Distraught Disney fan warns ‘count your days’ as dream holiday cancelled last minute

Air Canada strikes have left thousands of passengers stranded, including one family who were looking forward to their first holiday to Disney World but were turned away at the airport

A family of seven were left devastated after their dream holiday to Disney World was cancelled due to strikes wrecking havoc at airports.

The group, from Canada, had gathered their passports, suitcases, and park itineraries, but found themselves heading back home after being told the Air Canada strikes meant they could not travel to Florida.

On August 16, over 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants launched an indefinite strike, demanding fair compensation for unpaid on-ground duties and better wages.

This meant a lot of flights were grounded. Taking to TikTok to share her anger after her holiday hopes were dashed, a young woman known as ‘Mars’ online explained that while said she doesn’t blame those striking for the Disney nightmare, she does blame Air Canada.

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Sharing the video on TikTok, she showed a clip of her dad looking downbeat with his head in his hands as they headed back home with their luggage. She captioned the clip: “Air Canada, count your days. This was my dad on our way home from what was supposed to be our first family trip to Disneyland.”

Noting how distraught the dad looked in the video, one commenter wrote: “Ugh he probably worked so hard for that trip,” to which the daughter replied: “He really did.”

Another added: “Seeing your dad genuinely sad because all he wanted was to provide magic for his family and it was taken away from him is heartbreaking”.

Responding to comments on her viral video, the man’s daughter said in a follow up video: “We were lucky to have the opportunity to go on this trip. A big reason for that was because my parents won a travel credit at a staff party. They were going to use it for a trip for them, but they decided to put it towards a family vacation for seven of us to go to Disneyland because that’s something they always wanted to do.

“The credits didn’t cover the entire cost of the flight, but it helped. But there’s lots of other financial things that go into it. Since my parents covered the flight and stays, we all saved for our park passes on our own. It wasn’t just paid for. Since Disney and Universal don’t do refunds, those are just credits so now we have to hope we can plan a trip like this again.”

The airline has called off roughly 700 flights a day, affecting an estimated 130,000 passengers daily, including those headed to Disney destinations like Orlando.

She added: “We still haven’t got a refund for our flights, my dad was in line for five hours when we saw our flight was cancelled. He spoke to an employee, who told him the line was not for refunds and told him a refund would not be happening today. He also said a reschedule was unlikely.

“My dad’s only reason for wanting to go to Disney was because he loves Star Wars and always wanted to take us to Disney. It was a fun thing for all of us to do as a family trip.”

The timing of the strike meant thousands of travellers were affected in peak summer season.

But it appears the airline has come to an agreement with its workers, with a statement today saying it has led to a “transformational change for our industry.”

“Flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have reached a tentative agreement, achieving transformational change for our industry after a historic fight to affirm our Charter rights,” said Hugh Pouliot, spokesman for the Canadian Union for Public Employees (CUPE), in a statement Tuesday.

“Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power.”

But for families who weren’t able to make their flights, it’s been a costly situation. As well as losses on hotels and car rentals, those who booked time off work for their holiday will now have to use more annual leave if they want to rebook.

Air Canada is offering refunds or rebooking options, though availability remains tight.

Union members still need to vote on the agreement to make it permanent. If they vote it down, the strike could resume. The two sides came back to the table Monday night for the first time since the strike began on Saturday.