2024 Disney Dining Plan Info & Tips
The 2024 Disney Dining Plan comes in tiers, with prices starting at $57 per night for adults and $23 for kids. This guide to Walt Disney World’s meal package covers costs, money saving tips, what’s included, whether it’s worth getting, participating restaurants, and likely Free Dining dates. (Updated January 9, 2024.)
Let’s start with the current status of the Disney Dining Plan. For the first time in 4 years, the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) and standard or regular Disney Dining Plan (DDP) both now available to both book and use at Walt Disney World. The Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (DxDDP) and Disney Dining Plan Plus (DDP+) are still unavailable (for now), but the two most popular tiers (by far) have made their triumphant return.
But wait, there’s more! When it comes to the Disney Dining Plan, the next question is inevitably: “When is Free Dining available?” The answer to that is also right now. Free Dining is also back for 2024, available to book now for trips later this summer and fall. As discussed in our Guide to 2024 Free Dining at Walt Disney World, we’re expecting a second wave of dates to be released covering more travel dates. If you’d like to be notified if/when it’s released again or we have more details, sign up here for our FREE Disney newsletter here.
Prior to the return of the Disney Dining Plan in 2024, the DDP had evolved over time before disappearing for over 3 years. The most significant change that’s still relevant for the 2024 Disney Dining Plan is the inclusion of alcoholic beverages on all tiers of the Disney Dining Plans. This is a nice perk for drinkers, but has downsides–particularly for families, as kids obviously cannot order alcohol.
As a result of the addition of alcohol coupled with menu price increases, the Disney Dining Plan had actually become a better value in the last two years prior to being suspended. The return of the DDP has actually thrown us more value-for-money curveballs, as 2024 Disney Dining Plan prices for kids have decreased while adult prices have increased.
With that said, the 2024 Disney Dining Plan does cost more money…one way or another. Even with prices decreasing for kids, there’s also the big asterisk that Walt Disney World is reducing the number of snacks available on the Disney Dining Plans from 2 to 1 per night. So that alone achieves cost-savings for the company and reduces the per night value by $5-6. (More than offsetting that sticker price decrease.)
For another thing, Walt Disney World has already engaged in aggressive culinary cost-cutting, especially at counter service restaurants. They’ve substituted suppliers, changed ingredients, and reduced portion sizes. All of this means that even at the same prices, the 2024 Disney Dining Plan will offer less than before–or you’ll have to spend more to get as much.
Here’s everything else you need to know about the Disney Dining Plan…
We’ve used each tier of the Disney Dining Plan numerous times, usually multiple times per year. Our tips and opinions are based on our first-hand experience with the Dining Plan every year (minus the 3 it hasn’t been available) since 2007. Equally as important, we have not used the Disney Dining Plan many, many more times than we have used it.
That may not seem important, but it is. In researching Walt Disney World, you’ll learn that there are diehard Dining Plan fans, and others who hate it with the fiery passion of one thousand suns. Both groups have their biases, and often make sweeping generalizations about the Disney Dining Plan based on how well it works–or doesn’t–for them.
Seriously, Walt Disney World fans have a lot of surprisingly strong opinions about things that might seem silly to the average person. But few subjects are as irrationally polarizing as the Disney Dining Plan. Even ~15 years after its debut, we still don’t totally “get” that. We see the DDP’s pros and cons, and recognize that it’s great for some families and awful for others. In short, the Disney Dining Plan is very much not one-size-fits-all, and this post reflects that reality!
Before we get to dollars and cents, let’s cover some basics. The DDP is a prepaid meal plan offered at Walt Disney World so guests can budget their dining costs in advance and (potentially) save money. It provides guests with credits that can be redeemed for snacks, counter service meals, table service meals, or fine dining meals.
Gratuity is not included on the Disney Dining Plan, meaning guests need to pay that out of pocket. This is one way that the Disney Dining Plan actually catches people by surprise–even during Free Dining or when paid for in advance, tips can add up and be a considerable and sometimes unanticipated expense at the end of the trip. Otherwise, it’s a fairly all-inclusive meal plan, albeit with some limitations.
Disney Dining Plan credits are stored on the guest’s MagicBand or Key to the World card, with the receipt provided after redeeming the credits indicating how many credits remain. That’s the old school way of knowing how many credits you have remaining.
We recommend monitoring your 2024 Disney Dining Plan usage–including credits issued and redeemed–via the My Disney Experience app. Within the app, you’ll want to navigate to “Resort Hotel” (either from the home screen or the tiles) and then “Check Dining Plan.” That’ll take you to the screen above, showing you how many credits issued and remaining.
For counter service restaurants, we highly recommend using the Mobile Order feature in the My Disney Experience app to redeem your credits, too. This is because the process is even more streamlined for 2024, with a little pop-up ‘reminder’ indicating when you’re not fully utilizing the DDP and would be letting credits go to waste.
You can still use the Disney Dining Plan at counter service cash registers, and it’s often helpful to go this route if you have questions that a Cast Member can answer. And they also can help make sure you’re taking full advantage of your DDP credits. Of course, this is how you’ll also do things at table service restaurants–tell your server you have the Disney Dining Plan before ordering, and they’ll make sure you’re using your entitlements properly.
Walt Disney World has released the Full List of Restaurants on 2024 Disney Dining Plans, and there are currently 230 participating locations along with a handful of conspicuous omissions. That list is now pretty close to final, but will likely see a few changes throughout the year as new restaurants open and are added.
The big restaurants that are missing from the 2024 Disney Dining Plan are Space 220 and California Grill. The commonality is that both locations are immensely popular and both serve prix fixe menus. If either of those things change (popularity or menu types), we’d expect to see them added. Both would likely be 2-credit Signature Restaurants, making them poor uses of credits. There are also a handful of third party restaurants that don’t accept the 2024 Disney Dining Plan.
In addition to this, many menus at Walt Disney World (especially counter service restaurants) are still scaled-back, but we’ve already seen a few receive refreshes in the last couple of months. Even so, not everything on every menu is eligible for the DDP. You’ll need to look for the symbol (see below).
Walt Disney World guests purchasing a vacation package with a room and tickets through Disney are eligible to buy the Disney Dining Plan. This means that if you want the DDP, you cannot save money by staying in off-site hotel or by purchasing discount Walt Disney World tickets through a Disney-authorized ticket seller.
Disney Vacation Club members staying on points are also eligible to add-on the Disney Dining Plan, without the purchase of park tickets through Disney (as many of them either have Annual Passes or prefer purchasing discounted tickets through authorized third parties). You can also add-on the Disney Dining Plan when renting DVC points, which is a great way to save money on accommodations.
Let’s get more into the nitty-gritty of the Disney Dining Plan, starting with the basics: prices and what each plan includes…
Disney Dining Plan Overview
For the purposes of the Disney Dining Plan, a “counter service meal” consists of a combo meal (entree plus side) and beverage, including alcoholic beverages for adults (where available). It no longer includes a dessert. Also as of this date, a counter service meal may also consist of 3 snack items (defined below) in a single transaction.
A “table service meal” consists of an entree, dessert, and beverage, including alcoholic beverages for adults. For those guests on the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (unavailable for 2024), this also includes an appetizer.
As part of Walt Disney World’s healthy living initiative, the dessert in the table service meal may also be substituted for a side salad, cup of soup, or fruit plate.
A “snack” includes items sold at snack carts around the park or in quick service restaurants. The definition of a snack has been expanded to include any single serving side item, which means more items will now be considered snacks (snacks were previously determined on a case-by-case basis with the DDP symbol (the purple thing above) denoting what was a snack). A snack now includes every side item, hand-scooped ice cream, and many other items that previously did not qualify as snacks.
Tax is always included, but guests pay for tips out of pocket. Children under 3 eat free from an adult’s plate.
Two-Credit Table Service Restaurants – Some dining experiences at Walt Disney World require 2 credits rather than just a single credit. By and large, these are premium offerings, such as Signature Restaurants, Dinner Shows, Pizza Delivery, or Room Service Meal.
In terms of value for money (or credit), there is not a single 2-credit premium experience that’s worth it from an objective perspective on the regular Disney Dining Plan. None of them–not one–offers per-credit value that’s on par with the ‘average’ redemption of a single table service credit. These are, across the board, a waste of DDP credits. Nevertheless, here are the options:
Character Dining – Certain ‘fancier’ character meals require two credits instead of one. These are Fairytale Dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom, Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (at lunch and dinner only) in EPCOT, and Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White in Wilderness Lodge.
Fine Dining or Signature Restaurants – Experience an elegant Table-Service option with a wide selection of cuisines ranging from traditional African, Indian and Mediterranean to premium steaks and fresh seafood in Signature Restaurants, which are mostly the fine dining restaurants in Deluxe Resorts. There are about a dozen of these, and it’ll specify ‘Signature Dining’ in the restaurant description.
Dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant– Be Our Guest Restaurant in Magic Kingdom requires 2 Table-Service meal credits to be exchanged for a single dining experience.
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Dinner Show – Enjoy family-style dining with live entertainment at a themed dinner show. All dinner shows require advance reservations. Two Table-Service meals will be redeemed from the dining plan for each person dining at a dinner show experience.
Private In-Room Dining or Pizza Pickup – When staying at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, indulge in the comfort and convenience of dining in your room. At the other end of the spectrum, grab a mediocre (but large!) pizza to eat in your room from one of the Value Resorts. Neither option is as good as it sounds.
Dining Packages – Packages that include reserved seating for a show, such as Fantasmic or the EPCOT festival concerts and Candlelight Processional, are typically included in the Disney Dining Plan. Thus far, Walt Disney World has only confirmed that this will be true for Fantasmic, but we’d expect the same for EPCOT, as well (those will likely be 2-credits each, whereas it varies for Fantasmic). Here are the official details about using the DDP for Fantasmic Dining Packages:
1 Table-Service meal will be redeemed from the dining plan for each person dining at:
- 50’s Prime Time Café
- Hollywood & Vine
- Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano
- Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
2 Table-Service meals will be redeemed from the dining plan for each person dining at the Hollywood Brown Derby.
Each Fantasmic Dining Package includes:
- An entrée and appetizer or dessert at select full-service restaurants or one full buffet (where applicable), along with a non-alcoholic beverage
- One voucher for guaranteed seating at Fantasmic! in a reserved area
Quick Service Disney Dining Plan (AVAILABLE FOR 2024)
The Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan is the lowest tier of the DDP. This is the tier that is typically included with Free Dining at the Value and Moderate Resorts.
For each person on the room reservation, the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan includes:
- two counter-service meals (per night)
- one snack (per night)
- a refillable drink mug (per stay)
For 2024, the per night price of the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan is $57.01 per adult and $23.83 per child. (Previously, it was $55 per adult and $26 per child ages 3-9.) That amounts to an increase of a couple dollars for adults and a decrease of a couple dollars for kids over the course of 3 years.
However, it’s again worth emphasizing that both of the 2024 Disney Dining Plans only offer one snack each, whereas their counterparts previously offered two snacks per night. (That’s a difference in value of $5-6.)
Standard Disney Dining Plan (AVAILABLE FOR 2024)
This is the standard tier of the Disney Dining Plan, and what’s typically included with “Free” Dining at the Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts. For the price difference between the plans, you can upgrade from the Free Quick Service Dining Plan to this plan at the Value Resorts.
For each person on the room reservation, the Standard DDP includes:
- one counter-service meal (per night)
- one sit-down meal (per night)
- one snack (per night)
- a refillable drink mug (per stay)
For 2024, the per night price of the standard or regular Disney Dining Plan is $94.28 per adult and $29.69 per child. (Previously, it was $78.01 per adult and $30.51 per child.) As you can see, that’s a huge increase for adults (+$16 per night!) and a slight decrease for kids in 2024.
Disney Dining Plan Plus (UNAVAILABLE FOR 2024)
This is the upgraded tier of the Disney Dining Plan, which is best for guests who want to do table service lunch and dinners, or breakfast breakfast and dinners every day of their vacation. For the extra cost, you receive a second table service meal in place of a counter service meal–but you have the option (or “flexibility” as Disney calls it) of simply using those credits at quick service restaurants.
For each person on the room reservation, the DDP+ includes:
- two meals at your choice of table service or counter service restaurants (per night)
- two snacks (per night)
- a refillable drink mug (per stay)
The per night price of the Disney Dining Plan Plus was $94.61 per adult and $35 per child when it was last available. If it returns later in 2024 or 2025, expect it to cost over $100 per night for adults, and around the same price for kids.
Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (UNAVAILABLE FOR 2024)
This is the upper echelon of Disney Dining Plans, and the closest thing Walt Disney World offers to an all-inclusive meal package (albeit not covering tips and other things you may want to order/purchase). By default, no resort tier receives this for Free Dining, but you can pay the difference to upgrade to it.
Those on the Deluxe Plan may officially mix their adult and child credits, meaning that child credits may be used for adult entrees. This has long been an unofficial loophole (and remains one) for the lower tiers of the plans, but it’s officially allowed on the Deluxe Plan.
For each person on the room reservation, the DxDDP includes:
- three meals at your choice of counter service restaurants or table service restaurants (per night)
- two snacks (per night)
- one refillable drink mug (per stay)
The per-night price of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan was $119 per adult and $47.50 per child during regular season, and more during peak season, when it was last available. If it returns for 2025, don’t be surprised if it costs over $130 for adults (maybe even $140!) and $50 for kids.
DDP credits don’t have a set dollar value, and how much they are “worth” widely varies based upon your dining preferences. For example, a table service credit may be redeemed at an inexpensive restaurant for a water, sandwich, and ice cream dessert that would normally cost $37 total. Alternatively, it can be redeemed at a nicer restaurant for a glass of wine, swordfish steak, and Copetta Sotto Bosco that would normally cost $73 total.
These are actual examples from Walt Disney World restaurants, demonstrating the big difference in value a credit may have depending upon at which restaurant and for which menu items it’s redeemed. You could get even less or even more value out of the Dining Plan, depending upon what you order.
By analyzing pricing, we can reverse engineer an approximate value that Disney places on each meal type within the various DDPs. Based upon our calculations, a table service meal is worth approximately $63, a counter service meal on the DDP is worth approximately $25, and a snack is worth approximately $6. (For the purposes of these calculations, we view the refillable mug as a throw-in, since its value could fluctuate widely depending upon length of stay.)
Those numbers are updated to account for price increases and decreases on the 2024 Disney Dining Plan. Honestly, it’s difficult to contort the numbers to make the math work, but the above values are pretty much the only way for the discrepancy between the two tiers to make sense. The result is a slight increase in the value ascribed to snack and counter service credits, and a massive increase for table service credits.
By comparing those dollar amounts to online menus available for Walt Disney World, you can get a pretty good idea of whether the Disney Dining Plan is right for your family. We write a long review below and also have resources for getting more value out of the Dining Plan, but ultimately it’s a personal thing. With those rough numbers, you can do the math for yourself and make an informed decision as to whether the DDP is right for you.
Spoiler: unless you drink alcohol at almost every meal and order expensive entrees at nice restaurants (but not 2-credit ones!) or do a lot of character dinners (but not breakfasts!), it’s going to be very difficult to make the regular Disney Dining Plan work out in your favor. That’s especially true if your party skews towards adults, rather than kids.
If you want to read more about most common circumstances when the DDP does or does not make sense, see When You Should Buy & Skip the 2024 Disney Dining Plan! That’s a long read, but it provides a breakdown of different demographics that likely will–and will not–benefit from buying the DDP. Or you can simply follow the above rule of thumb, which is all ~90% of guests need to know.
If you’re on the fence as it’s a close call as to whether the Disney Dining Plan is right for you, it is possible to plan ahead to squeeze more bang for your buck out of the DDP. For this, see our popular ‘Value Maximization’ series of posts:
- Top 10 Restaurants for Maximizing Table Service Credit Value
- Top 10 Restaurants for Maximizing Counter Service Credit Value
- Best Ways to Maximize Snack Credit Value
Frequent users of the Disney Dining Plan become pretty adept at getting more bang for their buck, as they know these strategies are the difference between saving hundreds of dollars with the Disney Dining Plan and losing hundreds of dollars with it. With these posts, quick menu review, and some advance planning, first-time visitors to Walt Disney World can also make the most of the Dining Plan!
As noted at the top of the post, the Disney Dining Plan is offered throughout the year for “free” to Walt Disney World guests who purchase a vacation package (this is not offered to Disney Vacation Club members staying on points). Typically, Free Dining is offered for select dates in August through December.
The Free Dining promotion is incredibly popular with Disney fans. However, you need to remember that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. When Free Dining is available, you forfeit another discount that might be offered–like a room-only discount. You’re also locked-in to buying tickets directly from Disney, which means no discount tickets. Suffice to say, you need to do the math and compare the “Free” Dining Plan to other discounts.
Before even booking the Disney Dining Plan, you should determine where you want to eat and secure Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). It should be easy to see which Disney Dining Plan best suits your needs, or if the Dining Plan is even necessary.
Even for many on-site Walt Disney World guests, the Dining Plan is not the best option. For example, if you want to splurge and stay Club Level (read our Guide to Club Level & Concierge Lounges at Walt Disney World for more info), it’s not a good fit for you. If you primarily want to indulge in Signature Restaurants or fine dining, the Disney Dining Plan isn’t a good choice. Vegans and vegetarians also will not be well-suited by the Disney Dining Plan. (The list goes on…)
For a simple system, it’s surprisingly complex, so don’t feel bad if it takes some reading before you fully understand how the Disney Dining Plan works and whether it is a good fit for your party. If you only anticipate eating inexpensive meals or want to stay on a tight budget, the Dining Plan probably won’t make a lot of sense. But we’ll get to that…
Is the Disney Dining Plan Worth It? – Pros & Cons
Savings – You can save on the Disney Dining Plan, but you have to be a certain type of eater and not waste any credits. If you are a big eater who likes steak and would like to order it at every meal, you can save money with the Disney Dining Plan. This requires that everyone in your party is a big eater, and that all of you use all of your counter service and snack credits wisely. (See our Worst Snack Credit Uses on the Disney Dining Plan list for more on that.)
If your teens are human garbage disposals and the adults in your party love steak, the Dining Plan can offer some savings. As soon as anyone in your party starts ordering chicken or pasta, those savings disappear to the point that you start losing money on the Disney Dining Plan. No matter what they order, a vegetarian will lose money by using the Disney Dining Plan–without exception.
With the addition of alcohol to the Disney Dining Plan, anyone who enjoys a drink or two per day will also come out ahead. The cost of drinks at Walt Disney World restaurants average around $8-14, which is larger than the price increase of the Dining Plans this year. If you get two glasses of wine per day, you’re looking at around $20-25/person more in value every day.
Conversely, if you’re non-drinkers or using the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan and spend most of your time in Magic Kingdom (where alcohol isn’t served at counter service restaurants), you come out behind. Alcohol is the huge new wildcard to the Disney Dining Plan, and can really swing the pendulum of value. Whether that’s in your favor or out of your favor depends almost entirely upon how many alcoholic drinks you enjoy per day.
Speaking of which, the Disney Dining Plan is potentially very valuable for those who visit during Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival or any other Epcot festival (basically, any month except summer). The good news is that taking advantage of this value does not require drinking–this is all about snacking!
Some of the best snacks at the Epcot festivals can cost as much as $10 and can be purchased using snack credits. We highly recommend stockpiling snack credits and using them during your Epcot days, as not only are these festival snacks a great use of credits, but the Epcot festivals are a ton of fun, and this is a way to avoid the sticker shock of paying out of pocket.
The Deluxe Dining Plan can be utilized well if you follow the strategy of eating breakfast (or an early lunch) at a Table Service restaurant (character breakfasts are great for this) and dinner at a Signature Table Service Restaurant, plus snacks whenever. Read How We Saved 50% on the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan for a specific example of how we’ve leveraged the DxDDP for maximum value!
It’s worth noting that prices have risen dramatically for the Disney Dining Plan since it was introduced, meaning that just because you used it on your last trip ~5 years ago and found it to be a good value, does not mean it’s still a good value. The appetizer and tip were cut ages ago, and prices have increased.
However, the biggest of the price increases occurred a few years ago, and prices have not climbed much since then. It would seem that Walt Disney World has reached its price ceiling (or close to it) with the Disney Dining Plan. Prices are only up slightly, and that has been true of previous years, too. Prior to that, there were some double-digit price spikes.
By contrast, table service menu prices have steadily increased since the introduction of the Disney Dining Plan, and at a higher rate (~15%) than the Disney Dining Plan pricing. This means that the relative value of the Dining Plan versus paying out of pocket actually has improved of late.
Effort – If value is your main concern and you aren’t a steak-addict, it can take a lot of pre-planning to save money by using the Disney Dining Plan. Because the margin of savings can be so low, in many cases the Dining Plan causes guests to order the most expensive item on the menu to get “value” out of the plan.
Same goes for choosing more expensive restaurants. There have times on the Dining Plan when a cheaper menu item sounded good, but there was that lingering thought in the back of my mind that if I didn’t order something more expensive, the Dining Plan would actually cost us more than paying out of pocket.
This blog alone has at least 10 articles about the Disney Dining Plan, and we could probably have another couple dozen and still have people asking us questions. Saving money on the Disney Dining Plan requires a good amount of pre-planning or knowledge of how to work the system if you’re just a normal eater.
It’s good to pre-plan where you want to eat at Walt Disney World regardless of whether you’re on the plan (not all restaurants are equal and you’ll need ADRs for some), so that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but using the Dining Plan increases the amount of pre-planning that’s necessary–if you care about saving money. We’ve found that we normally save more with the Tables in Wonderland card than the Dining Plan, and the former requires no pre-planning maximization effort.
Amount of Food – One common complaint is that the Disney Dining Plan often “forces” guests to eat more than they want. While Sarah and I are both big eaters, at times, the Dining Plan is just too much food. There have been occasions when we otherwise would have eaten small counter service meals, but because we had the credits to use, we have eaten at Table Service restaurants. Not only did this result in over-consumption, but it also burned valuable vacation time.
If you have a short trip and want to experience as many attractions as possible, this is something to keep in mind. While you can get value out of the Disney Dining Plan, that savings requires sitting down for longer meals and eating a lot of food. If you don’t normally eat as much food as the DDP provides, you aren’t actually saving money–the savings are illusory. You’re over-consuming in the name of (false) savings.
Convenience – Many visitors argue that the Disney Dining Plan is about convenience. We contend that it is not convenient. In terms of convenience, look at it this way: you’re reading an in-depth article about using the Disney Dining Plan, and you’ll probably read other such articles.
How many articles have you read titled “Paying for Meals with Cash Info & Tips”? Hopefully none. A convoluted credit system cannot possibly be more convenient than the universal standard of paying money for a billed amount. It just can’t.
Budgeting – This is probably the most contentious point. In addition to supposedly being convenient, a lot of its fans advocate the Disney Dining Plan because it helps them stay on a budget and avoid thinking about money on vacation. Again, this doesn’t pass the smell test.
In most cases, when people try to stay on a vacation budget, it’s because there is a need for that budget. Overspending might cause financial strain. Viewed in that light, the Disney Dining Plan doesn’t help with a budget, it helps with predictability. Meals cost the same amount every night, regardless of what’s consumed.
If you’re on a tight budget and you’d normally spend $35 per person per night on food if you paid out of pocket, but you end up spending ~$60+ per person per night on food with the DDP, isn’t that predictability doing you more harm than good?
The Disney Dining Plan allows you to fall back on this predictability and ‘turn off’ your brain with regard to how much dining costs on vacation. If you don’t want to worry about money, purchase (discounted!) Disney Gift Cards before the trip. While we don’t advocate making that psychological disconnect between actual and “fake” money, if you really don’t want to think about money, go that route.
We will be blunt: if you are too lazy to make a dining budget before your trip, chances are you’re too lazy to figure out where to dine to maximize your value. Given that, you’ll probably end up saving more money with the gift card method.
Sticker Shock – Even if you’re not on a tight budget, menu prices at Walt Disney World can be a bit…shocking. The psychological disconnect we mentioned above isn’t always a bad thing, particularly if you want to splurge or have financial means, but can’t bring yourself to order certain items when directly paying menu prices.
The Disney Dining Plan won’t scare you away from expensive menu items. If you love filet mignon, but would shy away from ordering it upon seeing the menu price, the Disney Dining Plan might be for you. However, you might have some sticker shock when you see the nightly prices of the Dining Plan, in the first place…
Conclusion
Overall, whether the Disney Dining Plan is right for you is a personal decision based on a lot of variables. We estimate that for the majority of guests, it is not a good value. This doesn’t mean it’s not a good product, as it will offer monetary savings for some families, and psychological comfort for plenty of others. I can’t say whether the DDP is right for your particular circumstances, but hopefully the considerations above can help with your decision. If you use the Disney Dining Plan for your vacation, make sure you do your homework and plan accordingly!
If you are still unsure of whether the Disney Dining Plan might be right for you—or need personalized help with any aspect of your trip from hotels to the DDP and more—we recommend contacting a no fee “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” (basically, Disney’s term for a travel agent) to get a quote and to help you plan. They get their commission from Disney, so none of the authorized (key word) planners will charge you for booking their trip and helping. Here’s one such recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
With regard to the Disney Dining Plan and restaurants in general, this article is just a jumping off point. First-time Walt Disney World visitors often underestimate the importance of planning (especially for restaurants, many of which are booked solid months in advance) and have a bad time because they didn’t plan enough. Want more dining recommendations? Check out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. For info on whether the DDP is right for you, read our Ultimate Guide to the Disney Dining Plan. For comprehensive vacation advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What is your experience with the Disney Dining Plan? Thinking about buying the 2024 Disney Dining Plan once it becomes available? Does the DDP work for you? Is it a bad fit for your family? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We travel to Disney every year during the free dining period. There are 5 adults and 3 children in our group, so when making the reservations (at a value resort) we list 1 adult with all 3 kids in one room and the other 4adults in the other. The 4 adults keep the free quick service plan but we upgrade the other room to the deluxe plan. Because child and adult credits are interchangeable, we simply use all our fthe of the quick service meals for breakfast or lunch for the entire group but use the deluxe credits for signature and character meals. At no time is our use of credits ever questioned as long as we have the available credits. On average, we save about $3000 on meal plans and rooms with this method. It was actually a Disney employee who recommended this to us years ago and we used it just last week again.
So you had success with using ‘child’ credits for adult meals? I am debating doing this in the summer but nervous about how strict they will be with the new policy…
The new policy is strictly being enforced. Child credits absolutely cannot be used on adult meals anymore.
In the past, the Deluxe Dining Plan credits were not broken out into Adult credits and Child credits. Effective January 1st, they are. When you look at your Meal Plan credits on the MDE app once your arrive, you will see the breakdown now. The Quick Service will show Child and Adult credits and the Deluxe Dining Plan will show Child and Adult Credits. If you order adults meals, you will be charged an adult credit and will run out of adult credits very quickly, leaving only child credits. You can ONLY order off of the child’s menu when using child’s credits
Thank you so much for this post! I’m going alone in September and it is kind of intimidating but reading this just got me so much more excited! Do you recommend doing a dining plan since I’ll be by myself or to just go where the wind pushes me?
We just finished a trip to WDW (today!), and had the quick-service dining plan. WDW changed the meal plan as of Jan 1, 2020. Now, a child 9 and under gets a kid’s meal plan, which can only be redeemed for kid’s meals. It is a massive pain. First of all, half the QS restaurants in the parks don’t even HAVE kid’s menus. Those meals cost an adult credit. We were worried we’d use up all our adult credits and end up with a bunch of worthless kid’s credits. Our resort manager physically refunded each adult meal my kid ordered and changed them to kid credits. So thank you to him, but it was a pain and a waste of time to have to do this almost every day. If they’re gonna roll out a change like that, they should AT MINIMUM have kids meals available in every QS restaurant. Secondly – and worst of all: in the resorts, an adult can substitute their drink for a dessert, since we have the refillable mugs anyway. But a child CAN’T!!!! Try explaining to a six year old that we (and his older sibling) can all get dessert, but he can’t! NOT OK! Again, our resort Manger authorized the substitution if we gave up ALL his sides, not just the drink. But too many cashiers were not on board with this idea, and we had way too many “discussions” with them about it. Not what you want to do while on vacation. My kiddo is very sensitive and felt bad that he was “causing problems” when he wanted a donut instead of yet ANOTHER bag of baby carrots. Not cool, WDW. We had a wonderful vacation, but the kids dining plan was simply NOT the level of service what we expect from Disney.
Thanks for this. We have 2 kids as well. 12 and 7 so we’d be dealing with the same thing. Only thing is I’m not a huge dessert person so I’d give mine to the 7yr old. Then again passing up an adult beverage for a dessert is not like me in the first place
Could someone show where on official Disney marketing material it says kids can order off adult menu if your on the deluxe plan? I don’t see it anywhere.
It doesn’t because they can’t officially. Most of the time even if on deluxe when a kid clearly 9 or under is at a TS and uses the meal plan they are required to order off the kids menu. The confusion is that the deluxe credits themselves are just a big pool that don’t differentiate between adult, kid, TS, or QS. So an adult could use a deluxe credit purchased for a child at the child rate to order an adult meal at a TS and the CM has no way to know.
We have done deluxe many times and only a few times has a server offered to let my kids order from the adult menu. And I would expect they would be in trouble if done consistently.
There are now child and adult credits on all plans. The loophole has officially been closed effective immediately
@Jody – this is the info i have heard about and been looking for. Do you know if we could, for example, use 2 kids tokens for 1 adult meal? My children would happily share the adult one and there is much more choice.
There is no mechanism in the computer ordering system to do this, so it is unlikely the server could grant this request. I have read reports of people asking for adult options in smaller kid-sized portions with a child credit and that sometimes working. But for a lot of the items the kitchen prep is done for adult portions and there isn’t really a way to size that down. As Disney continues to push the envelope of “efficiency” in the kitchen and in the pace of table turnover I anticipate fewer opportunities for CMs to make exceptions.
Can you share dining credits or are they exclusive to the person who owns them? For instance, if we travel with my parents and we all go out to a TS meal, can we use our credits to cover their meal?
Doesn’t sound like it – https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/may-share-meal-entitlements-disney-dining-plan-others-not-404914/.
But if you have the extra credits, doesn’t hurt to at least ask. Or…ask if you can order 2 meals and your guests not order any :). the worst they say is no, and at that point, you accept that you or the parents will pay out of pocket for their meal.
We shared on our trip a few weeks ago. Had Deluxe Dining on my room with my 4 y/o granddaughter and shared the pool of credits with her parents in the adjacent room who had no dining plan. We did this for an entire week. Paid out-of-pocket for the child’s meals. Our Deluxe Dining plan for 1 adult and 1 child cost $1278 and we ate over $3000 worth of food on those credits! No issues sharing at any restaurant.
Absolutely!
We just came back from a trip where we utilized the Disney Dining Plan over a split stay. It took a lot of planning on my part but we managed to save almost $300 (and I’m a (mostly) vegetarian), taking real costs into effect and factoring in tax and generous tips. We did a lot of shared meals (for instance we shared 2 QS credits for Be Our Guest Breakfast and the same for 2 TS credits at Sanaa). This 2 credits for 4 ppl tactic worked great to fill us up but still leave room for several meals. We would add on drinks or apps as needed to round out the meal, and almost always swapped desserts for apps.
We each did our own TS at Artist Point for a big meal, and def got a good bang for our buck there. (Vegetarians can do a separate appetizer option…I only asked retroactively, seeing another table get one, and they brought it in addition, though I didn’t need the extra apps).
We’re also drinkers so made sure to utilize the credits where we could incorporate drinks. Not to mention we used all our snacks at food and wine (plus subbed one QS for 3 snacks back at the hotel).
I treated it like a challenge going into the stay, and everyone was willing to play along. In the end we feel like we definitely got our money’s worth! I wouldn’t do it every time because I had to plan the whole trip (incl Fast Passes) around when we were eating, which got exhausting, but it was a lot of fun and we ate well!
The biggest takeaway is that we will be very pro-sharing meals in the future. Its easy to split at some of the sit down restaurants and we get plenty of food without getting stuffed.
We used the « standard » and the « quick-service » dining plans a few times, sometimes using the « free meal-plan » deals. At least, when the vacation arrived, we knew almost everything had already been paid for.
We are now planning a February trip for 2020. The chances of having a free meal plan are non-existent. I rarely drink alcohol… Sooo I think we will buy « a la carte » this time!
I like the idea of using gift cards, because I can buy them ahead of time, while planning. Does anyone know if we have to physically use them at the restaurant, or if we can somehow deposit them in our « account », and then pay with our MagicBands?
We are traveling in May-2 adults 1 5 year old and under 3. My in-laws are going too but staying off property. We have planned character/ts dining nightly. Would deluxe allow me to use meal credits on in law dinners too? Like we all eat can I say deduct 5 credits total? They don’t actually have to be used by the day right so theoretically we could have stockpiled and they’re all linked to my magic band right? Not like kid scans his hubby scans his etc right?
“No matter what they order, a vegetarian will lose money by using the Disney Dining Plan—without exception.”
I just wanted to chime in and let you know that isn’t true! I’m a vegetarian, and we got the deluxe dining plan for 2 nights. We did a split stay, so we could use the credits over a period of 3 days. I had 6 TS credits and 4 snacks (plus my refillable cup).
It cost $107/night when I purchased it last year. That was $214 for two nights.
Day 1 – I ate dinner at Princess Storybook at Artist Point for 1 credit. That had a value of $60.
Day 2 – I ate lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. I ordered fried pickles, tofu lettuce wraps, and an Orbiting Oreos milkshake. I skipped dessert (since I got the milkshake). Even so, the meal had a value of $40.
Day 2 – I ate dinner at Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. They brought out a pasta dish, but I mostly ate mashed potatoes, corn, salad, cornbread, a little mac ‘n cheese, and sangria. It was all very good, and I could only taste the strawberry shortcake at the end! The dinner show had a value of $70 but cost 2 credits.
Day 3 – I ate dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I had an amazing carrot soup and a protein bowl with fried tofu. Because I was on the dining plan, I also got a glass of sparkling wine included. For dessert, we were pretty full, but I still enjoyed tasting the Jaq & Gus cheesecake. The dinner with the drink had a value of $85 but cost 2 credits.
If I paid out of pocket for those vegetarian meals, I would have paid $255. I only paid $214.
Further, I had four snack credits! I got a Mickey pretzel – $5.50, an orange cream (orange/vanilla swirl cone) – $6, a cup of vegetarian chili – $6.50, and then used the last credit for a piece of toffee candy at the Boardwalk so I didn’t waste the last credit. I can’t remember the price of the toffee, but let’s go with $3. That’s $21 in snacks.
So, in total, not including my souvenir cup and the drip coffees I got, I paid $214 for the deluxe dining plan and got $276 worth of vegetarian meals and snacks.
I forgot to list what I ate at Princess Storybook, in case any vegetarians were interested. I thought the meal was kind of “meh.” Everything was hit or miss.
The soup is now a mushroom soup. I ate it, but it had a very strong earthy taste and wasn’t all that good. The rest of the family wouldn’t eat it. They gave me a tiny salad and a little vegetable spring roll in rice paper for my other appetizers. The spring roll was good.
I had the gnocchi for my meal, and it was surprisingly good. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did.
For dessert, they give vegetarians alternate desserts since most of the original ones have gelatin. I got a tapioca pudding that had some flavor in it that tasted very familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It didn’t quite go with the pudding, so I thought it was just OK. They gave a mini chocolate “apple” that is like the others except without the red candy shell. It didn’t taste good at all. Lastly, we did get the gooseberry pie, but it wasn’t very good, either.
You definitely need to consider tipping. If you are going to do any table service meals, and want to “maximize” the plan by getting a more expensive entree, the total bill on which you tip will be larger, thus the tip can be quite high, possibly negating any savings you might have had.
The tip is included with the dining plan at Hoop Dee Doo Revue, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and also (I think) Spirit of Aloha.
Yes! We kept thinking, hey we paid a lot for this, let’s eat well and have a drink. But we were tipping about $60 a night for our family of five! We stayed for ten days, so that wasn’t fun.
Dear Tom,
first I want to thank you for all your WDW information. I live in Germany, were several tomes in WDW, am presently an annual passholder and am always looking forward do your emails.
Based on your last info relating Disney Dining Plan, I have a question. We are visited ng WDW again in November for the Wine & Dine Marathon Challenge and booked the Deluxe Dining Plan. IAW the info on the Walt Disney Side, the Table Service Meal at the Deluxe Dining Plan include also an appetizer, however IAW your last info the appetizer is not included. Can you please tell me which info is correct.
I thank you in advance and am certainly looking forward to your next emails.
What are those snacks in the top pic and where I can I get them? Look amazing
I think those milkshakes and the Mickey ice cream bowl are from Beaches and Cream.
Those are items from the new Cookie Dough and Everything Sweet food truck at Disney Springs.
Last trip we took in December 2018, free dining for moderates was only quick service. We upgraded for a fee to the regular plan. I also have not heard about being able to use snack credits on any single serving side item. I actually thought several restaurants like Be Our Guest removed their soups as snack credits recently.
My daughter just graduated and I’m headed to Fort Wilderness Campground with an RV full of teenage girls. To make things easy I was going to buy the Disney Dining Plan so I called and was told that the plan must be purchased 72 hours prior to check in. I’ve stayed at several resorts in the past and they always ask during check in if I wanted to add the plan. So Disney just turned away several thousand dollars. I was quoted $76 Per person.
Literally at the Orlando Airport waiting for my flight home. A standard dining plan would have run our family of three about $895 for our trip (we did one full service meal, the rest counter service, each day…hence why I am using the standard Dining Plan for reference). Paid out of pocket, and the tab was only $400. Definitely worth paying ala carte to get the room discount (even better, I booked the trip with a discount code from Disney….guess they missed my money summer of 2018).
Can you switch a counter service for 3 snacks and a drink at the food and wine?
As long as it is 3 things at the same place.
Not 3 snacks and a drink, just 3 items total. So you could get 3 snacks or 2 snacks and a drink.
Two things to remember about the dining plan when considering if it’s worth it – First, people thinking it’s a way to budget and not worry about money forget that the table service meals require tips. If you’re going to expensive restaurants and/or ordering the most expensive thing on the menu in order to make the DDP worth it, you’re going to be shocked out how much more you pay out of pocket on tips. The bill for two adults (10 and older) at a character buffet will be around $100. That means you’re paying $18+ for a tip. Do that meal with two kids over 10 and your tip climbs to nearly $40 out of pocket. First time we went to Disney years ago,
Second, kids. I have a child who’s over 10, so I have to pay for an adult meal plan. But she’s a picky eater who orders off the kid’s menu at every table and quick service restaurant. That’s a big loss between what you’ve paid for and what you’re getting.
I went through all the menus of the restaurants (both table and QS) to see what we’d order, then added tax to the cost of our meals and drinks. I compared that to the cost of the DDP for a week and realized I’d save over $300 by paying out of pocket over getting the meal plan. And that’s with going to a couple of buffets. We’d save even more if we didn’t.
I agree! We really like the dining plan. We used it two trips ago and loved it. This last trip, we got it for only part of our trip (split stay) and regretted not having it for the rest of the time.
That said, our kid is 9. He is also a super picky eater and often orders plain pasta, no sauce, at restaurants. I wouldn’t pay for an adult dining plan for him.
Is that a pic of “Waffles and Chicken” ? Where do they serve that ?
Where is it written on Disney dining plan brochure that you can OFFICIALLY use child credits for adult meals on deluxe plan?
I would like to know the same. Last night we ate at Tony’s in Magic Kingdom, and they made my 9 year old order off the children’s menu. 🙁
I realize I am late to this part of the discussion. We have used the deluxe many times for split stays. On the deluxe plan there is only 1 meal credit type (as far as the computer is concerned) regardless of who (adult or child) originally purchased the credit. If a child is ordering (9 and under) they can officially only use that credit to purchase off the child menu. If an adult (10 and up) were to use that same credit it can be used for the adult menu. That is all that is meant by interchangeable credits. The same is true of the QS credits on the regular meal plan. There is only 1 type of QS credit in the computer and it doesn’t differentiate between adult and child. So if an adult orders they can use that QS credit for an adult meal, but if a child walked up and ordered they would be directed to the children’s menu.
Only one time have we had a server tell us our kids under 10 could order off the adult menu if they wanted since we had the deluxe plan and “all the credits are the same so it doesn’t matter”. But I didn’t get the impression this was officially sanctioned.
Tom – you haven’t addressed using deluxe dining credits for people not on your reservation. This seems like an ideal way to maximize use of table service credits. You can pay cash for quick service meals and use table service credits for your guests on other reservations. What are your thoughts on this?
This isn’t in the terms, but it is official Disney marketing material.
https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/child-table-service-credit-counter-service-restaurant-344219/
While most places don’t care with child credits it’s still clearly depicted children must order from children’s menu when available directly through Disney’s website just FYI
Planning a week long trip for two adults and a 6 year old in December 2019. Really torn between a dining plan or not. One adult eats very little, one eats average, and child sometimes eats a lot and likes to snack. Not heavy drinkers, but definitely need our coffee. Planning on several dinners at Epcot pavilions and haven’t decided about character meals. Any advice is appreciated.
Make your plans. Figure out how much that mug and snacks would be without the plan, roughly. Subtract that from the total cost of all the plans is to figure out how much the meal credits cost you. Is it likely you would spend more or less than that on those meals if you do not buy the plan? There is so much to consider. I know for my husband and myself it was worth it.
I’ve seen some other comments mentioning this as well – you can absolutely book a “ticketless package” that includes room & dining only. You can’t do it online, but can over the phone very easily. You may want to edit the post because this scenario does allow you to buy your ticket from discount sellers, use an AP, or any other means you’d like for obtaining tickets. In my case, with the new ticketing system, I have a ticketless package because I’m doing a split stay between off and on-site and I need my tickets to start before I start the on-site portion of my trip. So we’ll stay 4 nights offsite, then move to 4 nights on-site and that’s when my dining plan will also start (this is the more park-heavy half of the trip, so it makes more sense to have DDP then). 6 day tickets will start during the offsite portion of the stay which happens first. Hope that helps anyone else in a similar boat know that it is possible!
Those with annual passes and DVC club members can call and get the plan with just a room. Otherwise you have to get a package. It says this in the dining plan FAQs on the WDW website. These people can call and make the request. People who can buy military rate tickets can also buy them from the Shades of green resort, or their base and still add the dining plan. The only time when people who are not in these categories can do this is if they are staying on DVC point rentals. Then the holder has to request the dining plan with the reservation and you could get your tickets somewhere else.
Are you saying it’s changed back? Just last year, April 2018, we did a ticketless room plus dining plan package. 1 person had AP, the other 3 did not. We are not DVC. Travel agent booked it for us.
That is an annual pass. Someone with an annual pass fits what I understand.
Maybe if you call it is possible other times, but most places say you can’t. Maybe they are wrong. I can only say what I have seen as answers.
You were able to because someone in your room had an AP. Passholders don’t have to buy tickets (obviously) to get the dining plan.
There was a change about 2 years ago allowing ticketless dining plan packages for everyone by phone or travel agent only. So unless you have direct knowledge of a change back it sounds like you are reading outdated information/posts? In “the olden days” if you had 1 person with an AP that person did not have to buy tickets with the package, but everyone else in the room without an AP still had to purchase package tickets. In our case last year no one had to purchase package tickets.