Best Disney Dining Plan Snack Credit Uses

In this post we cover the best-value snack credit uses on the 2019 Disney Dining Plan. Since desserts, cupcakes, ice cream, drinks, festival samples, and other treats at Walt Disney World vary considerably, even $4 differences in prices can add up over the course of an entire WDW vacation. (Last updated January 10, 2019.)

Snack prices are obviously lower than Table Service and Counter Service meals, so there’s generally less of a difference between high and low snack prices than there is between high and low priced meals. Nevertheless, it’s worth paying attention to snack prices if you want to maximize your total value on the Disney Dining Plan, as some Epcot festivals have $10 “snacks” and other snacks might cost as little as a few dollars.

There are exponentially more snacks available on Disney property than there are other items, so some snacks aren’t always available. It’s not feasible for us to give a totally comprehensive, dollar-for-dollar breakdown, so this is more of a general top 10 than our Table Service and Counter Service credit-value maximizing articles.

This list is updated annually, with the most recent addition being options from the Epcot International Festival of the Arts. As Epcot has ‘stepped up’ its festival game over the last few years, these items are increasingly good options–but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. In this post, we’ll cover several good value snacks on the Disney Dining Plan, many of which are cult favorites among Walt Disney World fans…

Items that qualify as snacks for the  purposes of the Disney Dining Plan are denoted by a little purple and white “DDP” symbol on the restaurant menus across property. Some items that are considered snacks in some locations aren’t considered snacks elsewhere. Make sure to consult the menu before ordering any item you deem a “snack” as Disney may not agree!

1. Epcot Festival Kiosk Snack Portions – If you’re visiting during one of Epcot’s three big annual festivals, read no further than #1 on this list. During the these events, you should be using ALL of your snack credits at the temporary kiosks set up.

The most popular of these is Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival (late August through November), but more the Epcot International Festival of the Arts actually provided more bang for buck, and the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival has expanded its food offerings in recent years, too. Then there’s the Epcot International Festival of Holidays, which also has a strong food presence. These events run almost uninterrupted from late August until May, leaving only the summer months without any festivals at Epcot.

To see just how far you can stretch your credits, check out our Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booth Menus post which includes food photos & reviews for every single snack at the event, and also discusses good uses of Disney Dining Plan credits.

Normally, if a snack exceeds around $6, it is excluded from snack credit status, making those $8+ items a great use of snack credits! Let’s just hope Disney doesn’t wise up to this wonderful use of snack credits anytime soon, and start excluding these foods from Snack Credit “status.”

2. Magic Kingdom Floats & Swirls – You’ve undoubtedly heard of the Dole Whip, but are you familiar with the Citrus Swirl, Peter Pan Float, or other ice cream concoctions at Magic Kingom?!

Check out our Best Magic Kingdom Snacks List for our subjective favorites (and more), most of which are also good uses of snack credits on the Disney Dining Plan!

3. Ample Hills Creamery – A relatively new addition to Disney’s BoardWalk, Ample Hills has by far the best ice cream at Walt Disney World. While only the small cups and cones are eligible snacks on the Disney Dining Plan, they are still exceptional uses of a snack credit.

My recommendation: Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. The absolute best flavor at Ample Hills. So creamery and sweet, with chunks of soft butter cake to add even more sweetness. (My least favorite flavor is the “exclusive” Sally Sells Seashells Ice Cream, which I found a bit lacking.)

4. Epcot Bakeries – Epcot has two stellar bakeries (and several other good snack stops–just read our Snacking Around the World in Epcot post for other locations) in the World Showcase. Actually, Epcot has 3 of the 5 Top Bakeries at Walt Disney World.

The top 2 are Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie and our #1 bakery, Kringla Bakeri og Kafe. There are about 15 items in each of these bakeries that each exceed $3.75, which, in my mind, qualifies them as reasonably good values. Several other items are above $4, making them excellent values. It doesn’t hurt that just about everything at these bakeries is delicious!

5. “Homemade” Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches – These are not the ice cream sandwiches that you can find at various ice cream carts every 10 feet in Walt Disney World (I really think there might be more of them than there are DVC kiosks!).

These, for lack of a better term, are “homemade” right in front of you with freshly baked cookies and hand scooped ice cream at only a few locations in Walt Disney World.

6. Zebra Domes – These bad boys can be elusive. Sometimes, you can find them on the Boma buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Sometimes, you can find them for sale at Mara.

If you’re eating at Boma, get them there for “free.” If you’re not eating at Boma, use a snack credit to get them at Mara, where their $4 price makes them a good use of snack credits. That is, assuming you can find this endangered species of snack!

7. Gourmet Cupcakes – Pretty much any specialty cupcakes available at Walt Disney World is going to induce mild sticker shock, but if you’ve got snack credits to burn, those ~$6 cupcakes don’t sting quite as much.

For the most part, these cupcakes live up to the hype. While the whole cupcake trend is a bit played out, Walt Disney World still has some excellent options that we highly recommend!

8. Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bar – A plain ole ice cream bar that is merely shaped like a Mickey head? Minus the Mickey shape, you could find this anywhere, right? RIGHT?! Wrong. There’s something magic in the…err…milk(?) that they use to make these bad boys, and somehow, this readily available ice cream bar is really something special.

Seriously, if you’ve never given it a chance, you owe it to yourself to try this iconic treat. This is one case where an item that is mass-produced and available everywhere really lives up to (and exceeds!) the hype.

9. Novelty Drinks – There are several of these throughout Walt Disney World, but the one we have in mind here is the Night Blossom – Non-Alcoholic Specialty Beverage with layers of Apple and Desert Pear Limeade topped with Passion Fruit Boba Balls at Pongu Pongu in Pandora – World of Avatar.

For a snack credit, you can get a “normal” cup, but not the Souvenir Mug with Glowing Unadelta Seed. Don’t lose too much sleep over not getting the souvenir cup, as the it is poorly made and might not even survive your trip home.

10. Funnel Cakes – Objectively speaking, the funnel cake carts around Walt Disney World are one of the best uses of snack credits outside of Epcot festivals. These are all typically over $7 in price, and included on the Disney Dining Plan as snack credits. Occasionally, you’ll find a seasonal offering that’s excluded, but that’s a rarity.

Subjectively speaking, we think Walt Disney World funnel cakes can be very hit or miss in terms of quality. We aren’t willing to take this gamble when paying out of pocket, but with a snack credit, it can be worth the “risk.”

If this list doesn’t activate your sweet tooth, I don’t know what will. This just scratches the surface of value-maximizing snacks (and snacks in general) at Walt Disney World. Remember that while value is important, ordering snacks you enjoy is even more important (which is why you’ll often see us with the cheap School Bread from Norway instead of expensive snacks)!

Hopefully this list helps you get more bang for your buck on the Disney Dining Plan. Check out our Value-Maximizing tips for Counter Service restaurants and Value-Maximizing Tips for Table Service Restaurants to get even more value out of the Disney Dining Plan!

Planning a Disney trip? Read our other Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews and our 101 Delicious Walt Disney World Dining Tips. If you are planning a Walt Disney World trip, make sure to also read our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!

Your Thoughts…

What tips do you have for getting the most out of the Disney Dining Plan? If you have any tips to maximize your value on other Walt Disney World snacks, please share them in the comments!