Hi there… We are scheduled to check in to WL this coming Saturday for seven nights but my FIL is gravely ill and we are all being told there might not be much time. And of course we didn’t get trip insurance.
I called WDW today and spoke with a castmember to find out if we are able to reschedule our trip and what that process might look like. She said up until Saturday we could reschedule, our (dated) park hoppers can be rescheduled, etc. We have tickets to MNSSHP for 10/31 and she said while they are said to be non-refundable, the ticket office might be able to refund for us (“it’s a case by case basis”).
My question for all you is… has anyone done this before? Was the process painless?
When should we reschedule our trip for? We love going in late October due to low crowds… I’ve been so many times in mid/late October that I don’t even know when other good times might be! Late January???
Thanks for any insights you might be able to provide.
Just on the MNSSHP tickets, I was able to cancel my DD’s without trouble when her plans changed. Since its sold out I think they can sell cancellations and they will agree. Plus, Disney is usually very kind and understanding on family serious issues.
Best wishes and warm thoughts to you and your family as you do what is right for your FIL and family
When we went through this Disney was great. I was refusing to believe that we wouldn’t get my Dad there so we missed our chance to cancel. We requested to donate the room to a first responder or make a wish family (which they ended up not charging me for totally unexpectedly). It was an incredible kindness during a difficult time. Thinking of you.
I have went through this 3 times now. First is was my wife’s brother 3 years ago with brain cancer. He went to emergency surgery and we didn’t believe he would make it. We had Disney’s offered insurance but it would have been a real pain to get the documentation they wanted for the refund. Disney on the other have, after hearing the story refunded all our money we had paid them. Her brother lived for another year and of coarse was going to die on a subsequent vacation date. Again we contacted Disney and they were great. Once again they refunded all our funds and this time my wife’s brother died during this time. Now just last week my brother died of colon cancer and I did not know exactly when he was going to pass as he had been diagnosed one month ago right over our trip to WDW. He died three days before we would have been returning. This time we had booked via MVT and they will let you cancel up to five days prior to your trip and then prorate after that. Here our agent took care of it all as to the Disney part. Now being we are from ND and must fly to FL, we take Delta airlines. In each of these instances this airline listened to what was taking place and without hesitation allow us to have our funds brought over to a subsequent trip within 6 months to a year. So you asked if they people will work with you in and emergency even when you do not have insurance. The answer is Yes they will. Now you should always buy insurance and I think you see that now but even if you do it is a real pain getting all the documentation for a claim. If you talk to Disney and your airlines if you use one, you may find you can skip all this pain of filing a claim. I hope this helps.
So sorry to hear about your situation. We were in the same situation regarding my FIL last December. Had to cancel our trip 3 days before we were scheduled to arrive. A CM helped me re-book for a Feb 2019 date, then we decided to postpone until this November instead. Hope things work out for you and your family.
So sorry to hear about your FIL. I had to do this last year when my own father was terminally ill. Now I didn’t book through Disney, but instead rented DVC points and I did have points protection (lost about 200, but that was all). I did have MNSSHP tix purchased through Disney and I just called and told them and they refunded my money.
Good luck and I hope it works out for you. Again, my condolences
I have no insight to provide but I had basically the same question and was avoiding calling Disney unless I absolutely had to. So they will allow you to call and reschedule your trip up until the day before? Even without trip insurance?
I would also be interested to know how this process went for anyone who has rescheduled last minute.
Sorry to hear this news. Had a somewhat similar situation with DCL. I won’t go into all the details, but my FIL had a cancer scare come up relatively quickly before a spring break cruise in 2015. We called and got some great help from a cast member, they were able to re-book us on a fall cruise (hurricane season, but we didn’t care). We were able to get a 7 night cruise on the newer Fantasy (out of Port Canaveral) for the same price as our 4 night cruise on the Wonder out of Miami. In hindsight, we were so glad to have seven nights instead of four. This was our first cruise, so we did not know until we were on the ship how much better it was to have those extra days at sea.
The cast member was so helpful, they even allowed us to use up part of the remaining balance to pre-pay the cruise line staff tips. Then, whatever money was left over, they applied towards WDW tickets that were placed on our individual accounts.
So, my advice, do what you have done. Be in close contact with the cast member, they really will do whatever they can for you. Best of luck.
Thank you so much, one and all, for sharing your stories and experiences. I know this is a painful subject for many so I appreciate your thoughts and words. We are leaving on Saturday and after having some conversations wtih my FIL’s oncologist, he feels confident that we have a bit more time with him than everyone originally thought, so we are going on the trip on Saturday. I’m sorry that each of you had similar experiences. Thank you all from the bottom of my Disney-loving heart.
Sending my best to your family - hope you have a great time.
Vacations are important to recharge and reinforce family ties; while I know it surely can feel difficult to even partially disengage from the outside world in a situation such as yours, we have found that the bubble of Disney does help.