As of January 2024, the Disney dining plan has returned to Walt Disney World. You may be excited to have the dining plan back or you may be wondering what it is in general. There is so much that goes in to planning a Disney World vacation, and your food is no exception. After all, there are over 200 dining locations on Walt Disney World property.
Food and dining experiences range from simple snacks all the way to fine dining and exciting character dining options. Disney dining plans can accommodate all of these, but you need to decide what is best for you and your family.
Is it worth it? Are you actually saving money? How convenient is it?
Everything you Should Know about the Disney Dining Plan
What is The Disney Dining Plan?
The Disney Dining Plan allows you to prepay for your food prior to your trip. You can add on a dining plan to your Disney World Resort Hotel package. It offers flexibility and simplicity to your trip. Each guest ages 3 and up gets a set number of snacks and meals per day based on the number of nights of your stay. For example, if you have the dining plan for a 3 night stay, you will receive 3 snacks, 3 quick service meals, and 3 sit down meal credits to use throughout your stay. You can roll over credits from each day and can use them until midnight on the day you check out.
What Type of Disney Dining Plans are Available?
Currently, there are two types of Disney dining plans available. The Disney Dining Plan and the Quick-service Dining Plan.
- Standard Disney Dining Plan: You will receive 1 snack/ non-alcoholic drink, 1 quick-service credit, and one table-service credit per night of your stay. You will also receive a Resort-refillable mug. This meal plan offers a variety of dining styles. You can redeem table-service credits at character dining experiences as well. Please note that some of these experiences use 2 meal credits instead of one, so take that in to consideration when planning out how you will use your credits.
- Quick-Service Dining Plan: If you want a more quick and convenient meal plan for you and your family, then this may be the best option for you. Sometimes you may want to avoid a lot of table-service dining experiences to save time and/or money, so this is the perfect option. You will receive 2 quick-service meals and 1 snack/ non-alcoholic beverage per night of stay. You will also receive a Resort-refillable mug.
Resort-Refillable Mugs
These mugs are used for self-service refills at any of the Disney World Resort Hotel beverage islands at some of the quick-service locations. The drinks you can refill your mugs with include soft drinks, water, coffee, teas (hot and iced), and hot chocolate. You can also buy this mug separately without a full Disney Dining plan package. They also make a fun souvenir that you can continue to use once you get home. (I know I do!)
Please note, these mugs do NOT work in the theme parks, only at the Disney World Resort Hotels.
Overlooked Details
Things to consider if you plan on using a Disney Dining Plan:
- You should still make advanced dining reservations for table-service restaurants.
- Gratuity is not included.
- Pre-packaged snacks that are not considered a single serving are not usually eligible to be used as snack credits.
- Meal credits are not transferrable between people.
- In-room dining, fine/ signature restaurents, dinner shows, and some character dining experiences are often worth two credits, so keep that in mind when booking your dining.
- The dining plan needs to be purchased for the entire length of your stay and for everyone in your party. If you are staying for 7 nights, then you need to purchase the dining plan of your choosing for the entire 7-day stay.
- Children ages 3-9 must order off of the children’s menu where it is available.
- If you are over the age of 21, you can get certain alcoholic beverages when offered instead of the standard soft drink, water, juice, tea, hot chocolate, or coffee.
- Dessert is included with a table-service credit
How Much Does the Disney Dining Plan Cost?
Now, the cost of the Disney dining plan is going to depend on how many nights your package is for, but here is a pretty good idea of how much it will cost each adult or child per day on either of the dining plans:
Disney Dining Plan:
- Adult: $94.28 per day
- Kid (ages 3-9): $29.69 per day
Quick-Service Dining Plan:
- Adult: $57.01 per day
- Kid (ages 3-9): $23.83 per day
Resort-Refillable Mug:
- With a Disney Dining Plan: $0
- Without a Disney Dining Plan: $21.99
Will you Save Money?
This is the big question, and honestly, it depends. If you maximize your credits, then yes, you will be saving money on food. The way the dining plan works is that the cost per day averages out for a certain amount of money allotted for each meal or snack. If you use your credits on a snack or meal at the upper limit of the credit, then you will be saving money.
Personally, I do not find either of the Disney Dining plans to be worth it. because I like the flexibility of being able to eat whatever kinds of snacks or meals I am up for throughout my trip as well as enjoying eating around EPCOT World Showcase.
Some like the dining plan simply for the convenience of not having to worry about money for food during their trip. That can make it worth it in itself for some.
