NOTE: As of December 2013, ALL reservations require a credit card deposit of at least $10/person (some require full payment) in advance.

You have a few options to cancel a reservation and get your deposit back

1. Cancellations will be accepted by calling 407-WDW-CNCL
2. Through the My Disney Experience website or app
3. At Guest Relations in the parks and hotels.

Original post from November 6, 2011:

The new Disney restaurant cancellation policy went into effect October 26, 2011. The policy states that:

To ensure consistent Guest service, a one-day cancellation policy will apply to new reservations at [select] dining venue[s] beginning October 26, 2011. If a Guest cancels within one day of the reservation or if the dining party is a “no show” for the meal, a cancellation fee of $10 per person will be charged to the credit card used at the time of booking.

There are varying opinions on this topic questioning how necessary this is and WHY its been put into place.   Here are my thoughts on why I think I’m gonna be OK.

First, check out the list of restaurants that this applies to.  I sorted them by park so you can get an idea of their locations.

Magic Kingdom

• 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian)
• Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge)
• California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary Resort)
• Cítricos (Grand Floridian)
• The Crystal Palace
• Narcoossee’s (Grand Floridian)
• ‘Ohana (Polynesian)
• Victoria and Albert’s (cancellation policy is $25/per person)(Grand Floridian)

Not surprisingly most of these are resort restaurants because eating in the Magic Kingdom doesn’t have that much to offer in my opinion.  For the most part, they are also at hotels where parking is in a great location.   I can see people making reservations just for the parking and then taking the monorail into the Magic Kingdom.   Also, are people just not able to get out of the parks with their families to make it to these reservations at the resorts?

EPCOT

• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Norway)
• Cape May Cafe (Beach Club)
• Flying Fish Cafe (BoardWalk)
• Garden Grill (The Land)
• Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada)
• Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club)

Again, some resort parking might be taking advantage of here with fake reservations.   I can see the character dining at Norway being on this list as well as the famous Le Cellier but was surprised to see Garden Grill.

Animal Kingdom

• Jiko – The Cooking Place (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
• Tusker House Restaurant

Jiko is amazing.  I have been there when its been dead so I wonder if people were in fact going elsewhere thinking there weren’t any tables available.  At the same time, we’ve had ADRs and still had to wait.

Hollywood Studios

• Hollywood and Vine
• Hollywood Brown Derby

Is the Hollywood and Vine on here because of their Fantasmic package?

So based on this I’m thinking, does this mean that these restaurants have so many no shows that I don’t even need an ADR?   Does this mean that if I actually make an ADR there will be more openings at these places going forward?

Also, I don’t have kids so I can’t pretend to know what that’s like but what is the likelihood you would make it to any of these places with a kid and no cancellation within a 24 hour period? Don’t people with kids have to bail within 30 minutes if the need arises? Does this mean kids won’t be eating at these restaurants then? This could turn into my exclusive list of restaurants to eat at.