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!