Disney Dining Plan Plus Now Available! (+Price Increases)

The Disney Dining Plan Plus, Walt Disney World’s new tier of the Dining Plan, has officially debuted and can be booked for new reservations or added to existing ones. In this post, we’ll cover pricing info, how the DDP+ compares to other DDPs, what’s included, value for money, and other commentary.

Much of this replaces the speculative elements in our recent New 2020 Disney Dining Plan Plus Coming Soon post. At that point, we had preliminary details, but not cost or some specifics. Namely, we knew that the plan would offer two meals each day in any combination of either table service or quick service restaurants.

In addition to the two flexible meal credits, we now know that the Disney Dining Plan Plus can be used for Signature Dining, Dinner Shows, or Private In-Room Dining (redeeming two credits for each, as with the normal DDP). As previously advertised, each meal credit can also be redeemed for character meals, which are among the best uses of credits. We now have additional details, which are somewhat of a mixed bag…

First, the Disney Dining Plan Plus uses the same term definitions for quick service meal, table service meal, and snack as the standard Disney Dining Plan. We’re not going to rehash all of that here (see our 2020 Disney Dining Plan Review, Info & Tips post for that).

The important thing to know or takeaway is that table service meals do not include an appetizer with the Disney Dining Plan Plus. There was some question about this, as table service meals do offer an appetizer under the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan. As the name suggests, this is more of an enhancement (or “plussing” if you will) of the standard Disney Dining Plan than a “Deluxe Disney Dining Plan Lite.

The other major thing about which there were some questions was pricing. We predicted a $98 price point for adults, with anything between $90 and $100 being within the realm of what’s reasonable. The actual pricing of the Disney Dining Plan Plus is $94.61 per adult and $35 per child.

Note that if you’re trying to add the Disney Dining Plan Plus to a vacation package, the pricing you’ll see is $88.84 per adult or $32.86 per child. However, that’s pre-tax pricing. We actually added the DDP+ to an upcoming Disney Vacation Club reservation, and saw the actual post-tax totals at the confirmation screen.

Unsurprisingly, we’ve had all sorts of troubles with DisneyWorld.com this morning, but DVCMember.com worked smoothly for us. Expect long waits on the phone and errors with DisneyWorld.com throughout the day–especially once Walt Disney World issues an official press release.

Unless your trip starts tomorrow, there’s really no reason to fight the masses to add the Disney Dining Plan Plus today. It’s not like this is some limited edition collectible that Walt Disney World will sell out of. You’ll be able to add it much easier tomorrow or any future date once the initial rush subsides.

On a related note, this is the price we paid for our existing Disney Vacation Club reservation–the price could be different for new bookings. There are scattered reports of the DDP+ costing ~$97 for new reservations. I have the option of adding all tiers of the DDP plan for their “old” prices, but it’s also possible that prices have increased across the board.

New pricing might apply to new reservations…but I can’t get that to work on DisneyWorld.com and don’t hate myself enough (or like you all quite that much) to call and deal with being on hold. I’ll update accordingly if/when I find out more later today. (If you can confirm any price increase based on firsthand experience or knowledge, please share in the comments.)

UPDATE: By my reverse-engineered calculations, prices have increased on the other Disney Dining Plan tiers. Here are the prices I received when booking a new reservation for Saratoga Springs Resort in May 2020:

  • Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $56.41
  • Standard Disney Dining Plan: $79.42
  • Deluxe Disney Dining Plan: $120.41

These are across the board increases of under $2 per night, so not exactly stop the presses news. Walt Disney World does a pretty “good” job of obfuscating the cost of individual components during the booking process, so I’m guessing most guests won’t even notice these nominal increases in the cost of the other Disney Dining Plan tiers.

I cannot confirm the price of the Disney Dining Plan Plus for new reservations, as it’s not even an option to book online. (And again, I’m not willing to call and deal with that mess.)

Unfortunately, we do not have a 2020 Free Dining reservation booked, so we cannot offer confirmation as to whether it’s an upgrade option. We assume so (why wouldn’t it be?!), but we’ll have to await word from those who actually have success in making this upgrade.

Another unknown is how the Disney Dining Plan Plus will work with future promotional offers and discounts. As indicated in our 2020 Free Disney Dining Plan Dates & Tips post, we’re anticipating a second wave of the popular promo for fall and holiday travel dates. We’d love to see the DDP+ offered for Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resort stays, but we are highly doubting that happens–unless occupancy plummets for some reason and WDW needs to offer more to incentivize bookings. Don’t hold your breath.

We plan on testing the Disney Dining Plan Plus over the weekend and having a review up sometime next week. While it appears to be a ‘what you see is what you get’ type of thing, you never know if there will be any surprises. (Plus, we have a few character meals we need to review or revisit, so it’s a two birds with one stone sort of scenario for us.)

While I wasn’t necessarily expecting it, I was really hopeful that either appetizers would be included or the price would be a tad lower. For our purposes, either of those scenarios would’ve been ideal. Value for money-wise, the best use case for the Disney Dining Plan Plus will probably be those who want to do multiple character dining experiences per day.

It will also present a good value for those opting to do lunch and dinner (especially with alcohol) at the options on our Top 10 Disney Dining Plan Table Service Credit Uses List. It should go without saying, but you should not purchase the Disney Dining Plan Plus if you plan on using many (any, really) credits at counter service restaurants.

Nevertheless, we ultimately see the Disney Dining Plan Plus is a savvy addition to the existing tiers that fills the considerable gap between the standard DDP and the DxDDP. The former isn’t enough for many parties that like to enjoy table service meals or character dining, whereas the latter is extreme overkill for most normal guests.

We aren’t normal guests, as we normally hack the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan with split stays and strategic use of those (superior) table service credits on the DxDDP. Accordingly, that remains the much better option for us…but most Walt Disney World guests are not bloggers, nor are they even people willing to jump through some hoops to strategically leveraging their credits. For normal guests, the Disney Dining Plan Plus is a good option to have available.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. 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. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think about the Disney Dining Plan Plus? Will this work well for your family’s eating habits? Do you think the DDP+ pricing is fair, or would you rather just upgrade to the DxDDP at this pricepoint? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!

53 Responses to “Disney Dining Plan Plus Now Available! (+Price Increases)”
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