When Will Disney World’s Dining Plan Return?
“When will the Disney Dining Plan return in 2023?” and “will Walt Disney World bring back Free Dining?” are common reader questions. We’ll try to answer based on what we know about the prepaid meal plan and this popular discount, plus an earnings call update, restaurant capacity, crowds, staffing shortages, and more. (Updated May 3, 2023.)
When the parks & resorts reopened, Walt Disney World temporarily suspended the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) and cancelled Free Dining, along with several other things. In the time since, Walt Disney World has restored or announced the return of most offerings…except the DDP. At this point, the Disney Dining Plan is one of the few things that’s still temporarily unavailable. Virtually everything else has been officially ended/cancelled or brought back as of early 2023.
For its part, Walt Disney World has not been totally silent about the Disney Dining Plan’s future–they released a statement saying that it would be back soon…but that was over a year ago. If you want to be notified when the Disney Dining Plan’s return is announced, you can subscribe to our free email newsletter for instant alerts. For now, here’s everything you need to know about when the Disney Dining Plan might return. If you’ve already read this post in the past, scroll down to the “May 2023 Update” section for the latest predictions.
We should start by addressing the misconception that Disney eliminated the Dining Plan as a cost-cutting measure. This is patently false. The Dining Plan is actually incredibly lucrative and advantageous for Walt Disney World in normal times. The Disney Dining Plan is a primarily a revenue engine, but one that’s also perceived as a perk by guests. It was truly a win-win for company and consumer. As such, it’s a matter of when the Disney Dining Plan will return, not if it will.
The big caveat here is the “in normal times” part of that. Right now, Walt Disney World is seeing record-breaking per guest spending, which has been up significantly as compared to 2019. This means that guests paying out of pocket have been spending more on average for their food than they would with the Disney Dining Plan. However, that level of pent-up demand won’t last forever.
One of the biggest reasons Walt Disney World offers the DDP is because it keeps guests on-site. If guests are already locked-into all of their meals at Walt Disney World, they’re less likely to venture to Universal, SeaWorld, and so on. Even if they do, Disney already has their money for those meals.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch–Disney benefits from the Dining Plan by capturing guests’ vacation dollars and boxing visitors into making all of their purchases at Walt Disney World, where every price has an on-site premium. Moreover, guests using the Disney Dining Plan order more than those who pay out of pocket.
This is quantifiable. Historically, per guest food & beverage spending is lower among guests who do not use the Disney Dining Plan than those who do. Consider how many guests on the DDP end up stockpiling Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Treats at the end of their trips because they have so many unused snack credits. Now think of how many guests do not do that, and instead just let snack–or even table service–credits go to waste.
In normal times, the portion of guests who save money on the Disney Dining Plan is relatively small. Sure, you can consult online tips and hacks to leverage it to your advantage, but most people don’t have the time or desire for that level of work.
The vast majority of the park-going public is not reading blogs like this one to meticulously research and plan their Walt Disney World vacation. They want the simplicity of an “all-inclusive” meal plan and costs known up front. They don’t care (or realize) they’re potentially wasting money or credits. Suffice to say, when it comes to the DDP, the House of Mouse (almost) always wins.
That’s not the only way that the House of Mouse almost always wins. In our Disney Dining Plan Info & Review post, we reverse-engineer a dollar value for each type of DDP credit, with $45 being the amount ascribed to a table service credit. Walt Disney World does the same and sets a reimbursement rate for the many third party restaurants operating in the parks and at Disney Springs.
If a third-party table restaurant accepts the Dining Plan, they’re repaid at a set rate–often below the cost of the meal. For example, the third party might be paid $25 by Walt Disney World for each credit that’s redeemed, even though the guest is ordering $40 worth of food. Without the Dining Plan, Disney is missing out on this cut of business at most restaurants in World Showcase and Disney Springs.
This is the traditional analysis of why the Dining Plan benefits Walt Disney World, but it fails to account for on-the-ground circumstances. To that point, it’s worth addressing inflation and the wave of price increases on hundreds of food items at Walt Disney World.
This occurred twice last year, and if precedent is any indication, another round of increases will occur in the first half of 2023. (That has not happened through May 2023!) The last wave of price increases were more comprehensive and sweeping, with everything from snacks (again) to character dining experiences going up in price. This latter one is particularly significant, because character meals are particularly popular with guests who typically purchase the Disney Dining Plan.
In the past, higher menu prices made the Disney Dining Plan more attractive and pushed guests towards it. People comparing menu prices to package prices would see that, even though the DDP is pricey, so too are individual entrees, snacks, desserts, drinks, etc. It’s thus always notable when Walt Disney World increases menu prices, as that could be a sign that they’re preparing for the return of the DDP.
Then there’s inflation, which has dominated the real world news and has been a major problem for Americans everywhere. It’s no secret that inflation has hit the cost of food especially hard. The USDA tracks a breakdown in its Food Price Outlook page, which shows that the cost of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs in particular has all skyrocketed.
It should go without saying, but businesses attempt to pass higher costs on to consumers. This is clearly what’s happening at grocery stores, but the USDA’s “food away from home” index shows that restaurants have not increased in lockstep with grocery stores on the CPI. This is despite higher ingredients costs and higher labor costs.
We’ve noticed this at Walt Disney World restaurants in the time since reopening. Don’t get us wrong–table service entrees are very pricey at Disney, but they have been for years. That’s nothing new. Walt Disney World’s aforementioned price increases disproportionately impact snacks and other impulse purchases and not items that have seen the highest inflation.
One potential industry-wide explanation is trepidation among restaurants about their ability to pass on higher prices to consumers without seeing a corresponding drop in demand. Those same concerns likely exist with the Disney Dining Plan. Even in the last few years pre-closure, the rate of its price increases had slowed significantly. Menu item increases had outpaced Disney Dining Plan price increases pre-closure, making the DDP a better value in early 2020 than it was in ~2017.
The theory for that was Walt Disney World had reached its price ceiling (or close to it) with the Disney Dining Plan, but not with individual component prices. Now, food costs are even higher. Consumers might be more willing to pay this impulsively and in smaller increments, but balk at a ~$90 regular Disney Dining Plan. The company thus might modify (a positive spin on “reduce”) what each tier of the DDP includes to keep margins high.
Also important to Walt Disney World is having sufficient restaurant capacity for the demand induced by the Disney Dining Plan. This was a significant problem for much of the last 2 years and a big reason why the Disney Dining Plan was temporarily suspended in the first place.
This is still a consideration, but not nearly to the degree that it once was. Most restaurants have reopened, to the point that the number of locations that are unavailable is fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of Walt Disney World’s dining capacity (See Open & Closed Restaurants at Walt Disney World).
Additionally, restaurants that have been open for months have continued to scale up operations, bringing back breakfast, buffets, or other missing meal services. Breakfast and lunch return to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and breakfast comes back to Garden Grill in May and June 2023. Everything helps when it comes to dining capacity, but it’s already “close enough” to pre-closure levels even with some missing meal services and shorter operating hours at a handful of locations.
As intimated above, staffing remains an issue at many Walt Disney World restaurants, but this is nowhere near as bad in 2023 as it was in the last two years. The company has had difficulty filling certain key roles, and turnover was high–but both of those issues have improved.
In an attempt to remedy that, Walt Disney World had been holding culinary job fairs and offering hiring bonuses for almost 2 years. You’ll notice that’s past tense. At present, the only job fair is for lifeguards, and the only hiring bonus is for specialized roles (e.g. pastry chef assistant). To be sure, there are still open positions–especially in kitchens–but absolutely nothing like the last couple of years.
Since the return of CEO Bob Iger, Cast Member morale has improved significantly. Walt Disney World also reaching an agreement with the Cast Member unions resulting in significant pay increases also helps. (And for those wondering, no frontline Cast Members at Walt Disney World are among the company’s thousands of planned layoffs–the parks are actively hiring, not firing!)
Of course, all of this is not directly relevant to the imminent return of the Disney Dining Plan and it does not “confirm” anything. When it comes to official statements, the last update Walt Disney World provided was back in 2021 when announcing theme park early entry and extended evening hours on-site guest perks.
That stated the Disney Dining Plan will return, but that the company is “not quite ready to share an update on timing.” Disney indicated that the guest-favorite option would be back soon, with more updates on restaurants to come. Obviously, that was quite a while ago. So…where does that leave things?
May 2023 Update
We’re back with an update, despite no major news or official announcements about the return of the Disney Dining Plan. Readers continue to ask about it on a regular basis and there has been more incremental progress, so we have a look at that. However, we’ll warn you up front that you won’t find any official announcements or ‘seismic shifts’ here. If anything, it’s the lack of changes that’s conspicuous here.
It has now been almost 2 years (!!!) since Walt Disney World confirmed that the Disney Dining Plan would be back soon, but that they were “not quite ready” to make an announcement. Apparently Disney has a different definition of “soon” than do we.
Officially, nothing has changed with specific regard to the DDP since then. There have been appearances of the Disney Dining Plan in marketing materials and is still present on Walt Disney World’s official site. There continue to be a few “fakeouts” in Disneyworld.com booking process where it appears you can add the Disney Dining Plan, but nothing real.
Every new menu that goes up for the EPCOT Festivals also still features the DDP symbol next to eligible snacks, as if food & beverage teams are preparing for it to possibly return at any time. That has been the case over and over, and is meaningless.
A much more meaningful development we’ve noticed as of May 2023 is that Advance Dining Reservation availability has significantly improved. We’ve been able to book restaurants that have eluded us since reopening and in spot-checking ADRs for June and July 2023, even the peak summer months don’t look as competitive as either of the last 2 years.
This isn’t a totally new development, as ADR availability has been easing for a while. However, the extent of options we’re seeing is pretty remarkable. Restaurants like Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Topolino’s Terrace, California Grill, and others all have availability throughout the month. The only restaurant I had difficulty finding was Toy Story Roundup Rodeo, which is understandable given that it’s brand new.
With that said, we’ve seen exactly this happen in the past during shoulder and off-season. And to be fair, our analysis of post-spring break attendance trends in Sharp Shoulder Season Slowdown at Walt Disney World and Low Pre-Summer Crowds at Walt Disney World shows precisely this type of drop.
However, the improved ADR availability isn’t just for this month–it’s also for June and July 2023. Those are summer vacation months that should be a time of peak travel. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere, there are already early signs of slowing bookings at Walt Disney World. Perhaps this is what the exhaustion of pent-up demand really looks like; maybe consumers are finally changing their spending habits; it’s possible rising prices on everything have finally done their damage.
For its part, Walt Disney World already has released 14 different discounts for 2023, which is more than were available for the entirety of last year. Most of these discounts have been released earlier than normal by historical standards, and offer better savings than their counterparts from the last two years. Some are superior to 2018 or 2019, but baseline prices and perks have also changed since then.
As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, Disney doesn’t offer discounts out of generosity. Rather, the company releases special offers when attendance or hotel occupancy projections are soft. If weak discounting and late releases were a sign that pent-up demand had still been running strong, the increased discounting is almost certainly a sign that the opposite is no longer be true as of 2023.
This is relevant to the Disney Dining Plan conversation because it’s both a way to incentivize bookings and prop up per-guest revenue numbers. In the past few years, consumers had been freely spending–voluntarily dropping more on meals and travel & leisure to make up for lost time. If that’s no longer true, the Disney Dining Plan returning could function as an offset to all of that, giving a boost or second-wind to spending, so to speak, when it otherwise might slow down.
Nevertheless, it’s unclear what all of this means for the return of the Disney Dining Plan. As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, it’s the totality of things–more restaurants reopening, additional tables being filled, staffing reaching sufficient levels, and less of a supply v. demand imbalance–that would pave the way for the Disney Dining Plan’s return. From our perspective, all of that has now been achieved. There should be nothing holding back Walt Disney World from reviving the Disney Dining Plan.
Still, it’s important to acknowledge the reality that nothing with Walt Disney World is as easy as flipping a switch. The Disney Dining Plan has its own complicating factors, ranging from dining capacity to contracts with the aforementioned third party operating participant restaurants at Disney Springs, Epcot, and elsewhere.
In other words, even if the stars have finally aligned and it makes sense for Walt Disney World to bring back the DDP ASAP, it still might take months for that to happen, unless leadership has been preparing for this moment and is ready to execute on its return. Honestly, I’m skeptical of that. Everything we’ve seen from Walt Disney World in the last few years suggests the change will take a minimum of a few months from decision to execution or implementation.
So, when will the Disney Dining Plan return?
With all of the above in mind, there are three possible scenarios. The first is any day now. In this situation, Walt Disney World leadership has been aware of and concerned about soft summer bookings for a matter of months, and now wants to pull available “levers” to bump up revenue and resort occupancy. One lever we’ve already seen pulled is new Annual Pass sales resuming. Another is the aforementioned increase in resort discounts. It wouldn’t surprise me if more summer ticket deals are released for Floridians, and perhaps more targeted room deals.
Honestly, it would surprise me if the Disney Dining Plan’s return is one of these levers. It’s just such a significant change that it seems unlikely that it’s something Walt Disney World would do while scrambling to buoy bookings for this summer, unless they are really bad–or unless the company has been concerned about this slowdown for months. (And this year’s earlier release of the free dining card discount suggests that might be the case.) So in short, we think a Summer 2023 return of the Disney Dining Plan is plausible, but highly unlikely.
The next scenario is that an announcement of the Disney Dining Plan’s return is made in Summer 2023, but for travel dates further into the future. While this doesn’t address the immediate issue of occupancy and attendance in the coming months, it’s a good compromise. It gives Walt Disney World the ability to open the DDP for booking soon, securing a commitment of future revenue. This would be a savvy move amidst a travel slowdown, as it’d be a way to capture bookings before consumers start reducing their budgets and scaling back plans.
As for the timing of the return, the most obvious possibility is January 2024. That gives the company the ability to make a clean break and manage bookings accordingly. It also allows Walt Disney World to get past the Christmas season, which is always a popular time for dining demand. However, we wouldn’t rule out an announcement this summer that the Disney Dining Plan is returning in August 2023. That’s more aggressive, but it also could make sense and give both travelers and the company time to adjust.
This announcement could be made anytime in the next three months, but would likely come alongside the release of 2024 Walt Disney World vacation packages (assuming the January return is more likely, which we think is the case). Last year, vacation packages were announced on May 18 and booking began June 8. Normally, the announcement comes between mid-June and July, but an earlier announcement is once again likely for 2024 packages–everything else has happened earlier than normal this year.
The final scenario is that the Disney Dining Plan will return around September 15, 2023. That’s when the previously-released free dining card promo ends.
The reasoning here would be that the dining card places an added burden on Cast Members or stresses the system and reduces overall capacity, and thus Walt Disney World would not want to juggle those cards and the Disney Dining Plan simultaneously. However, the strain that the dining card places on the system could be a good ‘stress test’ and pave the way for the Disney Dining Plan to return once school goes back into session and after that promo ends.
The Disney Dining Plan returning in early Fall 2023 is more plausible than pre-summer, but both are questionable at best to unlikely at worst. Again, it’s been over 3 years since the Disney Dining Plan was available. There has been a tremendous amount of turnover since then, both among frontline Cast Members and management.
If this were still 2021 or even last year, we’d be inclined to predict that the Disney Dining Plan would return ASAP. It would be a good lever to pull to maintain elevated per guest revenue numbers, maintain dining demand, resort occupancy, and everything else. But with so much time having passed since the DDP was last available, it now seems more likely that Walt Disney World isn’t going to rush into the return and rollout. (Frankly, we hope they don’t at this point. After seeing the struggles with Genie+ when it launched, it makes more sense to take time and get this right.)
Ultimately, we hate to be so pessimistic, but that’s increasingly how we feel about the eventual return of the Disney Dining Plan. Optimism has gotten us nowhere, and it’s not worth continuing to hold out hope as Walt Disney World tests other ways to sustain high per guest spending while inducing less crushing demand on restaurants that are already mostly filling up.
There is a scenario where guests have already started to spend less, and that’s being felt by Walt Disney World even amidst higher overall spending driven by Genie+ and Lightning Lane price increases. In such a situation, it’s possible work is already occurring behind the scenes to bring the paid Disney Dining Plan back for Summer 2023. But we really, really doubt that this is what’s going to happen. It would truly take the stars aligning.
More likely is a return of the Disney Dining Plan in September 2023. However, “more likely” is a relative term, and we’d still put the chances at under 50%. Again, if it were 2 years ago, our tune would be different–it would’ve made complete sense to bring the DDP back in September 2021 if the underlying circumstances allowed. Now, those do allow, but there are other reasons for a more cautious and drawn out approach.
Which brings us to the most likely scenario. There’s obviously a lot could change in the next several months, but if we were forced to bet on a specific return date for the Disney Dining Plan right now, our pick would be January 1, 2024. To address whatever summer slowdown may happen, the company can pull other “levers” while using the DDP as a way to boost 2024 bookings. This also offers a “clean break” with the new vacation packages. The good news is that we should know one way or another by June 2023, if not within the next few weeks, as that’s when an announcement is likely for 2024 Walt Disney World vacation packages.
That’s a huge range of predictions, but as is pretty clear by now, we do not have a crystal ball, and circumstances continue to change. Given how lucrative the Dining Plan is for Walt Disney World in “normal times,” I never would’ve predicted it would be gone for this long. But clearly these are not normal times. In any case, you can sign up to our free email newsletter and we’ll keep you posted as soon as Walt Disney World makes an announcement or there’s more news regarding the DDP’s return in 2023…or 2024.
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
When do you expect the Disney Dining Plan to return? Do you agree or disagree that it could still be a while with ADRs filling up and per guest spending skyrocketing? Think Walt Disney World will bring back the DDP in Summer or September 2023? Do you think Disney will be more slow and conservative, waiting until January 2024? Or, do you think all of this is wrong, and the DDP is dead and gone?! Would the Disney Dining Plan’s reinstatement make you more likely to book a trip? 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!
What can we do about it? I need this plan to have a great vacation and not stress food costs. Please advise, thanks!
Wait and hope.
Any updates??? My family is ready to book a 50th anniversary trip but not until Guardians has an opening date and the DP returns. I saw maybe Monorail Day?
LOL Memorial Day. Disney on the brain!
There is an offer on Costco Travel right now that is really confusing with the dining plan being absent. Basically, if you stay at the Dolphin, age 3-9 eat free. Is this an indication that the dining plan is coming back soon if Disney Travel partners are including free meals in thier packages? Has anyone else seen offers like this lately?
Hi Lindsay,
This type offers from Costco is very regular, I have seen it many times in the passed, but I have never purchased it, even when it has way many more good things compare to mydisneyexperience, but I think what they main is children 3-9 eat free in the hotel food court.
Hope this help!
This was always a matter of convenience and being able to prepay for us. Room charges trigger holds on bank accounts, which in turn ties up extra money. Normally pay room balances with GCs to avoid too many transactions triggering fraud alerts. Magic Band was intended to reduce the need to carry a wallet, without DDP my options are pay each transaction with a GC or risk fraud alerts on the MB from more frequent use.
You can combine gift cars ( up to $1000. I use a couple of these to pay for food.
I did this on our recent trip. Still use your magic band to “pay” for food, when you really just charge it back to your room. Then at the end of either each night, or however frequently you’d like to, go to the front desk and pay your room balance off with your giftcard. I never had any issues doing that. Just remember that if you want to do that only once, Disney charges the card on file the night before check out. So make sure that you pay with your gift card prior to that!
I am writing this review of my trip recently to WDW. After coming here for over 30 years I find this place disappointing. I bought a 5 day pass and was told that after 2 I can use it to visit other parks. This was told to me by 4 cast members in separate parks. When I was going to use it I then informed that isn’t true, and the 5 cast member who said was a supervisor was basically calling me a liar also her people who works under her. I also that this was for my
granddaughter her demeanor was poor. She then charged me 113.00 for one day and said this is good for all 5 days, except that I was only going to be there 2 more days. I pointed this out but she didn’t care at all. I find this place not what Walt Disney had in mind , so maybe these people in charge should go to Hollywood Studios and watch the movie about what he had in mind and what the park is suppose to be about. “Family fun”. The person who is running the show does not care about his customer or their families. He said that they have to raise prices but they posted a huge profit and he is using COVID to raise prices. I also am a stock holder and voted against his take over. He just doesn’t care and maybe people should start to take notice. The worst part about ousting this is that I will never get a response, because these people either don’t care or can’t be bothered with people like me. Thank you
We live in the Northeast but we’re frequent visitors to Disneyworld because we have relatives that live in Florida. From what I see and read I been holding off on our family trip but it looks like I truly don’t see Disney becoming a good value for the money anymore. Disney is heading to only serving the ultra rich and seems like they’re fine with that. The nickel and dime charges for everything is ridiculous. Our trip is more than double what is was for years before the pandemic. Sad! Families will still go and pay the ridiculous prices. That’s the saddest part.
@Robert Rocco:
“ the worst part of posting this is I will never get a response “
Why would you get a response? This blog isn’t owned by Disney. Or have you copy/pasted this same post to every 3rd party blog you run into? Instead of posting on Disney’s Disney Blog or writing to Disney.
Most of that doesn’t make any sense and why are you posting this on a blog? Why would you expect a response? From a blogger? Who doesn’t work for Disney at all? It’s really silly.
Why would you post this here?
YOU obviously did not have 5he park hopper option on your original ticket purchase. You could have seen that on your MDE app.
The cast member was correct that you can visit another park after you checked into your reserved park-but you must have valid admission….. ie park hopper.
Everything is not Disney’s fault. You bought the wrong park tickets and you are trying to blame the CMs for your mistake. It doesn’t matter what they told you. What did you ask?
Hi Tom and Sarah! Have you ever used Stakeout App to score last minute dining reservations? Did it work? Would love to hear back! Many thanks! Ashley
Fingers crossed the DDP will be back before my family’s August trip. With four kids aged 15 and above plus my husband and myself, the DDP is a must for us. It’s paid for before we get there and I don’t have to regulate what the kids order. It may not be a cost advantage but it’s a sanity advantage for me. Please Disney, we could all use a ray of sunshine right now. Give all your faithful fans a break.
I agree it’s more a sanity thing for me. We are traveling with much older children 20 and 22 and it makes it so much easier than worrying about what everyone is ordering all day. Drinks and snacks add up quickly and I prefer to pay ahead of time… meaning with the Disney dining.
I’m a UK guest to WDW, our last visit was 2018. That year (and a good few before that) the DDP was free to UK guests, so generally our ‘costs’ for dining on those trips were tips and alcohol (the free DDP would enable us to purchase those higher price cocktails etc). I am seriously doubting that the DDP will return, let’s face it, Disney are keeping way more guests on site since the introduction of parking fees as (like us) guests will ditch their rental before arrival. The pandemic (I would suggest) has increased consumer demand for the Disney vacation, people are returning despite the horrific rise in Disney accommodations. Furthermore, The cost of eating and drinking at WDW is truly extortionate for UK visitors as our culture does not demand a 20% tip each time we dine out, instead it is regarded that staff are paid adequately by their employer and tipping is discretionary for excellent service. I said that we would not return to WDW until the free DDP returned for UK guests, and yet I have my 12 night stay at AKL booked for this year, we booked with the 50 year anniversary offer so have a small daily dining credit. That said the cost of AKL for our trip has reduced since we booked so we are not really benefitting from that package. If the DDP does return before the summer months, and if the free DDP returns for UK guests, I wonder if there will be another massive price increase alongside it? And/or will guests already booked be able to switch their booking to the new free DDP offer? The free DDP does open up to US guests too so at certain times, but like I say, I think demand is at record levels right now. I personally do not think the DDP will return in its previous format (which had already been shrunk in terms of what it offered), if at all. Disney are doing very well without it as far as I can tell and without offering it for free. Does anybody else share my view?
I’m just waiting to book my next WDW vacation until the dining plan returns. I hope they know that bringing it back will increase attendance..??
We have used the DDP every year, except last year, I took that opportunity to actually compare the cost differences, we eat at the same places every year so it was fairly easy to do an apple to apple comparison, paying for the refillable souvenir cups , paying for 2 snacks every day , one quick service one sit down meal every day , we literally saved $40.00 the previous year on the dining plan, so the cost factor in my opinion, whatever it’s close, the convenience of the DDP yea that’s a plus but personally we attached the same credit card to our room that would have paid for the DDP , so will we not go to our magic place without the DDP ,,, absolutely not , there is no reasonable reason not to
I’m with you. I love DDP and always come out ahead, esp now that adults get booze. I have a May trip that I pray will have it. Otherwise, it will be a “dry” trip, because I can’t face those OOP drink prices. Literally, I will just drink from my own water bottle at QS rather than even pay $5 for pop.
I agree with you…since the DDP wasn’t available we have eaten at pretty much the same restaurants including a few new table service restaurants that we haven’t before, as we have never been much for the quick service options …we found that we came pretty darn close to what we spent on a comparison to how much the DDP cost with all sit down restaurants! . We were always the ones on the last day running around using our credits on bags of candy! Unless they were to come back with the free DDP promotion (which I don’t think will ever happen again) it really isn’t saving us much…that’s my 2 cents 🙂
I think the fact that Disney indicated staff shortages are limiting capacity at the parks now more than COVID concerns is why the DDP hasn’t returned yet. I think we overlook when Disney announced DDP would be returning was last summer before Delta and Omicron, but also before we realized how much people were not looking to return to the same jobs/industries pre-COVID. So I think Disney expected they’d be able to announce the return of DDP sooner when they made that comment last year, but circumstances on the ground (particularly culinary staffing) and as you put it, the lack of any real need for Disney to use the DDP to lock in more dining dollars has delayed it’s return. My best guess is they announce it will return for the summer season at this point.
Sorry, I was referring to the quarterly earnings call this week where they again highlighted staffing shortages was driving capacity limits more than anything else and separately noted a struggle in culinary positions.
We booked a week mid June at the Fort Wildnerness Cabins. While we thoroughly enjoy eating out, without the DDP, we will probably just eat most of our meals at the cabin and treat ourselves to only a few meals out. With the DDP, we’d probably still make a few meals at the cabin and then do more eating out and about during the day. Similar to a commenter above, I like the all-inclusive feeling of the DDP. I don’t have to worry about a food budget.
Same here.
Won’t eat out if we don’t have the dining plan. Can’t feed the whole family without it. Or we will head off property and eat in Kissimmee etc.
Bottom line for me I will not return to DisneyWorld for vacation until the DDP comes back. I’m the kind of person who likes to pay for everything upfront and not worry about paying for it then or when I check out. Like Souvenirs I get them all my last day again worry about paying all at one time. Less headache and stress.
Totally agree with you Chris. We are booked for August this year with the dining credit but it’s the fact that 1. That’s no where near enough to make up for the plan, 2. We’d more than happily pay full price for DDP if it comes back before then, and 3. I want a stress free holiday with no worries about having to keep an eye on the food budget.
I’m from the UK and had a free breakfast plan but upgraded to the standard DDP in 2018 for 2 adults and 2 children
It was so easy for everyone to order what they wanted without worrying about the cost.
In our 14 days we had 8 character meals, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest, T-Rex, Cinderella and Beast castles.
Add 14 quick service and 28 snacks each.
A breakdown of the latest offer of $900 worked out at $65 per day credit for food for the 4 of us.
The offer might seem good for a first visit to Disney, but as we have been 8 times staying both onsite and off, we know this offer would barely cover the cost of a couple of snacks each.
Until the DDP returns I will not be returning as it is going to be too expensive.
No Disney Magical Express, No free fast pass, No DDP = No Visit
@Lori pretty sure the dining card is only for those staying at swan/dolphin etc-or do you see that for regular Disney resorts?
They have a dining card right now b/c not dining plan. It cost
adult $35 value $40
Kids $12.50 value $15
Can be used at food courts- kiosk-drink stands etc
Not sit down restaurants with servers
Better then nothing
Have been a few times and used the DDP on most of those. Have an upcoming trip towards the end of this year that has been postponed due to COVID and the closures of many of the experiences & extras that Disney has fone so well to include the DFP.
WE will cancel if the DDP does not return to somewhat what it was befove COVID hit causing all of this mess.
Family and myself are really looking forward to and getting excited for this upcoming trip.
Have seen numerous experiences start to come back, just waiting patiently for the DDP!
My husband and I went to WDW when the dining plan was first started. Our TA said that disney was trying to build up resort bookings in September, specifically, by giving a free dining plan! We went that first September and had the “free” dining plan. Our TA said that we were going right after most schools started, so people wouldn’t take their kids out of school only after a couple of weeks. Boy, were they wrong. It was super crowded with families (I can’t blame them).
So, the initial DP did what it was supposed to do.
Then everyone got used to it and used it. I saw the quality of the food go down hill after that. Then the DP changed to eliminate alot! We stayed with it for a few years because we were used to it.
However, I talked my reluctant husband into going without the DP on our next trip. He really didn’t want to. We just tapped our magic bands and the meals (and everything else) was charged to our room on our CC. That worked out great.
We found that we ate less, enjoyed it more, and spent less money. We were always eating way too much to “make the DP worth it”. We had no room for the extra goodies. Without the DP we could eat those ice cream sundaes, mickey bars, etc and not feel bloated.
We were surprised at how much we Did Not miss DP. We could eat what we wanted and pretty much when we wanted. We have never gone back to the DP. I hope they never bring it back. If they do, I would bet it will be a trimmed down version of it’s old self and priced more to boot.
Where hoping to be coming to Disney this year always used the dining plan and upgraded to waiter service so fingers crossed they bring it back soon.
At this juncture, while I absolutely expect a dining plan to return, there is no reason to think it will (or won’t) be the same as the old plan. The plan has always evolved a bit year to year. The 2019 plan was very very different than the 2014 or 2009 plans.
Given a 2 year gap without any dining plan, and given WDW has taken Covid as a chance to make wholesale changes, there is no reason to think they will just flip a switch to return the dining plan of old.
Personally, I believe the appeal of the dining plan was starting to get too narrow, particularly with the inclusion of alcohol — creating a very very different value between adults who drink, adults who don’t drink, and 10-20 year-old “Disney adults” who can’t drink.
So personally, I wouldn’t mind if they went back to the drawing board on what a dining plan should consist of.
I also suspect that such a long gap may motivate them to broaden the appeal when the plan does return. A hypothesis — The dining plan was a MUCH better value 10+ years ago. There are many return/regular guests who just got into the habit of booking the dining plan every trip. With 2 years+ off from the dining plan, they can’t count on these guests to just automatically add it anymore.
But I totally agree that a dining plan will return. My best guess — summer.
The DDP worked well for our family. We’re a family with small children who loved the character breakfasts. The expense of the few meals we planned with the other planned meals and snacks meant the expense wise we always BROKE EVEN! Purchasing the plan made sense because it allowed us to take the money we would have spent anyways and invest in a meal plan that got us the luxury of a free adult beverage with the sit down meals which is something we rarely order, extra snacks for the kids and for us at the Epcot Festival booths, extra sit down meals-some with additional characters to meet, and best pick on all the menus (We’re carnivores!). You definitely needed to leverage the plan to work in your favor. We miss it. Regardless, with the lack of inspiring menus, decline in much of the food quality, and lack of character interaction, much of the value of the DDP is gone.