Plan a backup trip?

I'm scheduled to go early June and I kinda doubt that trip will happen. Wondering if there is any downside to booking another trip later in the year to serve as a backup in case this one falls through.

I've never had to cancel a trip, from my understanding WDW is giving a bit of extra time for you to cancel? It used to be 30 days, but now I heard it's less than that? It seems unlikely that Disney will be open, but one can dream right?
 

Ghostdog

Well-Known Member
We were supposed to leave yesterday, I cancelled a week before our original departure; all penalty fees waived. My money was returned in full to the original form of payment 3 days later. If the parks will stay closed that long than I’m sure they will offer the same sort of cancellations.
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I believe you can cancel trips last minute up to June 27th without penalty.

I believe the parks will likely be open by your trip but just not sure how "normal" the parks will be.

If I were in your shoes yes I'd book a backup

I myself am supposed to go August 24-29. I booked flights but not my vacation package yet and had fully intended to go at that time until today when I've seen so many festivals and concerts cancelled in my area that are in late July which tells me "normal" may be getting later and later into the year.

I'm contemplating a change to late September instead although that will mean a shorter trip than I intended since my sister is a teacher and we already planned on going in November and having her take days off.

I guess we are gonna wait it out a little bit longer to see what to do.
 
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lincolnryan

Member
Original Poster
I believe you can cancel trips last minute up to June 27th without penalty.

I believe the parks will likely be open by your trip but just not sure how "normal" the parks will be.

If I were in your shoes yes I'd book a backup

I myself am supposed to go August 24-29. I booked flights but not my vacation package yet and had fully intended to go at that time until today when I've seen so many festivals and concerts cancelled in my area that are in late July which tells me "normal" may be getting later and later into the year.

I'm contemplating a change to late September instead although that will mean a shorter trip than I intended since my sister is a teacher and we already planned on going in November and having her take days off.

I guess we are gonna wait it out a little bit longer to see what to do.

If WDW is open, I can't imagine there would be a lot of people there. It was interesting though because we are doing a 7-day trip in early June and there wasn't any availability for morning fastpasses on most of the popular rides. In some cases, I was looking out 65-67 days and you couldn't get 7DMT, Space Mountain, Slinky, etc for anything earlier than 2:00. Either they are holding back fastpasses or people are still planning on going if it's open.

I would love to push it back to another time, but it will be a little tricky with my wife being a teach and the kids in school. My wife wanted to go during Christmas, but I nixed that idea.
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
If WDW is open, I can't imagine there would be a lot of people there. It was interesting though because we are doing a 7-day trip in early June and there wasn't any availability for morning fastpasses on most of the popular rides. In some cases, I was looking out 65-67 days and you couldn't get 7DMT, Space Mountain, Slinky, etc for anything earlier than 2:00. Either they are holding back fastpasses or people are still planning on going if it's open.

I would love to push it back to another time, but it will be a little tricky with my wife being a teach and the kids in school. My wife wanted to go during Christmas, but I nixed that idea.

Well from what I gather they will be open by June 1st and people that had to cancel could get free dining if they go between June 1st and September 30th so I suspect many took advantage and that's why the FP's have gone quickly.

While Christmas is crazy with crowds its also magical.
If that's the only time that ends up working I'd consider it.
We don't know how crowds will be after all this.
Many people may no longer be in a financial state to go.
 
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Herdman

Well-Known Member
We are scheduled from May 15-21. We won't go even if the parks are open. I booked a backup for Oct 23-31. I see no harm since I'll have plenty of time to cancel the second one with full refund, and I can cancel the first one with no penalty if Disney doesn't cancel it for me.
 
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JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
The quandary is... what kind of Disney will there be when they do reopen. Will rebookings, free dining and possible other discounts create park problems we would rather not encounter. Theres lots of speculation about phased in openings, shortage of workers, changes to how queues will be operated and shortened hours. Our dilema is not only when to rebook but will it be worth rebooking for a trip that may not be as enjoyable and worth the expense. We just may not rebook until another year or more, as hard as that may be to accept, just to get a trip that we know we will better enjoy.
 
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coachwnh

Well-Known Member
The quandary is... what kind of Disney will there be when they do reopen. Will rebookings, free dining and possible other discounts create park problems we would rather not encounter. Theres lots of speculation about phased in openings, shortage of workers, changes to how queues will be operated and shortened hours. Our dilema is not only when to rebook but will it be worth rebooking for a trip that may not be as enjoyable and worth the expense. We just may not rebook until another year or more, as hard as that may be to accept, just to get a trip that we know we will better enjoy.
We are thinking the same. Waiting to see what Disney will look like if it reopens in late July when we are scheduled to go. Its been since August of 2014 since we have been there. I guess we can wait another year.
 
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kimberlymautz

Well-Known Member
I'm currently scheduled for September 26 - October 5th for my son's 3rd birthday and I'm considering coming up with a Plan B. I honestly hate the idea of canceling or rescheduling because we already have our MNSSHP tickets paid for and if we wait we'll have to pay for my son's park tickets (and literally the only reason we were going this year was to save that money). At the same time, if Disney opens in June I can't imagine how busy it's going to be during my trip. I've already seen so many people rescheduling for the week of my trip, I feel like crowds will just be insane and it won't be worth going then.

My plan B would be to go for my birthday/our anniversary in March. It would give us the extra 6m to save up for my son's park tickets and dining plan, I'm just hoping my birthday doesn't land at spring break.
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I'm currently scheduled for September 26 - October 5th for my son's 3rd birthday and I'm considering coming up with a Plan B. I honestly hate the idea of canceling or rescheduling because we already have our MNSSHP tickets paid for and if we wait we'll have to pay for my son's park tickets (and literally the only reason we were going this year was to save that money). At the same time, if Disney opens in June I can't imagine how busy it's going to be during my trip. I've already seen so many people rescheduling for the week of my trip, I feel like crowds will just be insane and it won't be worth going then.

My plan B would be to go for my birthday/our anniversary in March. It would give us the extra 6m to save up for my son's park tickets and dining plan, I'm just hoping my birthday doesn't land at spring break.
If I were you I would stick with your plan A.
I suspect life will be more back to normal by then.
My plan is August 24-29 and I'm actually debating a switch to September 25-28. The only reason I'm picking those dates is because my sister is a teacher at a diverse religion school district so they get off some Jewish holidays and the 27th to 28th is one of them (Sunday to Monday so she gets Monday off). I easily grabbed some hot ADR's so doesn't seem like its gonna be crowded as of now at least.
 
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Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
I'm currently scheduled for September 26 - October 5th for my son's 3rd birthday and I'm considering coming up with a Plan B. I honestly hate the idea of canceling or rescheduling because we already have our MNSSHP tickets paid for and if we wait we'll have to pay for my son's park tickets (and literally the only reason we were going this year was to save that money). At the same time, if Disney opens in June I can't imagine how busy it's going to be during my trip. I've already seen so many people rescheduling for the week of my trip, I feel like crowds will just be insane and it won't be worth going then.

My plan B would be to go for my birthday/our anniversary in March. It would give us the extra 6m to save up for my son's park tickets and dining plan, I'm just hoping my birthday doesn't land at spring break.
How long do you have to cancel? Is your concern about your trip just over crowds, or is it something else? Regardless, the longer you can wait for some news, the more likely we'll have some information about what the parks will be like during the two time periods, crowd wise and otherwise.

And if helps any, I've seen people pick a lot of new dates that aren't in September, and I've seen just as many cancel entirely.
 
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kimberlymautz

Well-Known Member
How long do you have to cancel? Is your concern about your trip just over crowds, or is it something else? Regardless, the longer you can wait for some news, the more likely we'll have some information about what the parks will be like during the two time periods, crowd wise and otherwise.

And if helps any, I've seen people pick a lot of new dates that aren't in September, and I've seen just as many cancel entirely.
Mostly concerns over crowd levels, but of course there are definitely concerns over COVID-19 and well. We've decided to book a trip for my birthday just incase (March) so we have time to save up the extra $1000ish for my son, but I'm hoping we won't need it.
 
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