Guests love the Disney Dining Plan – but is it the right option for every Disney World family? We’re sharing an overview of what the plan includes, its pricing, and more below.

One of the most popular add-ons to any Walt Disney World Resort vacation is the Disney Dining Plan. A perennial favorite, the Disney Dining Plan was first introduced in 2005. It’s changed quite a bit over the last couple of decades, both in its offerings, the plan options, and price. But with potential food savings of up to 30 percent, it’s well worth considering.

The Disney Dining Plan, at first glance, seems like an easy way to save money on meals while you’re visiting Disney World. However, it’s a little more complicated than that – and both the cost and the value of the plan can vary from family to family and trip to trip. It’s super helpful to some and not worthwhile for others, which is why we’re breaking down everything you need to know below so you can do your research before adding it onto your vacation.

Everything You Need to Know About the Disney Dining Plan

• Disney Dining Plan Overview
• What’s Included on the Disney Dining Plan?
• Disney Dining Plan Pricing
• How the Disney Dining Plan Works

What is the Disney Dining Plan?

Photo by Brett Svenson

The Disney Dining Plan is a vacation package add-on that guests staying in a Walt Disney World Resort hotel and purchasing theme park tickets can opt into. The plan – or plans, as there are currently two different plan choices available – allows you to prepay for a set number of meals and snacks.

Those prepaid meals and snacks are turned into credits, which you can apply to food at a variety of Disney World restaurants during your vacation. The total number of credits you’ll get varies depending on the length of your stay and the specifics of the exact plan you purchase, but it’s typically plenty of food per person, per day.

Guests love the Disney Dining Plan because it’s convenient – since your meals and snacks are paid for in advance, it makes grabbing food a breeze. Plus, you can be flexible about how you use your credits throughout your vacation, allowing for some level of customization for each family or each person.

Like we mentioned earlier, there are currently two specific Disney Dining Plans available for purchase: The Disney Dining Plan and the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan.

The Disney Dining Plan

The Disney Dining Plan is the most varied (and most expensive) of the two plans. It includes the following meals per person, per night stayed:

• One table-service meal
• One quick-service meal
• One snack or nonalcoholic drink
• One refillable drink mug with unlimited refills at your resort

Table service meals can be used at any qualifying table service restaurant that accepts the Disney Dining Plan. These restaurants offer sit-down meals where your party is served at the table. Most Disney World table service restaurants highly recommend advance dining reservations (ADRs), as spots fill up quickly.

Quick-service meals are able to be used at any eligible quick-service restaurant within Disney World that accepts the Disney Dining Plan. At these restaurants, you typically place your order and then pick up the food at a counter. You’ll have to find your own table, but advance dining reservations aren’t required – or even offered – for these restaurants. 

The Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan

The Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan is more narrow in its focus, as it only includes quick-service meal credits and snacks. When you choose this plan, you’ll get the following per person, per night stayed:

• Two quick-service meals
• One snack or nonalcoholic drink
• One refillable drink mug with unlimited refills at your resort

What’s Included on the Disney Dining Plan?

Photo by Brett Svenson

Regardless of whether you opt for the Disney Dining Plan or the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan, you’ll get two meals and one snack or drink per day (plus your refillable mug). However, the specifics of each meal do vary.

Quick-service meals on either one of the Disney Dining Plans are a single entree, which is usually something like a burger and fries or a salad. 

Table service meals can vary, since the service and setup varies pretty significantly from restaurant to restaurant. Some are buffets, some are family-style meals, and others offer individual entrees. So, when you use table-service credits on the Disney Dining Plan, here’s what’s usually included:

• Breakfast includes an entree, buffet, or family-style meal plus one beverage (alcoholic or nonalcoholic)
• Brunch, lunch, or dinner includes an entree, buffet, or family-style meal; one beverage (alcoholic or nonalcoholic); and a dessert

When it comes to snacks, both version of the dining plan include a variety of options. You can use your snack credits on items like ice cream bars (yes, the Mickey-shaped ones count!), sodas, Dole Whip, specialty coffees, popcorn, and fresh fruit.

How can you tell what’s eligible for the Disney Dining Plan? It’s pretty simple: Menus will feature a special icon next to items that qualify, making it easy to identify what you can and can’t use your credits on. If you aren’t 100 percent sure if an item qualifies, you can always ask a Cast Member before ordering or purchasing to verify.

Oh, and don’t forget about snacks in retail shops! These can qualify for the Disney Dining Plan’s snack credits, too. You can stop into shops both in the theme parks and at your resort hotel (and even at Disney Springs) and find options that will help you put your snack credits to use.

Which Restaurants Accept the Disney Dining Plan?

While it might seem like every Disney World restaurant accepts credits from the Disney Dining Plan, that’s not actually the case. Most restaurants participate in the plan, but you’ll want to double-check before trying to redeem any credits.

Over 200 restaurants across Disney World participate in the Disney Dining Plan. You can see a complete list on the Disney website.

Additionally, it’s also important to note that not every restaurant accepts Disney Dining Plan credits in the same manner. For example, some restaurants keep it simple and will require one credit for one meal. However, at more expensive restaurants (like character dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table or lunch and dinner at Be Our Guest), you may wind up using two credits for one meal.

Disney Dining Plan Pricing

The cost of both Disney Dining Plans varies. The final cost depends on which of the two plans you choose and how many nights you’re staying at a Disney World Resort hotel.

Per-night prices start at $57 for adults and $23 for kids. Remember, that’s for two meals (either two quick-service or one quick-service and one table-service) and a snack. Here’s how it breaks down in per-night cost for each of the plans:

• Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan: $57.01 for adults, $23.83 for kids (ages 3-9)
• Disney Dining Plan: $94.28 for adults, $26.69 for kids (ages 3-9)

Tax is included, so you don’t need to factor in any additional costs when you go to use your credits at various restaurants. However, if you dine at table service restaurants, don’t forget about the tip – tip is not included, so you’ll still need to add a tip to your final bill.

How the Disney Dining Plan Works

Photo by Danny Shuster

Purchasing the Plan

To purchase either version of the Disney Dining Plan, you can either:

• Purchase it along with the rest of your Disney World vacation package online
• Purchase it over the phone
• Purchase it with an authorized Disney vacation planner or travel agent

And you don’t have to decide right away – you have time! While you certainly can purchase your Disney Dining Plan when you purchase your theme park tickets and book your hotel reservation, you can also wait until a later date. You’re able to add on a dining plan at any point once you’ve purchased your vacation package, right up until the day before you arrive at the hotel.

So, you’ll have plenty of time to compare costs, check your budget, and determine if the Disney Dining Plan is the right move and the best value for your family. 

Using Disney Dining Plan Credits

Once you’re at Disney World and ready to dine, using your dining plan credits is pretty simple. All you have to do is present a form of valid Disney World Resort ID – a MagicBand, a Disney MagicMobile pass, or your Key to the World card – to servers and cashiers.

If you aren’t sure how many credits you have left, it’s easy to find out. Every time you use your credits to “purchase” a meal or snack, you’ll get a receipt that lists how many credits you have remaining (this also appears on emailed receipts for mobile orders). The My Disney Experience app also keeps track of them for you.

What Can You Do With Leftover Credits?

If you notice you aren’t using as many credits as you’re allotted each day of your Disney World vacation, don’t worry – those credits don’t have to go to waste. While the Disney Dining Plan is designed to offer two meals plus a snack for each day of your vacation, you may find yourself eating less.

Dining plan credits roll over, though, so you’ll simply have more credits to use the next day (and all of the following days, if they keep accumulating!). This is particularly handy if you’re hoping to dine at a restaurant that uses two credits per person, per meal.

However, you can also turn those leftover credits into non-perishable or prepackaged snacks. That way, you don’t have to eat the food ASAP and save it for when hunger strikes. Or, if you’ve racked up a few too many leftover credits near the end of your vacation, you can bring some of your favorite Disney snacks home with you!