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!
I agree that you don’t usually come out AHEAD on the dining plan. But we just spent a week at Disney with usually one table meal a day as our rest period (this worked great with our 7 yo, finally didn’t have to go all the way back to the hotel for hours!), plus a quick service meal and OF COURSE a snack. (Sometimes two.) We spent more than we would’ve spent with the plan, and maybe partly that’s because of increased prices. But more importantly, I found myself thinking about the budget during the trip. That tosses cold water on the fun of it. I don’t want to look at a menu and think, “Gosh, ANOTHER meal with a $60 entree?!” I want to look at a menu and think, “Ahhh, don’t even have to look at the price.” I want to save up, put my money into the dining plan, and relax. That’s worth extra cost, to me. It is especially helpful once you have older kids who want to be free to eat a meal without the parents. As soon as it comes back, I’m booking my next trip – and maybe not until then.
I agree. Disney is delaying ddp as it keeps people out of the park for every meal. They know people are leaving the Disney bubble to eat, as they can not accommodate every visitor at this time. The loss is less than what they are making with genie +and LL purchases. They know what they are doing finance wise. When they do announce dining, whether it’s free for a stretch or not; we will know that things are beginning to get back to normal. Imo
Curious when they bring back the DP with its usual caveat that it can only be added to a vacation reservation that includes tickets if there will be a potential uproar. I assume many people have been buying discount tickets not through Disney well in advance to make park reservations. Generally you can’t get a refund for previously purchased tickets. Just something that popped in my head.
I’m ok with no dinning plan. Before COVID, I have paid for the dinning plan every trip since 2005 when we became DVC members. I read your blog Tom all the time. I knew you said it does not alway save $. But knowing the budget is important to me. When my husband and I last traveled to Disney in 2021 we truly celebrated after a year without a vacation. I had 3 to 4 $$$$ adult drinks per day. We snacked when ever we wanted (normally only once a day). We ate at the Royal Table! It was a grand 9 night trip! We stayed at Saratoga Springs so had quick access to great food. I did not monitor my spending the whole trip. I was SHOCKED how much LESS I spent!!! The spending with all that I wanted was $800 less than what I normally spend in 7 nights with the dinning plan. I will never dinning plan again. We never used all the snack credits and I enjoy an adult drink more than another snack. I would have never not done the dinning plan. Thanks Disney, you taught me to spend less at your parks!
Family of 6 (all teenage and above) always did DDP before our visit late 2020 for the convenience of not getting asked constantly if can buy a snack, etc. Did a self-moderated dining plan the last trip and will never go back to DDP unless it’s “free”. In fact, we had saves so much even under what I had budgeted by day 3 that I looked like a generous hero when I announced everyone could get another snack daily!
“Hmm”, you may be thinking, “must have made them eat the cheap stuff or not as many table meals”. Nope, nothing was off limits I think that without the pressure to buy up enough credits each day they naturally just ordered what they wanted and not always going for the most expensive menu item. did limit to 1 snack, shared dessert and appetizer but no one even cared.
If you don’t game the system, you will never come out on top with a DDP. Luckily, I am a numbers, logic and frugal person. If your not eating at Akershus and getting snacks only worth ore than $7, your wasting your money. I know that for most people, it is simply an ease of use item. It is more for simplicity and planning than it is for any type of money savings. But the snack credits are great for a trip around the world in EPCOT.
Totally agree, especially on smart use of snack credits. We even have a post about the worst uses to underscore this, as the difference between good and bad adds up quickly there: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/worst-uses-dining-plan-snack-credits/
I will say that it doesn’t necessarily require “gaming the system” or closely tracking everything to come out ahead. If you’re the type who books solid ADRs, orders steak every meal, and uses snack credits fairly well, it’s pretty easy to come out ahead.
Conversely, if you’re a vegetarian or light eater, there’s almost no way to come out ahead.
Randy W. What’s your thoughts on the dining plan if it free dining and there are three adults in the room? Do you feel it is of value?
Any chance the push towards a “normal summer” will mean the eventual end of the blasted reservation system? I live locally, but will not buy an annual pass until the reservation system goes away. If that means never, so be it. My spouse is a cast member, and I expect they’ll be stuck with reservations forever (but don’t get me started on how hard it is to get them and how “free entry” as a benefit is laughable at this point). Nevertheless, if reservations were required for cast members but waived for pass holders, I would 100% buy us passes even though we *technically* get in free, just for the freedom and spontaneity it would allow. But as long as reservations are required, I won’t be buying one. Which mean I and my family will go less often, and not be buying food and merch. That money has gone to Universal passes instead, and they are getting our food and merch money, since we can easily go there at the drop of a hat for lunch, a spontaneous afternoon, or an evening dinner & fireworks date. Bob Paycheck could learn a thing or two.
I don’t think reservations will go away anytime soon for APs or CMs. Certainly not this year, probably not next.
Discussed in greater detail here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/when-will-disney-park-pass-reservations-end/
“This means hugs, autographs, five highs, and everything else you’ve come to expect with close-contact characters over the years, and applies to both fur and face characters.”
Love a five high! 🙂
I went in September 2021 and used Disney gift cards and my Disney Visa card to pay for all food in lieu of the unavailable DDP. When I got home made a detailed spreadsheet of my exact dining costs as I had saved my receipts and the hotel invoices since I stayed on site. I realized that I had saved about $300 this trip NOT using the DDP versus the cost of the Deluxe DP at its last known price before closure. I thought this was the most accurate comparison because of the credits that would have been needed for the restaurants had the DDP been available. I booked all the places that I wanted and didn’t skimp. That said, I didn’t always order appetizers or desserts because I wasn’t hungry for them. I also didn’t get alcohol more than once or twice and the price of cocktails is obviously high. This is mainly because I am not a big drinker and didn’t want the cocktails. I was pleasantly full and ate at at mostly signature restaurants once per day. Two benefits that I found in not using the DDP was that I was able to 1) use my Disney Visa card at all restaurants that afforded 10% off; and 2) purchase Disney gift cards before arriving at Target getting 5% off after opening a free Target debit card. I has bought $500 worth of Disney gift cards and combined them to put it all on one gift card. I used my Magic Band to pay at restaurants and then visited the front desk of the hotel to apply the gift card to my balance before checking out. All of this to say that I am overall happy that I saved money. But we were only two adults and I can see where a larger family may put a value on prepaying for a DDP for a potentially less cost-conscious trip day-to-day. Also, people who are big alcoholic drinkers may feel the burn more paying out of pocket.
When I started going to Walt Disney World for the first time in was in 2014. The dining plan was best! I loved not having to worry about eating and the price of food. I always purchased the Deluxe Dining plan. I loved the 3 course dining. I never do that at home when I dine out. Our last visit we used gift cards and we didn’t dine at restaurants a lot. The ones that we did were like on a one day, when we would table dine 3 times a day which was soo much fun. I hope that it comes back soon.
Just price-checked a vacation for November and received an offer of a quick service dining plan. Allows $40/person/day for adults 10+, and $15/person/day for children 3-9. It sounds like it’s a set amount of prepaid dollars on gift cards to be used only at quick service locations, but that’s just based on the website. Not a huge savings, but it allows you to pick how many days you want to add dining. Hopefully they increase their dining options beyond quick service though!
Amy pretty sure that’s just for swan and dolphin-has been available for awhile-or are you staying at a regular Disney hotel?
What was the last published price for the dining plan and what year was it last offered?
My sister and I are going in October for a trip also. Definitely agree if the Dining Plan isn’t back before then…heigh ho, heigh ho, off the property for meals we go!
Please update on when dinning plan returns as well as any promotions for February 2023
The dining plan when used correctly is an amazing value. $225 dinner or a 115 dinner. You just have to chose wisely. We use our snack points for light breakfast or anything left over we use for food on a very late checkout day.
I really hope it comes back by October.
We have an October Disney vacation planned. If the DDP is not an option to purchase prior to our arrival will simply mean, we will not be spending much time in the Disney restaurants. What we will probably do is pick one night at a Disney restaurant and the rest of the meals will be off site. Being able to pre-pay for our meals when we pay for our vacation is a huge help.
Great article! Explains the DD situation really well. I appreciate it!
We have been waiting on the Dining Plan to return patiently because we are FOODIES!!!! Hoping it will return before our December 2022 trip!!!!
Same. We r Foodies for the Nicer Fancy places.
We love Steak. Hoping Dining plan RETURNS for September 2022
Arghhhhh….August trip planned for 6. I NEED THE DINING!! It keeps me from hovering over what my kids are ordering at every meal. We are going the last week in August and staying in the Cars family suites. Are there ever discounts offered for this time of year at Art of Animation? We’ve never stayed here before so not sure how this resort operates.
Hi Becky,
By my experience, Art and animation is very hard to get a FDDP, some rooms get it sometime but suits like Leon king, Little mermaid, and Cars I never have seen it.
Hope it help you!
I’ll see you @ the pool haha we’re going last week of august too, staying in the Nemo suite. My wife has ALL these plans for eating our way around Disney, pending the return of the DDP. So here’s to hoping it’s available for August! We’re also hoping for the return of the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!
Hey Becky, did you take advantage of the Disney+ subscriber deal? We modified our AoA reservation and saved $750. I know you were asking about discounts. You can justify the reservation right on the website
Any news on Tables in Wonderland?