The Disney Dining plan allows those staying at a Disney property resort the ability to purchase a certain number of meals ahead of time on somewhat of a "voucher system." For each night of your stay, each guest on the reservation receives an allotment of quick service meals (similar to fast food), table service (sit-down) meals, and snacks(designated on the each location’s menu – can range in value from $1-$8. The Dining Plan is a great value, and allows you to eat a TON of food for well under $100 per adult per day, which is the recommended meal budget for typical vacations. The Dining Plan saves families 35% over eating ala carte.
Your MagicBand or Key to the World card electronically monitors your party's allocated meals. After your meal, the receipt you receive displays the number of meals remaining for each room (not per guest), allowing you to keep track of your balance. Note that the Dining Plan is a cumulative system, so in theory someone could go on an eating binge and blow through the entire family’s meal credits. It is always smart to check your receipt after EVERY meal to make sure you are staying on track per day.
Meals and snacks may be redeemed in any order during your stay until the balance is at zero or until midnight of the night you check out, whichever comes first.
The Disney Dining Plans come in three types, Quick Service, Standard and Deluxe.
For each person on the room reservation, the Standard Disney Dining Plan includes:
o one counter-service meal (per night)
o one sit-down meal (per night)
o two snacks (per night)
o a refillable drink mug (per stay)
o 2019 Pricing: $75.49 per adult and $27.98 per child.)
For each person on the room reservation, the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan includes:
o two counter-service meals (per night)
o two snacks (per night)
o a refillable drink mug (per stay)
o 2019 Pricing: $52.50 per adult and $23.78 per child.)
For each person on the room reservation, the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan includes:
o three meals at your choice of counter service restaurants or table service restaurants (per night)
o two snacks (per night)
o one refillable drink mug (per stay)
The per-night price of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan is $116.25 per adult and $39.99 per child during regular season, and more during peak season. (2019 Pricing: $116.25 per adult and $43.49 per child.)
So how do you use the dining plan?
FIRST – you map out your table service credits ahead of time.
Some restaurants take 2 credits. If you mostly want restaurants with 2 credits, then the Deluxe plan is for you. If you are on the Quick Service Plan, skip this part. If you are on the most common – the basic Dining Plan, choosing a spot that requires 2 credits means you either pay out of pocket (NOT something I want you to do) or use a table service credit from arrival day when you don’t have time to use all your credits. If you are arriving in the morning, then you should stick to 1 credit table service spots or be prepared to pay out of pocket. If you choose to pay out of pocket bc you really want to go to the place that requires 2 credits, then use the Dining Plan on an ala carte restaurant and pay for the buffet place.
Day by day, select the restaurants you’d like to go to. Then, make your reservation. You’ll use a credit card to guarantee the reservation, but you’ll use your magic band to “pay.” Remember, you’ve already paid, the magic band tap is to cross those credits off your list.
If four of you are eating, then that’s four credits that will be counted as used. Note: Gratuities are not included. BUT alcoholic beverages are included unless otherwise noted. Your meal COMES with a beverage, so if you want it to be a daiquiri, beer or glass of wine, that is included and counted the same as a bottle of water or Sprite. Adding on an alcoholic beverage or specialty smoothie to any meal is a great way to take advantage of the Dining Plan’s value.
NEXT - review what’s available with Quick Service and Snack credits.
It’s good to have a list of both Quick Service and Snack options that options that you are interested in. In some cases, family members can share meals and stretch credits. You can view all the menus for each place in the dining section of mydisenyexperience. Another website that has all the menus is All Ears Net.
With a Quick Service meal credit you get an entrée, beverage (again, look for places that over specialty or alcoholic beverages – the value of your meal increases) and dessert. Here’s a Sangria that I got as the beverage with a meal:
Some places have counter service meals that are HUGE and there is no way that 4 people can eat all of the food you get. In that case , you can share 2 meals and “bank” the other two for times when, for example, you are using a 2-credit table service meal. An example of a huge counter service meal is the platter at Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom. It is $18 but is still 1 counter service credit same as a $6 pork sandwich. You won’t share every time, but it’s smart to pay attention and share when you can.
With a Snack credit, you simply have to look for the symbol to see what counts as a snack. Here is an example. The purple symbol designates a snack item.
Snacks are everything from ice cream bars and popcorn to lobster bisque and enormous cupcakes.
Sometimes smoothies and drinks count as snacks, other times as counter service credits. Here is a snack treasure my daughter discovered on our last trip – a HUGE ice cream sandwich.
How do you find these gems? You can check out theDisney Food Blog and sometimes you just have to read the menu. Go for snacks that are worth $5 or more; you will inevitably use them for $3 and $4 items but never use them for waters or bags of chips. IF you have snack credits left over, you can get things to bring home such as cookies and candy from the Confectionary on Main Street or Goofy Candy Co. items right at the resort, or the rice krispy treats that my kids swear are the best ever. Bottom line – don’t let them go to waste! You paid for them!
Final note: If this sounds confusing, don’t fear. It is far more complicated sounding on paper then when you are actually using the credits and watching them tally down. Something to remember is that you’d be hard pressed to eat for $75 per adult and $30 per child per day without the plan, but if you buy a lot of things outside of the plan you are negating the value. So use the plan and try not to pay $$ for any other food or sparingly if necessary. There’s no shortage of options to eat at Disney and just like all the attractions, you can’t eat everything in one trip, you just have to go back for more!
