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!
1st point — You are correct that few people actually save money on the DDP, but I’ll go a step further. Disney makes money on the DDP virtually always. And it’s very rare that people actually save any money but they do get a perception of savings. When people “hack” the DDP to maximize it, they are usually ordering things they wouldn’t normally order. It’s like using a 20% off coupon… for something you wouldn’t have bought without the coupon.
There is a reason Disney makes you buy the DDP for the entire stay — because over 1-2 nights, a family could truly use it effectively. Especially the deluxe plan — if you could buy it 1 night only, and use it for a special signature meal where you were planning appetizers and drinks… You could really save some real money.
But over the course of a longer trip… few people really planned to eat that way.
So yes, it is purely a revenue driver for Disney. They have incentive to bring it back asap…
But I think the big thing holding them back, and what won’t change soon: Uncertainty.
Until restaurants “normalize,” they would have a hard time bringing it back.
Look at park hopping — yes, it’s coming back, in a restricted and modified form.
As of now, multiple hotels still don’t have re-opening dates. While 2 of the big deluxe hotels aren’t supposed to re-open until late Spring (and a lot can still change between now and then).
DDP does require advance planning — menus get customized around it, contracts with the 3rd party restaurants. It’s not an easy switch to just flip on.
More I read about the vaccine… there seems to be a growing sense that “Spring” may have been a bit over-optimistic. It may be more like later summer/fall 2021.
While Disney will certainly gradually normalize some things over time, they are moving extremely slowly. The only entertainment they have brought back is the Electric Water Parade! Took 6 months to bring back a heavily restricted type of park hopping.
…. all this gets to, I don’t think DDP comes back until a fairly late stage. With the slow pace of normalization, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney trash the 2021 fiscal year, with most big normalization occurring in the 2022 fiscal year, which starts in October.
IMO, Disney has a greater financial incentive to bring back the Dining Plan than the Park Hopper option…and certainly than bringing back entertainment.
I can certainly see a scenario where the DDP doesn’t come back until fiscal 2022. But I can also see one where it returns in April 2021. As of February-March, most impediments will only exist so long as Disney wants to err on the side of, or at least pay face to the notion of, caution.
Adam, I could not agree more about your post, that DDP is a big $$ maker for WDW and that customers rarely save $$ or break even. We use to average 3 trips a year and every time, I have always compared our OOP food bills against DDP and every time I would have spent more money and sometimes a lot more, by purchasing DDP. I also wish you could customize it to how you would want to use it, like you said maybe buying it for just a couple of days during your trip or maybe a points system. Where you buy a certain number of points and then appetizers, entrees, deserts, drinks etc. are worth so many points.
I don’t think they can bring back the DDP until they open up more table service dining. At most of the hotels, they may have only one dining facility open. Tables are limited and times are limited. In park dining is limited by hours and seating and menu. Until they can open up all the tables, bring in more servers and food preparers, the dining plan won’t be back.
They may also be looking a limited food options during the winter months. People are already stocking up on toilet paper, cleaning products, paper towels. With the large chicken plant fire in Pasco County four days ago, I heard that eggs may be in short supply for a while.
Tom,
I continue to agree with you that Disney would love to bring back the DDP, sooner rather than later. But the more I think about it, I start to suspect it will be later, not sooner.
Let’s think about what really MUST happen before they can bring it back:
1 — open more restaurants
2 — Increase capacity within restaurants
3 — Negotiate contracts with 3rd party restaurants
4 — Have certainty that they won’t have to scale back dining, add more social distancing. If they sell a dining plan months in advance, they need to know they won’t be contacting that guest telling them they have to cancel all their dining reservations.
In addition, for efficacy of the dining plan, you’d expect return of:
5 — Return of full menus — most locations are currently using very scaled down menus
6 — Return of character meals and buffets. (the $60 character meal is a main driver of why people buy the dining plan)
7 – Return of dining reservations 6 months out.
That’s a lot of current abnormality in dining, a lot of uncertainty.
I expect dining to normalize gradually — more locations open, less social distancing, menus expanded. Character meals and buffets could take much longer to come back.
Just seems the dining plan won’t come back until the rest of dining basically normalizes, and that’s a long way off.
I can see both sides of the DP debate. If you are big eaters or have those always-hungry teenage boys, LOL, it is a good deal. My husband and I were at WDW when the very first DP was available. We wanted to go in a September, and our travel agent said they now had a dining plan for free.
Originally the DP was used to help fill up the resorts and parks, because September used to be a notoriously s l o w time for disney. Thus the DP was started. Our TA assured us that ” No One would take their kids out of school the week it starts, so it shouldn’t be crowded”.
Wrong on that one, LOL. It was packed with families with all ages of children. So the plan worked to fill up a slow time for disney.
Now, however, disney doesn’t need to fill up September anymore (or any other time), so I wonder if they will start up the DP again? The original reason for it is definitely gone, but people have gotten used to it, so? We don’t use the DP anymore. We save money, eat alot less, and can now eat the great snacks around the parks. We also don’t have to plan our park days around 60 day out ADR’s. It was much more freeing without the DP, all a win-win for us. However, I can see with big families or big eaters, that this would work. We all have different styles. Personally, I hope they don’t bring it back. Before DP, the food was unique and delicious. After the DP, they must have cut back on costs to save money, and it shows.
Our last trip was preCovid, but defiantly agree that food quality across WDW has steadily fallen throughout all onsite venues.
My wife and I have used the Deluxe Dining Plan for years. We would eat the buffet breakfast
at Cape May Cafe. Then skip lunch and use our snack credits. With the meal credits we saved, we would go to a signature restaurant for dinner. Our favorites are Narcoosses, Paddlefish, and Yachtsman’s Steakhouse. I keep track of the meal totals, and we always come out way ahead from what we paid for the meal plan.
We eat very similarly. I use the TS restaurants as a nice relaxing break to our park day. My son lives the chouces he is given and would prefer TS to QS anyday. I keep my receipts and we are always ahead. We did 2 trips without the Dlx plan (1 pre-Covid and 1 since). We truly miss the dining plan and cannot wait for our first trip with it back.
I’m a bad fit to dining plans in general. When I go to a restaurant I generally order the item on the menu which is most appealing to me, which is rarely the most expensive item on the menu because I’m not fixated on steaks. I’m also price conscious, which leads me to rarely ordering a beverage at a meal, much less an alcoholic drink, and sticking to water. I also tend to skip dessert, a combination of saving money (I suspect that restaurants break-even on the meal and make their money on beverages and desserts) and the fact that I’m overweight and don’t wish to become more so. However, when I purchase a package meal and show or attraction at WDW I do order a beverage and dessert when they’re part of the package. But this is a rare treat for me, and doing this the entire trip would be a chore.
Now “free” dining is a discount plan, and as Tom often states, needs to be evaluated with other discount options because, at the end of the trip, a financial analysis boils down to what you got and how much you paid in total for it. There’s also the question of how well the dining plan offer fits with my desires. Here, the lack of flexibility is an issue. I won’t bore people with my particular preferences between TS and QS, etc. But these discounts essentially are ‘one size fits all’, which rarely works for me. So generally I’d prefer a room discount.
We are a huge fan of the DDP, as we are a large family ranging from 47 years old to 3 years old. (Family of 10) so the DDP is a life saver for my family. We go to this magical place every 18 months and just can’t get enough of it. Our next trip is august 2021, (rescheduled from April 2021). Not only are we hoping the DDP comes back but we are praying the Halloween party returns, as well as the extra magic hours. COVID has not only take lives but it has managed to control those of us that are still living as well. I do not live my life in fear, I isolate myself and my family if one of us is sick and not feeling well. I am a RN and know the risks so I take every precautions. I don’t mind wearing a mask (except for pictures) but bring back the magic of the park. If the DDP plan is not back by August 2021 we as well are looking at staying offsite due to savings and having to pay additional money for food.
Its a picture of food( Pizza Fries) and drink from Universal Studios…..
we are huge fans DDP , we always use it . It lets us eat in places we most likely would not eat at. We will be there in December for 2 days 27-29 and want to do the DDP. We are DVC members as well and I really don’t do cooking while on vacation. I can not imagen no DDP or even where to begin making our dining arrangements . Please keep us posted if DDP should come back by December 2020
Bump
As a huge fan of the DDP I hope it returns before our stay in Feb 2021 (rescheduled from August 2020) My other issue is we are staying in a club level suite in Disney’s beach club (this is due to it housing seven of us more than anything) but we are paying a premium for that and yet will not receive any of the perks of club level. How can they justify us paying the full amount for a sub level service? Genuine question, I can’t wait to go back to Disney but hope they can some of the magic, and by magic I mean me not having to worry about where I’m eating each evening without worrying about payment.
You could book a BCVilla two bedroom villa instead of the Club level suite. A lockoff sleeps nine with the bunk sized murphy bed in the second bedroom (not in the dedicated two bedroom villa). Then you’d also have a full kitchen to eat in if you didn’t find what you really wanted to eat that night.
We are booked for the week after Christmas but will probably reschedule if the dining plan isn’t available. That is a perk we really enjoy.
We have been fortunate enough to have visited the Mouse many times. We have stayed off-site and on-site and just recently became DVC members. Of the times that we had “free” dining, it was nice, however we noticed ourselves planning more of our day around eating than anyting else. Even it if we weren’t hungry!! So the last few times we went on our own budget and saved $$. We had our first stay at a a DVC (at the Boardwalk) this past August and had a full kitchen. I can’t tell you how much this was a game changer for us!! I had groceries delivered and it was so awesome and convenient. Obviously not everyone can buy a DVC–it took us many years to get to the point that we were able to do it, however look into renting points, especially for a large family. There are some fantastic deals out there for renting, and you get a better resort!
The real question is, where did you get that Ghostbusters glass. 🙂
I hoping Disney gets back to normal soon, so we can book our vacation. I’m not spending all this money for a half open Disney World and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way.
We are booked for late January but are flexible through late February. We are DDP fans for the convenience and to get most bang for our buck thanks to your DDP/Food blogs. We have become DDP navigation experts and would sorely miss it if we didn’t have this option. It was also a reason we stayed at Disney resorts to enhance the convenience, but if it is not back nor extra Magic Hours there is little to no incentive to stay on resort when we could save a lot of money staying off resort and still have the same experience as staying at the resort. We will play the waiting game but if the date approaches with no advantages to staying on resort other than being close, we will move our stay off resort and save over $1000!! Hoping things get back to normal sooner than later, for the guests sakes, but more importantly for the employees!!
Tom,
Apologize for this being off topic. I have theme park tickets for thanksgiving week (not resort guest). What is the best strategy for watching out for Hollywood studios availability? Currently there is none for Sat-Sat of that week for either theme park tickets or resort guests.
I wish Disney would think about having a snack only plan or a snack and alcohol only plan. That would make a lot of people happy.
A few years ago when I was planning our trip to WDW (4 of us), I checked around and did the math on paying for a dining plan (basic plan). The cost was $22 per person per meal. If we used it for breakfast, that would be almost $90 for pancakes or eggs/bacon etc. I ended up putting the amount into a debit card and when I checked in, had them use that for purchases. We ended up getting 3 meals a day a person and also bought souvenirs and still had money left. I only go for the dining plan now if it’s free and is a better deal than a room discount.
As ever, Tom, a really useful and insightful take on the obviously uncertain situation. As a WDW traveller from the UK, we have always booked our trips around the Free Disney Dining Plan offer. It’s an absolute no brainer, anything to possibly cost cut when you’re travelling so far is useful.
We were due to travel in September (2020) but due to the situation we have rescheduled for May (2021). In doing this, as all are likely aware and in the same situation, we are now paying a considerable amount more but with no perks (Fee DDP, $200 gift card, etc). It’s definitely a situation which has angered us, however we are keeping fingers, knees, toes, everything crossed that some sort of deal will be announced for 2021 that we can switch onto. Travelling from the UK is expensive enough, and for the amount we will be paying right now for May 2021 for no perks (and possibly not the same experience if there are still restrictions), we don’t think it is worth the money.
Sad times – but keeping very positive for it to be onwards and upwards!
Yes Sara, completely agree! The UK deal is excellent, We’ve used it 4 times since 2014 and was planning a 2021 visit pre-Covid but now that’s definitely a 2022 if at all. If booking independently from the UK, flight prices drive everything. Even if you’re willing to go in-direct and non-local airport + DVC point rental you cannot get close to to a good deal with a decent travel agent. Even risking something like Priceline doesn’t help the numbers when you’re paying £750/seat – kids holidays it can get to £1200. Heresy to Tom but if we go to Universal for a few days we’d “save the credits” and use them for a nice last night signature meal. Not sure we’ll go back now. The costs and on-site advantages have been whittled away and now with the 60 day booking window being the only benefit – that is a lot to pay for it. It depends entirely on how much an European holiday would cost us and if the WDW expreince is worth the “extra”.
We go to WDW whenever a grandchild turns 5 and treat ourselves to the Deluxe Dining plan. We will not buy the plan this time (October) even if available unless there is Character Dining. We stay at the Contemporary, but why in the world would you want a $42.00! per person breakfast buffet without the characters? Also no Cinderella’s royal table? No thanks. We will eat yogurt in the morning and save the $$.
I will preface this note by saying that our family only has gone to Disney World in the past with intense planning and saving. We had carefully planned our Free Dining Disney Package Vacation since January of last year, and we were due to travel Sept 1. We got a very good price on a Value resort and even better deal due to the Free Dining, which made it (almost) affordable for our family …with a family of 7 and an annual income of 33k, all the kids were paying for their own portion, it was so important to us to make this trip. Because of Coronavirus, Disney’s attempts to recoup revenue and reduce complaints about closed restaurants by revoking our pre–planned Free Dining package, would make our trip vastly more expensive than it would have been. Disney, not refunding the daily ‘value’ of the plan, but giving just a small deduction on the room, came out to saving Disney a lot of dough but costing us much more, as we would have to buy our meals anyway to fit our schedules at the parks and make the most of every day on this short trip. The room discount was quite minor: it would have to have been $150-200 per room per day, to equal our benefits of the free dining program, and as you can imagine, they did not offer to discount our room price more than a few dollars (35% of the room rate, around $60 per day, was nowhere near the cost it would take to feed us what we could have gotten on the Dining Plan), As a result of revoking our Free Dining Plan, we very sadly had to cancel all our reservations due to it being unaffordable, and now are waiting for another year when it is made more affordable by the Free Dining Offer. We were so disappointed in the lack of Disney’s ability to compensate us fairly for our lost Disney Dining, and as a result, lost our business this year. I wonder how many other families chose to cancel coming this late summer or fall after losing their Free Dining perks and lack of equal compensation, therefore probably losing more revenue than they saved by revoking the Free Dining packages already booked. But, we are just small fish in a large pond and probably do not really matter: our disapointment in Disney however was huge.
We were scheduled to arrive in WDW on August 29th. We also cancelled our trip. I agree 100% with your post, as it echos our feelings exactly. Now our family will wait for a free dinning promotion… Unfortunately, if the free dinning promotion doesn’t come back, we may not come back to WDW either.
We are in the exact same situation as our family of 5 booked the free dining plan in January and with the changes due to covid and losing the dining plan it would have cost us a considerable amount more. We ended up postponing our trip back a year to next September as that is when we were going as well. We are crossing our fingers to see what the next year brings for free dining options if there will be any. I know that Covid has caused alot of problems but like you said we felt since we had booked the trip with the dining package that there would be compensation otherwise we were looking at another $1800 that we weren’t planning on. To make matters worse our youngest is 2 turning 3 in October and his stay and food and tickets would have been free but pushing it back to next year he will cost us even more. We definitely know what your feeling!!
To be fair, prior to Covid, Disney always offered a 30-40% room-only discount whenever they offered Free Dining so they seem to view the two as equal. When they determined they had to get rid of the DDP due to the limitations on dining necessitated by Covid they did offer a 35% room discount to all who lost free dining. Obviously the room discount is not going to be equivalent to free dining for groups like yours, but from Disney’s perspective it’s largely equivalent for most groups (and for smaller groups staying at moderates and anyone staying at a deluxe, the 35% room only discount is almost always a better deal). I’m totally sympathetic to the situation you faced and I’m sure there are plenty of others in a similar one, but ultimately the room discounts offered to those who lost free dining probably were equivalent to if not a better deal than free dining. It’s too hard for Disney to customize alternative offers to offer every group the best value.
Only large families and carnivores come out ahead in the DDP instead of the room discount. For families of 2 or 3 they probably came out ahead with the room discount.
That said we can’t do DDP in anyway that makes sense because we’re a small vegetarian family (also we are little in stature as well). We often split a quick service meal. The table service prix fixe meals are not worth it (except Disneyland Paris. They had some of the best vegetarian entrees we have had in our lives)
I’d take a room discount on a deluxe and end up with a better deal. I think that for many many many people that is a deal that is better to the guest. Not all, but many would come out ahead.
The last trip we had DDP and our last day had 8 quick serve meals left from two week trip. We went to Earl of sandwich and bought meals for others in line. It was surprising how many said no to us. So many people said no. Took about fifteen – twenty minutes to get 8 people to let me pay for their meals. We never got DDP after that trip.
did anyone tell you why? so strange to refuse a free gift!
I used to have the same problem at Disneyland giving away good FPs. People look at you like “what the catch”? It’s bizarre and a bit sad too. I was always happy to accept someone’s FP for Cars!
Kim – Not sure why some didn’t take us up on the free meal. As Beth said, we also got I also guess people thought there was a catch – got a lot of weird looks.
We made two ladies day with the free meal. They were shocked by the offer of a meal and they lost it when i told them to get a desert and drink. They took a group picture of them with my wife and family. That alone made the effort trying to pandering away free meals.
It’s awesome that you would want to do that for people. I just always bring the kids to Goofy’s candy shop and convert them into 3 snack credits each. Then we grab some caramel apples, trail mix and those large Mickey chocolate chip cookies (my fav). That would have been 24 snacks for the road for you all. Trail mix bags go in my desk draw at work and last a long time.
Does anyone know when Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian is going to reopen?!