Rescheduling Due to Family Medical Emergency

[Nemo32]

Hi Dis Friends. I'm supposed to go to WDW April 21-30 in a joint trip with my Dad and Stepmom. We've been planning since November. I've bought Disney themed T-shirts, have an arsenal of sanitizer, woke at 5am on three separate days for my ADRs, watch my favorite vloggers for tips, etc. I've been looking forward to less capacity, shortened hours, no parades/shows (I know...I'm weird) and above all else, looking forward to the quality time with my Dad and Stepmom. My Husband and I haven't been on a proper vacation since our 2019 honeymoon and after this crazy pandemic year, this trip has been our light at the end of the tunnel to just relax and unplug for a bit in our happy place.

However, this past week my Mom had emergency open heart surgery. She's recovering in ICU on a ventilator, so unsure of her return home and when she's home, what recovery looks like. As she lives alone, Husband and I will be her primary caregivers. Thus...just under five weeks out, we're faced with the tough decision of whether or not to reschedule. Though we have a great family support system, we don't want to put that burden on them and I know I'd feel worried about leaving her alone for so long. We need to decide by Monday as one of my reservations is through DVC points and I'll lose those if I don't reschedule by then.

So, this was my long winded way of asking, if we reschedule for 2021 - when is best to do so? I initially thought early May, but now thinking that's not enough time for Mom to recover. So next best is October, November or December as I'm not keen on summer heat and crowds. TIA for your suggestions.

 

[Robo]

Hope your Mom recovers quickly!

October 1 this year starts WDW's 50th Celebration (expect crowds for awhile.)

Traditionally "slower" dates are early November (skipping Thanksgiving time) or December up until just before Christmas.

 

[fly girl]

Sorry about your Mom. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

@Robo nailed it about October. I would expect it to be busy with 50th & Ratatouille.

Early November, or early December are usually not too busy. But Florida can get a cold snap and be quite chilly in December. What about mid-late September? Just tossing out another idea.

 

[Nemo32]

Hope your Mom recovers quickly!

October 1 this year starts WDW's 50th Celebration (expect crowds for awhile.)

Traditionally "slower" dates are early November (skipping Thanksgiving time) or December up until just before Christmas.

Thank you - taking recovery day by day.

That's what I figured. Ideally avoid October. I wouldn't mind November. We've done early December before too and that was enjoyable...plus around my Birthday!

Sorry about your Mom. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

@Robo nailed it about October. I would expect it to be busy with 50th & Ratatouille.

Early November, or early December are pically not too busy. But Florida can get a cold snap and be quite chilly in December. What about mid-late September? Just tossing out another idea.

Thank you. Hoping she can come home soon.

I think ideally we'll do early November/early December. I'm hoping to avoid October. I'm not opposed to September, but I know me, I do terrible in the heat, haha.

Thank you for these quick replies. I just wasn't sure if the entire end of 2021 would be crazy crowded due to 50th, but it seems there might still be pockets of lower crowds even post-50th.

 

[JFDIS]

I hope your mom has a quick recovery. She is lucky to have such a sweet daughter. November really is one of the best times to visit Disney!

 

[buzzrelly]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, and prayers for her speedy recovery.

Before you pick new dates, check the DVC availability. Depending on what type of room you need, there's not a lot of availability October through December. If it were me, I'd start picking new dates by looking at that. Good luck.

 

[Nemo32]

I hope your mom has a quick recovery. She is lucky to have such a sweet daughter. November really is one of the best times to visit Disney!

Thank you! I was hoping November but balancing DVC points from two different renters it's looking like it's not going to align for November.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, and prayers for her speedy recovery.

Before you pick new dates, check the DVC availability. Depending on what type of room you need, there's not a lot of availability October through December. If it were me, I'd start picking new dates by looking at that. Good luck.

Thank you. Appreciate it. You are absolutely right. I'm renting DVC points from two different renters and trying to get the perfect alignment of points is proving near impossible.

It's looking like we may have to do the last week October.

 

[CarolynFH]

Best wishes for your mom’s uncomplicated recovery!
And pixie dust wishes for success in rescheduling the DVC stay. Availability for fall is even tighter than usual because of all the postponed travel in 2020.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I'm sorry to hear about your Mom. If I had to change my trip, I'd do early December for the crowds. The Thanksgiving crowds will be going home and hopefully the mass crowds for the 50th will be slowed some by this point. It's also before the kids get out of school for the holiday break so that's one less set of bigger crowds to worry about.

 

[starry_solo]

Hi Dis Friends. I'm supposed to go to WDW April 21-30 in a joint trip with my Dad and Stepmom. We've been planning since November. I've bought Disney themed T-shirts, have an arsenal of sanitizer, woke at 5am on three separate days for my ADRs, watch my favorite vloggers for tips, etc. I've been looking forward to less capacity, shortened hours, no parades/shows (I know...I'm weird) and above all else, looking forward to the quality time with my Dad and Stepmom. My Husband and I haven't been on a proper vacation since our 2019 honeymoon and after this crazy pandemic year, this trip has been our light at the end of the tunnel to just relax and unplug for a bit in our happy place.

However, this past week my Mom had emergency open heart surgery. She's recovering in ICU on a ventilator, so unsure of her return home and when she's home, what recovery looks like. As she lives alone, Husband and I will be her primary caregivers. Thus...just under five weeks out, we're faced with the tough decision of whether or not to reschedule. Though we have a great family support system, we don't want to put that burden on them and I know I'd feel worried about leaving her alone for so long. We need to decide by Monday as one of my reservations is through DVC points and I'll lose those if I don't reschedule by then.

So, this was my long winded way of asking, if we reschedule for 2021 - when is best to do so? I initially thought early May, but now thinking that's not enough time for Mom to recover. So next best is October, November or December as I'm not keen on summer heat and crowds. TIA for your suggestions.

Reschedule for a minimum of one year out. I know recovery time depends on the person, but it took one of my family members one year to recover from a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. You didn't mention how old your mother is, but my family member was 58 when this happened. I would reschedule for the late fall (October-December) time for 2022.

 

[Brandilla]

From my experience, I can tell you my father in law had open heart surgery(quadruple bypass) unexpectedly in October. He stayed in the hospital for just under a week and was discharged home. He did great. He is early 50`s with several comorbitdities but otherwise lives an independent life. He was going outside walking through town with his wife about 2-3 weeks out. If your moms recovery is anything like his, I would not hesitate to go on your scheduled trip. My FIL even got Covid a month later and I was so angry and scared for him, but he came through it just fine.

Obviously I don't know anything about your mom and what her recovery may be like but unless you have reason to expect a long, drawn out recovery, I would continue on your trip. Mom isn't going, right? You're just concerned about caring for her? A month from now, as long as she has an uncomplicated surgery, she should be doing great. Maybe ask her doctors what they expect for her recovery.

Hope she has a super easy, speedy recovery!

 

[Nemo32]

Best wishes for your mom’s uncomplicated recovery!
And pixie dust wishes for success in rescheduling the DVC stay. Availability for fall is even tighter than usual because of all the postponed travel in 2020.

Thank you! Appreciate it! Yes, this'll certainly take some maneuvering and compromising.

I'm sorry to hear about your Mom. If I had to change my trip, I'd do early December for the crowds. The Thanksgiving crowds will be going home and hopefully the mass crowds for the 50th will be slowed some by this point. It's also before the kids get out of school for the holiday break so that's one less set of bigger crowds to worry about.

All great points! I'm not seeing too much available the first week of December. :-(

Reschedule for a minimum of one year out. I know recovery time depends on the person, but it took one of my family members one year to recover from a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. You didn't mention how old your mother is, but my family member was 58 when this happened. I would reschedule for the late fall (October-December) time for 2022.

Thank you for the feedback. I hope your family member is well today. My Mom is 62 and rather healthy. She walks every day, eats well, etc. so it was a bit of a shock for us to discover one of her valves ruptured and an LAD artery had been blocked for quite some time. I think we're going to aim for end of this year and if needed, we can always reschedule again. She's a tough cookie so hoping she gets her strength back soon.

From my experience, I can tell you my father in law had open heart surgery(quadruple bypass) unexpectedly in October. He stayed in the hospital for just under a week and was discharged home. He did great. He is early 50`s with several comorbitdities but otherwise lives an independent life. He was going outside walking through town with his wife about 2-3 weeks out. If your moms recovery is anything like his, I would not hesitate to go on your scheduled trip. My FIL even got Covid a month later and I was so angry and scared for him, but he came through it just fine.

Obviously I don't know anything about your mom and what her recovery may be like but unless you have reason to expect a long, drawn out recovery, I would continue on your trip. Mom isn't going, right? You're just concerned about caring for her? A month from now, as long as she has an uncomplicated surgery, she should be doing great. Maybe ask her doctors what they expect for her recovery.

Hope she has a super easy, speedy recovery!

I'm glad to hear your FIL's surgery went well and he's feel better now. Everyone is so different! I can definitely tell it'll be a bit of a longer haul for her. She's been on the ventilator a week now, but hoping she can be off by Monday. Like I said, she's a tough cookie and strong, so no doubt she'll try her best. She goes a bit stir crazy too so I'm sure will be itching to be walking and doing her normal routine again. Good idea to ask doctors maybe!

I'd love to keep our April trip - all was perfect and stars aligned - I just know based on the trouble she's having in ICU, it could be a bit and I know I'd feel awful leaving her. You're correct. She's staying home. My main concern is having someone be there for her to help care for her and help with day-to-day. She's extremely independent so foresee her doing something as simple as getting a pan from the cabinet and doing damage to her healing. :-(