I have a travel question for you - please answer

[gonga]

I have a question for you guys. I am very curious about this.
If we go to war, would you cancel your vacation plans to WDW?

I personally would not cancel my upcoming trip to WDW. I am a TA and nobody is going anywhere! I was just wondering if you did cancel is it because you do not feel safe in the Parks or you do not feel safe getting to your destination or leaving your home.

It seems everyone is just staying put these days, the restaurants and malls in my area are very empty, just wondering what everyone is thinking. It seems like everyone knows something I do not. This entire week my area has been like a ghost town. Restaurants that usually have an hour wait are empty. Malls with huge sales - empty. When I ask the employees whats going on - the response is the same - "I dont know its been this way for a full week". I was curious because it seems that we (dis boards) are the only ones excited about our trips. When I tell people that we are going to WDW, they look at me like I'm crazy, and I do not understand. Has most of society bought into the fear? I hope not. Thanks for your response

 

[cindyfan]

It isn't just the threat of war, but the state of the economy.

We are going no matter what.
I have 3 co-workers that are also planning WDW this spring. So that's March, April (that's us), May and June trips planned and no one has even considered cancelling. If anything, they are determined to keep their plans as not to make the kids feel they are not safe.
We all have kids ages 4 through 12. And even though we have discussed the possibility of war with our kids, we want them to feel they can trust our government and our armed forces to protect us.

 

[Trish5768]

I just wanted to say that I have found that around my home also, but really think alot of it has to do with the cold weather and snow we have been experiencing. No one wants to or just can't get out.

 

[DebbieB]

I think it's a combination of all 3 - war, economy, weather. I personally have not made any changes in my life due to all this. I just booked my air this week to WDW for May 9 to 16. It would have to be pretty bad for me to cancel it.

I work in Downtown Pittsburgh. My office is uptown so I don't go into the main part of downtown too often in the winter. Yesterday the weather was sunny, so I ventured to the department store and stopped in Wendys. Usually at noon the line is to the door. Yesterday it was a very short line. It's not just because it's Friday in Lent (they do have fish sandwiches), it's been the same way the other 2 or 3 times I've stopped in the past month or two. People are just not going out.

 

[grinningghost]

It's not stopping me one bit. I'm still going to WDW. I'm still going out to restaurants and the mall. I do everything I always did. I think it's crazy to be so paranoid that you would cancel a long anticipated vacation.

 

[cdpa4d]

I know we are going on our trip this April 26th. I would agree that it is probably a combination of war, the economy, and the cold and snowy weather we have been experiencing. Here in Indianapolis this has been the 3rd snowiest winter in history. It has kept a lot of people inside and away from shopping and dining. I've noticed it being very slow here as well. Today it is sunny and 50 degrees. I expect a lot of people will be out and about today. Only time will tell.
ADP

 

[worm761]

i am not cancelling my plans and i am flying down. most people thing i am crazy for doing both. i have not changed my habits. i am trying to keep life as normal as possible for my DS. and that includes our vacation to WDW for his birthday. for those that dont go. hey, i will have shorter lines to wait in!!!

 

[gonga]

I feel the same way. It was very nice to shop in a quiet mall and not have to wait for a table in a busy restaurant. Good for us- bad for the economy I guess. Thanks for responding everyone

 

[Aprille's Mom]

We aren't changing our plans - have reservations for early June. I don't feel nervous about being at WDW but I am a bit nervous about the stock market. We are driving instead of flying but not so much from a fear of flying but the discomforts of flying. Dh is 80 and has come to dread airports and airplanes to the point where we really didn't think we would ever go back to WDW - until my sister and her husband offered to drive along with us. Now we are quite excited about yet another trip to WDW.

We live in the Panhandle of Texas so haven't felt much anxiety about terror attacks. Maybe I'm naive - my sister points out that we live next door to a large refinery. I can certainly understand how you folks in the New York and Washington DC areas would be feeling a lot of anxiety. And I can understand folks thinking that WDW would be an ideal target, but I'm not willing to let fear change my life to that degree. At least not yet.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

My closest co-worker is going to WDW over Easter week, and I'm going in December, and neither one of us would even think of canceling our plans.
My co-worker will be driving down, only because the airline was too booked.
I will be flying.

As much as I love to go out to eat in my local area, I do find it difficult to leave a cozy house to go out in sub zero temps, just for dinner. That's especially true for breakfast.

 

[BounceyOne]

I too am a New Yorker, and we are ging down next month. Driving not flying. This is due to the cost of flying compared to driving. When we drive we have more flexibility and it is way more affordable.

We also have a summer trip planned.

Shopping where I live has still been busy, maybe not 'as' busy but not empty at all.

My guess is alot of it has to do with the weather around here. I am a snow lover, but a getting a little tired of it

 

[delswife]

Yes we are PLANNING on going in december, but I still havent made reservations anywhere as of yet. We have decieded to drive, as flying is out of the question for me. (Nothing to do with terrorist, just a bad flight I was on years ago) My concern is that when we plan to go, the prices of gas will skyrocket and we will go back to the days of gas lines and end up in the Carolinas or something, unable to get gas! (Remember those days?) We want to go, we plan on going, but for right now, the money sits in the bank waiting. I live in a tourist area and much of our vacation money will depend on this summer. Normally the summer is great for me, but last summer we did see changes in the types of people traveling. So many more families traveling! I work in a resturant that sits right on the beach and normally during the 4th of July, it is packed. The kind of packed where I have to hold the tray over my head to get threw the croud. Last summer wasnt the case.
People look at me like Im crazy when I say Im going to Disney too. But I am!

 

[kilee]

We went last month the day after they raised the threat level. I had family members ask me to reconsider our trip in the 11th hour. Honestly, I almost did. We drove and I was really apprehensive the whole way there. Once we got there, the warm weather and Disney magic made me forget about my fears. I had told ds that we were going, and unless there was active terrorism events happening, we were going. We had a great time and made it back in one piece. We are currently looking over our finance's and are almost 100% sure that in the next 10 days we will be booking a trip back to Disney either the first week of April or the first week of May.
On another note, my mother is flying into Pensacola next Friday, and she is seriously thinking of cancelling because she doens't want to be gone from home with the March 17th deadline approaching.

 

[n2mm]

I hope to still go on my planed trips this year. Have yet to find a decent airfare for my May trip yet. Whether I cancel or not will be decided if and when the time comes. Since I work in Wash. DC for the USG, I tend to be more aware of the situation then the average person. If things get bad, going to WDW will not happen, but working next to the White House won't be a safe place to be either. If I feel that it would not be wise to be away from my home and family, then hopefully I will make the right decision. I don't fear flying, afterall I take public transportation in and out of Wash. every day, and I feel like a target day in and day out, it's getting pretty stressful and boy I need a vacation, but also feel that if/and when things get ugly, there's no place like home. It takes alot for me to even post this, afterall we go to WDW more than anyone I know, with 4 trips planned this year, we went 6 times last year and 5 times the year before, so as you can see, it will take alot for me to cancel a trip.

 

[jdads2]

This question came up after the WTC attacks. We had our trip planned for October of that year. We didn't think about our vacatio for probably a week to 10 days after the attacks and from the start we said that we would go through with our plans for a great famly vacation. We feel that continuing with our way of life and showing that no matter how the terrorist try they won't deter us form living our lives the way we see fit.

 

[kilee]

Hey jdads2 we're neighboors, I'm in Silver Creek and work in Angola.

 

[KJo719]

We are going in July for our honeymoon and have no intention of cancelling!!

 

[AnnaS]

Well we are on the Magic this July and a few nights at OKW. We thought of driving (always do and never have) but my dh won again so we are flying - I hate, hate flying and not because of 9/11 or threat of war.

We also added a nice unexpected trip for Easter week and yes we are flying again. We did book these flights before all the talk of war. Honestly, I probably would not have added these flights or done this Easter trip if all this talk about war started a few months ago. A few people have asked if I thought of cancelling - I am very concerned but going anyway and praying for the best.

 

[Goofy Girl]

We are planning a trip for May 3rd... We will be driving, because we are taking Mom, and she will not fly (never would!). The only change we have even considered is the route...

If the bridges around NYC and the perimeter of DC are being patrolled, (random checks, etc), which would slow us, we have considered looking for a route that will take us further "around" those locations, and link back up to I-95 below Richmond....

We are still plan to be playin' at the Parks that week, and playin' on the cruise ship the following week! Whooohooo!

 

[susy]

Last week, while at CSR DH and I were watching the news and they said something about having a plan.

I told my DH,"Here's the plan. Meet me at the GF check-in desk!" We both could not stop laughing. Of course we were joking.

I wouldn't cancel a WDW for anything, really. Unless, I could somehow not get there physically or if one of our party was physically unable to go or if the parks were closed.