Starting TODAY 11/15 you can Cancel Most Dining Reservations up to TWO HOURS in Advance WITHOUT a Cancellation Fee

[mrsap]

Dining Cancellation Policy Gets a BIG Change in Disney World​

While previously dining reservations had to be canceled at least 24 hours in advance, we were briefly able to cancel our reservation within 2 hours of it happening. While this option soon went away on My Disney Experience, Disney has shared they will be bringing it back — this time permanently.

Starting today, November 15th, you will be able to cancel most dining reservations up to two hours in advance of them happening without any cancellation fee (note that this will apply to most reservations).

©Disney

Previously, when you did not cancel a reservation more than 24 hours in advance, you were subject to a cancellation fee.

This new change should give Disney World guests a lot more flexibility, as they will be able to modify and cancel reservations more easily than they were previously with the 24-hour cancelation policy.

 

[DaniPoppins]

This is great!!

 

[Jerseyprincess317]

This is great news.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

In some ways, though, it will give guests less flexibility - those who often used the 24-hr cancellation to grab a reservation will likely lose that ability now if people wait until day-of to cancel. I guess it'll depend on how often people with ADRs wait that long to cancel. Maybe it'll allow for a few more walk-up opportunities, too. It'll be interesting to see if this has a big impact.

 

[projectx3]

This is wonderful news. Yes, I understand it will make it harder to get reservations the night before. But this offers the park guest so much more flexibility.

 

[Nabas]

In some ways, though, it will give guests less flexibility - those who often used the 24-hr cancellation to grab a reservation will likely lose that ability now if people wait until day-of to cancel. I guess it'll depend on how often people with ADRs wait that long to cancel. Maybe it'll allow for a few more walk-up opportunities, too. It'll be interesting to see if this has a big impact.

I suspect the opposite. It seems that every time I arrive for my reservation, there’s a line of people asking the receptionist if there’s any availability.

Hopefully, this means there will be a lot more happy walk-ups!

 

[kanerf]

Really good news. You can have a placeholder reservation in case the must do location opens up and cancel the placeholder.

 

[Disneydawg74]

I’ve gotten so cynical that I think the only reason they’re doing this is because they know that in the near future, because it’s so crowded, we’re not going to be able to park hop to every single park to get our dinner reservation.

 

[Figvention]

I’ve gotten so cynical that I think the only reason they’re doing this is because they know that in the near future, because it’s so crowded, we’re not going to be able to park hop to every single park to get our dinner reservation.

This and Genie+ randomly throws your schedule into a tizzy.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I’ve gotten so cynical that I think the only reason they’re doing this is because they know that in the near future, because it’s so crowded, we’re not going to be able to park hop to every single park to get our dinner reservation.

That seems extremely unlikely, since it's happened only once or twice during the new hopping criteria. If it happens too often, it might cost them the premium people will pay for hopping, and they don't want to lose that money!

 

[Disneydawg74]

That seems extremely unlikely, since it's happened only once or twice during the new hopping criteria. If it happens too often, it might cost them the premium people will pay for hopping, and they don't want to lose that money!

You’re probably right, I’m just venting frustration.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

You’re probably right, I’m just venting frustration.

I'm sure you're not the only one who has the concern in mind!

 

[projectx3]

This and Genie+ randomly throws your schedule into a tizzy.

^This. With hard to get LLs for certain rides, you run the risk of getting a return time during your meal. I prioritize rides over a table service meal, so if push comes to shove I can now take that ride and cancel the ADR without penalty.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm staying with this will increase the hoarding and it will be harder to get ADRs. I mean this is basically Disney giving permission.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

I'm staying with this will increase the hoarding and it will be harder to get ADRs. I mean this is basically Disney giving permission.

My thoughts exactly. It is already difficult enough to get the ADRs you want.

 

[lovin'fl]

I'm staying with this will increase the hoarding and it will be harder to get ADRs. I mean this is basically Disney giving permission.

But you can't book more than 1 in a 2 hour time frame or something like that. I guess folks can book a 5.30pm and 7.30pm (or 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30) and then decide at like 3.30 (or 2.30) which they want and cancel 1 or 2. Seems like too much hassle. But I am sure a number of folks will do that. We are local and book last minute so I am fine with that as I will grab their drops.

I also like it because we sometimes book a dinner in advance and then the day of decide we aren't wanting to drive over so we can cancel day of now.

 

[Maggie The Cat]

The only change I see that may be a disadvantage is people will be more inclined to book reservations each day.

We don't book a sit down every night because I know some nights we just don't feel like eating. I can see people now booking somewhere each night because they can cancel two hours before hand if they end up not wanting to eat.

Honestly for me, that's a positive.

 

[HopperFan]

My thoughts exactly. It is already difficult enough to get the ADRs you want.

Last couple trips I just gave up. Last trip I went down for a week with ONE (fireworks package). While there we could pick up some decent ones the NIGHT BEFORE, but now that there is virtually no penalty to hog them and wait until day of to decide - it's going to be difficult. For me, go often, eaten all over, don't care. But for folks really trying to plan a special trip it's going to disappointing.

But you can't book more than 1 in a 2 hour time frame or something like that. I guess folks can book a 5.30pm and 7.30pm (or 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30) and then decide at like 3.30 (or 2.30) which they want and cancel 1 or 2. Seems like too much hassle. But I am sure a number of folks will do that. We are local and book last minute so I am fine with that as I will grab their drops.

Sure you can and it's quite easy. Each MDE holder books a reservation and doesn't input any of the other guests names. I travel with all adults, anywhere from 2 to 6 of us. We legit could hold 5-6 reservations at once. At the least we can hold 2 per time period.

It's a pain when you had to cancel night before and make sure everyone does BUT if we can do it hours ahead, we have a 3 minute meeting, decide what to keep and everyone else cancels. Disney has just made it very very easy to cover your every whim. Add the ability to just pull up and hit cancel on your phone, easy.

 

[Disneydawg74]

But you can't book more than 1 in a 2 hour time frame or something like that. I guess folks can book a 5.30pm and 7.30pm (or 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30) and then decide at like 3.30 (or 2.30) which they want and cancel 1 or 2. Seems like too much hassle. But I am sure a number of folks will do that. We are local and book last minute so I am fine with that as I will grab their drops.

I also like it because we sometimes book a dinner in advance and then the day of decide we aren't wanting to drive over so we can cancel day of now.

Also, it seems some guests have been booking popular spots (Space 220, Oga’s, Topolino’s, etc) every day of their trip. Only to decide later which day they will use. This eats up a lot of ADRs.

 

[Lisse24]

But you can't book more than 1 in a 2 hour time frame or something like that. I guess folks can book a 5.30pm and 7.30pm (or 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30) and then decide at like 3.30 (or 2.30) which they want and cancel 1 or 2. Seems like too much hassle. But I am sure a number of folks will do that. We are local and book last minute so I am fine with that as I will grab their drops.

I also like it because we sometimes book a dinner in advance and then the day of decide we aren't wanting to drive over so we can cancel day of now.

I'm with the other poster. They've been talking about this on the Disney Dish podcast. Apparently, there are people who "scalp" dinner reservations at Disney the same way you might scalp concert tickets. Making it easier to cancel without penalty will only encourage the practice.