With Disney World closing for at least a few weeks, and with the company offering complimentary rebookings, I wanted to discuss how the change in plans might impact your FastPass+ and Advance Dining Reservations.
Disney Parks Clsoure Coverage
Important: Disney World Phased Reopening Notice
This topic is temporarily impacted by the ongoing phased reopening of Walt Disney World after its extended mid-2020 closure. We highly recommend you also visit our Walt Disney World Reopening Masterpost, where we highlight specific issues guests will face during this unique time.
Before You Cancel Anything…
Screenshot it. This tip came from my travel agent, Lauren Quirk. While we haven’t heard, and I don’t expect, that Disney will accommodate re-booking FastPass+ or Advance Dining Reservations, it’s not a bad idea to screenshot anything you have just in case.
Yes. It’s all in Disney’s systems anyways. But the screenshot takes literally 1 second and costs you almost no computer space. So do it, and that way you have it on record in case accomodations become available.
FastPass+
FastPass+ is Disney’s “skip the line system.” If you’re reading this post, I assume you know the basics, but if not, swing by our FastPass+ strategy post.
Many of you probably did all the research and planning, you woke up before 7AM eastern, and you snagged those valuable FastPass+ reservations. Now your trip is cancelled or changing. So what happens next?
First, you don’t need to change or cancel your FastPass+ reservations during the closure. These don’t impact your tickets or anything like this. If the park is closed, Disney is automatically cancelling them for you.
Second, I don’t expect Disney to assist in replacing FastPass+ reservations (changing them to new dates). I’ll let you know if I hear differently, but I suspect you’ll just be back on your own to try and get them again.
That means you’ll have the standard 30 days window if you don’t have a Disney hotel reservation or 60 days from the start of your trip if you have a hotel reservation to book your FastPass+ for your replacement trip.
This in turn means that if you’re looking for the best FastPass+ availability, you’ll want to change your trip to at least 60 days in the future.
Advance Dining Reservations
Guests with ADRs during the closure will not be subject to any no-show or cancellation fees. (Read more about Advance Dining Reservations at Disney World.)
As with FastPass+, I don’t expect Disney to accommodate replacing ADRs for your new trip dates, and I’ll let you know if I hear otherwise.
Keep in mind you can see ADR availability 180 days in advance in any case, so you can check for the important ones for your trip before re-booking or, if you must, book a trip 180 days in the future for the best availability.
We’ll update as we hear more…