Advance Dining Reservation Modification & Cancellation Policies at Disney World
Walt Disney World has officially announced that guests can now cancel Advance Dining Reservations up to 2 hours in advance without any cancellation fee, which is a huge change with fairly far-reaching impacts. Here we’ll share the old & new policies and offer commentary about the good, bad, and ugly of this on ADR availability. (Updated May 5, 2023.)
According to Walt Disney World, the new policy applies to almost all restaurants in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the resort hotels. There are exceptions to this both in terms of cancellations, which mostly apply to dessert parties, dining packages, and select premium experiences.
Before this change, guests had to cancel a reservation the day before to avoid a $10 per person cancellation fee. (It was not a full 24 hours in advance, just by 11:59 pm EST the day before the ADR.) Walt Disney World advises checking with your dining reservation confirmation email for details about any specific restaurant policies, but those likely aren’t going to reflect this change for previously-made ADRs.
Here’s the official 2023 Advance Dining Reservation cancellation & modification policy per Disneyworld.com:
You can cancel or modify your dining reservation online. Restaurants offering advance reservations do not allow modifications within 2 hours of the reservation time, and most charge a $10 per-person fee to cancel within 2 hours of the reservation time, or if you don’t show up for your reservation. Each restaurant’s policies are provided when you make your reservation. If you’ve already booked, the policies can be found in your confirmation email.
Policies are subject to change without notice. For additional assistance, please call (407) 824-1391. Guests younger than age 18 must have parent or guardian permission to call.
Modifications – The experiences below have different modifications or cancellation policies. Once the reservation is confirmed, modifications are not allowed for:
- 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
- Ferrytale Fireworks: A Sparkling Dessert Cruise
- Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package
- Spice Road Table Fireworks Dining Package
- Celebration at the Top – Sip, Savor, Sparkle
- Top of the World Lounge – multiple products
Cancellations – Some restaurants require earlier cancellation to avoid a fee and/or have higher fees:
Restaurant: | Cancellation Fee: | How to Avoid Fee: |
Cinderella’s Royal Table | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 2 hours prior to reservation time |
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 1 day prior to reservation time |
Sangria University | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 1 day prior to reservation time |
La Cava Experience | $50 (per person) | Cancel at least 1 day prior to reservation time |
Monsieur Paul | $100 (per person) | Cancel at least 3 days prior to reservation time |
Victoria & Albert’s | $100 (per person) | Cancel at least 5 days prior to reservation time |
Takumi-Tei | $100 (per person) | Cancel at least 2 days prior to reservation time |
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Pre-Party | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 7 days prior to reservation time |
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Post-Party | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 7 days prior to reservation time |
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties: Seats & Sweets | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 7 days prior to reservation time |
Ferrytale Fireworks: A Sparkling Dessert Cruise | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 1 day prior to reservation time |
Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 2 days prior to reservation time |
Spice Road Table Fireworks Dining Package | Full cost of experience (per person) | Cancel at least 2 days prior to reservation time |
May 5, 2023 Update: The above official policy from Walt Disney World has added a number of restaurants that require earlier cancellations or do not allow modifications. Additionally, this line was added: “Restaurants offering advance reservations do not allow modifications within 2 hours of the reservation time.” (H/t Scott Gustin.)
It’s unclear to us just how significant of a change removing the option for modifications inside two hours will be in practice. The modify button has already disappeared for ADRs within 2 hours on a case-by-case basis, requiring calls for modifications to be made even prior to publication of this policy. This is likely an across-the-board continuation of that.
It’s also likely that the penalties will be waived for modifications and cancellations as guest courtesies on a case-by-case basis. Previously, you could walk up to a host stand or call to cancel penalty-free even inside 2 hours. If this unpublished/unofficial policy continues, it would be at the discretion of Cast Members, but it was before, too.
In any case, if you get sick, tired, or someone in your party has a meltdown that makes a sit-down meal a nonstarter…you’re probably not going to be charged, so long as you’re proactive about addressing the no-show and explaining why you can’t make it.
We’ve done this many times over the years and not once had a problem. Of course, we’re always polite, so that probably helps. We also don’t have a history of ADR hoarding, so perhaps that plays a role. If you’re rude or get yourself “flagged” in the system as abusing ADR policies, you lucky may be different.
Outside of 2 hours and the exceptions identified above, you can change or cancel your ADR by clicking on it in the My Disney Experience app. From there, you should see a modify button. That will give you the option to cancel the reservation so long as it’s eligible. (Again, subject to the above policies.)
If the Advance Dining Reservation isn’t eligible for modification or cancellation, you will instead be given a phone number to call. This is more or less how things worked before, although the appearance of the message with the dreaded (for me) phone number to change/modify was pretty inconsistent.
Walt Disney World introduced the cancellation fee for table service restaurants way back in 2011 with enforcement of the $10 per person penalty. It wasn’t too long ago (a little over a decade!) that the only way to make or cancel ADRs was by telephoning Walt Disney World and speaking with a Call Center Cast Member. Suffice to say, a lot has changed since 2011.
One thing that has not changed is ADR hoarding. Well, the way it now happens has changed, but the idea remains the same. That’s why the cancellation fee was instituted in the first place, with the goal of cracking down on people booking multiple restaurants for simultaneous meal times, reducing ADR availability for everyone else. While that problem persists to this day, it’s not the big issue you might think it is–but more on that in the commentary.
Advance Dining Reservations have been a hot topic here the last couple of months. Just a couple weeks ago, we published our Top 10 Tips for Difficult ADRs at Walt Disney World. As the title suggests, that detailed the difficulty of scoring reservations for highly-coveted restaurants…and even some less popular ones.
For Walt Disney World first-timers, it might come as a surprise that making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) is such a challenge. After all, there are literally hundreds of table service restaurants that are bookable two months ahead of time at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the two dozen-plus resorts at Walt Disney World. Yet, it is.
We’ve been documenting the challenges with making Advance Dining Reservations for years, as this has always been a controversial issue among Walt Disney World fans. Most recently, What’s Up With ADR Availability? explained the current dynamic, which has morphed over time and become a matter of staffing shortages and reduced capacity as a result (among other things).
However, this is hardly new. There have been controversies around booking, hoarding, and trading ADRs as long as I can remember. Over the years, Walt Disney World has made a number of changes to discourage the practice, yet it still persists to this day.
As with all facets of visiting Walt Disney World, knowledge has been a big barrier to entry. Many visitors are unaware that it’s even possible to make ADRs a couple of months prior to their trips, or the ins and outs of booking reservations. These first-timers or casual guests are at a distinct disadvantage as compared to power users who book far in advance and find loopholes for securing multiple simultaneous reservations.
For its part, Walt Disney World has done a lot to even the playing field and make it easier for casual guests to dine at table service restaurants. When the parks reopened, Disney shortened the ADR window from 180 days to the current 60 days. While some fans bemoan this, we see it as a positive change for most visitors. It’s difficult to make firm plans at Walt Disney World that far ahead of time given all of the moving parts of the vacation destination. (Not to mention that few people know where they want to eat 60 days beforehand!)
On top of that, Disney introduced the Walk-Up Waitlist feature in the My Disney Experience app. While Walt Disney World’s technology initiatives have been hit or miss for the guest experience, this is one of the biggest improvements of the last several years.
Walk-Up Waitlist reduces stress rather than adding to it while also increasing spontaneity–two huge wins, especially in light of everything else. We regularly see options like Be Our Guest Restaurant, Le Cellier, Garden Grill, Topolino’s Terrace, ‘Ohana, and other hard-to-book Advance Dining Reservations via Walk-Up Waitlist.
In terms of commentary about Walt Disney World reducing the cancellation window to 2-hours, we see this as a change that will have good, bad, and “ugly” consequences. Let’s start with the good: you can wait until the last-minute to release ADRs that you won’t want or need to use. This allows you to be more dynamic with your day, and change plans on the fly.
There are several reasons you might no longer want or need an Advance Dining Reservation, from simply changing your mind to not being hungry to wanting to dine elsewhere to having an “important” Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation that conflicts with your Advance Dining Reservation. (Why there is not an actual fix that allows for shifting Genie+ ride reservation times to accommodate ADRs is beyond me, but at least this is a step in the right direction.)
The bad of this is that many of our hacks for scoring hard-to-book Advance Dining Reservations are now obsolete. My go-to approaches of searching for ADRs between 10 and 11 pm the night before will, presumably, no longer work (or at least not be as effective). I assume searching the morning-of will still be an effective approach, as that seems to be driven more by restaurants adding inventory, rather than cancellations.
Another negative of this is that booking Advance Dining Reservations at the 60 day (plus) mark is almost certainly going to get more competitive as a result of this change. Which brings us to the ugly…
This change will undoubtedly be exploited by ADR hoarders. It will give them more time to hold onto multiple Advance Dining Reservations until the absolute last minute.
It will also give casual (non-hoarding) guests more reason to take up this practice. While there has been a growing problem with making and trading ADRs on social media, it’s now likely more people will do this for personal use.
Think about it. If you can cancel only 2 hours in advance rather than the night before and plan on purchasing Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, it actually offers strategic advantage to make multiple ADRs for the same meal (albeit at different times) given that there’s no other alternative for conflicting ADRs and Lightning Lanes.
This way, people can make their Genie+ selections, and then drop whichever ADR overlaps with their ride reservations. Thankfully, this is a problem that is fixable on Disney’s end. Honestly, it’s a problem that should’ve been addressed before Genie even launched, so the blame here for this soon-to-be-common practice lies squarely with the company, not your fellow guests. (The ball is in your court, Disney IT!)
Personally, I think the “ugly” of this change is going to be over-exaggerated by Walt Disney World fans, just as I think the impact of ADR hoarding is currently overestimated by fans. We’ve previously discussed how ride capacity is what it is, and Walt Disney World’s queueing systems (e.g. Genie+, FastPass, FastPass+, virtual queues, standby, etc.) only rearrange the deck chairs. They do not add or subtract capacity, just change the winners and losers.
It’s the exact same idea here with restaurant capacity and table allocation. In the end, what matters when assessing this objectively is whether tables will go unfilled as a result of this change. They will not.
What will happen as a result of this policy change is more Walk-Up Waitlist availability will be added to the My Disney Experience app. (Now, there may be some growing pains in the first week or two while Cast Members adjust to the new cancellation policy, but that’ll be the result in the medium and long-term.)
Readers of blogs like this one that emphasize planning may dislike that result. They are disproportionately one of the “losers” of an approach that offers more last-minute availability, just as they were a loser of Genie+ as compared to FastPass+ (well, pretty much everyone is a loser because that costs money–but I mean with advance v. same-day ride reservations).
However, other guests will benefit from their losses. The winners in this case include first-timers who don’t know about ADRs, locals who don’t plan where they want to eat months in advance, and spontaneous visitors. I am always in favor of changes that advantage first-timers, although I must admit that I see this as a personal positive as someone who hates making ADRs. So I am biased here.
Ultimately, there will be a lot of online arguing about why Walt Disney World reducing the penalty-free cancellation window is objectively good or bad, but the reality is that it’s all subjective. So long as tables are not going unfilled as a result of this policy change (and, again, they won’t!), it’s a zero-sum game. If you’ve complained about Disney requiring too much pre-planning or being too stressful, this is them listening to you. If you’ve asked for even more planning and less flexibility, it’s definitely not.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Walt Disney World dropping the fee for same-day ADR cancellations so long as they’re done at least 2 hours in advance? Is this a good, bad, or ugly change from your perspective? If you’ve visited or booked ADRs for Walt Disney World in the last few months, what has been your experience? Have you had success at the last-minute (0-3 days in advance)? Had challenges at the 60 day mark? Notice any differences in the dynamic as compared to pre-closure? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I got charged a no show fee for a reservation I showed up for. I did a live chat and they reversed the charge “as a courtesy”. The language of that annoyed me. I was there and I have a receipt to prove it. So I guess the system isn’t foolproof. What makes that worse is the fact that they don’t email you to tell you that you’re being charged. You have to see a random charge on your card from WDW Dining Resv and contact them to ask them what it’s even about.
I think more walk up availability, even for the ADR planners is a plus. I love having my reservations in advance, but I do miss out on some great restaurants due to there being no reservations available.
I have always been a ADR lock down kind of guy but have slowly been transitioning to “let’s see what we get when we get there”.
As someone who wants a little more spontaneity in dining choices, I think this is genius on Disney’s part – they’re listening to us!! As you said, there will be more walk-up waitlist availability, which will balance the scales between the planners and the spontaneity lovers (and if course the planners can be a part of both groups!)
Today I made reservations at Trail’s End, Beaches and Cream and Tony’s. Trail’s End and Beaches and Cream still required a 24 hour cancelation, Tony’s only required 2 hrs. I received the info in my email confirmation.
Anything that increases walk-up availability is a net positive in my opinion. I would like to see Disney go more in the direction of balancing the planners with the locals and spontaneous guests. Allowing guaranteed reservations for parks, rides, and dining while also leaving room for those who haven’t planned 60 days in advance.
Tom or anyone else, do we know if Disney sets aside any tables specifically for walk-up availability? Like if the restaurant has 100 tables say 30-40 of those are not bookable by ADR ever? That would seem to address the people who show up and don’t know about ADRs, while still allowing those who like the plan the option.
Would this work?
Hotel guests book all of their dining on hotel check in day.
Offsite guests book all of their dining day-of.
I’ve just been over here brainstorming why we even need to do all of this 60 days out…
Thanks for the updates! I wish Disney would listen to you or even employ you, and actually fix the real issue-which is conflicting ride and dining reservations!
Never occurred to me to make multiple ADRs. I wish it had! We were at the Studios on Nov 6 and had an ADR for 50’s Prime Time Cafe at 11:05. Purchased Genie+ and at 7am made my first selection for Slinky Dog Dash – which came up at 11am! I was able to modify the ADR to 11:15, but if I hadn’t been able to do that, we never would have made that ADR. Afterwards, I discovered that they probably would have held the revised ADR until 11:30 before giving it away, but the whole thing created stress I did not enjoy. We’re taking our son and his family next December, when we’re likely going to need Genie+ due to crowds, so we’ll just pick a couple of ADRs and wing the rest. It’s all too much, even for a spreadsheet planner like I used to be.
If you have an ADR that conflicts they always let you use your Genie,LL or Virtual Que after. We’ve been multiple times this year and had this happen on every trip and it is never been a problem. They won’t let you ride before your time always after. I just screenshot my ADR.
If this encourages people making ADRs to manage their reservations and cancel them themselves rather than going to restaurant greeters and giving them more work on their plate, this will:
give ultra-planners more control and allow them “spontaneity” to choose their day of meal,
relieve call centers of their current ADR canceling & fee waiving burdens without shifting them onto cast members at the individual restaurants, and allow the “mostly” spontaneous to jump in virtual line once they know where they would like to eat in an hour or so (crowd size is going to drive those). That’s a win-win-win-win if you’re a cast member or guest in one of those groups. While it doesn’t help people who know exactly where they want to eat 60* days out get reservations, it shouldn’t hurt them because hoarding already exists to whatever extent it does.
I know you said that there’s no way to deal with conflict between ADRs and Genie+ reserved ride times. We were just there in September for two weeks. We had multiple conflicts between our dining reservations and the times that we could get a Genie+ ride time. It was very easy to fix. We just went up to one of the blue umbrellas, showed them our phone and they asked us what time we would like to come back for our Genie+ ride. We did this for the paid lightning lanes as well and had no problem. Then they changed it for us and we went on our way. This might not work when The parks are busier, but we didn’t have a single problem with it the entire two weeks.
This will supply the walk up list no doubtfully. I’m guessing they’re doing this because said hoarders tie up their phone systems fighting to get their 10 bucks back, or cancelling last minute via the phone as well. they’re taking that overhead away from CMs, and they know they can fill up tables still through the walk-up list.
This is a really good point about hoarders potentially tying up the phone lines. I suspect most cancel the night before (or earlier), but wouldn’t be surprised if they’re holding until the absolute last minute and then get stuck having to call.
Anything to ease the burden on Call Center CMs (and reduce hold times) is good by me!
I think it will be a little rocky at first, as with any change. Long time planners will be frustrated at having to change their strategy. Those who don’t spend hours researching their trip will have a slightly less difficult time getting the ADRs they want. I agree that I am a little worried about an increase in ADR hoarding–for me personally, I like having everything locked down in advance. Being able to breeze through my days without having to make any real decisions is what makes the experience more relaxing tobme. But we’ll see how things shake out during the holidays season. Looking forward to seeing your inevitable follow up post about whether it’s become easier to snag walk up or day of ADRs for some of the more popular spots!
I wish you would say which restaurant is which in the photos I know most of them but would love to know the others.
Ali, the restauratns from top to bottom are Space 220, Turf Club, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, California Grill, and Topolino’s
I know that I’ve had several times where I’ve booked something with the intention of going and then having a conflict come up, but…cancelling was always hit or miss with me. I almost had to do it two days in advance, because most of the time it would still tell me to call. Calling was 100% always useless, too…whoever I got didn’t seem to be able to cancel any more than I could cancel. I also don’t like that this means I’ll not be able to get those last-minute cancellations…I usually left a spontaneous day just for this reason–as a sort of ‘randomizer’ for what I was going to eat tomorrow. It was fun!
I’m not sure this 100% helps out first-timers, though. They’re either going to have done enough planning to know that ADRs are a thing, and have booked or missed out on them (and not even look for them as available day-of), or they’re going to be planning on doing quick-service wherever they get hungry anyway – as opposed to a lengthy sit-down meal that wasn’t planned for. There are certainly guests who it will help, but even knowing to look for walk-up capability requires some pretty nuanced research. I guess we’ll see how it goes…
More Walkup Waitlist availability should help first-timers. One common question I hear asked at front desks of hotels (or concierges) at checkin and at restaurant podiums is about availability. In response, the Cast Member almost always explains the Walkup Waitlist feature.
I dunno, my gut thinks it will just make an annoying process more annoying lol.
I can definitely see more pros than cons to this new policy. I just wish Disney would limit how many reservations one could have for easy day.
I believe you cannot have overlapping reservations- at least in my experience
A “friend” once told me to just postpone any dining reservation to a future date (beyond the 24hour rule), then re evaluate and cancel if needed. Seems like the word got around enough it wasn’t with keeping the rule.
Yep! This worked too if you could find one in the future!
In my personal experience, the cancellation fee wasn’t a thing anyways, IF you actually went up the restaurant and just asked politely. On several occasions we had kids that weren’t going to last as long as we had anticipated, and we had to bail on a dinner ADR. Every time I politely explained what happened, they cancelled the reservation and didn’t charge us anything. I’m not thinking through all the scenarios, but as a result of cast members having the flexibility to not charge for legitimate cancellation reasons anyways…change seems negative.
That should be a non-issue. Cast Members at the podium input no-shows, so you should still be able to do exactly what you’re describing.
(Unless *I’m* not thinking through all the scenarios or am misunderstanding what you’re saying…)
Not so good with the words (most?) sometimes.
I was trying to say in my past experience the cancellation fee within 24 hours wasn’t enforced if you just politely explained why you had to bail last minute. It’s anecdotal, but it happened multiple times and I was never charged after explaining what was going on (to include cancelling ~15m before seating at the Brown Derby).
Old approach seemed fine to me as the cast members seemed empowered to waive the fees for legitimate last minute cancellations. Cheers.
What about Eat to the Beat or other Epcot concert packages. Can they be in this new 2 hour cancellation policy.
I haven’t tested that personally and Disney didn’t indicate one way or the other about those. We’ll update accordingly if/when we find out.