UPDATE: The update was pulled from My Disney Experience a few weeks ago. It is now BACK and has been officially confirmed by Disney.
One of the most important things you can plan in Disney World are your advance dining reservations, especially if you’re big foodies like us!
YUM
There are a TON of different restaurants in Disney World to try out, and a lot of them can book up very fast. It’s a good idea to make reservations for where you want to eat WELL before your trip. But, we also know that unexpected things can happen on your Disney World vacation that might make you have to cancel some dining reservations. And now, how you cancel dining reservations has CHANGED in Disney World!
Previously, you would have to cancel most advance dining reservations in Disney World at least 24 hours in advance to avoid being charged cancelation fees. These fees could also sometimes be avoided if you went straight to the restaurant and spoke to the hosts yourself, but if you cancel online, you usually need to do it at least a day before your scheduled dining time.
Sanaa food
But now, things have changed! We noticed on the My Disney Experience app that you can cancel dining reservations at least 2 hours before your reservation.
©Disney
So, if you need to cancel on the same day of your reservation, you can without getting charged, as long as it’s at least 2 hours before your reservation. Just go to your reservation in the app and you should see the option to modify or cancel your reservation. Select “cancel” and the app will double check with you before canceling.
©Disney
It gives you a LOT more flexibility during your Disney World day.
Brunch at Old Key West
If it Is less than 2 hours before the dining reservation, you still have to call the restaurant to cancel, and you could possibly be charged a fee.
©Disney
The app will prompt you to call if you hit cancel and it’s less than 2 hours from your reservation time. Remember that if you go and cancel the reservation in person at the restaurant, you can sometimes avoid the cancelation fees even if it’s close to your reservation time.
©Disney
For more on Disney World, check out the new fireworks dessert party coming to Disney World, 6 things you need to know about Disney World in November, and an UPDATE on the giant gingerbread house construction in Disney World!
Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news and updates.
These Will Be the Hardest Disney World Dining Reservations to Get in 2023
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This is so wrong!!! I have a feeling there are people who are hoarding premium reservations and now they will have no consequences to keeping them until the very last minute. I also believe there are people/services who are snatching up all the reservations who will profit off of them by selling to desperate people wanting certain reservations. It’s just another way to screw over the customers. I totally disagree with this it would have been better if they had done just the opposite and charged if people cancelled within 48 hours. What do I know….I’m just a person who has been going to WDW since the 70s that is getting pretty sick of all of this.
Won’t this just mean that people will hoard dining reservations until even closer to their dining time? Those dining slots that used to come free 24 hours beforehand will now be booked until 2 hours before.
Either keep the existing system or block people from making multiple dining reservations and cancelling at the last minute before being charged.
I hope this does not happen and that it was just a glitch. The reason is to make it fair for everyone, and sites like mousewatcher and others will be obsolete if this happens. And also will allow hoarding to happen with people staying at a Disney resort for a long time.
So, has the policy been changed for real? Or is this s temporary glitch?
In the past when we wanted to change where we were having a sit down meal, if you called 407 wdw dine they would generally swap one reservation for another as long as they were both sit down meals. So you didn’t have to pay the cancellation fee. This cam in handy for us many times.
I agree with above comments. This is wrong and people WILL hoard dining reservations. When I have made multiple reservations for my trips, I always cancel the extra one at least a week ahead of time once my plans are in stone. I don’t wait for the 24 hours as I know there are people out there looking for these reservations. I have to wonder why they are making this change? Has Genie Plus caused this?