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Disney makes the unfortunate decision to make it more difficult to manage dining reservations. Take a look and see what’s changed.
Dining Options
Disney World offers a huge variety of food choices. First, you can choose quick service options. With these, you don’t need a reservation and can get back to your touring plan in no time. If you’re looking for a snack or light meal, check out the various carts too.
Next, there are table service options. All of these require making reservations ahead of time (unless you’re lucky and find walk-up availability.) These are more expensive than quick service, but give you the chance to take a break from your busy day. Table service options include casual dining, character dining, and fine dining experiences.
Dining Reservations
Getting your Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) set up for your trip is one of the most fun parts of planning a Disney vacation! I (Susan) enjoy browsing menus for each restaurant and figuring out how much it would cost my family to eat there.
However, it can be difficult to predict ahead of time when your family should stop and eat. In the past, I’ve used the dining plan and it felt like our touring plans revolved around dining reservations.
Guests can book dining reservations 60 days ahead of time. I recommend being on the Disney website at 6:00am on your 60 day mark, especially if you plan to eat at the most popular restaurants, such as ‘Ohana, Askershus, and Roundup Rodeo BBQ. For tips on getting the most difficult dining reservations, read HERE.
Reservation Change
In the past, most dining reservations guests had until 11:59 pm the night before their reservation to cancel their dining reservation or they will be charged a $10 per person cancellation fee. However, recently that changed to a 2-hour window, giving guests more flexibility. Note: this doesn’t affect pre-paid and dining experiences.
As long as there was availability, guests could modify these reservations very close to the reservation time. But that’s changed now. Disney website now states that restaurants offering advance reservations do not allow modifications within 2 hours of the reservation time.
Restaurants offering advance reservations do not allow modifications within 2 hours of the reservation time.
Does it make sense to line up the cancellation and modification dining policy? Or are you disappointed in this change? Please let us know in the comments.
Share the love!
Marcy
Wednesday 17th of May 2023
I think they should go back to fast passes that actually work well and you can plan ahead and not have to get up at 7 am or live on your phone. You try to talk to family members in the park and they are on their phones working in Genie+ and you stand in lines trying to figure what to get that you usually can't get anything you want to go to. Fast passes were planned ahead (not 7 am)and could easily be changed. Pay the $15 for fast passes! H!ate living on the phones in the Parks Agree with Beverly and can relate to Courtney. After the younger grandchildren are older I am also done with Disney.
Courtney
Monday 8th of May 2023
I found having the 2 hr window helpful. I have irritable bowel disease & never know when it may flare up. Having the 2 hr window did not stress me out should my stomach not cooperate.
karter
Sunday 7th of May 2023
What change? Its 2 hours before to cancel...still. This is great. Still. What bad change?
Susan Phillips
Sunday 7th of May 2023
The modification window changed...
Ali
Sunday 7th of May 2023
When we book our trip we decided lunch or supper each day was going to be a sit down/dine in. We then, based on the park we were to be in at that time, would choose the restaurant. Breakfast was at hotel or if we were going for early park day entrance, we carried fruit/granola bars to take with us. For cancellations they should do what hotels do, have the cut off be the day before, that way someone else has time to make a reservation.
John
Saturday 6th of May 2023
I think it's a step in the right direction. As it is now, you can hold multiple reservations for any given restaurant on the same day, thereby effectively blocking out others who legit are trying to get in versus just can't decide which time slots work for them.