Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it?

Walt Disney World offers a number of dining packages for guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort. It sounds great to have your meals prepaid and not have to carry a ton of cash around the World, but are these packages worth it? The short answer is - it depends.

Before I discuss whether a Disney Dining Plan is right for your family, I would like to give a quick overview of how the dining plan works, as well as the different plans and what they include.

Quick Service Dining Plan - includes two quick service meals (where you order at a counter and carry your food to your table) and one snack per person, per day. It also includes a souvenir cup that you can use for free fountain drinks at your hotel for the duration of your stay.

Disney Dining Plan - includes one table service meal, one quick service meal and one snack per person, per day. It also includes a souvenir cup.

Deluxe Dining Plan - includes three table-service or quick-service meals and two snacks per person, per day. It also includes a souvenir cup.

How it Works
No matter which plan you choose, all of your meals are attached to your Key to the World card at the beginning of the trip. For example if you are a family of four, and you are staying for seven nights, with the Quick-Service Dining Plan you would have 2x4x7= 56 meal credits on your card.

When you go to a quick-service restaurant, you would order your four meals, hand the Cast Member your card, they swipe it and hand it back. On your receipt, it would say that you now have 52 meal credits left.

Please note that children ages 3-9 MUST order a children's meal if one is available. If you order an adult's meal for them, it would be taken out of the available adult credits.

A quick service meal is one entree and a drink with dessert, or a complete combo meal with dessert (no desserts at breakfast) at a counter-service restaurant (where you order and pick up your food)

A table service meal is one entree, drink and dessert or one full buffet at a sit-down restaurant. This includes character meals. Dinner shows and signature restaurants take two table-service meal credits.

Examples of snacks are - a frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single-serving box), single-serving bag of snacks, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, 22-oz. fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea, single-serving prepackaged milk or juice (there are many others, these are merely examples)

So, is it worth it?

I feel that the Disney Dining Plan is a good value for you if one or more of the following statements are true:

• We like to have my entire vacation paid for before we leave
• Food prices stress us out!
• We would like to experience many character meals/sit-down restaurants
• We have multiple food allergies, and will be eating most meals in the parks
• We have a family of very big eaters
• It's being offered for free (Disney occasionally has Free Disney Dining specials.   These generally are offered at the very end of August and extend through early December, with holiday weekends excluded)

As a general rule, the Quick-Service Dining Plan does not usually save more than a few dollars, and if you are a family that doesn't eat dessert at lunch usually, it can end up costing you more.  

The Deluxe Dining Plan can be a good value, but in order to get your money's worth, you would need to eat at a sit-down restaurant for breakfast, lunch and supper, or would like to eat at at least one Signature Dining Experience per day.   This fits perfectly into the touring plans of some, but can also result in eating in to a lot of time you could spend experiencing attractions and shows.

More information:

Disney Quick Service Dining Plan

Disney Dining Plan

Disney Deluxe Dining Plan

I hope that you find this overview helpful.   I would also like to add that if you book a package with Magical Mouse Getaways, I offer "concierge-level" service for FREE - this includes providing guidance on what restaurants fit your needs, as well as making all of the reservations!   If you have any questions, would like a vacation quote or are ready to book a trip, feel free to fire me an e-mail at megan@magicalmousegetaways.ca.