When do people cancel their reservations

Just anecdotally here, this is the kind of behavior I would engage in when my anxiety was out of control. I'd fixate on some terrible, but unlikely hypothetical situation. However, the anxiety was about something different. In this case, it would be about the travelling itself, but I would fixate on the dog.

I still do this, but now I am able to mostly manage my irrational fears.

Not saying this is your husband, but it's an all too familiar line of thinking for me.

I wondered because my husband would find a reason to stay home if there was something bothering him. He would not use an excuse other than he doesn't "feel right" going. He used to tell me we could not afford for him to go, but after I started refusing to go anywhere if the finances were a problem he stopped saying that. We all react differently, but he never wanted me to stay home, and encouraged me to go without him. I am not the OP, but I would try to find out what is really bothering, if anything. If there is nothing other than the dogs age, and that animal is healthy, I never use tears to get my way. There would be a special kind of come to Jesus meeting between us because in my life there is a pecking order, and if my husband put my dog over me in regards to something that meant a great deal to me, he would need to see the error of his ways.
 
To answer your original question OP, I would check every so often until you get about 7-10 days from each of the deadlines mentioned. I don’t cancel very often, maybe twice out of hundreds of trips, but when I do, I do it a couple days before the deadline because I prefer to cancel online and want to give myself a time buffer in case there’s a computer issue (and when does Disney NOT have computer issues? :rolleyes1). I do book last minute trips a lot, and if availability is going to open at all, it seems to within that period. However, I have also had availability open up the day before I wanted to check in, so it really can happen any time. Book what you are willing to stay in if you have to, and keep looking for what you really want.

I hope the issues with the husband and the dog work out for you as well. :wizard:
 
Just anecdotally here, this is the kind of behavior I would engage in when my anxiety was out of control. I'd fixate on some terrible, but unlikely hypothetical situation. However, the anxiety was about something different. In this case, it would be about the travelling itself, but I would fixate on the dog.

I still do this, but now I am able to mostly manage my irrational fears.

Not saying this is your husband, but it's an all too familiar line of thinking for me.
Where the dog is a reasonable cause to delay but also helps avoid some other concern about the trip.
Like when somebody says they don't want to visit during hurricane season but also privately know they don't want to go when it is 900f degrees. The other doesn't mind the heat, so it's more comfortable to cite the reason they may have in common.
It could just be the dog though (backed by a little bitty concern over something else, lol).
 
Back to the original question - for room cancellations - you just have to keep checking regularly. I MIGHT be canceling a value reservation for mid-January. I might cancel it next week - I might cancel it 6 days in advance. I might keep it. In general - the 30 days out and 5 days out rules have merit. I personally mark 6-8 days in advance on my work calendar when I make the reservation (I never book packages) - so I don't forget to cancel one I might not be keeping. I snagged my December reservation at Movies back in late September - after I kept trying multiple times over one weekend because I couldn't get a standard room (with a discount) on the days I wanted the first few tries. You CAN hold two reservations at once - so sometimes I book a pricier one I might keep - while I try for a cheaper one.

Note - depending on how many days - you might also try to snag a couple of days as a DVC rental. Last minute points aren't bad in price and can make a studio the price of a value. I tried that today - but I couldn't get the number of days in a row I wanted (4 days - I knew it was a long shot!) - and I'm not willing to resort switch for this trip.
 






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