Family Florida Trip

[Daisy]

xxx

[Gemini]

Thanks Daisy. It's no one's fault and there are worse things, but yes it is very sad xx

[Gemini]

Well conronavirus , FCO travel ban and theme park closures aside, it would have been very difficult for me to go on this holiday as my mum suddenly needed me much more just before we would have been going.

Our insurance company won't cover the villa rental. The owner offered to let us move our dates, but dates we could go were already booked.
We sadly resigned ourselves to losing the bulk of the villa money, having already had the pool heat and security deposit returned. However yesterday I learned they are refunding us almost all the money, and we will only lose the deposit, which split between 3 families is not much at all.
This was very good news, and we didn't expect it.

We have decided to go next Easter. We wanted October and my DD's were willing to take the children out of school for an extra week, due to the extraordinary circumstances.
However much as I hope that things will be much more back to normal by October, I have no faith in this, so we all decided to wait until next year.
Disney are extending their 2020 park tickets until September 2021, so we can still use them.

FINGERS CROSSED!!!

[Sunshine]

That’s great news Gem. Something positive to look forward to. I think you are wise to wait ‘til next Easter. October may be tempting fate.

[WeeGranny]

Good news Gem! If it were me, I'd wait until next year too. I'm not convinced things will be back to normal by the Autumn.

DD has just bought a hot tub! Her reasoning being that they're unlikely to get a holiday this year, so she decided to spend the money on something they've wanted for a long time!

[Daisy]

Gem - that is good news about the villa, and rebooking for 2021 is much safer than October.

WeeGranny - what a good idea of your DD's.

[Plantaholic]

Hot tub, just the job

[Oma]

Oh yes Gem wait till next year I'm not convinced this year will happen I think we in for the long haul and you may have to go through all the stress again . Best waiting xxx

[Gemini]

We were right to wait until next year as numbers are high and rising over there and Florida is one of the worst states.

Right now the borders are closed to us anyway so it is all academic until Trump declares them open.
We have taken a chance and booked a villa for next Easter. If we can't go we will either hopefully be able to move the dates to a time we can, or we lose the deposit.
We are still awaiting vouchers from KLM so cant book any flights.

Disney are reopening this month with reduced capacity and lots of rules. We hope that if we go next year things will be a lot more back to normal.
Because it is an unknown quantity Disney are operating with reduced numbers for the foreseeable future. They advised anyone going between now and September 2021 to book days at the parks. You won't be able to just turn up, and once they are booked to capacity that will be it. So I have booked us days.
We don't know for certain that we will go, and if they are back to full capacity by then then the reservations won't be needed, but at least we have them, so we are guaranteed park admittance if we get there!!

[Daisy]

Gem - oh for a crystal ball, eh! I do hope things are more normal by next Easter so your trip can go ahead and your whole family get the holiday you've dreamed of. It was a good idea to book the theme park days - you'd have been so upset if you got to Orlando, but not the parks. Fingers crossed for you. xx

[Nanto2girls]

Hope you do get there next year. very wise to book the theme park tickets in advance.

[Gemini]

We have moved the new villa booking from March 2021 to April 2022 ( having looked up the school Easter holiday dates for 2022)
It was only 6 months away and none of us feel confident that it will be possible or advisable by then. I will be delighted to be proved wrong.
DD1 has misgivings for even 18 months hence, but we have to live and plan.
If we cancel now we would lose our deposit, so we may as well, in the worst case scenario, lose it in 2022.

So, flights are refunded. Villa booked then moved to 2022. We will unfortunately lose money on the theme park tickets. The 2020 ones have been extended to September 20102, due to the pandemic, but they cant be expected to extend them any further. Like most of the world they to are losing out a lot at the moment. We can return them and lose 20%, which I think is the only way.

[Plantaholic]

Very sensible, it would be awful to be disappointed again.

[Gemini]

That's what we feel Plant, especially for the three children.

[Lizzie48]

Gem, my DS1 was saying he had read that all concerts etc for 2021 in the USA have already been cancelled.