2 (now 15 and 12), I have never once regretted pulling my kids out of school for a vacation. Family travels and experiential learning have been essential to their educational development. Summers in FL are brutal and Aug is peak hurricane season as well. Spring break or the week before Christmas usually work for us, but if not, I would pull them out in a heartbeat for a trip once a year. This year we'll be taking a 5-day weekend for EPCOT's festival of the arts in Jan. Early Dec or late Jan-early March is my preferred time to visit Disney for both weather and crowds.

 

[easyas123]

I pulled mine out of school numerous times. She was 3rd rank at graduation. Last week of January or first week of February.

EXCELLENT time of year to go (in my opinion). We've been several times during Jan/mid-Feb.

I love when people tell you to do this or that with your children, or suggest! Your the parent, you know your child’s potential and their ability to deal! So obviously I’m the parent that would and did pull my child from school!

Yup-

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Jan/mid-Feb, temp and crowd levels are perfect. I have pulled my daughter out for trips and 100% worth it, doing it for a couple of days the week of Thanksgiving, you know your child.

 

[mattpeto]

For you, I'd consider going away during your DD Spring Break. Spring Break won't be as crazy this year and you have a chance of Remy and one nighttime spectacular (thinking EF, but maybe Harmonious).

If your tickets weren't expiring, I'd recommend waiting past September 2021, things may get a bit back to normal by then.