What to do?

[twanner]

I'm not sure is this is the correct place to post, but it does involve $ so here goes:
We have a big family Disney trip scheduled for the end of September 2009--taking advantage of the Free Dining Promo. It has become somewhat of a tradition for me, DH, DD8, my mom and dad, and my brother and sister-in-law.
My mom was diagnosed with early breast cancer two days ago. She'll most likely have the surgery in July (she's meeting with the surgeon June 30th and he'll probably schedule then) in addition, she'll probably have 6 weeks of radiation. It's looking doubtful that she's going to be able to make the September trip. we purchased insurance when we bought our airfare because my Dad was scheduled for surgery at the time and they wanted the peace of mind in case he had complications and ended up not being able to go, SO the airfare is covered, no problem. We have until August 13th to cancel the hotel and tickets or move them up to December BUT we will ultimately miss out on Free Dining. After all of these surgeries we will DEFINITELY need a vacation.
Has anyone ever heard of Disney taking pity on a family in these kind of circumstances? I'm sure I already know the answer to this, but I thought I'd see if anyone had different insight. This trip was planned on a budget and without Free Dining, we probably won't be able to swing it this year.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

You can always ask, don't know if you'll have any luck though.

One option - what if you moved your trip to January? They don't have free dining then, but there are often good deals on room rates and sometimes ticket deals that might actually end up costing you less than the free dining offer would. Just a thought.

Teresa

 

[twanner]

You can always ask, don't know if you'll have any luck though.

One option - what if you moved your trip to January? They don't have free dining then, but there are often good deals on room rates and sometimes ticket deals that might actually end up costing you less than the free dining offer would. Just a thought.

Teresa

Thanks for your reply! January can be cold! Brrrr! Still, a cold vacation at Disney World is better than no vacation at Disney World.

 

[RobinFabulous]

My cousin got a free dining offer for December, but I think it was through Disney Visa..... Do you have one of those?

 

[LisaInNc]

Truthfully if you cut back a little you might still be able to do the trip without the free dining.

With free dining you pay a lot more for a room than you can with some of the codes they release. January should be cheaper and look for a code or....gasp stay off site.

Take that savings, do breakfast in the room, bring in snacks or even sandwiches. It will cut down drastically on food.

Sure, it might not be exactly the trip you planned but you will still get to go AND who knows you might have a better time.

One of my favorite Disney Memories was an impromptu picnic I had with my DD while waiting for the 3pm parade.

You might be surprised...free dining isn't really free

 

[Disneylush]

Jan has always been my fav time of year and the cheapest. if you go right after the first of the year the christmas stuff is still up and by Jan 7 the park is so empty! Everything is pretty much walk on. Plus it is so much more enjoyable when everyone is not over heated.

 

[cheshireqt]

So sorry about the surgery and the radiation for your parents. That is a lot to deal with. I hope you are able to move your trip and enjoy your tradition, just at a different time of year. It can be cold in winter in FL but it can also be quite warm. We went to Universal in February this year and it was in the 80s all week. We spent several Christmases in Tampa (with the ILs) and it has always been around 75 during the day the whole week. For some reason January seems to be the cold month, the ILs have had ice storms several times in January. Soooo December would be awesome as long as you do not hit the Holiday crowds. Maybe you can keep watch for a great code to come out and luck into something like the 4/3 deal!

 

[ceecee]

You could always go without the dining plan and eat cheaper. By the time you add the tip on some of the nicer TB, you really do up the price and it's too much food for the average family. We paid for the dining plan last week and in just tips spent $230.00 (we ended up tipping at CS as well since we stayed at Coronado Spg. and they help you with seating drinks, etc.)
I don't think January is too cold, I guess if you are used to warmer weather all the time you may find it cold. We are from Ohio and find FL to be very mild in contrast to our January!

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

I think you should really talk it over with your parents, I am a survivor and I can remember going to doc every week and the drive and thinking when I get done with this we are going to Disney my DD was 5 at the time and the trip gave us something positive to look forward to at an otherwise depressing time. I was younger than your mom and mine was caught early like your moms but I elected to do a double so I had major surgery and was fine in about a week. Since you have been to Disney before maybe this can be a relaxing trip. My toughts and prayers are with your family and whatever you decide have a great trip!!!!

 

[DuffGT06]

Best wishes to your mother for a speedy recovery. My mom just had a double mastectomy but she is now cancer free!

January is really very nice in Orlando, it can be cool at night, but during the day is beautiful.

 

[SandrA9810]

Or absolutly freezing... who knows.

But yeah, you pay rack rate when you book with free dining. And it might seem like a lot (500$ or something in saving), but if you can book a room with 500$ in savings... well it's just about the same. And even on a regular dining plan, you're still looking to spend like 30-40$ in tips for that many people every night.
You can substitute your own snacks and shared counter service meals. And maybe do one great big fancy dinner meal during your trip.

I just brought my mom up here with the dining plan (only 3 people)... and still wound up spending an extra 100$, mostly all on tips. For 3 days only. Now if you're here a whole week that's like an extra 300$ or so for 7 people.

 

[twanner]

I think you should really talk it over with your parents, I am a survivor and I can remember going to doc every week and the drive and thinking when I get done with this we are going to Disney my DD was 5 at the time and the trip gave us something positive to look forward to at an otherwise depressing time. I was younger than your mom and mine was caught early like your moms but I elected to do a double so I had major surgery and was fine in about a week. Since you have been to Disney before maybe this can be a relaxing trip. My toughts and prayers are with your family and whatever you decide have a great trip!!!!

Congratulations on beating it!
We'll definitely go back, we're just not sure we can make the September trip because we don't know what her surgery and radiation schedule will be like. She doesn't meet with the surgeon until the very end of this month which means surgery won't take place until July. Then we read somewhere that they can't start the radiation until a couple of weeks after the surgery, and then it will be radiation every day for 6 weeks.
We're thinking we may have to wait until next year, so we can afford to do it "right"! (Like there's a WRONG to do Disney!)
Of course, after all of this is said and done we may just say "the heck with it" and blow our budget for an extra special trip!