From ride closures to bad weather, and transportation problems to looong queues, Disney World vacations don’t always go to plan.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Some of the things that you can usually count on are those dining reservations, which you can make 60 days before your visit and then forget about until it’s time to eat. But today we saw a BIG and unexpected dining reservation problem that you could encounter during your trip. Here’s what we know so far about this issue.
Recently, a wonderful DFB reader reached out to us and told us about a problem they encountered with their dining reservation at California Grill, which is a restaurant located inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
California Grill
On the day of their reservation, they were alerted that their reservation had been canceled and California Grill was unavailable for dining. They were also able to send us a screenshot showing California Grill was unavailable for dining tonight. We saw this same message when we looked at the restaurant through the My Disney Experience app today (January 11th).
Notification from Disney
According to the DFB reader, their California Grill reservation for tonight (January 11th) was canceled due to “unexpected maintenance issues.” According to our reader, Disney reportedly indicated they would be receiving an emailed Disney gift card for the inconvenience.
UPDATE: According to a comment on this post from one of our fantastic DFB readers, their California Grill reservation was also canceled on January 11th, 2022. The reader indicated that they received a push notification from the app indicating that the reservation was canceled, but when they went to look at their plans in the app it still appeared. After speaking with Cast Members at California Grill they were also informed that there was a “maintenance issue” and the restaurant would be closed on that night.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
The Cast Members were able to assist the reader in rescheduling their reservation at California Grill for the next night and assisting them in getting another reservation for that night. As the reader noted, it’s always best to be nice to the Cast Members who are handling the issue as they can often help make a tough situation a little better. A little kindness can go a long way!
We saw dining reservations canceled when Disney World closed in 2020 due the pandemic, but this is a good reminder that restaurants, like attractions and other experiences in Disney World, can experience issues that may cause them to temporarily close.
California Grill Dining Room
If you’re heading to Disney World soon and have dining reservations planned, keep these tips in mind:
- Make sure to take screenshots of all of your reservations in case you later experience issues with the My Disney Experience app and can’t access them
- Be sure to look for updates from Disney regarding any last-minute issues or cancelations
- Make sure your contact information in My Disney Experience is updated so Disney can reach out to you for any of those updates
- Stay flexible, as much as possible, so you can continue to enjoy your stay despite the complications!
If your Dining Reservation does get canceled at the last minute, there are a few other things to keep in mind:
- Check if any nearby restaurants are using Mobile Dine Walk-Up Waitlist. Often, guests can score a literal last-minute reservation at popular Table Service restaurants using this feature.
- You can also check My Disney Experience to see if there are any last-minute reservations available at a nearby restaurant.
- Call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) to speak with a Cast Member regarding your canceled reservation and see if they are able to A) book your party at a new restaurant to replace your canceled reservation, and B) possible re-book your party at the restaurant with the canceled reservation on a future day during your trip. Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be guaranteed and would be subject to availability.
- Like we mentioned above, stay flexible! A canceled reservation can complicate your plans for that day, but having the ability to react quickly and adjust accordingly can make a huge difference.
UPDATE: We went through the My Disney Experience app today (January 12th) to look at California Grill. We did not receive a pop-up notification identifying any issues at the restaurant, and we were able to see available reservations for dinner tonight. Based on this, it appears likely that the restaurant will be open for dinner tonight.
©Disney
We’ll continue to look for more updates!
Click Here to Learn How to Use the My Disney Experience App
We’ll keep an eye out for any more information, so keep following DFB for all the latest updates.
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My family had a reservation for California grill this evening (1/11/22). We got a push notification from the app that it was cancelled but it was still in our plans, so we went California Grill and talked to the cast members. They said they had a maintenance issue and the restaurant was not open tonight. We were disappointed as this was a birthday celebration dinner that we had been saving up for, but the cast members went above and beyond to help us reschedule for tomorrow and got us a reservation elsewhere for tonight. They were very kind and helpful. Now, the people standing next to us got very angry at the cast members and seemed to have more issues with rescheduling. It just shows that it pays to be flexible with your plans and to be nice to the cast members (who are not responsible for the restaurant being closed in the first place!)
We’re so glad the wonderful Disney Cast Members were able to get you rescheduled and we hope you were still able to have a wonderful birthday celebration, Katie!
I will be so glad when they go back to allowing reservations at 180 days or at least more than 60 days! It’s a nightmare to make reservations, if you can find a restaurant even available!