Planning for and subsequently going on a Disney vacation is one of my great pleasures in life. I love the magic and the joy that we all experience when traveling to the parks.
However, with life comes unexpected dilemmas or concerns which may lend to the need to reschedule such a vacation or event. I don’t think there are many people who say “I just don’t feel like going on my vacation”.
If this year proved anything, we need to plan for the unexpected and adjust accordingly, especially when it comes to travel. Not only did the theme parks shut down for four months, but we are still dealing with the devastating effects of a global pandemic.
As you may have seen in my recent posts, we had a vacation planned this month for Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to reschedule our trip due to many health concerns both within our family and the global pandemic affecting the world.
Let me first state that I have an abundance of faith in Disney and what they are doing to keep their staff and guests safe during these trying times. I am so impressed on what they have done to keep the magic alive during this time.
However, beyond a pandemic, life has thrown us some other challenges which have delayed our next Disney vacation. I won’t make this post about those challenges, rather provide some details in what we did to ensure that we could effectively reschedule our trip and ensure any negative impact was resolved quickly.
Contact your travel agent
The very first thing you should do when you know you need to change your plans is to contact your travel agent. He/she can help you navigate the steps to make the necessary changes and avoid any change or cancellation fees.
Regarding change and cancellation fees, those depend on when you are making your reservation changes. Currently Disney has imposed adjustments to change and cancellation fees due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, in any case it’s best to work with you agent to determine what those charges are, if any.
Additionally, he/she can assist with any impact on travel insurance changes and who to contact.
Contact airline or car rental providers to make necessary changes
The next very important change to make is to contact your airline or car rental provider. This is the area where cancellation or change fees may become slightly trickier….but not impossible. Airline reservation changes or cancellations used to be very difficult or costly prior to Covid-19. However, they have lessened the fees or refund policies somewhat. We were able to get a full refund on our flight charges; however, each situation is unique. It’s best to contact your provider and determine the best choice in terms of a refund or voucher for future travel. The same applies for car rental services. Reach out and determine what works best for your family.
Cancel Disney dining reservations
If you have made dining reservations at any of the restaurants on property you will need to cancel those so you will not get a fee for not showing up for your reservation. Many of those no show fees are $10.00 per person. If you have any issues cancelling or are within 24 hours of your reservation contact your travel agent to help you with the cancellation process.
Cancel Disney park pass reservations
While existing Disney Park Pass reservations will not incur fees without cancellation, you may want to cancel them anyway so that others waiting for a reservation to open up may use them. With capacity limits in place some days at the parks fill up in regards to park pass reservations. Gift another guest with an opening if you are unable to use your reservations.
Start planning for the next trip
Do you want to know the best part about rescheduling a Disney vacation? Yes, planning for a new one! You can plan for the next trip and create all of the excitement anew. I don’t know about you but I absolutely LOVE planning for a future trip. You may even be able to do something that you weren’t able to on the other trip, such as a new attraction opening, or obtain a dining reservation that was not available before. When life gives you lemons, there’s plenty of lemonade left to be made. Make it some Disney lemonade!
If you have any questions about travel that you may need to revise or change, feel free to contact us today. If you have a new trip in mind, contact us for a free, no obligation quote.