New Reservations Cancellation Policy

[bwifan]

There are just too many variables to expect people to cancel the day before.

No show - fine, charge the card; cancel 6 hours before, no way should the card be charged a fee.

This doesn't have anything to do with how we feel about double bookings; this is a major issue for people with legitimate issues that arise (young children having a meltdown and the parents switch plans, transportation issues, new guests not anticipating how long it takes to get around, etc.).

Every time we go I ALWAYS see walk ups being turned away. During those busy times the restaurants will not lose out, they will fill the seats.

Exactly.

I don't know how to double book! I make one ADR per day for dinner and always cancel if need be within 6 hours. I feel this is good enough. Kids get sick. Parents get sick. If disney is losing so much money perhaps we should pass around a hat.

 

[aaarcher86]

I ended up with doubles without doing anything out of the ordinary. It just didn't ask me to cancel the original.

That's nonsensical. What contributed to the policy was all the double booking and the no shows. I was neither. I canceled my reservations well ahead of time (and two hours is plenty for Disney).

If that were the case they wouldn't require that you cancel the day before. I'd agree with you anywhere else.

 

[DisMama3]

I'm confused about the people complaining about reservation "hoarders"...
You can't.
When you try to make a res within two hours of an existing res, you either have to cancel or change.
No one can do the multi res gig they could do a few years back.
I might have one res for dinner on a certain day, but certainly not two, three or more.
The system doesn't allow it.
If, however, I want to cancel the single dinner res I have on that day at 4 pm because my children are worn out, there is a part of me that resents the idea of being charged for it.

Oh well, Disney will see a plummet in their evening reservations, and either they will re-think this or they will not be affected because walk ups will fill the void.

Yes you can. It is called the MDE app. One email, multiple reservations. The only ones you can't double up on are the ones that as of now require a credit card to make a reservation. Can't do that on the app, you need to call. But any other restaurant is free game, and you can even call, get a credit card hold restaurant, and then add other ones as well.

 

[DebbieB]

I'm with most of the PPs. A few hours notice would be acceptable, but 24?! With two small kids our plans are constantly changing.

We've only had to cancel once a few years ago, but I'd hate to be charged $40 if my kids are sick and we can't make it.

It's not 24 hours. It's 11:59pm of the day before. For breakfast, that could be 7 or 8 hours.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

That is a system issue that should be easily corrected. As is eliminating double bookings in general, but instead of WDW doing that, they are going to take the draconian measure of charging families a $10pp fee at a theme park if they don't cancel the day before – ridiculous IMO.

They could have taken the right route but instead decided on the revenue generating fee, nice.

What is going to happen when exceptions are no longer made for people who have legitimate reasons because too many people took advantage?

I don't see how anyone can think this is an acceptable solution, sorry.

I ended up with doubles without doing anything out of the ordinary. It just didn't ask me to cancel the original.

If that were the case they wouldn't require that you cancel the day before. I'd agree with you anywhere else.

 

[aaarcher86]

That is a system issue that should be easily corrected. As is eliminating double bookings in general, but instead of WDW doing that, they are going to take the draconian measure of charging families a $10pp fee at a theme park if they don't cancel the day before – ridiculous IMO. They could have taken the right route but instead decided on the revenue generating fee, nice. What is going to happen when exceptions are no longer made for people who have legitimate reasons because too many people took advantage? I don't see how anyone can think this is an acceptable solution, sorry.

They have refurbed the system to not allow double bookings within a certain time frame as well. Unfortunately, they can't stop people from creating multiple accounts to create multiple reservations. I happened to get double bookings on accident using one account a few weeks ago within an hour of each other.

Obviously Disney has seen positive results with the restaurants that have been doing this all year. I have zero problems with it and I'm someone that does a sit down breakfast and a sit down dinner each day. I personally think putting RFID chips in the mugs seemed like a small potatoes issue, but it goes to show that when enough people cheat the system and cost revenue Disney is going to do something about it.

 

[conandrob240]

A ridiculous and unnecessary policy. Pure greed at work. Will make me book far fewer sit down meals as we can't spend the day worrying about being charged $50 for nothing if our children get tired or sick or have a meltdown and we change our minds. There is absolutely no reason why the unclaimed slots can't easily be filled with walk-ups. And MDE/ MBs, if programmed properly, can all but eliminate the ability to double book.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, Trying to look on the positive side, that it may be easier to get a same day ADR at a favorite restaurant,especially if you are an early riser and get online to do so. Joan

 

[aaarcher86]

A ridiculous and unnecessary policy. Pure greed at work. Will make me book far fewer sit down meals as we can't spend the day worrying about being charged $50 for nothing if our children get tired or sick or have a meltdown and we change our minds. There is absolutely no reason why the unclaimed slots can't easily be filled with walk-ups. And MDE/ MBs, if programmed properly, can all but eliminate the ability to double book.

How can MDE know if someone books using 2 emails? Not everyone stays on site and/or links their reservation.

 

[flywithhope]

I read several people hope they would make exceptions for XYZ. I have strict dietary needs and can only eat at table service. I also have chronic illnesses that fluctuate what I can do hour to hour. If I have felt there would be no chance I would make a reservation, we would call and cancel but despite being ill and explaining this, I am still charged. As this is their policy and I know this ahead of time, I accept it. On several occasions my husband has gone without me and brought me food back to the resort hotel.

I wish their cancellation policy was shorter than 11:59p the day before. 4-5 hours seems reasonable to me and would be easier to manage for me personally. But their policy is their policy and if I choose to ADR, that is my choice. I'm glad for Disboards so I have a heads up on changes and can plan accordingly.

For those saying that things that come up (kids meltdown/airport delays ect) and your plans change and a later time might work better: when we have called to cancel a reservation, they offered to reschedule for a later time without a fee. So that might be an option but might want to clarify under new policy.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

How can MDE know if someone books using 2 emails? Not everyone stays on site and/or links their reservation.

The technology should be able to virtually eliminate double bookings. Multi-tiered authentications can be used for identifying logins.

Wait, I have a better idea. We are wearing the MBs, they know where we are, they know we are not at the restaurant at the time of our reservation and that we haven't cancelled, they send electric shocks through the MB as punishment kinda like an electric dog collar.

 

[conandrob240]

The MB could "read" the info associated with one email account. You have to swipe THAT band linked to that one email account to be seated for a dining reservation. Wouln't work yet because MDE/MBs still pretty broken but it could once it is fully perfected.

 

[aaarcher86]

The technology should be able to virtually eliminate double bookings. Multi-tiered authentications can be used for identifying logins. Wait, I have a better idea. We are wearing the MBs, they know where we are, they know we are not at the restaurant at the time of our reservation and that we haven't cancelled, they send electric shocks through the MB as punishment kinda like an electric dog collar.

I'm not opposed to it, but I'm sadistic.

 

[saskdw]

I am in favour of it but the quid pro quo is that a reservation should mean what it says. In other words if I have an ADR for 7.30pm, when I turn up I expect to be seated at 7.30pm as I would in any other restaurant. Not 30 mins or 45 mins after my reservation time, as seems to be a regular occurrence at Disney.

Should I expect to be compensated by $10 pp if disney keep me waiting for more than 30mons?

My thoughts exactly. I expect to be seated at my reservation time under this new policy. There is no restaurant anywhere else that has this type of policy that would expect you to wait to be seated. I'm ok with this policy if they step up the service. Not a chance I will wait 20 mins to be seated with CC secured reservation.

 

[BenbowInn]

Just throwing this option out there...prepaid Visa. Use it to guarantee your ADR's and spend the amount on it.

I have no problem with them charging do no shows, but I think they need to allow cancellation up until a few hours prior to reservation. With a place like Disney World that's so full of germs and viruses it is not a stretch to assume a lot of people will get sick and have to rearrange things. On top of that, Disney is known for accommodating disabilities and many disabled people have issues arise which requires a change of plans. Life happens and plans change. I can't imagine large families or groups wanting to make ADR'S, heck I cringe at the thought of my family of 3 missing an ADR and getting charged $30! At least a better policy would be a set price per reservation versus per person.

 

[angierae]

Oddly, today the site let me make a 12:10 dinner reservation and didn't blink that I had a 1:20 for the same place. (I wanted to move it back and I assumed it'd tell me I had to cancel the 1:20. Nope, they just both showed up and I had to cancel the 1:20 afterwards. I'd have to be pretty hungry to eat at 12:10 and again at 1:20!

 

[Hopediamant]

This policy can and will be overruled if you pay enough for a room.We payed a thousand Dollar per night for a room and we could cancel when and whatever dinning reservation we made whiteout trouble or problems.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Did it mention if there was any change to the policy around if you show up to an ADR with fewer people than the ADR was made for?

For our upcoming trip I had made a number of ADRs for 10 people but for some, we now know only 6 of us will make it. I called up the dining line and asked if there was an issue in showing up with less than the ADR number and was informed that the restaurant might charge us $10 per person that didn't show up (so in our case $40) - she said it depended on the restaurant

So given this effort to standardize things, just wondering if this aspect is being standardized as well.

This isn't true. As long as one person shows up, the restaurant won't charge you the no show fee. Hopefully this new policy won't change that.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Having eaten at countless table services at WDW, I very rarely see an empty table so I'm not sure exactly how much no shows are actually costing Disney. While I can see the point to charge this at really in demand restaurant, I don't see how it needs to be across the board to include all restaurants.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I have no issue with the new policy. We have only had to cancel a reservation last minute when our son was sick with a stomach bug.

If we know we are not feeling up to a restaurant or want to change our plans we have always done it in advance, credit card guarantee or not. It is common courtesy to others.