UPDATED 3/29
With all that is going on in the world these days, we think it’s safe to say a lot of us are feeling uncertainty about the future. And if you have a trip to Disney World planned in the next couple months, you may be feeling extra stress because you have to make the call of whether to cancel your Disney trip or not.
Cinderella Castle and Main Street USA in Disney World
Although we can’t find you a treasure trove of toilet paper or make you the world’s best homeschooler overnight, we can help in the Disney planning department! Here are a few things you should be considering while you’re wondering whether to cancel outright, reschedule, or actually take your trip to Disney World.
When will Disney World really reopen?
When Disney first announced the closure, April 1st sure sounded like a long way away. But, now the closure has been extended indefinitely, so we aren’t sure when we’ll be stepping into the parks next. If you have turned on the news between your loop of Frozen 2 streams (Just us? Cool.), you may have seen the Mayor of Orange County, Florida issued a “stay in place” order beginning Thursday, March 26th, and lasting at least two weeks. Osceola County also followed up with the same stay-at-home order extending into April.
Tree of Life
We aren’t mathematicians (or licensed therapists, oops) buuuuut since Disney World doesn’t fall under the exempt “essential businesses,” the parks won’t be opening back up again until at least April 9th. Shanghai Disneyland Resort began to reopen to open certain shopping, dining, and recreation areas earlier this month after initially closing down about two months ago.
And currently, Disney seems to be putting a lot of focus on June 1st as a potential reopening date. They’re introducing discounts starting June 1st, and they’ve limited any new hotel and restaurant bookings to June 1st and later.
©Disney
Although the closures may not directly mirror those in Shanghai, we want you to be prepared that Disney World might be closed a lot longer than we expected. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more information, but if you had your sights set on rope dropping next weekend, you may want to rethink your plans.
Check out our post on the closure timelines and what they mean for reopening here.
What will the parks be like when they reopen?
Even when the parks reopen, they could NOT be what you expected when you originally booked your vacation. Honestly, the recent closures might change how Disney World continues to operate with increased health and safety procedures, construction delays, a move away from finger scanning, and more.
Phased Reopenings Or Necessary Attraction Closures, and Lower Hotel and Restaurant Capacity
Although we will be thrilled when we hear word of Disney World reopening, we have to wonder if they will follow Shanghai Disneyland’s lead and open the resorts, parks, or even attractions in phases. With the importance of “flattening the curve” and social distancing, we could see Disney lower capacity in hotels, parks, and restaurants all throughout Disney World.
Fantasyland Crowds
It may not be feasible to socially distance in certain queues or attractions, so could your favorite ride be closed down or at least modified as a result? I mean, the Haunted Mansion stretching room certainly isn’t ideal if we’re all trying to avoid passing around germs. Will you still be able to have the full-on Disney World trip you were hoping for even if you face unexpected ride closures? It all depends on you and your family, your expectations, and what a Disney World visit needs to be for you to enjoy it and consider it worth the cost.
Haunted Mansion May have Modifications When Disney World Reopens
Remember, phased reopenings, limited capacity decisions, and ride modifications are a long way off — and definitely NOT confirmed by Disney. But they do seem like a good way for Disney to reopen more safely.
So if your trip is scheduled for the first few months the park may reopen, consider carefully if a half-open or modified park experience will be worth your vacation time and cost outlay, or if you’d rather reschedule for later in the year — or even 2021 — to have a better chance of taking the vacation you expected to take originally.
Potential Crowd Pattern Changes
Again, we really don’t know 1) When the parks will reopen, 2) If people will flood the parks as soon as they reopen (people may continue so socially distance for safety’s sake), 3) If economic difficulty will prohibit many guests from taking Disney trips this year, and 4) If guests will want to spend money to go to parks that may be modified for safety concerns.
Tomorrowland Speedway Line
If your schedule is flexible, you may be better off to avoid the summer months and aim for a trip in the fall when schools are back in session, or potentially early in 2021.
Check out our post ALL about how these closures could affect Disney World crowds levels this year HERE!
What type of planner are you?
In the midst of these closures, nearly everyone’s normal routine has been thrown off. The chaos may be less of a jolt for the more “go with the flow” folks, but both Type A and Type B personalities have to make the call of whether to wait it out or reschedule their trip for various reasons.
Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire
If you’re more of a “fly by the seat of your pants” type planner, or if you’re a Florida resident or Annual Passholder who’s been to Disney World multiple times, you may be able to get away with taking things one day at a time and making the most of whatever your trip ends up looking like.
Slinky Dog Dash Sign
But, if you have spent months (or years) planning the perfect Disney World trip and have a very clear vision for your BEST DAYS EVER in the parks (We’re sending you a virtual hug! Keep your Disney dreams alive!), it may be worth waiting on your trip until we have a better picture of what the future holds.
What about Advance Dining Reservations and FastPasses?
Speaking of planning, you may have set your alarm super early and/or assembled a whole squad to take on booking your Advance Dining Reservations or FastPasses. So, now what happens?
Well, if you plan to reschedule your trip, your FastPasses and advance dining reservations can’t go with you to the new dates at this time. (Disney has not created a policy allowing us to just pick up our whole planned vacation and move it to new dates.) However, any reservations scheduled between March 16th through March 31st will be canceled automatically as long as you haven’t check into your resort. Still, if you want to keep those reservations, you’ll have to modify current reservations or re-book all of them. And if your rescheduled dates fall within 180 days from now…it might be really difficult to construct the trip as you did before if you had chosen very popular or hard to get reservations.
However, if you’re rescheduling your trip for more than 180 days out, you should be able to reconstruct the same vacation. It’ll just be a hassle, because you’ll have to get up early and master the reservations all over again.
Fastpass Entrance for Splash Mountain
Beware that your FastPasses may be linked to your Disney hotel reservation, so if you cancel or reschedule, it may wipe your FastPass reservations, too.
Dining reservations often have a cancellation fee attached to them, so if you no-show while the parks are open, you’ll be charged (usually $10 per person on the reservation)…and that can add up. So if you decide to cancel or reschedule your vacation, be sure to also cancel your dining reservations if they don’t fall during a time that the parks are already closed. If you’re worried, you can always cancel yourself or give Disney a call at (407) 824-1391 to be sure.
Can you get more (or different) vacation time?
Getting super logistical here: you may have been planning your trip to Disney World for over a year now. You requested the vacation time from your employer months ago and you may not have the flexibility to push your time off to a few weeks later.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2019
Consider this when choosing to reschedule or cancel: do you HAVE to take the vacation time you secured?, can you postpone the vacation time until a later date?, what kind of penalties will you encounter if you do so?
All of these answers can help you decide whether to just go for it and take the vacation regardless of what the parks are like, or save the time off for later when you can be assured of a great vacation.
So should I cancel?
When to Wait it Out
Very little is certain right now — on a global scale and a local Orlando scale. We don’t know how this situation is going to evolve, or how long it will take to return to some sort of “normal.” If your trip is scheduled for April through July, it’s much more difficult to predict how things will pan out than if it’s scheduled for September to December or in 2021.
Our advice to guests with trips scheduled in April might be to cancel or reschedule (if you can) since Disney World has officially announced a closure extension. This way, you can take advantage of the best possible refunds and rescheduling flexibility.
2019 Epcot Food and Wine Festival
If your trip is scheduled for later in the year, hopefully the points we made above in this article will be helpful for you as you come to your own conclusions that are best for your family.
How To Reschedule Easily
If you are already in the window of refund or rescheduling flexibility and decide to go ahead and change your plans, check out our how-to guide for rescheduling or canceling and refunding your Disney trip here! You can also take a look at what Disney World is refunding so you’ll know what to expect if you move forward with changing up your trip.
If you need even MORE tips on rescheduling, check out our recommendations for when you should move your Disney trip to in the latest DFB Video:
More Disney Park Closure Details and Info
Click HERE for the All Latest Updates
Disney Parks Closure Extended “Until Further Notice.”
Should I Cancel My Disney World Vacation?
Disney’s Closure Timeline and What It Could Mean For Disney’s Reopening
Your Disney Trip Was Canceled -- Now What? DO'S and DON'TS to Cancel, Get Refunds, and Reschedule
Disney World and Disneyland Closure Questions Answered!
Are Disney World Restaurants Really Just Firing Everybody?! It’s Much More Complicated Than You Think
Join the DFB Newsletter To get all the latest Disney Park Closure News Delivered Right to Your Inbox Click here to Subscribe
Do you have any more questions about whether you should cancel your Disney World vacation? Let us know in the comments below!
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There is no social distancing at any type of Disney/Universal/Sea World/amusement type of park. Not possible, not even by a little bit. Let alone you touching ride equipment 100’s of others have touched. social distancing while waiting for a parade, fireworks, bus, boat, monorail, theatre seating, etc. Either open or don’t but there is no “soft” opening scenario that is practical.
Maybe as a soft reopening they could try running a few After Hours-style events with limited guests. Try to have minimal queuing. There might not be a lot of demand, so opening just a few of the resorts to start. Personally, I would wait to schedule a full vacation there though.
Our trip is planned for mid August. We are driving down or at least that was the plan.
I realize that it’s about 5 months from now but I’m already wondering if I should cancel and then again it’s probably too soon for me to make that decision, right?
Any input or advice would be appreciated. So confused.
This virus has not fully blossomed here yet. Airlines are discussing closures now. Too much goes into arranging this trip to “settle” not to mention the health risks. We had plans for end of May and canceled for now. There are too many unknowns/uncertainties adding to the stress. Be kind (in the long run) to yourself and family, take a refund or reschedule. Everyone can then truly enjoy a Magical time.
We had a vacation schedule for the beginning of August, unfortunately we already canceled the whole thing this week because we are not working. I am self employed and I have no idea when I can go back to work. Even though we are heart broken we understand it’s the best decision for us right now. We hope to be able to plan for another great time at the World pretty soon. Stay healthy and safe everyone
Hi we are coming in August from the u k . We are DVc members and I borrowed points from 2021 for this holiday . If we have to cancel will the points be returned to 2021 or as is the normal rule be put into this use year . My family are teachers so cannot just take 2–3 weeks off and they would have to be used by feb . Has anyone had Borrowed points returned ?
Disney World is amusement parks and resorts. It is NOT by any means an essential business, such as a medical facility or food market or pharmacy.
Loads of people here in the UK have already cancelled their trips. As well as the parks opening we have the addition of when Trump will open the borders to the UK and when that happens, when the British Foreign office says it’s safe for us to travel. No one in their right minds will travel without the Foreign Office say so as it will void the insurance. I’m surposed to be going the last 2 weeks in September and I will be surprised if I do.
My husband and I are planning a trip to Disney World in November of this year. Should we still come to Disney or should we cancel?
Hi AJ I just wanted to thank you for keeping us updated and at the same time giving us a much needed distraction for the none stop depressing virus news. My wife and I are seasoned WDW travelers we are DVC, AP and D23 members we have been there over 40 times since 1996 that said we still find a lot of stuff we didn’t know about watching your video’s besides being informative they are very entertaining. Thank You Again stay safe you your family and team. Steve and Wanda
I’m in FL and had a short trip planned for my birthday last wk that got cancelled. We have another short trip planned for the end of April for my sons birthday. Hoping it won’t get cancelled but realistically know it doesn’t look good.
I have already paid for my trip and had to reschedule due to it being in March. I rescheduled for July but still worried that might not be safe for our family that has some health problems. So my question is Why does DW charge a 200.00 per room fee if you cancel especially during this crisis? Would I be able to reschedule for December or March 2021 without a penalty?
Patti, Disney is not charging the $200 penalty for trips booked when they are closed. They also did not charge me when they cancelled my dining reservations last week.
I think the penalties are why DFB Food Blog is suggesting we keep our reservations until Disney cancels them. I have a trip planned for early June that I’m really worried about, but I am hopeful. If it does not work out, though, I’ll wait until I either know it definitely can’t happen and cancel before the fees are charged or if that is not possible, I’ll wait until Disney calls it closed and hope the fees won’t be charged.
I was supposed to leave for Florida tomorrow and be in the parks Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They won’t refund my tickets and i was told I have to use my tickets by December 15, 2020. I don’t know if I can take time off before then. I may be out all that money. I am furious!
Fact is ……. It will Only be Safe to visit Disney after you have Recieved your Covid-19 Vacation……Lookng Forward to Mine……Fall / Winter 2020
Covid-19 Vaccination , Not Vacation
I was heading to my Disney vacation tomorrow March 26. Obviously it has been cancelled. We received all refunds for Disney resort hotels but our Epcot tickets are extended until year end. I’m sure that will be extended as things evolve. Can’t wait to go when it reopens. It’s been quite a challenge to cancel and rebook all dining, fast passes, flights and rooms. But worth it to keep our Disney spirits alive.
The stay home order is until April 9th. Disney will fall under that since it is a non essential business.
I live in NY and the governor is saying that it will peak in 3 weeks! We have over 33,000 cases as of today! I live on Long Island so I don’t have the density that they have in the city. I would say that this virus will not be gone until June maybe July where you can feel safe again. So I would save your DVC points or money until after the summer or even wait until next year. Stay well everyone! And stay home!
We are scheduled to arrive on June 2, 2020, with Disney hoping to re-open on June 1st, is there any idea how this will effect people who are scheduled to arrive that first week of June. Thanks in advance.
I read about the virtual lines but I am wondering if actual lines will be added to ‘cattle chute’ type ride lines. Like gathering area type lines or those where you move to another area and have to fight to keep your group together- I think haunted mansion is one where you move from place to place until the area for the line finally narrows enough for people to not break up your group or cut you off. Even before covid, I have wished for this change.
Even if the park “opens”, you can always reschedule your trip and they apply your $200 deposit to the next reservation…no loss of money. That being said, I have only booked directly through Disney. I do not know what rules apply for 3rd party travel agents.
We have a mid-July 2020 trip planned, I will be re-scheduling. No sense in spending the money for a less that perfect trip.
Finally made the decision to call DVC to ask what my options are and how my points will be returned. I’m so glad I did. We had an awesome trip planned for August but we decided we will be rescheduling for next August. NJ hasn’t reached its peak yet and Florida is behind us, so I’m not 100% on taking the trip. I rather more of the kinks be worked out before we do. Next year we will actually have more points available to us so maybe we can even extend our trip a few days 🙂
To everyone and your families, whatever you decide to do when our happy place opens, please stay safe! We will get through this!!
I didn’t have to cancel my May 4-11 Disney World plans. Since those dates fall within the period Disney World is closed, Disney has already begun cancelling my dining reservations and so forth. If I take no action prior to May 4th, they will automatically cancel my reservation and refund the cost to my original form of payment.
So, {sigh}, there goes my Disney World vacation I so looked forward to. But, when all this is over I will simply book another one.
So much uncertainty about what the future of 2020 may hold. Our family is scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, which is 7 months out from now. I would imagine if schools are to reopen in the fall, if sports teams are to resume operation, and if places open up for the holiday shopping around early November, then likely Disneyworld will be open as well. But the fear is rushing everything…if the virus is like any other virus, it may thrive in cold weather months and rebound verses in the summertime. Again, so much uncertainty right now. I’d rather be safe than sorry of course…so I’m heavily considering canceling until 2021. Unfortunately, many people will be forced to cancel due to the unforeseen circumstances that this virus and it’s effect on the economy has caused.
We have a June 15 to 22 reservation at the Beach Club on points purchased from a fellow DVC’ er. These points expire in January so if we have to reschedule it will have to be this year. IF I wait it out and don’t get to come then how hard will it be to reschedule? Thanks so much.
Having to make reservations for everything (INCLUDING PARK ENTRY!!!) sounds more like a day at work rather than a vacation. Looks like Im going to have to reschedule for 2021 which is a year I was trying to avoid.
We have a trip for the first of September , however with no fireworks , parades , water parks closed and with cancelled my dining reservations it is not bang for the big bucks they are asking. If you can not get it all must cancel trip. How do you do that when the web page tells you to call and they are not there to take your calls?
Billy, we have not had trouble calling or chatting online (at disneyworld.com) with reservations cast members.
My trip is on December. Should I call someone before that