Disney World recently closed its theme parks, Disney Springs, and some hotels due to Tropical Storm Nicole (which hit Florida as a Category 1 hurricane). Most operations at the Resort have now returned to normal, but a few lingering changes will stick around for a while.

Main Street, U.S.A.

When Disney World closes for extreme weather, they often adjust cancelation policies to allow guests to postpone or cancel bookings that would have taken place during the storms. This was true with Nicole, and now we have an update on how long those cancelation fees will be waived.

Disney announced previously that cancelation policies would change at Disney World to allow guests to adjust travel plans based on Tropical Storm Nicole. This includes waiving all cancelation fees for hotel and dining reservations and allowing guests to be refunded for park tickets (which are normally nonrefundable). So how long will those changes be in effect?

Guests heading into the parks

According to Disney’s website, their hurricane policy for hotel reservation cancelations will remain in place for a little while longer: “Change and cancellation fees imposed by Disney [for hotel reservations] will be waived for check-in dates of November 8, 2022, through November 17, 2022.” Beginning on November 18th, Disney’s normal cancelation policies will once again be in effect.

Beach Club Resort in Disney World

Note that this only applies to Disney reservations — any reservations obtained through third-party suppliers (like airlines, non-Disney hotels, car rentals, etc.) will have their own policies. You should contact the suppliers you used to find out what cancelation fees would apply.

Orlando International Airport

Disney will also “not enforce cancellation policies until Saturday, November 12th for dining and other experiences like Savi’s Workshop and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.” If you had one of these pre-paid reservations booked and it was canceled due to the storm, you will be refunded to your original form of payment.

Be Our Guest

To sum up, Disney will waive cancelation fees for hotel reservations through November 17th, 2022, and they will not enforce cancelation policies for dining or other experiences until November 12th, 2022.

We’ll continue to watch for more updates from Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB for all the latest news.

Click here to see inside Disney World after Tropical Storm Nicole.