Many Disney Vacation Club Members are waking up this morning to the news of Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme park closures. For a quick recap, here is what we know thus far:
- Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort will cease operations beginning at the close of business on Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month.
- Disney Cruise Line will suspend all new departures beginning Saturday, March 14, through the end of the month.
- The Walt Disney Company will pay its cast members during that closure period.
- The hotels at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice.
- The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, will remain open.
- Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure will close beginning the morning of March 14 through the end of the month.
- The Hotels of the Disneyland Resort will remain open until Monday, March 16 to give guests the ability to make necessary travel arrangements
- Downtown Disney will remain open.
Since the original announcement, Disney has released updated information on how these closures will affect tickets, annual passes, resorts, dining, and more.
As of Friday morning, March 13th, no announcement has been made by Disney Vacation Club regarding the closures affect on DVC Resort stays and cancellation policies. This leaves members with many questions, including how to cancel their trip planned during the closure and what will happen to the points used for these reservations.
We will update this post with any official statements or information as it becomes available, but for now, this is the best advice we can give for those impacted by these closures:
- The absolute best option members have at this time is to contact Member Services at 800-800-9800. Member Services is available Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Eastern Time, and Saturday and Sunday 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM Eastern Time. That being said, thousands upon thousands are likely attempting this today, with many failing to get through.
- If you are unable to get through to Member Services, we recommend at least sending an email with your reservation information and cancellation plans. The guarantees that something is documented with Disney Vacation Club regarding your vacation plans.
- Although no official statement has been made, members over in the DVC Fan Facebook Group, as well as on DISboards, have also been reporting relaxed cancellation policies, with Member Services moving affected points back to your account rather than a holding status.
- Some members in the DVC Fan Facebook Group are even reporting the ability to cancel their reservation online with points moving back to member accounts.
Please note that the advice listed above does not guarantee how DVC will handle each individual case. If you have successfully contacted Member Services and canceled your vacation plans, we would love to hear your story in the comments below!
Stay tuned to DVC Fan, the DVC Fan Facebook Group, and The DIS for more information as it becomes available.
I was fortunate to get through right at 9 a.m. Only on hold for about 5 minutes (good at any time in my opinion) and spoke with a lovely cast member whose name is River. Her computer had the slowies but was able to cancel my Sunday (3/15) through Saturday reservation. My use year is June and she was going to ask to have them banked so I could use them after May 31 (hardly anything available anyway). No promises but she said it may take longer than usual due to the demand. hoping for Pixie Dust so my daughter and friends who were supposed to celebrate spring break and celebrate the end of their Junior years at college in June. I thanked her but got off as quick as I could so others could get through and call.
We have a late April DVC reservation. On the modify reservation page, the following message is now appearing:
Need to cancel? All vacation points used in this reservation will be returned to your account in the Use Year in which the reservation falls.
We couldn’t get through after MANY attempts to cancel our VGC stay beginning on 3/14. So we waited and the Grand CA actually called us at around noon on the 14th to let us know they were expecting us. We asked to cancel and the CM said no problem and she offered to return all 407 points to the original use year. No banking, we are VERY happy and glad we booked through Disney. 😃
Use the online chat. No hold music and they can take care of everything there
Was on hold for 65 minutes after 15 tries with a busy signal first. My reservation was for 2 studios at the Polly for March 22 through the 27. My use year was April and I had 70 points expiring on April 1. The cast member did return my points to the use year but with the 70 expiring points were sent to the supervisor and they will be looked at on a case by case bases and the supervisor will call back with in 14 days. So Not sure what will happen. I have an other reservation for June I am hoping to apply those points there and swap.them out. I can let you know what happens if any on is interested.