I’m continuing to plan a UOR-based trip for late October. My intention is to do day trips to WDW on four of my six days. I have park tickets.
My understanding is that FPPs are no longer a thing. I’m not that bothered. The focus of my visits will not be getting loads of rides done. Just some rides. And I’m willing to wait. I think.
But the new thing to worry about is getting into the parks at all. My understanding is that at some point I will need to get up early or panic or something because a park-reservation window will open up and I have to book the one park I want on each of my days. No hopping. And that I might not actually get anything because I have no on-site hotel booking and no AP. Just a 14-day ticket.
Meanwhile at UOR, if I don’t pony up for EPs, I’ll be lucky to ride anything because people will be stacking the deck with multiple phones and groups of people with phones who’ll be able to book reservations for each other and have their whole day planned.
Oh, and I have to have my temperature taken and wear a mask all day.
Also, if I don’t come, I lose my non-refundable flights that cost twice as much as normal because I was going to come with a friend, whose flights I paid for, but now I’m coming solo.
Maybe I should just take the financial hit and try to forget about Orlando altogether until — what? — 2022?
Oh. No. Wait. My two 14-day park tickets (I bought one for my friend, remember?) expire in September 2021. So I have to come before then.
Great.
PS Presumably WDW and UOR don’t care if I don’t come because they’re banking on low numbers of visitors anyway. And Virgin Atlantic doesn’t care because it already has my money and it’s not giving it back.
I haven’t been following all the rules, especially at UOR, but it sounds like toughe got it right: the corporations get all your money and you get very little or nothing
I’m thinking about pushing my yet unplanned December 2020 trip to January or February, to try to give things time to get back to normal. Yippy might want to avoid going then because I would probably get in line for a ride in front of you and annoy you
While your tickets expire in Sept 2021, can you use the money you paid for them towards new tickets? Check the fine print, because I think that’s how it works with other tickets that you can’t use.
Also, won’t Virgin give you anything? Not even a credit?
I got a credit for my cancelled June flights. Like an idiot I accepted a credit rather than the cash to which I was legally entitled because they didn’t tell me I was legally entitled to the cash when they were offering me the credit and now it’s too late.
Besides, Virgin is just refusing to refund cash to anyone right now. They’re saying it will take at least three months to process refunds, but I’m not aware that any have been processed at all. They’re just sitting on the money.
I won’t get a bean for my October flights unless they’re actually cancelled. “Disinclination to travel” (as it’s called) is not a ground for a refund of a non-refundable ticket. So I’ll be down about $3,000 if I don’t travel in October. Though it’s a sunk cost, so the money’s gone either way.
What’s fun about non-refundable tickets is that Virgin is allowed to re-sell the seat I’ve paid for but am not using. So they get double bubble. Nice work if you can get it.
My experience is that WDW play pretty fair, so I expect I could roll up in 2022 with my out-of-date tickets and get some kind of credit towards new ones.
I’m really sorry that you are coping with all this. Not good policy for Virgin. Its thinking short term, not long.
But yes, from what you describe its terms of service are crap, and even worse than most US carriers – and that’s saying a lot.
I personally have learned that I will now seriously consider travel insurance, which I’ve never done. Likely not for simple WDW trips which are DVC, AP, and airlines I which I have cancel-anytime privilege, but if any of those aren’t the case and I feel like I must book ahead, I’m buying insurance.
I would read the terms and conditions very closely before you sign up. I’ve long believed insurance in general is a scam. I only take it out when I’m legally required to do so, or when not doing so could lead to catastrophe. So when I had a car, I took out insurance because I had to. When I travel to the US I take out insurance because of the risk of ruinous healthcare expenses.
Well, if it helps, at least the city you live in is not currently being patrolled by national military forces who should be deployed only to defend the country from foreign enemies.
But I am witnessing it, albeit from afar. And other democratic outrages, including ones closer to home. And I find it all very difficult to process without getting really quite depressed.
And then there is the pesky thing being used at Shanghai call Premier Access, I’m still trying to get a grasp on it (others please chime in) but it looks like guests can pay upwards of $100 per day for a block of 6 attractions, and they get to stand it front of those guests who were able to get a FP, who in turn would be standing in front of you
