No-Show Charges for all Table Service ADR's

[AgentC]

I don't think it is a bad idea for no shows but I think cancelling by midnight the night before might not always be possible.

For example we had ADRs for breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe for 8:30 the morning after we did MNSSHP. My kids very tired and we had no specific plans, so I decide to let them sleep in and used MDE at 7 to move the ADR from 8:30 to 9:30. At 9 it became obvious I wasn't getting them out of the room before 10, so I cancelled it. Under the new rules, I would have been charged.

I also wonder how they are going to handle taking the credit card number with the MDE app. I do a lot of my reservations through it when I am at the park. Currently you can only book one that requires a credit card through the website or the phone.

[Melanie]

Here is the official word (snatched from the wonderful Wendy at Magical Journeys):

NEW ADVANCED DINING POLICY AS OF OCTOBER 31,2013.

Effective for dining reservations booked beginning October 31, 2013 this policy will be in effect at ALL table service restaurants.

Guests will be required to provide a credit card for all table service reservations. A charge of $10 per guests will then be automatically applied if a cancellation is not provided at least one day in advance.

In the case of pre-paid restaurants and venues such as dinner shows, the entire amount will be retained in the event of failing to cancel. The new policy applies to non-Disney operated restaurants as well.

Cancellations can be made on the Disney Dining website, at guest relations, a restaurant podium, or via a special phone number at 407-WDW-CNCL. To avoid the penalty, the cancellation must be made up to 11:59pm on the day before the reservation.

[Scar]

I don't think it is a bad idea for no shows but I think cancelling by midnight the night before might not always be possible.

For example we had ADRs for breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe for 8:30 the morning after we did MNSSHP.

I certainly can't speak for your family or anyone else, but I know I would know by 11:59 if I were going to make breakfast 8 1/2 hours later, which, by the way, would probably be no.

[AgentC]

I certainly can't speak for your family or anyone else, but I know I would know by 11:59 if I were going to make breakfast 8 1/2 hours later, which, by the way, would probably be no.

LOL. Two years ago the obsessive planner me would have made everyone get up and go. The new laid back me let everyone sleep in. Of course the next new me probably won't even bother making reservations and will order my son his Mickey waffles through room service, so you might have a point.

I actually make very very few ADRs and I very seldom cancel them, so I doubt it will affect me much. But I could see someone making a dinner ADR and then deciding during the day that it wasn't going to work. Sometimes your day just doesn't go the way you think it will.

[MrPeetrie]

If you have extenuating circumstances they usually work with you. We had to cancel two hours before an ADR and explained a party member was ill. We canceled and we were not charged.

The cast member was actually leading me in that direction by repeatedly saying, "If your child was ill, I could waive the fee."

It wasn't until I suggested I didn't think any guests wanted a miserable child ruining their dinner did she relent. She said she would note my son wasn't feeling well.

[Disnamic Duo]

I agree 110% for charging a person a NO show.
Canceling a ressie wont cost anything, and that allows another person to take your place...
But, a no show? sorry. pay up.
We usually book 2 adr's...When we book we show up.
If something "comes up" thats not WDW's fault.
Its my responsibility to be there on time.
If not...10.00..no big deal.

I completely agree with you. Could there be circumstance beyond your control that cause you to need to cancel the same day? Yes. Maybe WDW will work with people on these occasions. But if not, you will have known the risk ahead of time - deal with it - take responsibility for it - pay the $10. If you have a pretty high chance of this happening (if you have small children), don't make reservations unless you're willing to part with 10 whole dollars if something happens. It seems like a small, fare price to pay to insure a table. And you only pay if you reneg.

But the main reason this is good is that it will help to stop people from making multiple reservations they have no intention of using which causes others to not be able to get a reservation. I like it!

[Donald Duck]

What's the cancellation policy now with the Character Buffets ?

When do you need to cancel by ?
11:59 PM the day before or 24 hours before your reservation time ?

Donald Duck

[Opus X]

I completely agree with you. Could there be circumstance beyond your control that cause you to need to cancel the same day? Yes. Maybe WDW will work with people on these occasions. But if not, you will have known the risk ahead of time - deal with it - take responsibility for it - pay the $10. If you have a pretty high chance of this happening (if you have small children), don't make reservations unless you're willing to part with 10 whole dollars if something happens. It seems like a small, fare price to pay to insure a table. And you only pay if you reneg.

But the main reason this is good is that it will help to stop people from making multiple reservations they have no intention of using which causes others to not be able to get a reservation. I like it!

Thats the dirty word..."responsibility" alot of folks cant deal with that.
Yes, incredibly rare occasions that one cant make it...WDW, as stated in another post will work with you. But for the VAST VAST majority of times...folks are just plain late. No excuse.
Again, this is for the person that book way more ADR's than they ever intended to use.

[Opus X]

There are 2 sides to this...make no mistake. While it will be nice to have more availability day of (and probably when making 'advanced' ADRs), there are also many situations which arise, which are NOT excuses. Whether this is a good thing or not really depends on how it's handled by Disney when there is a legit reason for missing or canceling at the last minute. As has been relayed in this very thread, there have been mixed reactions from CMs.

But again, this is just another check in the box as to why a WDW vacation is becoming less and less desirable for me.

But why? It should make your trip MORE desirable.
This will allow easier ADR booking..folks won't hoard alot knowing they arent going to use them.
And, again..its only making people keep the responsibility of their ressies.
Its not unreasonable to expect someone to show up when supposed to. WDW vacations aren't that complicated. For the vast majority...no issues. But, some, well, the time is now...pay up.
(no not you....but a general comment)

[big blue and hairy]

Yeah, from a convenience standpoint, I don't like it, in case something comes up, but I certainly understand it. People make a ton of ADRs knowing they will not keep most of them. Not only is it rude to other guests, it costs WDW money. They may get walkups to fill some of them, but not all.

[Kenny1113]

I completely agree with you. Could there be circumstance beyond your control that cause you to need to cancel the same day? Yes. Maybe WDW will work with people on these occasions. But if not, you will have known the risk ahead of time - deal with it - take responsibility for it - pay the $10. If you have a pretty high chance of this happening (if you have small children), don't make reservations unless you're willing to part with 10 whole dollars if something happens. It seems like a small, fare price to pay to insure a table. And you only pay if you reneg.

But the main reason this is good is that it will help to stop people from making multiple reservations they have no intention of using which causes others to not be able to get a reservation. I like it!

Just to clarify-it's $10pp


Prior to the credit card required for restaurants and MDE, I had called to cancel a reservation we had made for dinner, since we were going to be in a different park. I was on hold our entire bus ride and then some (20+ minutes). I gave up. I hope they have fixed this since then.


Does any one know if it's that your reservation falls on a date after 10/31 it is affected, or is it if you book after 10/31 it is affected?


I am glad my kids are getting older.As a PP mentioned, seems like WDW is less and less in my future (not really we have a trip in Nov, but after that....).
I love researching and gathering the information for our trip (park hours, crowd calendars, parade and firework times etc). I don't love planning every minute and everything that we do.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Does any one know if it's that your reservation falls on a date after 10/31 it is affected, or is it if you book after 10/31 it is affected?

It is for ADRs booked after 10/31. Current booked ADRs or ADRs booked by that time are not affected.

[MrPeetrie]

Yeah, from a convenience standpoint, I don't like it, in case something comes up, but I certainly understand it. People make a ton of ADRs knowing they will not keep most of them. Not only is it rude to other guests, it costs WDW money. They may get walkups to fill some of them, but not all.

On our last trip, a woman told us she makes multiple ADRs in different parks. That way, if they decide to go to one park instead of another, they have reservations to eat. She just cancels the others. Wow!

[Kenny1113]

It is for ADRs booked after 10/31. Current booked ADRs or ADRs booked by that time are not affected.

Thank you!

[mickeyman42]

I love this idea! We usually make a few ADR's on our trips, maybe 3-4 (depends of if we have the free DDP or not) and make a point to give ourselves plenty of time to get to them. We also know after 7-8 trips what our own habits are, when we like to eat, where, what our typical day ends up like, etc so that at 180 days we can reasonably determine what works for us and what doesn't. I would love, love,love to be able to go with zero ADR's and decide the day of or day before where to eat and when, and hopefully this will open up that opportunity more. we actually just got back, had free DDP for 4 nights, and only went with 3 booked ADR's. We booked the other ADR the day of and it was great.

No doubt Disney will work with people who have extenuating circumstances, but the problem is that people think everything that happens to them is extenuating, when it's not.

[Melanie]

But why? It should make your trip MORE desirable.
This will allow easier ADR booking..folks won't hoard alot knowing they arent going to use them.
And, again..its only making people keep the responsibility of their ressies.
Its not unreasonable to expect someone to show up when supposed to. WDW vacations aren't that complicated. For the vast majority...no issues. But, some, well, the time is now...pay up.
(no not you....but a general comment)

I have zero desire to go back and forth with you on this. That said, I did say this has good and bad on both sides. But overall, it's just another small thing that contributes to the bigger picture of why I would rather go to Disneyland.

[BrerGnat]

But overall, it's just another small thing that contributes to the bigger picture of why I would rather go to Disneyland.

For now.

I mean, they are implementing the same Dining policy at DL, did you see that? Thankfully, the locals don't tend to make ADRs, and it's more of a walk up friendly thing over at DLR. However, Disneyland is moving in the same direction as WDW, unfortunately. FP+ is going to get going at DL beginning next year, from what I've heard.

Sad.

[yjgirl32]

Three years ago this policy would have effected me. While on vacation my brother-in-law passed away very unexpected. My husband left to be with his parents. We had reservations for the Luau and MNSSHP. I did not expect our money back, but Disney was great and gave us a refund for both. I agree with the policy and under the circumstances I still would have been ok with paying the $10.00 pp. It's not Disney's fault.

[Melanie]

For now.

I mean, they are implementing the same Dining policy at DL, did you see that? Thankfully, the locals don't tend to make ADRs, and it's more of a walk up friendly thing over at DLR. However, Disneyland is moving in the same direction as WDW, unfortunately. FP+ is going to get going at DL beginning next year, from what I've heard.

Sad.

Yeah, that stinks for sure. But as you pointed out, it's a different environment as far as clientele, and that contributes to the overall experience (at least for me).

[minnie04]

A Disney vacation is becoming too much work to plan.

I agree as well They make you plan 180 days for a dinner you’re going to have when your there. Plan you FP tickets in advance for what rides you want to do when your there. Pretty soon they are going to assign you a number for the time of year your state can come to the parks... Not cool taking the fun out of it real fast...

Why don't they just do away with ADR's this way everyone has a chance to eat in a nice place? I can't think of any place here in Miami that takes reservations anymore. It's show up put your name on the list and wait.. This way if you don't feel like going, you won't be charged for changing your mind. And we all know the restaurants will be packed no matter what, so they aren't losing anything..

Last trip I had reservations at Chef Mickey's and when we got to the park my DS didn't want to leave. I would have been charged $20 for not showing up. Not good! Also I didn't like the fact that I had to keep track of the time not to miss our dinner. I don't think I will do that again. It really wasn't worth it in the end. Now if I had just walked up and got a number or whatever when we were ready to eat then I think that would have worked better..