Dining Reservation Cancelation Window

[pokee99]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but what is the exact "one day" timeframe for cancellation without penalty?

24 hours prior to reservation time?
Midnight the day before?

If I arrive alone without my 2 kids, will they charge for missing people?

 

[tink89]

i believe its midnight of the night before. Last time i made a reservation it said must cancel at least one day before to avoid fees.

You can always modify your reservation if you have less people coming, but no they will not charge you if you are missing one person.

 

[SteveH]

My ADR confirmation email stats this, "You must cancel at least one day prior to your reservation to avoid a per person cancellation fee. If you fail to cancel timely and are a no show, the credit card provided at the time of reservation will be charged $10.00 per person."

It's vague, but it does not say 24 hours only "one day" in our case we cancelled one of our ADRs about 11PM with no issue.

 

[Winnowill]

Mind you, if you go to the restaurant in question and cancel in person, they may waive the charge. We did this once at WCT about an hour before our reservation. My husband wasn't feeling well and we were leaving the park. We went to WCT and explained the situation, and they would have cancelled us without charge - but we wound up transferring it to a couple who'd just walked up without a reservation and would have been turned away otherwise.

 

[jacandjan]

I have had to cancel day of and although it says day before it seems as long as you go and talk to the venue they are usually understanding. This probably wouldn't be the case for Fantasmic or World of Color. Once I made a same day reservation and then discovered it did not work. I could not cancel it on the app but when I called the dinning line they canceled it as a courtesy.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Any time day before is official stance.

In reality they are just trying to avoid no shows and are usually VERY accommodating as noted above even day of reservation.

As long as SOMEONE shows up there is not a charge if others in your party drop off...again, their motive is to discourage complete no shows.

Now, that is different for Dining Package reservations with a show.

 

[BayouQueen]

Last week we cancelled day of because one of our party was ill. There was the $40.00 charge on credit card for party of four. So err on the side of caution.

We've never had a problem if we lost a guest or two and arrived with a smaller party than was on the reservation.

 

[BayouQueen]

Last week we cancelled day of because one of our party was ill. There was the $40.00 charge on credit card for party of four. So err on the side of caution.

We've never had a problem if we lost a guest or two and arrived with a smaller party than was on the reservation.

 

[dina444444]

Last week we cancelled day of because one of our party was ill. There was the $40.00 charge on credit card for party of four. So err on the side of caution.

We've never had a problem if we lost a guest or two and arrived with a smaller party than was on the reservation.

I would always call in that situation, they will usually waive the fee if you do. Another tip is to try and modify the reservation to a further day out then cancel.

 

[BayouQueen]

I would always call in that situation, they will usually waive the fee if you do. Another tip is to try and modify the reservation to a further day out then cancel.

I did call. I wanted to be courteous about the reservation. The reservation person was polite, but firm.
Oh well...I saved money by not having dinner.

 

[Evita_W]

Another option to get around the cancellation fee is to modify your reservation to a later date and then cancel.

If you are sick or such, another option is to call or have one member go and explain.

Also, the policy is at least one member of the party needs to show up to the reservation if it isn't canceled in advance (although the above works too, I have done it before, but only a couple of times when absolutely necessary die to car break downs, etc.) to avoid the cancellation fee. The only exception are prepaid reservations, of you are a no show for those, you are out the money unless Disney makes an exception for you.

 

[frozengirl]

I've always done it the evening before and never been charged.

 

[Evita_W]

I've always done it the evening before and never been charged.

Yes, basically 11:59 the night before or earlier without the modification trick. I am still amazed they haven't closed that loophole.