Do NOT Make This EXPENSIVE Disney World Restaurant Mistake

Dining in Disney World can be tricky. There are so many restaurants to choose from with some quick service locations being a little too bland for your tastebuds, but sometimes table service dining prices can add more to your trip than you were originally budgeting for.

Liberty Tree Tavern

But if you do research before your trip and decide to book a dining reservation at a table-service restaurant, that’s fantastic! However, if you’re on your vacation and you decide against it for whatever reason such as deciding that you don’t want to spend 1-2 hours sitting down if you have other priorities or realizing you’re tighter on your budget than you thought, there’s a BIG mistake you could make when you go to cancel your reservation that could cost you more than you were expecting.

For the majority of table service restaurants in Disney World, and that’s nearly all of them (with the exception of lounges you can put yourself on the walk-up waitlist for), you can cancel or modify your dining reservation 2+ hours in advance at no charge. But…what happens when you want to change around your dining reservation WITHIN 2 hours?

Skipper Canteen

Unfortunately, at this point the Disney World restaurant has already set aside a table for you and planned it into their day, so there’s a cost associated with canceling within 2 hours. For most restaurants, you’ll be charged $10 per person to cancel or modify within 2 hours. And if you decide to just not show up? Since you put your credit card information in to hold your reservation, Disney will charge you $10 per person.

Steakhouse 71

Now, if you’re on your own, you may think “hey, $10 isn’t a big deal, I’m okay with that.” But if you’re with a group of 4+? That gets expensive REAL quick. Is it less expensive than the dining reservation if you go through with it? Yes, but that’s still money you don’t necessarily want to be paying!

‘Ohana

So if you’re up in the air about your dining reservation, we recommend sitting down with your family at the start of the day to briefly check in and see how everyone’s feeling about it (or if it’s a dinner reservation, maybe do it around lunch). Modifying the reservation means you can also change how many people it’s for, so if halfway through your day a portion of your party isn’t feeling it anymore, you can hop in and take them off the reservation so only those of you that want to go are heading that way.

Topolino’s Terrace

Not to mention, there are a few more upscale and popular restaurants in Disney World that require MORE advance notice for cancelation. After booking, modifications are not allowed for the following restaurants/experiences:

Cinderella’s Royal Table
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Pre-Party
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Post-Party
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Seats & Sweets
Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package
Spice Road Table Fireworks Dining Package
Celebration at the Top – Sip, Savor, Sparkle
Top of the World Lounge

Cinderella’s Royal Table

As for reservations that need to be canceled (not modified) more than 2 hours in advance OR have more than a $10 fee if canceled within 2 hours, those are:

Cinderella’s Royal Table (If not modified/canceled 2+ hours in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)
Sangria University (If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)
La Cava Experience (If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged $50 per person)
Monsieur Paul (If not modified/canceled 3 days in advance, you’ll be charged $100 per person)
Victoria & Albert’s (If not modified/canceled 5 days in advance, you’ll be charged $100 per person)
Takumi-Tei (If not modified/canceled 2 days in advance, you’ll be charged $100 per person)
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)
Rose & Crown Fireworks Package If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)
Spice Road Table Fireworks Package If not modified/canceled a day in advance, you’ll be charged the full cost of the experience)