2017 Disney Dining Plan Changes & Prices
Walt Disney World has released 2017 vacation package information, and along with it, pricing and details for the various Disney Dining Plans. Naturally, there are pricing changes. The Quick-Service and standard Disney Dining Plans each increase by about 4-6%, while the Deluxe Dining Plan decreases by around 11%. (Wait. Decrease? That can’t be right.)
We note that Disney has not yet released official pricing for the 2017 Disney Dining Plans, so we reverse-engineered the pricing by selecting a travel date that was in the standard season previously, and doing the math ourselves to remove the known costs of other elements of the package (see screenshot above–that includes hotel, tickets, and Dining Plan, so you can pick your jaw up off the floor). While those increases seem pretty consistent with past years, a decrease on the Deluxe Dining Plan seems odd. However, that is what the math shows. We aren’t totally convinced that Deluxe pricing is accurate (although there might be reason for it, as you’ll read below), so if you want the Deluxe Plan for 2017, consider booking now to lock-in that pricing. (On the downside, since there are no discounts for 2017 available yet, once you apply a future discount, you have to apply whatever pricing is at that time…)
Based upon our theoretical travel 2017 travel dates, adult per night pricing for the plans is as follows: $46.34 for the Quick-Service Plan; $67.33 for the standard Disney Dining Plan; and, $103.57 for the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan. The Dining Plans have been subject to peak season surcharges for several years now, so if you’re traveling during a busier time of year, you can expect to pay more.
In addition to the predictable pricing increases, there is one other notable change. This is that Counter Service meals will no longer include dessert. Instead, guests on both the Standard and Quick-Service Disney Dining Plans now receive 2 snacks each day instead of 1. We consider this a reasonable “win” for guests using the Standard DDP, as the extra snack credit is more versatile than a dessert. This is especially true for those traveling during Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, as the most expensive booth items cost ~$3 more than the most expensive snacks, so there’s good opportunity to squeeze more value out this plan. However, for those on the Quick-Service DDP who would use the counter service credits for lunch and dinner, you’re effectively trading 2 desserts for 1 snack credit–not such a good deal.
This also could, potentially, explain the price drop on the Deluxe Plan. Its definition of a Counter Service meal also changes to cut the dessert, but there’s no corresponding snack credit increase. If the price cut on that plan holds, we suspect maybe Disney has seen a drop in Deluxe Dining Plan usage after disproportionate price bumps the last couple of years.
You can read official details about the various Dining Plans in Disney’s pamphlets:
You might notice that there are some notable omissions in terms of participating restaurants in these PDFs. Don’t freak out. These preliminary lists always leave out restaurants that end up participating. Numerous restaurants at Walt Disney World are owned and operated by third parties (Yak & Yeti, for example), and they take a bit more time to negotiate and finalize their status with Disney. Not accepting the Dining Plan would be extremely detrimental to many of these restaurants, so you can expect to see them added in due time.
We used to be fans of the Disney Dining Plan, but it has been several years since we’ve recommended it–at least to most normal guests who don’t bring wolf packs that devour steaks at every single meal and use a spreadsheet to ensure they are getting their money’s worth–due to price increases negating the potential savings it once offered. We fixate on why the Disney Dining Plan is a poor value in our Disney Dining Plan Info, Tips, Pros & Cons post, so I won’t rehash that here.
Suffice to say, for most guests, the Disney Dining Plan only offers a pretense of convenience and budgeting assistance. In reality, most guests traveling on a budget will be better suited by purchasing discounted pre-paid Disney gift cards or some other means of advance budgeting, and simply paying out of pocket is far more convenient than adhering to the convoluted rules of the Dining Plan. While the Dining Plan can provide small savings in some circumstances, about the only time when it can be classified as a ‘good’ deal is during the Free Disney Dining Plan Promotion that typically is offered for fall travel dates. (Expect Fall 2017 Free Dining dates to be available around late April 2017.)
As for the changes, themselves, for the 2017 Disney Dining Plan, we consider them a net win–especially for those taking advantage of Free Dining with the Standard DDP. The price increases are, obviously, a bummer, but who didn’t see that coming? These increases are at least partially offset by swapping the counter service dessert for an additional snack credit. This isn’t enough for us to move the needle back in favor of using the Disney Dining Plan–or recommending it–but for those who are dead-set on using it, that is an improvement.
Want more dining tips? Check out our 101 Delicious Walt Disney World Dining Tips. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews.
Planning other aspects of a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help.
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Your Thoughts…
What’s your take on the 2017 Disney Dining Plan changes? Do you use the plan for eating at Walt Disney World? What advantage or disadvantages do you think it offers? Share your thoughts or questions in the comments!
Thank you for providing this information as the DisneyWorld site doesn’t provide any information about the different plans. Although there are links, they do not work.
It’s very frustrating as we want to start planning and booking our restaurants at the 180 day mark. I hope they confirm the full list soon! Luckily we are not coming till October but it must be even more upsetting for those who need to book now!
It’s really odd that the list wouldn’t be confirmed by now. Part of me is wondering if there is something holding up the process, or if this is it.
It’s now January and it seems the lists of resturants on the 2017 is still lacking compared to the 2016 list, particularly Disney Springs restaurants. Any idea if they will eventually be added?
Hi Tom, any way you can fix the links for the dining pamphlets? I’m trying to weigh my options now that the Bounceback 2017 deals are out. Thanks!
Just FYI, the links to the DDP pamphlets seem to be down.
Hi, do you know the kids new price for QS and standard dining plan? Thanks!!
I’ve been looking into DDP for our first trip so we can hit quite a few character restaurants. If I knew we would be back in wouldn’t care too much. Husband and I are major steak eaters and my daughter eats as much as me, so far looking at numbers we will come out ahead, and still give us a date night without the little one.
It’s almost impossible for anybody to come out ahead with any form of the plan — including that magical ‘free’ dining. Disney has done a masterful job in marketing this thing to its uneducated customers..
I suspect the deluxe dining plan has been a tough sell since it went over $100 per person.
I do think that for many people, the snack credit instead of dessert is a great value enhancement. Personally, the “dessert” at QS is a waste for me, I’m much more likely to use and get value out of the extra snack credit. In fact, 2 snack credits per day, allows for nice coverage of breakfast — Coffee and a bagel at Starbucks, 2 credits. Still have a QS for lunch and a TS for dinner, or however you combine it.
Yes, prices have increased astronomically, but so have menu prices. Overall, dining plan prices are increasing at a slightly faster rate than menu prices. So I agree, it hasn’t been a true value for many years.
But it’s getting closer….. For me, personally… at $67 under the old system, it would be a loser almost certainly, on most days. But with the snack instead of the dessert, it would probably be pretty close to breaking even. ($35-$45 TS, $13-18 QS, $8-12 worth of snacks).
IF the deluxe pricing is accurate…. It may actually be a semi-decent plan for those looking to really make dining a big part of the trip. For example, if you want a signature dinner every night, and a TS breakfast and/or lunch, with the price decrease, this starts to look reasonable.
With a signature dinner running $65-95 or more, QS breakfast/lunch at $35-$45… You can easily break even and “get your snacks for free.”
Next question is whether for those getting free dining, is the upgrade to deluxe worthwhile? If the price difference is $35…. then the answer is a solid maybe.
To me, the way I would use it…. For $35, you are upgrading your QS meal to a TS meal (worth $20-$30), and you are upgrading your TS meal to a Signature meal *with* appetizer — (worth another $30-40) — So the upgrade fee can be a really good deal if you maximize it.
I think what makes the Deluxe Dining Plan a tough sell outside of Disney circles is that the best way to make it work is by doing a character breakfast and Signature dinner. Many Disney fans (us included) will do this without batting an eye. However, in the general public, is this appealing to many demographics? It might be with some, but I’m betting not a lot.
With that said, I agree from a personal perspective: it certainly makes the DxDDP more appealing for us, especially in light of increasing menu prices!
The plan of character breakfast/Signature Dinner won’t work in 2017. The 2017 pamphlet says that even on Deluxe, Character Dining now costs two meals.
Whoops. I misread. Their legend confused me. 🙂
That’s exactly our plan for April 2017, having booked on the UK-only free dining promotion. We decided to upgrade to deluxe ddp for the first time and balance the costs by staying at Riverside instead of a deluxe hotel – we realised on our last trip the QS meals were just a waste of food for us as we couldn’t handle the portion sizes, so 2 meals a day will suit us better.
What are your thoughts on the value of the U.K. free dining promos compared to US? Do you know how the deals compare?
I just did the math and the kids standard plan is 24.22. Also I am staying during calue season and price is the same as regular season.
We paid for regular DDP in April, and found ourselves ordering the allotted deserts but being too full to take more than a small bite. Very wasteful. Even though the new plan is trading off 2 desserts for just one snack, it’ll be more useful to us. Now we can time 2 snacks with our appetite, maybe for lite breakfast or late night snack.
And you’re probably right about the Deluxe *decrease* Tom… not enough people were interested with the old price. We also didn’t like how sitting down for 3 meals/day would waste use up too much park time, but people who double-up their credits for daily Signature meals wouldn’t be as affected.
I can’t imagine that anyone was actually doing 3 table service meals per day. It’s one of those things that sounds appealing in theory (and maybe that’s how they hooked some people), until you realize just how much food and time that requires.
We found that even 2 TS meals per day was a challenge.
It is more of I think like if you go to chef mickeys for instant for breakfast that is a buffet which takes one table service credit. Then if you go to a dinner dhow or signature restaurant for dinner that takes two table service credits so that is using all three up for one day. So I can see it.
I am actually planning my trip for Xmas and will be getting the DDP. There are 7 of us, so we plan on sitting down for all 3 meals, but only ordering 4 meals for the 7 of us and sharing, so we aren’t as full. We will get a bunch of pizza’s and stuff for the extra credits we end up having, and then saving them for the week we are not at Disney Hotel the second week. Or we could just say we don’t have the extra person or two so we don’t have to pay the plan for them.
Maybe not a lot of people do 3 table service meals a day, but at least one does: me. I really like WDW’s many restaurants and alway regret that on any one trip there’s not enough mealtimes to hit all the ones I really want to visit.
Admittedly, breakfasts are usually just at my hotel, but even there I go the the table service restaurant, and I do work in a couple of visits to other places that serve breakfast.
Sadly, a 4-6% increase is less than annual menu price hikes have been. So the relative value of the DDP has stayed similar or even gotten slightly better.
I realize they are going for the premium market share these days, but I shudder to price out a trip now and compare it to 2010.
That’s true, especially given the menu price increases (plural) already this year. So…I guess, yay Dining Plan?
I think they are about to hit a breaking point very soon. With the recent events in Orlando, plus dips in the global economy (particularly the UK and Brazil), I think package bookings are going to take a fairly significant hit for 2017 and beyond. Hopefully, that is met with aggressive discounting and scaling back on some of these increases.
Just booked for October 2017 with deluxe dining… I was surprised to hear it was $106 and some change pp/pn. We were thrilled we do not care for the quick service plan and usually go with DDP.
I found if you are going to go with the dining plan, being that it is less than $50/night/pp…going with deluxe is the only thing that makes sense (for just 2 people). Prices are expensive and if you want to eat at nice spots (yachtsman, California grill, morimotos ) it feels like a splurge, but it is pretty much paying for an extra meal on top of the regular meal plan.
Any update on the child’s pricing and specifically if a child can still order anything they want when on the deluxe plan?
When people are getting the dining plan, the quick service meal plan is losing a dessert. If you eat a lunch qs and a dinner qs you could get two desserts and one snack a day. By Disney eliminating the dessert at qs they are saving money. Your are losing a snack item
I didn’t even think about this. While you’re gaining a snack, you’re losing 2 desserts, so you *don’t* come out ahead on the QS Plan.
I first started using the Dining Plan back when it was a no-brainer for cost savings. Even now I’m still in the category of visitors who probably come out ahead on the plan, even the Deluxe: I like the Disney World restaurants a lot and have no problem using up all my allotments on high-price items. But that’s not the main reason I still use it: my reason is, I really like not having to care about menu prices while I’m immersed in the Disney Bubble. If I was paying as I went then I’d fret over prices even if I knew I’d end up spending less than the dining plan– in fact, more so, since I’d be constantly wondering if ordering this or that item would send me over the line where I should have picked the plan after all.
So for me, using a meal plan enhances the enjoyment of my trip, and I’d actually be willing to pay a premium for it even if it was distinctly more expensive than pay-as-I-go (which is more or less the same reasoning behind staying in an on-site hotel rather than some Orlando Motel 6). That could change if its costs and benefits got too far out of whack, but they’d have to go pretty far.
I have to agree. The DDP allows you to fully relax, and not calculate anything but tip. We fervor every year, free or not. We also have teen boys who eat their money’s worth, and enjoy all of the steak/fish/buffets.
I’m definitely a spreadsheet person. I find the deluxe plant gives the most options, and I feel like i’m getting “free” food if i play my cards right. I hit a major deal last year where i got free regular dining, and only paid the different to upgrade to deluxe. After looking over menus, i think we got about $900-1000 worth of food for two people for a week. All signature/table service dining. FOOOOOOOD
plan* not plant and difference not different. Man i can’t type today!!