So you’re going to Disney World? First, CONGRATULATIONS!
Chef Mickey at Chef Mickey’s!
And hopefully, that means, we’ve helped you with all the planning work, including figuring out your budget, buying your tickets, booking your hotel, and making those park pass reservations. And of course, you’ve figured out your dining and made your advance dining reservations, too!
But what happens if you get to Disney World and, for some reason, end up not making it to your dining reservation? What happens then?
If You Know You Need To Cancel, Do So In Advance
If you know in advance that you’re not going to be able to make it to a dining reservation, you can either choose to modify it or cancel it (and we’ve outlined exactly how to do that here).
Inside Cinderella’s Royal Table
Each restaurant has its own cancellation policy, and most do not charge a fee if you cancel within a certain time period (for example, many restaurants require a 24-hour notice). Be sure to check the restaurant’s page on the Disney World website to see what its cancellation policy is.
Here Are the Easiest Ways to Modify or Cancel a Disney World Dining Reservation
What Happens If You’re Running Late?
But what happens if you plan on making your dining reservation, but you’re running late? If you’re only going to be a little late, it’s totally okay — Disney will hold the reservation for up to 15 minutes after your scheduled time. BUT…if they haven’t heard from you by then, your table will go to someone else.
Pizza at Via Napoli
If you know you’ll be running late, call Disney Dining at 407-WDW-Dine and follow the prompt for same-day dining. Let them know you’re running a little behind, and they will try to accommodate you.
Running late to Be Our Guest? Let Disney know!
Note that you MAY be accommodated if you just show up late without calling, and a Cast Member can give you a good time when you might be seated, if possible. But it does depend on how booked up the restaurant is. So it’s always best to give Disney a call and let them know what’s going on.
Am I Dining WRONG at Be Our Guest Restaurant in Disney World?
If You Outright Miss A Reservation And Don’t Contact Disney
If you just miss the reservation and don’t contact Disney, you will be charged a “No Show” fee. This fee is charged PER PERSON and depends on the restaurant. Although some restaurants charge $10 per person for the no-show fee, others charge much more.
Miss a reservation? It’ll cost you!
For example, if you skip out on a dining reservation at Victoria & Albert’s (when it’s open) at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, you could pay $75 per person.
Here’s How To Cancel A Disney World Hotel Reservation
Tips For Not Missing A Dining Reservation
Of course, the best way to not miss a dining reservation is to…well…not miss it. And we’ve got some tips that could help you! First, be sure to keep track of all your reservations — you can view them easily in the My Disney Experience app. Double-check the times and put them in your calendar with reminders so that you can’t forget.
Booking Dining Reservations on My Disney Experience
Also, plan to arrive early. That means you need to give yourself PLENTY of time for transportation to the restaurant, whether that means you need to set out early on foot to walk or whether you need to drive or use Disney transportation to get there.
Our best rule of thumb is to leave WAY earlier than you think you need to. This is especially true if you’re taking Disney transportation because you never know how long you’ll have to wait for a bus, Skyliner, monorail, or boat.
Taking a bus to your restaurant? Give yourself PLENTY of time to get there!
As we previously mentioned, if you KNOW you’re going to have to miss a reservation at least 24 hours in advance, be sure to sign into the Disney website or My Disney Experience app to either change that reservation to a better time or cancel it. You’ll avoid a lot of problems that way, and it’s a super easy thing to do!
ULTIMATE GUIDE To Disney World Transportation!
So now you know what happens if you can’t make a Disney World dining reservation, and we hope that leaves you better prepared to deal with any issue that arises that may cause you to miss one. We’ll continue to offer you all kinds of tips to make your Disney World trip as magical as possible, so stay tuned!
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We had to cancel reservations our last two trips to Disney World. In both cases, the app would not accept the cancellation and told us to call. We tried calling but the hold times were over two hours. So we gave up. We were not charged. Had we been, I would have disputed it since the app did not allow for the cancellation.
Wrong, the fee is now $20 for missing a reservation. We had one for an early morning breakfast but woke up too late to go. They charged my cc $20, not the $10 this article is stating. Everything is going up.
Hi Michelle! Was it $20 each or $20 total? Some restaurants will charge up to $25 per person for a missed reservation. It depends on where you go.
If you call the Disney Dine Line be prepared for extreme wait times — sometimes in excess of an hour.
I was told by a waitress at the Polynesian Resort that if, on the day of my reservation, I go in person to the restaurant and explain that I won’t be able to keep my reservation for later that day, I won’t be charged a cancellation fee even though I’m under the 24-hour wire.
this is a problem on the day of because you cant get through on the phone, Disney has made this horrible. and forget the awful app too. I was dispute it as well with the cc like the poster above said. its just become too difficult who needs it.
I called to cancel my reservation for the next day. Wait time on the phone was two hours. I went to the lobby in my resort and spoke to a cast member who cancelled for me. Problem solved. 😃
We actually ran late for 2 reservations last week. We had a dinner reservation at 7:15 at Steakhouse 71. We were at the monorail station at the Grand Floridian at 6:55 and it took us 40 minutes to get on the monorail (even though the line wasn’t long) and go two stops to the Contemporary. It was mind boggling. For some reason monorail blue, which had just left the station as we approached the platform, was going at about 25% the regular speed, which held up everything. When we arrived at the restaurant, 20 minutes late for our reservation, I explained what happened to the cast member at the hostess stand. She made a note — “stuck on monorail”– and checked us in. We were seated after a short wait (less than 10 minutes).
A couple of days later, we had a lunch reservation at 12:00 at Garden Grill. It took longer than anticipated for us to get on Guardians of the Galaxy via the Lightning Lane. We power walked over to The Land and arrived at the hostess stand precisely at 12:15. The cast member there confirmed what your article says, which is that you get a 15-minute grace period and, after that, it’s up to the discretion of the cast member whether to seat you. She said that “if you have a good excuse,” they’ll almost always seat you late and, when I explained the reason for our delay, she said “that qualifies as a good excuse.” 🙂
A few years ago, we decided on a whim to fly to Orlando on New Year’s Eve. I got us a reservation for a late dinner at the Diamond Horseshoe. Our flight was delayed and we were an hour late. We had to wait until basically everyone else with a reservation got seated first, but they did eventually accommodate us. We didn’t mind the wait, as it was beyond our control that we missed the reservation and it was, of course, a very busy night for them. We had time to kill before midnight, and we were just happy that they still agreed to feed us.
They shouldn’t charge a cancelation fee because they always have people waiting to get in, and the phone wait times are way to long. They should have a way to text the info to either Disney Dining or the restaurant itself. They don’t lose any business.