Disney World Survey Hints at Upcoming “Ultimate Dining Plan”
After an over three-year hiatus, Walt Disney World brought back the Disney Dining Plan with a few consequential changes last year. The most notable of which was the removal of the Deluxe and Plus tiers of the DDP. This post covers why these options went away and why a couple of years later, there are strong new signals that the DxDDP might return in rebranded form, as the Ultimate Disney Dining Plan.
Disney Dining Plans are currently available for booking with qualifying resort stays during both 2025 and 2026. Guests can choose from the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan or the standard Disney Dining Plan. See our updated 2025-2026 Disney Dining Plan Info page for pricing, what each tier of the plans includes, along with our review, recommendations, and more.
When Walt Disney World brought back the two lower tiers of the Disney Dining Plan, they did so without really addressing the future status of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus. The announcement did not indicate that they’ve been officially retired or eliminated, it just ignored them entirely.
Prior to that, the official Disney Dining Plan pages had been frozen-in-time for over 3 years with a “temporarily unavailable” banner and included details about the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus. The pages were that way from March 2020 up until early May 2023. All references were vanished within minutes of the standard and Quick Service Disney Dining Plans returning.
With the passage of two more years, it sure seemed conclusive that the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus were gone for good once 2026 details were announced and nothing was revealed for those tiers. However, Advance Dining Reservation demand has cratered and Walt Disney World has been pulling other “levers” to incentivize guests to dine at table service restaurants, so it seems like anything might be on the table. (I have a bold idea: they could try lowering menu prices instead of raising them?!)
The latest “lever” that Walt Disney World appears potentially poised to pull is finally reinstating the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan. We’re really pleased to see this, as more tiers of the DDP was a ‘wish list’ item for us, as covered earlier this year in Why Walt Disney World Should Bring Back the Disney Dining Plan Plus.
As first reported by our friends over at TouringPlans.com, a variety of guest surveys are being sent out that ask several questions about the Disney Dining Plan lineup. Their readers sent in multiple variations of similar surveys with several questions focused on the DDP. Most notably, these surveys ask questions about three different tiers of the Disney Dining Plan. The two that are currently offered, plus a third that’s similar to the now defunct Deluxe Disney Dining Plan.
On one of the surveys, the current Quick Service Disney Dining Plan has been renamed to the “On-the-Go” Disney Dining Plan. Additionally, the current Disney Dining Plan becomes the Essentials Disney Dining Plan. Above that, the new-look Deluxe Disney Dining Plan would be known as the Ultimate Disney Dining Plan. Here’s a look at one of the graphics from the survey, courtesy of TouringPlans:
The Ultimate Disney Dining Plan would offer 2 Table Service Meals, 1 Quick Service Meal, 1 Snack, and 1 Resort Refillable Mug per stay. Note that this actually differs from the old Deluxe Disney Dining Plan in a couple of ways. First, there’s only one snack credit as opposed to two; this is consistent with an across-the-board reduction made when Walt Disney World brought back the two lower tiers of the DDP last year.
Second, the Ultimate Disney Dining Plan specifically allocated credits to table service meals and counter service meals. Previously, the DxDDP had floating credits that could be used at either. Obviously, it made sense to prioritize table service restaurants in order to come out ahead (or rather, not way behind), but the option was nevertheless yours. If you wanted to do 3 meals per day at the All Star Music food court, you could heart your heart (and stomach) out.
At the other end of the spectrum, a better example under the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan to illustrate value maximization would probably be a character breakfast and a Signature Restaurant for dinner each day. That’s a sometimes odd combo, but is how many planners leveraged the DxDDP to get the most bang for their buck with it.
Obviously, this is just a survey and it doesn’t have the time to explain the nuance of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan or Ultimate Disney Dining Plan, so it’s entirely possible that the new-look top tier DDP, whatever it’s called, will still offer 3 floating credits.
That would make sense, as Walt Disney World has had a habit of pulling liberally–and literally–from the 2019 playbook. We’ve been shocked by just how much has come back in the last couple of years without any material tweaks.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if this new top tier does not offer floating credits. That specific example above was the way to maximize and come out way ahead on the DxDDP, and I could see Walt Disney World wanting to clamp down on that very specific, but highly popular, use case.
Otherwise, I just want to say that I fully endorse a new name for the standard Disney Dining Plan (even though it’ll create a ton of work for me updating verbiage across the site). It has never made sense that one tier of the Disney Dining Plans is called the Disney Dining Plan, which is precisely why this and other sites (and even Walt Disney World itself from time to time) add something like “standard” or “regular” in front of that specific tier of the DDP. Giving it a proper name to distinguish it from the Disney Dining Plans, as a product line, makes complete sense and is a long overdue change.
Why’d WDW Eliminate the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan in the First Place?
To understand why Walt Disney World would bring back the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan, we should probably understand why they got rid of it in the first place. There are several reasons.
First, simplifying and streamlining the Disney Dining Plan. Making vacations easier and simpler to plan is a major through-line of Walt Disney World’s big announcements in the last few years, and this was a theme of the announcement about the DDP’s return.
Too many tiers of the DDP causes consumer confusion. Walt Disney World might’ve had data showing that average guests were booking the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan because they wanted the Cadillac of vacations, but didn’t understand what it offered and were wasting many or most credits.
I’m skeptical of this explanation. Walt Disney World added the fourth tier–the Disney Dining Plan Plus–less than a few weeks before the parks closed. Survey data up until that point justified its addition, and survey data since (minus those three weeks when things were just a tad chaotic) has been nonexistent.
Second, one of the reasons Walt Disney World was so slow to restore the Disney Dining Plans was because they lacked the dining capacity to accommodate. For a while during the revenge travel period, even mid-tier table service restaurants were difficult to book due to a combination of decreased capacity and increased demand. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to book Sci-Fi Dine-In, for example, only to be shut out.
The Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus were particularly popular with Signature Restaurant and character dining experience enthusiasts. These restaurants sustained elevated demand even longer than their regular counterparts, so there was likely reluctance to restore these tiers sooner.
This had started to ease up by the time Walt Disney World made the announcement about the return of the Disney Dining Plans, but there were probably internal concerns its comeback would trigger ADR shortages again. It didn’t.
Advance Dining Reservations have gotten less and less competitive in the last two years, to the point that we seldom struggle with anything. There are exceptions to this, like GEO-82, Beak & Barrel, and some character meals, but by and large, ADR availability is the best and easiest it has ever been in our years of covering Walt Disney World.
Third, getting rid of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus was arguably closing a loophole for WDW dining power users. This was one of the big motivators in switching from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, as the knowledge gap between casual first-time visitors and diehard Walt Disney World planners was wide. It’s a very similar idea here.
The DxDDP and DDP+ offered the most money-saving potential if you leveraged savvy strategy and hacked them. We know that it was possible to save money with the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan because we did. All the time. Almost every character dining experience or Signature Restaurant review on this blog from March 2020 or earlier was “powered by” the DDP+ or DxDDP. We have two different illustrative posts (here and here) about how we saved a ton with the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan.
These hacks only worked if you dined in a very specific way, and it was an unnatural one unless you specifically set out to beat the system. First-time guests without this knowledge would probably come out behind on the top tiers of the DDP, as they were not conducive to the natural way most casual guests would dine.
Consequently, it’s likely that a chasm emerged. Power users absolutely loved the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and Disney Dining Plan Plus because they saved a ton of money–more than was possible on the two lowest tiers. Everyone else likely wasted credits and money with them–more than on the two lower tiers. It’s possible that guest satisfaction scores also reflected this. Although maybe not, because the perception of an all-inclusive or ultimate Disney Dining Plan is strong, especially for the kind of guest who would not balk at the DxDDP price point.
Despite all of this, it caught me by surprise that the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan did not previously return. Nothing discussed above is a bombshell revelation. Walt Disney World knew that hardcore planners were hacking the DxDDP. They knew that casual guests were wasting credits. They knew whatever guest satisfaction scores were, too, and how those broke down among demographics.
The Deluxe Disney Dining Plan had been around for over a decade. It was an entirely known quantity and everything discussed above was already priced in. The introduction of the Disney Dining Plan Plus in early 2020 indicates that Walt Disney World wanted more of that, not less.
That the Deluxe and Plus Plans only worked well in a narrow set of circumstances and resulted in overspending in all others was a feature, not a bug. It reminds me of credit card hacking. Those companies are fully aware of churners gaming the system to earn rewards without paying a penny in interest. They close loopholes to the extent feasible, but otherwise don’t care. Hackers are a vocal minority, the reward payout is the cost of doing business, and it’s a very lucrative business!
Why Bring Back the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan Now?
Anecdotally, there seems to be far less interest in the Disney Dining Plan since its return. This has been the sentiment we’ve heard from multiple travel agents, and it’s also what we’re seeing on our own posts.
It used to be the case that Free Dining was the big deal of the year. While it had its detractors who loved to explain how it wasn’t actually free, it was still beloved. The math worked out for most guests who weren’t doing Deluxe stays, and even some who were. Free Dining was exciting, and guests anxiously awaited news and rumors about its return.
Free Dining is still the focus of commercials and advertising campaigns for mainstream audiences, but we see far less reader interest in Free Dining articles. Among fans, the promo has been surpassed by all other novel special offers and even some room-only discounts. That never happened before.
One reason for this is probably sticker shock, whether it be on the cost of the paid Disney Dining Plans or the all-in package price of Free Dining. Even though price increases on the DDP are commensurate with higher menu prices and below USDA food inflation data, it’s a lot all at once on the front end of booking a trip. What once offered “peace of mind” when booking is now an overwhelming budgetary burden that’s easier to swallow later.
Another reason, which we believe is an underrated one, is the monetization of FastPass via the various Lightning Lane tiers. What was once free is now paid, and is a “non-negotiable” add-on for many Walt Disney World guests. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Most people don’t have bottomless vacation budgets, and expenses incurred on a new product offering result in cutting something else. The easiest discretionary spending is table service dining.
If this were a thesis about the downstream effects of Lightning Lanes, it’d be a lot longer. But I would also hazard a guess that the average guest ticket duration has decreased slightly, as has the propensity to purchase the Park Hopper add-on and other bells and whistles. Less time in the parks also means less time for table service restaurants, as there’s a greater sense of urgency to ride rides.
I believe this is fairly evident in the aforementioned Advance Dining Reservation availability. As I’ve said in countless other posts, I have never seen ADR options that are this plentiful, and it just keeps getting better and better.
Nothing seems to reverse that trend, either. Not Free Dining season and not the recent 40% off Annual Passholder discounts or Welcome Home Weeks for DVC Members (although the former did spike demand for a few locations).
Then there’s the biggest change with the 2026 Disney Dining Plan, which is that Kids Eat FREE All Year in 2026 at Walt Disney World! Throughout all of 2026, guests staying at one of Walt Disney World’s more than 25 on-site Disney-owned resort hotels will get a Free Disney Dining Plan for their kids when purchasing a Disney Dining Plan as part of their package for the other members of their party.
As we love to point out, Walt Disney World does not offer discounts out of corporate benevolence. They do so out of necessity. All of the above suggests to me that table service restaurant demand is down. The Kids Eat Free perk is evidence that the Disney Dining Plan, specifically, is not as popular as it once was; that Walt Disney World overshot its mark with price points and has lost families on the DDP.
The fact that the 2026 Kids Eat Free offer is technically a perk as opposed to a special offer–meaning it’s stackable with actual special offers and available to Disney Vacation Club members staying on points–is wild. This also means that Free Dining will either change substantially in 2026 to make it more appealing, or be further minimized.
Taking all of that into account, and the real surprise is not that Walt Disney World is sending out surveys about bringing back the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan. It’s that they’d need surveys in the first place, and that this news wouldn’t have been an announcement that accompanied the 2026 product launch a few months ago. (With that said, Disney is known to use surveys as internal justification for decisions they’ve already made–or to tweak them–so this could just be about landing on a new name for the top tier of DDP.)
Bringing back the Deluxe Dining Plan is not going to reverse the surplus ADR availability. In the grand scheme of levers that Walt Disney World can pull to stimulate dining demand, this is a relatively small one. But it should nevertheless help with those coveted per caps, especially since guest spending is one of the most important metrics to Walt Disney World.
Having a more expensive tier (or two) of the Disney Dining Plan also has indirect benefits; it could help push the standard Disney Dining Plan. One of the first rules of upselling is to create an expensive product tier that most consumers will not purchase. Not because companies actually expect consumers to buy it, but because it makes the other options more attractive by comparison.
If you have three products that are difficult for the average consumer to distinguish–and the prices are ~$60, $98, and $169–a lot of people are going to naturally gravitate towards the middle tier. There’s a perception of value, and it also feels like playing it safe. After all, you don’t want to cheap out too much on the budget option–especially during a rite-of-passage vacation!
It’s safe to assume that few people purchased the Deluxe Dining Plan, but it still likely served its purpose in nudging them to buy the standard Disney Dining Plan instead of the QSDDP. That thereby helped achieve higher per guest spending, which might as well be the Sixth Key.
Ultimately, those are possible explanations as to why Walt Disney World is finally considering bringing back the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan in 2026. Even if it doesn’t happen next year, we do not think that the Disney Dining Plan will only consist of two tiers forever. Big changes by 2027 seem likely.
While we’re talking about the Disney Dining Plan and its value proposition, my other hope is that it drops alcohol at some point soon. Admittedly, this is mostly a matter of selfishness. We no longer drink and the Disney Dining Plan has made zero sense for us as a result since it returned. But we’re hardly alone in this, as fewer Americans consume alcohol with each passing year.
That’s especially true of younger generations. It’s especially true of the youngest generation, which isn’t even 21 years old yet somehow gets charged adult prices for DDPs that include alcohol despite being too young to legally drink. This is the most common complaint we hear from readers, so perhaps having a ‘family’ tier of the Disney Dining Plan that doesn’t include alcohol at all would be a savvy move to reduce costs and increase sales.
Hopefully, Walt Disney World has a lot more up its sleeve for enticing more dining demand to fill tables and stimulate higher spending. Here are just a handful of totally free, completely unoriginal ideas: bring back Tables in Wonderland; restore Brunch at the Top, breakfast and counter service lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant, breakfast at Plaza Restaurant, character dining at Trattoria al Forno, Dining with an Imagineer, Grand View Tea Room, Pizzafari Family Style Dining, Restaurant Marrakesh, and other dining services I’m probably forgetting that matter less to me, personally; add more enjoyable upcharges, such as dessert parties, EPCOT festival enhancements, and so forth.
The bottom line is that there are so many ways for Walt Disney World to get creative and “fix” its dining demand and guest spending “issues” (air quotes because they’re still doing quite well, setting quarterly revenue records!), and I can’t wait to see what else they try. It should be a fun few years between unique special offers and guest perks as Walt Disney World tries to bridge the gap until its next development cycle. We’ll keep you posted with official news and rumors like this!
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 of Walt Disney World potentially bringing back the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan as the Ultimate Disney Dining Plan in 2026? Does this move the needle for you or not? Disappointed that it has taken so long, or isn’t happening in time for your trip this year? Excited about the return of the top tier DDP? Would this make you more likely to do Signature Restaurants or character dining experiences? Other thoughts or comments in response to this? 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!
We do 4 day trips with deluxe dining plan and prefer the all exclusive vibe so we would do the ultimate dining plan if offered because it would not add much cost to our overall trip.
I would appreciate bringing back the refillable mug plan as it once was. I almost never drink soda pop, but I really liked the refillable mug plan from years ago. I would get a really nice, large mug specific to the resort where I was staying. I still have have my Animal Kingdom Lodge mug and it’s a great souvenir. I used the mug for coffee and juice whenever I was at my resort. Maybe I’m delusional, but I could swear the resorts had actual orange juice dispensers from which I could fill my mug. No, it wasn’t fresh-squeezed, but it was juice. During my last visit, I had to pay a ridiculously high price at my resort food court to buy a bottle of orange juice for breakfast when I had a refillable mug! And that mug had been watered down to a small, generic WDW mug; nothing specific to my resort. It was pretty disappointing.
They can keep the alcohol, but give us back the appetizer and additional snack!
Agreed. That second snack was key. The DDP used to be good. We don’t use it anymore given the reductions.
Just wanted to add that I received this survey from Disney and the screen shot you have with the plan names is not what I received. It would seem to me that the plan is returning and the point of the survey was more about what to call the tiers. That was the initial feeling I got from my survey, and seeing your article seems to confirm it.
Did the survey hint at possible price points?
Nothing mentioned about price
I didn’t see anything in your article regarding tipping. I remember years ago they pulled “tips included” from the dining plans. More than a few servers complained to me about that. Are tips still not included? I used to take the dining plan back in the day and enjoyed it. Removal of the tipping made it less of a value. Glad to see the reservation pressures have lessened. It could be annoying to purchase the meal plan and have the Moroccan restaurant be the only reservation you could get around actual dinner time. Not 4:30 P.M. or 9:00 P.M like the popular restaurants. If a reservation became available for Le Cellier it was like you had won lotto. When I’ve run some vacation scenarios on the Disney website lately, adding the dining plan doesn’t seem to be an outrageous cost. Am I wrong about that? You will be charged 2 dining credits to reply to my post.
Tipping inclusion is long gone. Appetizers on the standard plan are long gone. Price has skyrocketed. They justify the high pricing with the inclusion of alcohol. (If your kid is 11 years old, they are paying for alcohol inclusion!)
What would be the biggest improvement would be to follow Universal’s lead, and have the refillable mug work at vending machines in the QS restaurants and potentially other strategic places in the parks. Having the refillable mugs only work at the resorts kind of defeats the point.
Florida is stupidly hot in the summer and keeping people hydrated is important.
By limiting to QS locations, they would still make money of drinks at the table service restaurants.
I’m prone to dental issues and those refillable fountain beverage mugs make me cringe. I’d have horrible cavities and a terrifying dental bill if I was bathing my teeth in liquified sugar-laden drinks all day long. You can use those same machines for free to refill water into any water bottle. My body and I get along better when I’m typically eating my flavors instead of drinking them. I’m not online making pious videos about being “crunchy”, but that’s one area where I’ve seen big benefits from being careful.
.. and for the record, I’d love to see Disney really re-think the Dining Plan from scratch.
It evolved from an excellent product to a niche product that only makes sense for a small portion of guests.
In addition, it constrains dining at WDW restaurants. Not easy to fit everything into. A QS vs TS box. Then you have menus where entrees might range from $15 to $80… hard to make a single plan work for both.
Perhaps overly simple, I’d love to see Disney simply sell “dining dollars” in advance — Make it non-refundable to lock in dining spending. Charge $85 for $100 in dining dollars. Disney gets locked in dining spending in advance, the guest gets a somewhat real 15% discount.
Would also let. Disney steer guests towards emptier restaurants. (A MDE alert, “save an extra 10% when using Disney Dining Dollars at ________ before 6pm!)
And could offer bonuses, “get a “free snack credit” for every $100 dining dollars purchased in advance”
Nice idea, especially if those dollars were time limited, and only applicable at restaurants and kiosks (so not for merch)
They can adjust the branding, fiddle with the credits. But ultimately, the pricing has gotten to the point where it doesn’t make sense for most adults. (Depending on number of Disney kids, it could make sense).
In about 15 years, the dining plan has practically tripled in price. They stopped advertising it as a savings device long ago. (Disney probably has a file on me, because some time ago, I wrote to them and complained when they were still advertising on their website that the DDP was under $40 per day, but I was actually charged more than that… Shortly after my complaint, the under $40 per day was removed).
Some will remember when the basic DDP included tip and appetizer!
They have raised the price while trading real value with filler perceived value. (Alcohol! Which has a huge markup and many Disney “adults” cannot even legally consume! A refillable soda cup that is only good at your resort!)
Point being —- Always nice to see options. And I did purchase the deluxe plans a couple times, over 10 years ago — Think I last purchased the deluxe when it was about $80 per night.
But as long as the pricing remains outrageous, this news is rather irrelevant to me. A deluxe plan charging $170 per night where you have to eat 2 steaks and 2 cocktails per day to break even isn’t going to be popular for me. And I doubt it will be popular with too many WDW guests either.
I really just want a version of the DDP that gets me 2 counter service meals, 2 snacks, and 2 non-alcoholic beverages. (Pop is not a “snack,” Disney!)
I like the idea of swapping alcohol for an appetizer and/or dessert. We never order alcohol, appetizer, entree, and desserts — way too much food. Our kids are 11 and 12, so adult prices but not drinking alcohol or eating full meals, either, so it’s a waste to be penalized. Kids eat free is great — if your kids are -9.
And my soapbox starts and ends here. If you’re going to penalize my kids and charge them as an adult at 10+, then let them have their own MDE profile for phones/ipads. It’s REALLY annoying they have no options until 13. Granted, now that virtual queues are gone, it’s not as much of an issue, but it would have really been nice if my fast-fingered kids could have been trying to get Tron or GoTG queues with their own MDE.
Rant over.
I’m not sure the DDP/DDP+ makes a lot of sense. I agree with you, LL and ILL purchases have gobbled up the discretionary budget for food, and when a family of four is looking at $400 for dinner at CRT (with tip) and two of them can’t have alcohol, it makes it a lot less desirable to throw down the cash.
Heck, even the merch has jumped A LOT in prices. Ears used to be $20 in 2019, then $25, then $30, now $35, and the Bauble Bar ones are $55+. Spirit Jerseys used to be $50 and are now pushing $80. Pins were $10ish and now are $16+. I’m not saying a WDW/DL trip isn’t fun and worth it, but there’s only so much money to spend. I’d be prioritizing LLs and the hotel room versus fancy dining X 4 and merch at this point.
I really think the tweaks they made to the plan just make it less popular (while charging more). I know there was always the line of people buying random snacks from the Confectionary at the end of their trip because they had so many extra credits, but losing the 2 snacks a day was a big hit. I didn’t care if I had a few extra at the end of my trip. It was very convenient for the days when I wanted more than one snack (especially for the Epcot booths). Now I just stockpile all my snack credits for Epcot and avoid snacks in the other parks when we’re on the plan. And I have a HUGE sweet tooth and love dessert, but I am not at all a fan of them switching to dessert only instead of the option for an appetizer. I either have to eat less of my entree to save room for dessert, or I just take a couple bites and waste it. I like to enjoy my desserts, which means not trying to force it down when I’m already stuffed to the gills. I also think alcohol should be an added upcharge. I usually do order drinks with my meals when I’m on DDP but only because it’s included, so I use the opportunity to try something fun I wouldn’t otherwise order. I definitely wouldn’t miss it if it weren’t an option. I got married at Disney a couple years ago, and for the catering charges, they had a “junior” price for 10-20 year olds, which makes way more sense. So at the least they could transfer that over to the DDP, although really I don’t think they should be charging adults who don’t want alcohol either.
I could see purchasing the Ultimate Dining Plan for a 1- or 2-night stay since the more expensive Signature restaurants require the use of 2 table service credits. I personally would love to see Disney bring back Tables in Wonderland.
there needs to be a junior price, kids age 10 don’t eat as much as an adult. in that same vein, many senior citizens don’t either.
I think the 3 years of no DDP “trained” us that we don’t need it. Pre-Covid I always took it, as we always came out ahead and I loved that it was prepaid and no sticker shock. In the 3 years after Covid, the only option was to pay out of pocket, and we realized how much we saved not having DDP – we didn’t eat the same way for sure – a table service meal every 2-3 days instead of every day, ordering “sides” when we were not hungry for a quick service meal, the old groceries to the room and so having some snacks and light meal options. I’m now hesitant to get the DDP because I know I can still have a great vacation and pay way less by doing meals differently. If the DDP had always been available, I would have still just taken it every trip.
So much this Jen. You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone- in this case a higher bill lol.
I don’t think we could ever go back to it but absolutely couldn’t be without it prior to covid.
I wholeheartedly agree with your “totally free, completely unoriginal ideas.” Especially Tables in Wonderland! As well as simply lowering prices as stated earlier in the post.
I’m with you on the “faster metabolism”, but I agree, those who benefit from medication-based help shouldn’t be stigmatized. They are just trying to live a healthier life, in an area which is a struggle for them. The author C.S. Lewis, when talking about temptation, gave the example of walking by a restaurant and hearing the click of the plates and wanting SO BAD to gorge himself on food. Nowadays he would seem a good candidate for a GLP-1. I still struggle a bit to GAIN weight, but even I can’t have an endless serious of smash burgers with no consequences. My blood work results can still worsen, and I don’t want that. I’m trying to hold on to my youthfulness and health as long as possible, especially for the sake of my family. I wish WDW had more (in person) capacity for their RunDisney races, or more of them throughout the year. I’d like to do one sometime, but it seems like they sell out in the blink of an eye.
Disclaimer: We are heading to DIsney soonish and will be using the “free” DDP. If it hadn’t been free, we wouldn’t have bought it. And, the difference in the cost of the room without dining did not yield a cheaper per day cost overall (I looked at it both ways with room discount only and with free DDP).
That said, the reason we wouldn’t have bought the DDP is that my husband and I have to watch our blood sugar. Alcohol and desserts are generally a no-go. Back when appetizers were included, we could get a salad, or a side, and skip dessert. We don’t generally drink alcohol or the non-alcohol sugary drinks that are part of the offering.
I think if they gave people a choice of dessert, appetizer, or side (even if it was limited by price like they do with some entrees on the DDP now), it would make the DDPs a WHOLE-Lot more popular. There are so many people that can’t eat the sweets or have the sugar. It keeps many people from even considering it, I expect.
The other thing that I think would make them more popular is going back to two snacks for each night. One snack = water for most non-Disney pros…They get thirsty, feel desperate and use their snack credit for water. Putting two credits back is not going to break Disney, but offers a big incentive to the individual.
Great idea, I would take a dessert or an appetizer over a drink! We don’t drink alcohol either and you cant get the best value from the plan unless you drink :/ plus drinks are like $20 and appetizers and desserts are usually less than that!
Very interesting read. My family has a trip booked for march 2026 and we are planning on doing the quick service dining plan. We did several table meals last trip and while we enjoyed them decided they took up too much time in the parks and we want to focus on only quick service. With the special we calculated based on our previous trip spending we will come out about even. With the added bonus of not forcing our kids to share meals and my son doesn’t have to order from the kids menu(he will be 11). That peace of mind and fun aspect of dining will be included for about the same price since my two younger children will be free. That being said will Disney get rid of the 2026 free kids dining at some point? Can it “run out”? Also would the dining plan prices change at all before our trip? Just wondering if we need to secure our meal plan soon or can wait a bit. We rented DVC points so need to pay the owner when they book it with Disney and can’t wait to pay later on.
There’s no reason to believe the 2026 Free Kids DDP will run out. There’s some precedent for DDP prices increasing during the year, but it’s been a long time. The new standard practice is higher prices at annual product launch, which already happened. You should be fine.
John Le Carré believed that intelligence services are “the only real measure of a nation’s political health, the only real expression of its subconscious. In other words, it’s only what large organization do IN SECRET that truly lets you know what it is thinking. In the case of Disney, this window into their corporate thinking seems to manifest through surveys. Thanks for pointing out this view into what may be coming.
I wonder too if guests at an “Ultimate” level of budget might be more inclined to be taking GLP-1 medications, and suddenly less inclined to sign up for as many visits to the ADR feeding trough. Those that can’t afford ADRs certainly can’t afford to be on a GLP-1. This connection might seem dubious, but there was a NYTimes story about how the effect of those drugs is allegedly significant enough that some restaurants are shrinking the food to compensate for shrinking appetites. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/dining/ozempic-appetite-small-meals-restaurants.html
This is a great connection to draw, and certainly an interesting topic for conversation!
Personally, I’m very bullish on GLP-1s, and think they have the potential to be hugely transformational for society and improving quality of life. I truly hope they are miracle drugs, although I can understand the skepticism. (It’s still early!) I also hope they’re destigmatized. I think it’s absurd that some people view them as “cheating” or whatever. Is it similarly cheating that I was born with a faster metabolism? But I digress.
I’m also skeptical that this is having an outsized impact at Walt Disney World right now. The percentage of adults actively using GLP-1s is single-digits. I would hazard a guess that NYT is seeing a more pronounced impact in New York City, or that some restaurants have found this to be a clever marketing angle.
Whenever this does impact Walt Disney World, I’d expect it to result in some character buffets switching over to prix fixe menus. But who knows what else is possible. Interesting topic to bring up, regardless!
Remember, GLP1 users are not spread uniformly through the population. It’s use is much higher in some demographics, and most users don’t publicly announce their use. (Yes, I used it personally, I lost a critical 25 pounds.. for now, I’m off it).
Among Disney guests, it likely still is single digits, but may actually be high single digits. May be enough to have slight impact.