Can reservations be cancelled day of?

[3smithboys]

We made 4 adr’s for our summer trip. I know we had to put down a CC to hold the reservation in case of a no show. If we call the day of to cancel will we be charged? My son has Crohn’s and will sometimes not feel well. This is not likely, I was just wondering.

 

[JenboJambo]

You must cancel 24 hours in advance to not be charged. There is a work around though. If you need to cancel the day of, modify your reservation (instead of canceling) for a day and time in the future (at least 24 hours out). Once you have modified it, you can cancel without being charged.

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Some thoughts:
If you have a contagious disease and/or vomiting/diarrhea that you are not sure whether it is contagious, they should allow you to cancel so that you do not spread that to other guests.
If only part of your party can attend, they will not charge you for any missing people.
If you want, you can wait until the day before to assess the current situation, then cancel without any charges.
If you feel like you can't plan ahead, you can just show up the day of and ask if you can get seated/get a reservation.

 

[Mango7100]

We had to call 2 hours before a breakfast reservation over Jan because a member of our party got food poisoning the night before and couldn’t make it. They did not charge us even with the short notice because it was due to an illness

 

[3smithboys]

Thanks everyone! I will keep this information in my back pocket and hopefully won’t need to use it. I just thought of it tonight because he wasn’t feeling too well, and we just made our adr’s this weekend.

 

[hereforthechurros]

You can always call the dining line and cancel day of due to illness. We’ve had to do this twice on past trips, once when I wasn’t feeling well and once when my son wasn’t.

 

[sghokie]

I had booked a same day reservation for Tepan Edo, but then like 5 minutes later I changed my mind. The MDE app wouldn't let me cancel, but it would let me modify, I changed it to Feb when I was going to be there next month with no problem. But then I got hungry, so I changed it back to the same day and went.

 

[amuse-bouche]

I'm pretty sure that if you call the dining line with any reasonable explanation, they'll give you a pass on the fee. We did it once because of a Disney transportation issue that messed up our schedule.

I'm also pretty certain that if you have the courtesy to check in at the podium instead of just being a no show, they'll let you off for just about any reason. Once we walked up to a dinner reservation and explained that we had eaten too much lunch and were too full to eat dinner. They said no problem and were happy to give the table to someone else.

 

[Duck1]

You can also just go to concierge and they will cancel it for you without penalty.

 

[gharter]

We have had to cancel a few times over the years due to multiple different reasons.
I've called wdw-dine, explained why and never had an issue cancelling and never been charged.

 

[Dallasmomoftwo]

On our last trip, I went to the front desk at our hotel (Yacht Club) and explained that my son was not feeling well. They cancelled our reservation for that evening with no penalty or charge.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

We got heat exhaustion and cancelled our cape may cafe buffet at guest services a couple of hours before without charge. They don't want you being ill in their restaurant lol

 

[GoingSince1990]

In November I called to cancel Tiffins on the same day. I was honest when the CM asked me why and I said we had decided to go to Ale and Compass instead. She gave me a bit of a lecture about how she could charge me the fee but she would waive it on this occasion. I think the fee is mostly to deter people from making reservations and then just simply not showing up without cancelling or calling.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Just modify it to an day/time in the future, then cancel. No charge and you don't have to talk to/explain to anyone why you're cancelling.

 

[travelgirl77]

Include me in the groups of people who have had to cancel day of and was not charged. Honestly, I think if you communicate with them they are happy to cancel for you. It is going to be the rudeness of just not showing up that will tack on that fee. Disney wants you to come back and sticking you with a fee when your loved one is ill is not a very savvy way to do things.

 

[Elle :)]

You must cancel 24 hours in advance to not be charged. There is a work around though. If you need to cancel the day of, modify your reservation (instead of canceling) for a day and time in the future (at least 24 hours out). Once you have modified it, you can cancel without being charged.

How did this never occur to me. Freaking brilliant tip!

 

[3smithboys]

Thanks everyone for the tips and your experiences. You have made me feel a lot better!