Hey, Chekena! Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel and thanks so much for stopping by with your question. While I am a fan of the
Disney Dining Plans, we actually go without it during many of our Walt Disney World Resort vacations. I find that it ends up working out better for our budget to just pay as we go, unless we are planning to do a lot of
character meals or eating at some of the Signature Restaurants. I do find it helpful to have a Disney Dining Plan if we visit during the
Epcot Internation Food & Wine Festival, as lots of food choices can be purchased with Snack entitlements. Be sure to do the "Mickey math" and see if adding it to your Disney Resort Hotel Package would make "cents" (I had to do the pun! Ha!) and add a bit of magic to your meals.
When making most dining reservations, a credit card will be required to hold the reservation. In these cases, your card is not actually charged anything unless you do not follow the
dining location's cancellation policy. Be sure to check the policy for the place you plan to dine before you click
Confirm. Sometimes, you can cancel it 24 hours in advance, sometimes it may be 48 hours in advance. There will be a fee charged on your credit card if you do not cancel before its indicated time.
Some dining locations do require full payment to hold the reservation. You can find this with meals at dining locations such as Cinderella's Royal Table, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, and Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. You will see a notification when booking the reservation that full payment of the indicated amount is due. If you do need to cancel, then your credit card will be credited the full amount as long as you cancel within the indicated time frame.
I hope this information helps you make some delicious choices for your visit this fall! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Brandy