I guess WDW is the only trip I ever made that required 2 months in advance commitment.
Usually I purchase things day off or on the day before, for attractions, tours and ground transportation.
Hotel is always with free cancelation (at least until 5 days before).
I have cruised 3 times, but always paid for it 2-3 weeks in advance (usually low season, and I am never particular about room/itinerary, it is mostly a letting deals decide for me thing).
I understand that this varies by personal style and a bunch of individual preferences, but WDW was the only place that ever forced my hand into making a financial commitment before being completely sure, because of FP+. And I think that this is 100% the goal of FP+.
Note, what I call being sure is a pretty high bar, stuff I consider is usually “what if the flight is cancelled”, “what if me or someone close gets sick”, “what if something unexpected happens that leads to this being cancelled?”.
After observing this forum for awhile, WDW is a bit of a unique destination.
It seems there are some people that are really keen on getting hard to get reservations (ADRs, specific hotels/room types, tours), but also people that have to book their own work vacation days well in advance. So, the corresponding bookings have to open up far in advance for that to work if there is a significant group trying to key their vacation dates off those bookings.
But, consider that there are many people here that are fairly transparent that they are booking multiple ADRs and etc for a variety of reasons and cancelling them at the last minute since the terms allow that. Which isn’t a huge problem, as there are quite a number of dining options.
If there weren’t significant financial commitments for booking rooms, I think there would be people doing the same thing with rooms, making it that much harder for everyone else to plan their trips and difficult for Disney to keep occupancy high. (Whereas most hotels run with a higher level of vacancy.).
TBH, based on this forum, I think multiple back up hotel reservations are already happening Probably because you can already get freely cancelable up to 5 days before hotel reservations, although your money gets locked up and you need a refund.
The one thing that requires a non-refundable financial commitment 2 months in advance are tickets, because of FP+ (I think you can make them refundable up to 30 days in advance by having a package, but that makes all your other costs non-refundable, is that right (?)).
There is a bunch of self-fulfilling effects going on. A bunch of ADRs need to be booked at 180 days in advance because they are hard and people book them just in case, and then reservations become even harder to get. And WDW’s system incentives that. Which is generally better for Disney but worse for clients.
Definitely look into third party tickets in the future. I haven’t had any problem refunding tickets through Tripster and have seen similar with undercover tourist.
Of course if you are booking a package, that isn’t an option, but for my next trip I’m doing a Disney springs hotel (lots of perks more flexible refund) so that wasn’t a concern for me.
Is there any ticket you can refund after connecting on MDE? That would be great! Last time I bought e-tickets on Undercover tourist exactly 61 days before check in (staying at a good neighbor hotel with free cancelation, booked on UT as well).
I was able to refund my April ticket with tripster and will be able to do it again in late June for my July 6 plans if needed. Connected to MDE in both cases. Not sure if the policy is different because of current events (hadn’t used tripster before) but it doesn’t seem to be.
As many of you suggested, I called. I purchased my ticket through a legitimate and reputable third party vendor, and received a small discount at purchase. I requested a physical ticket, rather than an e-ticket. Since the merchant of record is the vendor from whom the ticket was purchased, I called them. After being placed on hold for about 10 minutes, the agent basically told me there was nothing she could do. The ticket remains non-refundable. I asked her if I should contact Disney directly. She said I would likely be referred back to the merchant of record. So, I’m right back where I started - out of pocket over $500. Disney gets to keep my money and since I see no possibility of a future visit, I get nothing in return. I suppose I will dispute the charge with my credit card company, as a last resort.
Yes, I am stuck with tickets from a third party vendor as well. They are not refunding. We are planning to go in October, so I’m hoping the tickets for May get extended with the closure. If something happens to the October trip, I hope Disney has the same extension policies on the tickets. We are planning to go, it’s just a matter of when and also if I will have to pay more to use the tickets. It stinks though that there are no refunds when the parks are probably going to be closed the dates I purchased them for. Honestly, if I would buy again, I would just book a package with Disney so the tickets can cancel. This leaves a sour taste in my mouth of ever buying third party again.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you. As you have physical tickets it still might be worth a call to Disney, but you need to decide what the path of lowers stress is for you.
Did you have them mailed or were they e-tickets? and if they were e-tickets, did you have them linked? (I ask because I have linked Disneyland e-tickets, it specifically says on their website that they are non-refundable, but I am considering calling and asking anyway).
Probably because you can already get freely cancelable up to 5 days before hotel reservations, although your money gets locked up and you need a refund.