Disney Dining Plans

Let’s start with a few basic facts…

1. The dining plan is allotted based on the number of nights of your Disney resort stay.
2. Only guests staying in a Disney resort can purchase the dining plan. 
3. And the dining plan must be purchased for every person in the room.  If you have two families in two separate rooms, they can select different dining plans, but within one room everyone must have the same one. 
4. Children under the age of 3 do not get the dining plan, but are welcome to eat off of an adult’s plate.

There are 3 Disney Dining Plan (DDP) options:

1.    Quick Service – this plan is the least expensive.
It gives each person ages 3+ a resort refillable mug for unlimited coffee, tea, soda, and hot chocolate at your Disney resort.  It also gives each person 2 snacks and 2 quick service meal credits per night of your stay.

2.    Disney Dining Plan – this is the moderate and most popular selection.

This plan gives each person the resort refillable mug.  It also gives each person 2 snacks, 1 quick-service meal, and 1 table service credit per night.

3.    Deluxe Dining Plan – this plan provides a LOT of food!
You still get the resort refillable mug along with 2 snack credits.  In addition to that, you receive 3 table service credits per night of your stay.  They can be used at any quick-service or table service location.  This plan is best for people who want to eat at multiple signature restaurants or dinner shows (which require 2 credits).  An additional bonus is that an appetizer is included with this dining plan.

Snack Symbol

What’s included in each meal type?

A snack is anything single service that has the purple and white “Snack” symbol

A quick service meal consists of a non-alcoholic beverage and an entrée.

A table service credit consists of a non-alcoholic drink and a buffet OR an entrée, a dessert and a beverage.  This includes character meals and restaurants where a waitress takes your order from the table and buffets.  **At the end of your table service credit meals, you must pay gratuity.

Disney’s dining plan prices are seasonal, so they vary slightly depending on when you travel.  The moment when my husband realized that he could never travel to Disney again without the dining plan was when we ate dinner at Chef Mickey’s.  The bill for 2 adults and 3 children was about $175 – or 5 table service credits… Here’s why he thought it was such a GREAT deal!  Our dining plan cost about $25/night for the kids.  Their meals at Chef Mickey’s were about $27 each.  This means that not only did we save $2 per kid on that meal, but their 2 snack credits and quick service meal were FREE! 

When we went to purchase ice cream bars before the parade, it was so much easier for my husband (a penny pincher) to tap his Magic Band to pay “3 snack credits” than for him to pay $15!   The quick service credits are great, too!  At Animal Kingdom, we got $19.99 plates with chicken, ribs, pulled pork, coleslaw, and baked beans and a drink for 1 quick service credit!

It’s not for everyone, but our family loves the Disney dining plans!

5 Fastpass+ Mistakes You DON'T Want to Make

5 Fastpass+ Mistakes you DON’T want to make!

1. Not making Fastpass reservations as early as you can
   You should make your Fastpasses AS SOON as your 60 or 30 day window opens.  Disney resort guests can make them 60 days out and non-Disney-resort guests can make them 30 days out.  In order to get the best times, you should be making these reservations the day they become available.  You can always change them later – and it’s easy to do!
   
2. Making your Fastpasses too early
   If you arrive at the park when it opens, you should be able to ride a few of the rides that typically have longer lines before the park fills up and the lines get long.  I typically recommend 10:30 as the earliest time to make a Fastpass reservation. For Epcot and Hollywood Studios (because they have tiers) I like to make Fastpasses for 1pm-5pm when the park is busiest.  Because of the tiered system, it can be difficult to obtain a 4^th Fastpass for an attraction you would truly need another pass for.
   
3. Not making your Fastpasses early enough
   Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom don’t have tiers, so I like to make my Fastpasses for 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30 there.  Since these two parks do NOT have tiers, it can be more beneficial to make them earlier.
   
4. Not trying to make more Fastpasses after you’ve used the 3 you made in advance
   Once you get in line and activate your 3^rd Fastpass of the day, you can get on to the My Disney Experience app and see what’s available for a 4^th Fastpass.  And each one you use after that, you should be doing the same thing.  Even if you only save 10-20 minutes, that’s time that you can enjoy on something OTHER than standing in line!
   
5. Not using a travel agent
   I know, I know – this is a shameless plug.  But truly – if you haven’t been to Disney recently, you may not know how far apart or close one attraction is to another and that’s useful info if you’re maximizing your time and minimizing the amount of walking you’ll have to do in a single day! Even if you’ve been to Disney many times, it’s nice to let someone else do the work of checking crowd calendars, knowing which attractions tend to be busier each day of the week, and what the park hours are to maximize your time.  When I travel – EVEN I use a travel agent!