Cancel Aug Trip?

[katied]

Hi,
so, I’ve never cancelled before, but our daughter is not vaccinated and also, with the changing rules in Chicago and her school, she would also miss the first two weeks of school in quarantine if we take the trip… (starting at a new school too… this would be very bad).

so, if I cancel our trip (in the 1-30 day window) I have banked points form 2020 and current year 2021 points… they all go into holding? Any the I have to use before the end of February 2021 (our use year)?

if so, what is the likelihood we can actually book something MLK weekend, or Presidents Day weekend, because with school, those would be our only choices (assuming Covid gets better or the open vaccinations to 11 year olds)…

plus, then once I cancel, I also have to cancel ADRs, VIP tour… anything else?

and, our Boo Bash tickets are worthless, correct?

but our park ticket value can be applied at paid value to future trip?

 

[katied]

Forgot…
we were traveling with another couple in and booked a two bedroom lock off (BLT). If they still want to go, can I convert to a one bedroom or studio for them? Then the rest of the points go into holding?

 

[CarolynFH]

Yes, sorry, if you cancel in the 1-30 day window, all the points for that reservation go into holding and must be used by the end of your current UY, so the last night they can be used would be January 31, 2022 for a February UY. Also, you can't use them to book a new reservation until you are 60 days or less from checkin for that reservation. And you do need to cancel your ADRs and VIP tour to avoid no-show penalties. You might call Disney about the Boo Bash tickets and ask politely if there's anything that can be done, since you're cancelling due to COVID; sometimes you'll get pixie dust, but no guarantees. At least, as you know, your tickets are worth what the Disney online price was when you bought them. Keep a record of the ticket numbers because they'll disappear from your MDE after they expire (but Disney will be able to see them).

 

[CarolynFH]

Forgot…
we were traveling with another couple in and booked a two bedroom lock off (BLT). If they still want to go, can I convert to a one bedroom or studio for them? Then the rest of the points go into holding?

Normally you can't do that unless the 1 BR or studio are available, but again, call MS and ask politely whether it's possible. There are sporadic reports of it happening in the past. If they can do it, yes, only the unused points would go into holding.

I'm so sorry about this!

 

[katied]

Thanks. We have not told the kids yet… I anticipate many tears (and really, may just pay for room reservations in Jan or Feb if we think it’s ok to go then). We let the kids pick what they wanted most as a trip post Covid, and Disney was their choice (over Europe, Hawaii, anything… I can’t blame them… it was my top choice too). Eleven months ago, we though this August would be post Covid. But, as my husband and I talked about, Disney will still be there in 2022, 2023, etc…

 

[edudansil]

I’m so sorry about this. Such a hard decision. I wish I had more helpful things to add. Hoping for the best for you and your family!

 

[katied]

Thanks. I’m on the fence about even offering up the hope of a Jan or Feb weekend trip to the kids… I’d hate to take that from them too if the situation does not improve.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I’m so sorry about this. Such a hard decision. I wish I had more helpful things to add. Hoping for the best for you and your family!

I feel the same. Best wishes to your family.

 

[vicarrieous]

One option may be to rent off your reservation as is. Then take that money and you could book on cash if you choose to go in January or even beyond.

I think it may be difficult to find something based on availability of Aug-January currently with points in holding and only being able to book 60 days out.

Having cash in hand provides you more flexibility and availability moving forward.

 

[katied]

Thanks. I’ll see if my friends want to go without u… and leave the room to them if they do, otherwise, I may try this.

 

[TheEpcotForEver]

I’m also from Chicago and my kids go to Chicago schools. I’m not sure if this quarantine is specific to your school but last school year we could covid test the kids to avoid the Chicago Emergency Travel order quarantine period. Maybe that’s an option for you?

With that said I would be nervous going now too with the FL delta surge, unvaccinated kids, and Disney retiring all covid safety rules. I understand this is a tough call to make though

 

[katied]

Yes, my son does CPS and can test (or he may not even need to since he’s vaccinated) but my daughter is at a private school and they mandate a quarantine for hot spots, plus a test then at the end of the quarantine.

But yes, it’s also the lack of distancing, high crowds, and high numbers of unvaccinate… and what I was reading suggested it will be 4-6 weeks before Florida hits its peak, so the situation is only likely to get worse over the three weeks until we travel.

 

[Matty B13]

We are in the same boat, probably going to cancel our August vacation as well with 3 unvaccinated kids and school the next week. The reports of "People Soup" now at WDW is pushing us towards canceling, since we are DVC owners it makes the decision pretty easy since we will be back again in the future. I think the most we will lose is about $100 to $200 on change fees for airline tickets, and our park hopper tickets will be able to be used to buy tickets in the future. There is no since on spending $2000 to $3000 on food other miscellaneous things at WDW if you are going to be stressed the whole time about your kids getting sick.

Also, if a member of your family gets sick down there and has obvious symptoms, how are you going to get back???? The airlines won't let you on the plane, so you would have to rent a van and drive the whole way back, and we are from Massachusetts.

 

[CSLucas]

Yes, my son does CPS and can test (or he may not even need to since he’s vaccinated) but my daughter is at a private school and they mandate a quarantine for hot spots, plus a test then at the end of the quarantine.

But yes, it’s also the lack of distancing, high crowds, and high numbers of unvaccinate… and what I was reading suggested it will be 4-6 weeks before Florida hits its peak, so the situation is only likely to get worse over the three weeks until we travel.

I agree with you - we have a trip at the end of August and we are going back and forth on whether we should cancel. Yesterday was our 30 day mark so if we do we will be looking at points going into holding as well (but with a December UY) so we would probably sell off the reservation. I'm hoping that it's true that Boo Bash ticket values can be applied to something else because I would hate to just lose that money.
The other thing we have talked about it just going down for the Boo Bash if they actually look like they are limited capacity and spending the rest of the time just at the resort and save our tickets for another trip. I know that wouldn't work for you with the mandatory quarantine period, though.

 

[sethschroeder]

You might be able to rent it all out. You can't do it here but there are groups where you might be able to rent out a confirmed rental and in addition I think you can transfer Boo Bash tickets so possibly you can sell those at a discount to get money back on those as well.

With Boo Bash there is always a long shot that you can call Disney and they refund you that piece as well. I wouldn't count on it but I would ask.

Oh didnt see note about the other couple. There would be no way to splitting the room so you would be out of luck as likely there is no way to get a room back for them without a ton of luck.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

No advice, just in the same boat with an 11 year old unvaccinated kid. We just cancelled our trip for next week. We had already switched our Disney trip to a Florida National parks focused trip, but even that we just weren’t comfortable doing at this point. Sigh.

 

[katied]

Well... we have booked for cash a trip over Christmas... we can cancel and get the money back last minute (which is better than points these days)... Christmas in Disney has little appeal in general due to high crowds, but it's something to think about and hope DD can be vaccinated by then and maybe things are better... I'm guessing 25% odds we make it in December, but it may soften the blow to the kids when we tell them no Disney in August... The December may become Spring Break, who knows these days...

 

[CarolynFH]

Well... we have booked for cash a trip over Christmas... we can cancel and get the money back last minute (which is better than points these days)... Christmas in Disney has little appeal in general due to high crowds, but it's something to think about and hope DD can be vaccinated by then and maybe things are better... I'm guessing 25% odds we make it in December, but it may soften the blow to the kids when we tell them no Disney in August... The December may become Spring Break, who knows these days...

Wishes for a magical trip in December!

 

[vicarrieous]

Well... we have booked for cash a trip over Christmas... we can cancel and get the money back last minute (which is better than points these days)... Christmas in Disney has little appeal in general due to high crowds, but it's something to think about and hope DD can be vaccinated by then and maybe things are better... I'm guessing 25% odds we make it in December, but it may soften the blow to the kids when we tell them no Disney in August... The December may become Spring Break, who knows these days...

At least you still have something on the books. Were you able to rent out your DVC trip or did your friends opt to still go?

 

[katied]

Thanks. They should let us know tonight.