- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Free Dining has been offered by Disney for many years now and I can’t see them stopping it in the economic state the world is facing. We are booked (although probably not going) in Sep. This year was to be our 9th year in a row with a FD.Agreed. If I didn't already have everything booked and paid for, I certainly wouldn't have been booking. Unfortunately, we booked all this back in Jan, before there was even any news about all this. And at the time, since there was no indication that it would be possible we couldn't go, we booked pretty much everything non-refundable and in some cases, pay in advance, non-refundable. We have until the end of July to cancel Disney and get a refund, so I'm not so worried about the Disney package, but the rest of the trip is where I'm in doubt.
1) Airfare: Delta has waived the change fees, but it's credit voucher only, and has to be used within the year.
2) SeaWorld: Tickets can be changed to anytime through 2021, since it's an international buy, but our day specific add-ons seem like they'll be forfeit.
3) Park and Fly Hotel: Paid in advance, non-refundable, but I'm lifetime Gold with Marriott, so I might be able to argue that one if I call the Gold line.
4) Mears Shuttle to SeaWorld: I believe I can cancel this one and get my money back.
5) Disney Beachcomber Shack rental at Typhoon Lagoon: I was told non-refundable at the time of booking, but from what we've seen of Disney, I hope I can get this back.
And then lastly, there's a couple of not straight forward considerations as well:
1) We booked under a Free Dining offer (had to be booked by Jan 16, we booked on Jan 15th). Changing our dates, we lose this offer. With two families of 4 going for 8 nights, that works out to a $3520 USD difference that's not redeemable unless we can get a Free Dining offer again. So while it's not money out of pocket gone directly, that's a significant difference in the potential re-booking budget. It's not as simple as just moving the dates. Outright cancelling on the other hand, means being out the various credits that I can't get refunded on.
2) For that other family, this is their once in a lifetime type of trip, they're not the Disney every 18 months like we are, so if we cancel, we might be cancelling on their ability to even go.
Trip. I’m sure that portion of your trip will be bookable in 2021.