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I’ve heard many questions about the Disney Dining Plan and whether it’s worth it. Maybe I can help answer some of your questions and concerns. In my nearly 9 years of marriage, my husband and I have taken 5 trips to Walt Disney World. Out of those 5 trips, we’ve stayed on-park for 4 of them, and used the Dining Plan each time. Three of those times we’ve gone with Disney’s free dining offer (and one time we upgraded from Quick Service to Deluxe) and the remaining trip we paid the full price for the plan, but used a room discount offer. Let me share with you our experiences with the Dining Plan, and what we feel are the pros and cons. But, if you don’t want to keep reading, let me tell you upfront, that even with the cons I am going to mention, my husband and I still will likely use the Dining Plan on our next trip, even if it’s not a free dining offer!

Let me quickly go over the basics of the Dining Plan for those of you who are not familiar with it.

Quick Service Plan

I’ve never used this plan, but here’s what it includes:

• 2 Quick Service meals per night of stay per person
• 1 Snack per night of stay per person
• 1 Resort Refillable Drink Mug per person

Dining Plan

This is the plan we’ve used 3 of our 4 visits. This is what’s included:

• 1 Quick Service meal per night of stay per person
• 1 Table Service meal per night of stay per person
• 1 Snack per night of stay per person
• 1 Resort Refillable Drink Mug per person

Deluxe Dining Plan

We’ve used this plan one time. This is what’s included:

• 3 meals per night of stay per person (they can be table or quick service)
• 2 snacks per night of stay per person
• 1 Resort Refillable Drink Mug per person

Disney also offers a Premium and Platinum package, but we’ve never used those, so I won’t be covering them. Although we haven’t used the Quick-Service I wanted to mention it since it is the default free dining plan when you stay at a Value Resort. Your meals and snacks are issued as credits. Some table-service restaurants (Hollywood Brown Derby, Cinderella’s Royal Table and others) require 2 credits per meal. Not every restaurant on-park is included in the plan. Disney has some great brochures that they update regularly with where all you CAN eat though. Snacks options are pretty open. The main thing we’ve seen is a limitation by cost (generally no more than a $5 item is allowed). We’ve gotten cupcakes, Mickey Bars, milkshakes, candy, drinks, Dole Whips, the Food Festival at Epoct and many more things with our snack credits. You can order an appetizer or alcoholic beverage, but you just pay for it separately. At the end of each meal, your server will give you a receipt telling you how many credits you have left for that type (quick, table or snack). Disney really helps you keep track of your credits. If you’d like to read some incredibly detailed information the Dining Plan, visit the Disney Food Blog. I don’t want this post to become a mile long, so I hope you don’t mind my redirecting you to another resource. 🙂

Like I said, not every restaurant is included with the Dining Plans, but let me list for you a few of the ones we’ve enjoyed with it:

• The Crystal Palace
• Narcoossee’s
• Chef Mickey’s
• The California Grill
• Ohana’s
• Whispering Canyon Cafe
• Cape May Cafe
• Sanaa
• Coral Reef
• Le Cellier
• La Hacienda de San Angel
• Nine Dragons Restaurant
• Teppan Edo
• Tutto Italia
• Hollywood Brown Derby
• Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
• Yak & Yeti Restaurant

Our first experience with the Dining Plan was in May 2008. Our first trip to Disney had been off-park and we had been less than happy about what we ate. Since Disney had a free dining offer we figured, why not! We had planned enough ahead that we were able to make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for all of our table service restaurants. We were on the regular Dining Plan this trip. Except for breakfast, both table and quick service options include an entree, drink (non-alcoholic) and a dessert (or a full buffet like at Crystal Palace). Gratuity is NOT included. The weather in Orlando was pretty hot and humid, so we struggled with eating everything, plus we had not planned well and were hopping around from park-to-park far too much. We ended up not using all of our quick-service credits (and credits do EXPIRE at midnight on your last day – the day you check out of the resort). After we returned home we kicked ourselves because we didn’t realize how many incredible snack options were out there! We wasted too many of our snacks on drinks… Bad decision, trust me on this one! If you don’t believe me, visit the link I provided you above for the Disney Food Blog! Both my husband and I loved all of our food options, and that we ate at many restaurants we normally wouldn’t have tried, mainly due to budget constraints.

We returned to Walt Disney World in December 2008, this time with my parents. Once again we were on the regular Dining Plan (it is the most popular) but we paid for it this visit. My parents weren’t sure about the plan, but since this was our Christmas present to them they had little ground to stand on! Both my mom and dad LOVED the plan. They really enjoyed all of their options, and the large variety of restaurants they could choose from. And yes, they got full as well. On our last day my dad cracked me up, he went around like a mad man making sure to use up the rest of his snack credits!

The next time we made it to Disney was in September 2010. We once again were on the free dining plan. This time we had a plan, we weren’t going to waste any credits! Unfortunately, we still did, lol! We had reservations at a couple of buffets and were so full that we ended up not using all of our quick-service credits. But believe you me, our snack credits were not wasted.

Our most recent trip was in November 2011. We were using Disney’s free dining promotion and staying at the Pop Century. But, this was our anniversary (yep, we were actually THERE on our anniversary) so we upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan. We really didn’t want to use quick-service credits, since those are the ones we wasted the most, and we felt that having the option to use a table-service restaurant every meal would benefit us. And, 2 snack credits a day… Well, let’s just put it this way, my husband’s sweet tooth didn’t complain! One thing we had found ourselves doing on previous trips was ordering appetizers and they are included with the Deluxe Plan, so that was another win for us.

Now, to break it down for you, here we go!

PROS of the Dining Plan

When you go to Disney on a budget, but still want to eat well, the Dining Plan can really help you keep on track. All of your food (minus gratuity) is paid for up front. All you have to do is go in, order and eat, that’s it. No worries about breaking the bank. You WILL get full on the Dining Plan, there is no doubt about that. Getting enough to eat is not a concern. There are plenty of choices of where you can eat, and it’s easy to explore new cuisines. And, if you’ve never needed this you may not be aware of the fact that Disney is great at working with you if you have special eating requirements (kosher, allergies, etc). You just need to let your server know and they will have you work directly with the chef to make sure your needs are met. Plus, by eating on-park you’re getting that much more time in the magic. And, Disney restaurants are incredibly themed as well. I think one of our favorites is the snacks. On our last trip we loaded up with caramels from the Karamel Kuche store in the Germany Pavilion at Epcot.

CONS of the Dining Plan

Our biggest gripes with the plan have been few, but here you go:

• If you want to split a meal for a light lunch, etc, many restaurants do not allow this on the Dining Plan. You still will be charged for 2 credits, even if ordering 1 meal.
• Sometimes we have a difficult time eating everything. Our frugal, don’t waste anything, mindset kicks in and we sometime overeat, or feel guilty.
• It’s easy to plan too many table-service meals and you may feel as if you don’t have enough time playing.
• If you don’t use all of your credits, there are no refunds or extensions. All credits do expire at the end of your trip.
• If you’re a last minute person, you may find it difficult, if not impossible, to fill your table-service credits. So, to make the most of the Dining Plan, you need to plan ahead. How much honestly depends on the restaurant and the time of year. For our November 2011 trip we were able to get into every restaurant we wanted except 1, and we only started planning about 10 weeks out. But, cutting it that close IS a gamble.
• We’ve never used the plan with children, but I do know that children need to order off the kid’s menu. For some of you, this may be an issue, I know it all depends on the child.
• If you like a glass of wine with your dinner, alcohol is not included. You CAN order it and just pay the cost, but you need to be aware of this restriction. Disney no longer offers the Wine and Dine add-on.

I’m sorry that I’ve not included any pictures of our food here! This post has gotten far longer than I had planned for it to, but I wanted you to get as much information as possible. If you have any questions, let me know, and I will do my best to answer them!

If you’re still not sure about the Dining Plan and if it’s for you, I suggest you try and visit when Disney has their free dining offer available. If it’s free, then you’re not out anything, right? And, that way, if you don’t like it you won’t be beating yourself up.

Bon appetit! And here’s to your next magical vacation.