October trip questions!

[Ricky P]

Hello everyone, Some members of my family are planning a trip in October 2020, staying off property. They're now asking me if there are any reasons they should reconsider. I have a DVC reservation and tickets for November, so I feel confident. The other thing is that some members of my family have never been and may not get another chance. What are your thoughts? I'm very concerned about going, given their circumstances. Thanks everyone, I'm anxious to hear your thoughts!

 

[Darcy03231]

Unfortunately, it's really hard to predict. Since they're staying off-site they'll be the last ones to have access to the reservation system (you now need a park ticket and a reservation). They may not be able to get into a park every day of their trip. Do they have tickets yet? Ticket sales have currently been suspended.

Also, there's no way of knowing if there will be a surge of the virus in the fall.

I canceled my September trip. There were too many modifications for me and I don't want to wear a face mask.

 

[Ricky P]

Unfortunately, it's really hard to predict. Since they're staying off-site they'll be the last ones to have access to the reservation system (you now need a park ticket and a reservation). They may not be able to get into a park every day of their trip. Do they have tickets yet? Ticket sales have currently been suspended.

Also, there's no way of knowing if there will be a surge of the virus in the fall.

I canceled my September trip. There were too many modifications for me and I don't want to wear a face mask.

They have tickets reserved with the third party provider they are working with for their accommodations. They wouldn’t have access to them until they make further payments. On a good note, they only paid a 50 dollar deposit, of which they get 35 back should they cancel. No character meet and greets are a deal breaker as well.

 

[nkereina]

No character meet and greets are a deal breaker as well.

If that's a deal breaker, then you may want to cancel. Disney hasn't confirmed much yet, especially not for anything as far out as October, but its widely speculated that character meets will be suspended for the foreseeable future. The Dis Unplugged podcast was discussing what the sole character meal at Topolino Terrace will look like, and they believe it will be the characters doing a "show" periodically throughout the meal with no interaction. The podcast has also predicted that the limited park capacity with park reservations will be in place at least through the end of the year as well.

 

[sponica]

If this is a first visit....I would do the thing that causes the least amount of stress.

If they are going to be stressed the whole time about what the experience will be like, when we don't know what it will be like right now. Cancel/reschedule

If fireworks, parades, characters and all those things that make Disney different aren't there in October, I'd cancel/reschedule.

If wearing a mask is a deal breaker, we don't know the timing on that as it's in the union agreements. Cancel/reschedule

Honestly I was hoping to go next April to make up for my cancelled trip this year, and I don't even know if that's going to happen

 

[Darcy03231]

They have tickets reserved with the third party provider they are working with for their accommodations. They wouldn’t have access to them until they make further payments. On a good note, they only paid a 50 dollar deposit, of which they get 35 back should they cancel. No character meet and greets are a deal breaker as well.

That was one of the deal breakers for us too, along with no parades, no fireworks, no character meals, no guaranty of getting into a park every day even with on-site accommodations, having to wear a mask, etc. Disney will be there when things get back to some sort of normal and we'll go then. Hoping for next spring, but if not we'll wait.

Since the trip is in October they could wait until closer to their final payment time to see if some of the restrictions are lifted.

 

[Ecomommy09]

At this point, I would assume no characters, parades or fireworks this year and work from there. In your circumstances, I would cancel

 

[gharter]

Given what you wrote earlier, I would consider cancelling *** no M&Gs are a deal breaker.
If they have the ability to wait and make their decision later, they could wait and see if any of this changes a Florida lifts more of their restrictions.
By October, I would still be surprised to see Parades, Night Shows, character M&Gs being available.

 

[amlynn5]

Since we are about 2 months out from MNSSHP when do people think Disney will announce cancellation or continuation with modification? Has anyone heard anything? We are going in late October but really no deal breakers for us with the exception of 2nd wave and lockdown again. With that said, I would be sad if no fireworks. Even if it was modified to a much smaller show after parks closed for resort guests would be amazing.

 

[julietsstars]

@amlynn5 I'm in the same boat and don't think I'll know whether or not we're going in October until August. Thats when we can even found out if we can get a reservation for the parks we want, if at all.

 

[nduckles]

Since we are about 2 months out from MNSSHP when do people think Disney will announce cancellation or continuation with modification? Has anyone heard anything? We are going in late October but really no deal breakers for us with the exception of 2nd wave and lockdown again. With that said, I would be sad if no fireworks. Even if it was modified to a much smaller show after parks closed for resort guests would be amazing.

MNSSHP has been officially cancelled.

 

[YawningDodo]

MNSSHP has been officially cancelled.

Sad but honestly not unexpected--and I'm glad they made the call this far out. The big appeal of the Halloween party anymore is the shows, parade, and special character meet and greets--all things we should expect to see toned down or removed from regular park operations for the next few months, if not longer. At the capacity to which they've been selling the parties over the last few years, it would be impossible to maintain distance while enjoying what the party has to offer. I was honestly surprised that they made the call to cancel the After Hours events without cancelling the parties at the same time since After Hours is a lot more conducive to social distancing--but I think the parties are probably more profitable on top of being more iconic.

Re: the original question of this thread...honestly, under those circumstances, with only a $15 loss for cancelling, I would suggest that your family might be better off waiting a year or two for their first visit. I honestly feel kind of worried about taking my housemate for her first visit in January since I'm still expecting things to be very different/not as good even half a year from now (I've got a bunch of money tied up in a DVC rental, though, so I'm committed to us making this trip). The question of whether to go now is a lot different for me as a high-repeat visitor (and presumably OP as a DVC member) versus someone going for their first time who has their heart set on character meet and greets and the full advertised experience. For frequent visitors this is just a trip where we might not get to do everything, but crowds may be lower and (depending on our priorities and what is or isn't a deal breaker) it's still going to be fun. For someone who's going for the first time and may not get to go again, it's a stressful, uncertain introduction to a property that will not be performing at its best.

 

[amlynn5]

MNSSHP has been officially cancelled.

Thanks! So sad but necessary. I just wonder if by October they would have a modified firework experience.

 

[amlynn5]

@amlynn5 I'm in the same boat and don't think I'll know whether or not we're going in October until August. Thats when we can even found out if we can get a reservation for the parks we want, if at all.

I hear ya. Hoping and praying it goes well for you!

 

[gharter]

@amlynn5 I'm in the same boat and don't think I'll know whether or not we're going in October until August. Thats when we can even found out if we can get a reservation for the parks we want, if at all.

We're in the same situation. Going mid October. For us, it depends what we can get for park reservations. And where things are for travel restrictions. And if there is any mandatory quarantine going down or coming home at that point. Time will hopefully make that clearer.

 

[nkereina]

We're in the same situation. Going mid October. For us, it depends what we can get for park reservations. And where things are for travel restrictions. And if there is any mandatory quarantine going down or coming home at that point. Time will hopefully make that clearer.

We're in the exact same boat. Have you heard how far in advance the park reservations will be made available? I'll be really curious about that as well as what the availability actually looks like. At this point, we'd need to cancel our Southwest flights by September 7th (unless they extend it) if we want to be eligible to have a 9/7/22 expiration date for our travel funds. Otherwise, the flights will expire May 2021, one year from when we booked them. Hoping our park reservations can be made prior to that but I'm not hopeful.

 

[julietsstars]

Welp... this was the nail in the October trip coffin for us. Completely cancelling now but maybe rescheduling for 2022.