Snowstorm Changing Everything!

danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
I'm currently in a bit of a panic mode because with less than 48 hours until our scheduled departure, we just found out a huge snowstorm is going to be hitting New York the night before we're leaving which they're saying will cancel all flights.
Now we're trying to see if we can change our flights to tomorrow night before the storm hits and then see if we can extend our stay at AoA an extra night so we have somewhere to sleep tomorrow night!
My question is, has anyone experienced doing this and had it work out for them? This whole changing the trip last minute is freaking me out a bit and I'm just trying to make sure I don't screw anything up so we actually end up in Disney World.
 
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yensid67

yensid67

Well-Known Member
If you have reservations at AoA for Friday or Saturday and don't want to change them...Can you drive down since your reservations start on Friday or Saturday and then fly back? What about driving down and back!? I drove from PA and it only took 18 hours, might be a little longer for you, but at least you will be checking in when you are suppose to! Amtrak & rent a car? If you cannot do any of these I would suggest that you call AoA and let them know what the situation is! At least keep them in the loop...they may be able suggest something!
 
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OneofThree

OneofThree

Well-Known Member
danitaytay said:
My question is, has anyone experienced doing this and had it work out for them? This whole changing the trip last minute is freaking me out a bit and I'm just trying to make sure I don't screw anything up so we actually end up in Disney World.
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Yes, I can remember more than one occasion where we weren't sure if we were going to be able to get out of Logan Airport. On at least a couple of occasions, we left a day early. On one of those, we weren't able to secure a room beforehand. We took a chance, figuring we'd be able to pick up a cancellation somewhere. On arrival, we did pick up a room, but not at the same resort. It wasn't a big deal to move from one resort to the other, especially when considering we could have missed our vacation entirely!
 
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JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Weather and traveling in Feb & March can be so unpredictable. One February WDW trip several years ago, we left town a day earlier to avoid a potential Noreaster. It was the right decision because we got out before everything shut down. This year and last year, I have had customers whose trips were ruined because once the flights get cancelled due to weather, the airlines having less flights now, cant always guarantee getting you a seat on flights the next day. If you can get out earlier, do it. Once youre in Orlando you can get a room somewhere ... youre there, even if its not at Disney.
 
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danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you all so much for your advice! It is literally craziness here with everyone having a different opinion on what to do. We're four 20-year old's, so driving from new york to florida definitely isn't a possibility. Our issue here is that we have travel insurance on our flight for Wednesday but when we called American Airlines they told us the only way we'll get our money back is if they cancel the flight or if a weather advisory comes up. But myself and one of the other girl's don't want to take that risk and would rather just buy another plane ticket now that would cost $124 for a flight tomorrow than risk not even having a flight at all and having our trip not happen.
The only issue is getting the other two girls on board who don't want to pay the extra money but seemingly don't care about the risk of losing our trip :banghead:
 
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Bronson55

Bronson55

Active Member
We did exactly that last September the day before we were due to fly down because of the hurricane. We couldn't simply add a day to our vacation package so we had to book a separate one day reservation. We were staying at the Beach Club. In hindsight we should have stayed at a value resort for the one day since we were charged the rack rate which was five hundred plus dollars for one evening. Good part was we didn't have to change rooms. My sister and brother in law also had same resort but stayed the night at AOA at a much lower rate. They were very accommodating in moving her to the Beach club the next day for free including her mobility scooter.

Everyones advice is right on. If you cab get an earlier flight do that first, then call to try and book a room anywhere on property if you want to take advantage of magical express and not schlep your luggage around. While we didn't change or purchase park tickets for the extra day it gave us a perfect opportunity to spend a pleasant day in Disney springs and then the next day we were all fresh and rested for the official start of our vacation. Hope you have a great time.
 
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xdan0920

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
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Get out while you can!!!
 
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danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We have progress! All four girls are on board for the flight change. One is on the phone with the airlines now booking a 7:49 flight from JFK to MCO tomorrow and we'll wait and see what happens with our next flight.
My job is to book the hotel room for an extra night which shouldn't be an issue and then somehow get my roommate from State College, PA to my house on Long Island before tomorrow afternoon so she can make it to the airport too, lol!
 
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yensid67

yensid67

Well-Known Member
Good for you Dani...check out clarionlbv.com for pictures and then go to undercovertourist or private me and I will give you 2 websites that I use for cheap hotel! To save money, I would stay off property, because that will most likely be where you will find a room for 1 night! The Clarion Inn LBV is 3 star decent hotel...try other hotels in Lake Buena Vista area. You are handling this better than I would! When I thought the other girls didn't care if you lost the trip, I would have gotten the money back and left their butts home in 12 inches of snow while I basked in the Florida sun at 70 degrees! Hope you have a great trip!
 
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danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
yensid67 said:
Good for you Dani...check out clarionlbv.com for pictures and then go to undercovertourist or private me and I will give you 2 websites that I use for cheap hotel! To save money, I would stay off property, because that will most likely be where you will find a room for 1 night! The Clarion Inn LBV is 3 star decent hotel...try other hotels in Lake Buena Vista area. You are handling this better than I would! When I thought the other girls didn't care if you lost the trip, I would have gotten the money back and left their butts home in 12 inches of snow while I basked in the Florida sun at 70 degrees! Hope you have a great trip!
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thank you so much! The magical CMs at Disney were actually able to get us our exact room at AoA for a discount so we didn't have to switch resorts tomorrow! Honestly, I was about too haha but in the end all worked out and we are just hours from flying to the most magical place in the world!
 
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cdeev8690

cdeev8690

Well-Known Member
danitaytay said:
Thank you all so much for your advice! It is literally craziness here with everyone having a different opinion on what to do. We're four 20-year old's, so driving from new york to florida definitely isn't a possibility. Our issue here is that we have travel insurance on our flight for Wednesday but when we called American Airlines they told us the only way we'll get our money back is if they cancel the flight or if a weather advisory comes up. But myself and one of the other girl's don't want to take that risk and would rather just buy another plane ticket now that would cost $124 for a flight tomorrow than risk not even having a flight at all and having our trip not happen.
The only issue is getting the other two girls on board who don't want to pay the extra money but seemingly don't care about the risk of losing our trip :banghead:
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Good luck! I've driven a couple of times from NY to Disney (and farther than that, Marco Island...that was fun). It's actually not a bad drive if you have the right company. Hope you don't mind me asking, which area of NY you're from? I just realized that my old High School's senior class trip is always around this time and, sure enough, they're supposed to fly out tomorrow out of Islip. Not sure how they're going to manage rearranging this for a group of 200 people. If you all make it down there, look out for the Mount Sinai High School Class of 2018!
 
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danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cdeev8690 said:
Good luck! I've driven a couple of times from NY to Disney (and farther than that, Marco Island...that was fun). It's actually not a bad drive if you have the right company. Hope you don't mind me asking, which area of NY you're from? I just realized that my old High School's senior class trip is always around this time and, sure enough, they're supposed to fly out tomorrow out of Islip. Not sure how they're going to manage rearranging this for a group of 200 people. If you all make it down there, look out for the Mount Sinai High School Class of 2018!
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I love Marco Island! My family isn't big drivers so we usually fly thank god.
That's so funny, I'm from Smithtown but I have tons of friends who go/went to Mount Sinai High School!
 
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cdeev8690

cdeev8690

Well-Known Member
danitaytay said:
I love Marco Island! My family isn't big drivers so we usually fly thank god.
That's so funny, I'm from Smithtown but I have tons of friends who go/went to Mount Sinai High School!
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I wouldn't be caught dead driving anywhere, until I met my boyfriend. He and his family LOVE road trips. I resisted at first but I kinda enjoy them now! *I'll still fly any day over driving lol*

I am 10 years post HS graduation but I still know plenty of people in the district! I had a few friends that went to Smithtown as well but I know your school is pretty gigantic, at least compared to MS. I am pretty sure they made it out of Islip this morning so you should be seeing them around! Have fun on your girls trip! Can't wait to read about it
 
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Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
We we're actually on the opposite end of this situation this week. We were at Universal for a few days' getaway and were supposed to leave Wednesday night to fly back to Providence. On Wednesday we checked out and stored our luggage at the hotel (Cabana Bay) and headed off to the parks for a few more hours, keeping an eye on the situation.

Mid-day we decided we didn't want to gamble going to the airport only to have the flight cancelled on us and then have to deal with a hotel there, we'd rather have things settled and relax in the parks. So we moved our flight to Thursday afternoon (Southwest had waived fare difference rules for the change), called Universal Reservations and they were able to book us one additional night with our AP rate. (The woman checking us in even upgraded us to a volcano-view room)

Our only whoopsie was that I forgot to set an alarm and later that afternoon we forgot to check in for our new flight. By the time we did we were one of the last people in the C boarding group.

-Rob
 
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danitaytay

danitaytay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cdeev8690 said:
I wouldn't be caught dead driving anywhere, until I met my boyfriend. He and his family LOVE road trips. I resisted at first but I kinda enjoy them now! *I'll still fly any day over driving lol*

I am 10 years post HS graduation but I still know plenty of people in the district! I had a few friends that went to Smithtown as well but I know your school is pretty gigantic, at least compared to MS. I am pretty sure they made it out of Islip this morning so you should be seeing them around! Have fun on your girls trip! Can't wait to read about it
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That's so funny!! It's crazy how much of a "small world" it is, haha.
Thank you so much :) We just got back and it was incredible! Will be posting in my TR soon!
 
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