Yup, I’ve just received an email in the last ten minutes. Text as below (emphasis my own):
My only annoyance is that I have to decide by June 27th, by which time the parks won’t be open. Admittedly, it’ll only cost me the £50pp to cancel up until the end of August..
We booked directly with WDTC UK.
Dear Guest,
As we plan for the reopening of our Disney Resort Hotels and Theme Parks, we are keeping the well-being of our Guest and Cast Members in mind. We want to assure you that we are here to help you as we introduce new measures focused on delivering an enjoyable and magical experience for everyone who visits.
To manage attendance and foster physical distancing during this unprecedented time, we will be changing and suspending some Theme Park experiences and our Water Parks will remain closed until further notice. Some Disney Resort Hotel experiences will also be adjusted and Extra Magic Hours will be temporarily suspended. You can find out more about these changes on the Experience Update page
here. As more information becomes available about these changes it will be updated on this page, so please check back regularly.
In addition, we will also be introducing a new Theme Park reservation system. You will receive access to this new system before new tickets are sold to other guests. More details about the new Theme Park reservation system will follow shortly. It is important that you have a My Disney Experience account and have linked your booking, as this will allow you to reserve Theme Park access once the system is available. We strongly recommend that you have the latest version of the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device, with location services and notifications enabled.
Unfortunately these measures have required us to cancel any dining reservations, experience reservations and FastPass+ selections you may have made. Moving forward dining reservations and experience reservations will be available to make 60 days prior to arrival to allow for planning closer to your visit.
As a result of physical distancing, capacity in restaurants and availability of dining experiences are very limited and certain experiences such as Character dining cannot be provided. Because of this, we have also made the difficult decision to cancel and temporarily no longer offer Disney Dining plans. We recognise the inconvenience this poses and we’re deeply sorry.
We will be modifying your booking to remove the free dining plan and upgraded meal plans if applicable, as well as add a 35% accommodation discount. As a result of these changes we have the following options available to you and we encourage you to read the below information thoroughly to make a decision based on what is best for you. You may select one of the following options and please let us know of your choice by
27 June 2020:
Accept the changes to your booking and travel as planned
If you wish to accept your revised booking without your Free or Upgraded Dining Plan and at the discounted price you will receive a refund of the difference in your booking price if you have already paid in full or a reduction in the amount due if you have not yet made final payment.
Decline the changes and cancel your booking
If you wish to decline the changes and cancel your booking you will receive a full refund of any amount paid to date
Move your holiday to a date in 2021
Should you decide to decline the changes and cancel your booking you have the option to move your holiday to a date in 2021, subject to availability and at the prevailing 2021 rate. You must call our Disney Experts for assistance with choosing a new date as we are unable to assist with this through email.
To advise us of your decision you will need to visit the Manage My Booking section of our website here
https://www.disneyholidays.co.uk/walt-disney-world/manage-my-booking/. You will need your 8-digit Walt Disney Travel Company International Booking Reference and your last name to access your booking. Once logged in you can select either the option to accept your booking changes and travel in 2020, modify your booking to a date in 2021, or cancel with a full refund.
Please note that if we do not hear from you with a decision by 27 June 2020 we will assume that you do not accept the changes and that you wish to cancel with a full refund.
We understand how much excitement, thought and time goes into planning a Disney holiday and realise some of these changes may be disappointing. We appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding during this time.
Kind Regards
Walt Disney Travel Company International
If I’m honest I was hoping for a small discount for the inconvenience. I understand that the 35% is in lieu of the ‘free’ dining but we really rely on the dining plan. Oh well.
