Hello Candace! Welcome back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel.
Making Advanced Dining Reservations for large parties requires a little extra magical planning and luck to pull things off just right on a Walt Disney World Resort vacation. Fortunately, dining at a Walt Disney World Resort Restaurant makes it as easy as possible to accommodate your needs.
When making Advanced Dining Reservations, it is much easier to scale down the number of Guests at a table than it is to add Guests. If a table is booked for a larger number than arrives, that means that Guests hoping for a walk-up reservation have a chance to be seated and join in on the experience. Most dining locations do not penalize guests that do show up to eat at their establishments for those who do not.
On one trip, my wife and I booked Advanced Dining Reservations for
California Grill to see the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular at Magic Kingdom from the top of Disney's Contemporary Resort. We had a reservation for 8 but only 4 showed up (no judgment, please). I simply told the Cast Member upon arriving and it was not a problem at all. We became heroes to 2 couples who were hoping that that exact thing would happen to give them a chance to experience California cooking and a fireworks extravaganza without a reservation.
As long as at least 1 member shows up to fulfill an Advanced Dining Reservation, then the dining cancellation or no show policy should not apply. However, for pre-charge locations like
Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom, it is up to the discretion of the dining location as to whether or not you will be charged for missing guests.
Bon Appétit!