Death in Family or Family Emergency While at WDW

[coachb]

What happens if there is a death in your family (at home) while you are mid-vacation at WDW.

I know you normally could not reschedule the rest of your trip, but in that circumstance or one similar, are there options for your remaining days?

 

[networkpro]

Tickets are non refundable, but any remaining value can be applied to admission for a trip in the future. Cast Members at the Disney Travel Operations Center are best able to advise you on the next steps and options. They can be reached at 407-560-2428 between 7:00 am and 11:00 pm EST.

 

[AndyS2992]

Cut the trip short and claim on travel insurance, assuming you have it.

 

[JIMINYCR]

DW and I are discussing that situation now. My MIL was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer about 2 years ago and has gone through experimental treatments that have extended her life, but follow up tests now shows progression of her cancer. Her time looks to be running out. Our trip is scheduled for mid Oct. We have trip insurance.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

This sounds terrible, but we've had that happen to us and we stayed, but only because there's been other family available to take care of things.

My grandfather died in 2016. He had been progressively going downhill for a while and we knew it could happen at any time. He basically wasn't with it for about a year before he passed. We were there for two weeks. My dad flew home for the funeral and came back; the funeral was being live streamed so we watched it from our room. My brother is autistic/disabled, so we thought it would be hard on him to go home and come back mid vacation, which is why my dad just went.

A friend of ours had his mother die while he was with us. Same thing, she'd been going downhill and hadn't known who they were for a long time. His sister came to take care of his parents/provide relief and told them if something happened to just stay and she would take care of it. Whelp, she passed two days before they were scheduled to come home.

My great aunt died in 2021 the morning I flew down. I had cousins taking care of funeral arrangements, so I wasn't concerned with getting home as there really wasn't anything I could do at home anyway. They had the funeral the day after I was scheduled to be back.

Now if there was an emergency where someone died suddenly, I don't know what we would do about that, but if we've known a family member isn't doing well, we've either ensured that other family can handle the situation until we return or we reschedule.

 

[MAGICFLOP]

IF someone died that is close to me, I would not care in the least bit about my vacation, refunds or tickets, I would fly home and take care of what needed to be done, that is what a responsible person does. No way I could have fun at WDW, knowing about the death.

My best friends' Father died last week, I had only met him once in the 35 years of friendship, my friend said I dont have to go to the funeral, but I and my wife drove 2.5hrs each way to go. Not to blow my own horn or virtue signal, but that should be the norm, family and friends above all else.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Speak to Guest Relations or your Disney Resort hotel concierge, they are able to advise and assist on what options are available and assist with any travel adjustments

 

[StarWarsGirl]

IF someone died that is close to me, I would not care in the least bit about my vacation, refunds or tickets, I would fly home and take care of what needed to be done, that is what a responsible person does. No way I could have fun at WDW, knowing about the death.

My best friends' Father died last week, I had only met him once in the 35 years of friendship, my friend said I dont have to go to the funeral, but I and my wife drove 2.5hrs each way to go. Not to blow my own horn or virtue signal, but that should be the norm, family and friends above all else.

That's a nice thought. As someone who's had more deaths in the family than I would care to remember, and had it happen while on vacation...in most cases, there's absolutely nothing that you can do right after it happens*. You just sit around grieving. The people who are closest plan the arrangements and take care of everything. So you're either grieving at home...or grieving on vacation.

Obviously if someone super close dies unexpectedly (ex. a child's spouse is killed in a motorcycle accident) then that's different. If it were someone I was close to was seriously ill, I'd have cancelled before even going.

*Except in the case of some cultures that bury their dead quickly. My grandfather converted to Judaism, so he was buried very quickly. My dad went home for the funeral and came back. My brother and I weren't close to my grandfather, at all, which factored into the decision for the rest of us to stay.

 

[Ayla]

IF someone died that is close to me, I would not care in the least bit about my vacation, refunds or tickets, I would fly home and take care of what needed to be done, that is what a responsible person does. No way I could have fun at WDW, knowing about the death.

My best friends' Father died last week, I had only met him once in the 35 years of friendship, my friend said I dont have to go to the funeral, but I and my wife drove 2.5hrs each way to go. Not to blow my own horn or virtue signal, but that should be the norm, family and friends above all else.

100%. I can't imagine missing a family member's funeral so I can continue having fun ay WDW.

 

[Lilofan]

IF someone died that is close to me, I would not care in the least bit about my vacation, refunds or tickets, I would fly home and take care of what needed to be done, that is what a responsible person does. No way I could have fun at WDW, knowing about the death.

My best friends' Father died last week, I had only met him once in the 35 years of friendship, my friend said I dont have to go to the funeral, but I and my wife drove 2.5hrs each way to go. Not to blow my own horn or virtue signal, but that should be the norm, family and friends above all else.

THis , I’d be the same. I’d never be enjoying the vacation while a family member goes to funeral and back to vacation to join us.

 

[Graham9]

My overriding concern would be to attend to the emergency, regardless of losing tickets etc. The welfare of my family has priority over everything and wouldn't care what money/tickets I would lose. When the emergency is over, only then would I worry about it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

…this thread is heading to shutdown ville

 

[jloucks]

Shutdown ville? I'll speed up the process...

Old guy here. Lots of people dying around me now. It is what it is. It will be.

There is a new trend happening, and I like it a lot. It is a celebration of life ceremony. It is like a funeral, except it doesn't suck. You focus on how great the deceased life was and have a good time. ...does not work with premature deaths and kids of course. I'm kinda done with sad funerals for 70-year-olds. Come on, they rocked it for 70 years. Celebrate. You have time to be melancholy later. Until you too croak.

To address the op's question, I would base my skipping a funeral on these factors....

• Who died?
  • Child - Cancel everything and go, don't even think about it. It's gonna be a dumpster fire and they need you.
  • Parent - Only skip if they sucked.
  • Sibling - Only skip if you were not close
  • Person you have not seen in over 5 years - skip
  • Person you have not spoken with in over 1 year - skip
• How close to those in attendance?
  • Are there lots of people that need your support?
  • Skip if not a family member and support exists.
• Are those in attendance that are close to you, do they have others they are close to there too?
  • If you have 11 siblings and they can all go, you can probably skip.
• What would the deceased have wanted?

Pay attention to that last one. Anybody who kicks after the age of 65 is not going to want everybody to cancel their vacations, weddings, surgeries, etc. Think of it like a birth, but just the other end of life.

Indirectly related....

Now, I want to clarify the obvious difference between a funeral and end-of-life time. End of life time is super valuable. I would never take a vacation if my close loved one were on their death bed. I've made that mistake before. I have also played that right before. Shoot, hop 'em up on drugs and take them with you. My old friend died of mesothelioma not too long ago. She was high as a kite, but we went against doctors orders and went out to eat at her favorite restaurants until the last 3 days. I mean, what? Is it gonna kill her? She was terminal anyway, might as well have the lobster. Those were some of the most memorable meals of my lifetime. Word of wisdom... do not shy away from the dying. It is natural, it is inevitable. Be there for them then and worry less about the funeral.

 

[Lilofan]

…this thread is heading to shutdown ville

Why? Because forums members have different feedback? The OP from they say they sound like was planning to go back home mid vacation ( which I support ) if it was a family member of mine.