As anyone who has ever gone on vacation can attest — especially anyone who’s visited a theme park — the cost of meals can push any trip budget to its maximum. And nowhere is that more obvious than at the Walt Disney World Resort, where you’ll find literally hundreds of places to eat, from kiosks selling the iconic turkey legs and Mickey ice cream bars to five-star restaurants.
To help make it easier and more appealing for visitors to eat in Disney restaurants, Disney introduced the Disney Dining Plans. These prepaid plans allow visitors to pay in advance for their meals throughout their stay, and with some careful planning, can actually save you money over the cost of paying out of pocket. Combined with cheap flights and hotel deals, they may make a Disney vacation more affordable than you ever thought possible!
The Basics: Different Plan Types
Understanding that different travelers have different appetites and different expectations for their vacation dining, Disney offers several dining plans. The Quick-Service Dining Plan includes two meals at counter-service locations for each night stay, plus one snack per night. Quick-Service locations are similar to fast-food restaurants, but you aren’t limited to just fast-food type options.
The most popular plan is the Magic Your Way Plus Dining plan, also known as the basic or regular plan. This plan gives you one counter-service meal plus one table-service meal and one snack per night. Table-service meals include traditional restaurants, buffets and all character meals.
However, if you’re big eaters, or you want to have more flexibility, consider the Deluxe Dining Plan, which offers three meal credits for either quick- or table-service locations, plus two snacks per day. The Deluxe plan also forms the base of the Premium and Platinum plans, which include three meals per day plus other perks, including child care, tickets to shows, fireworks, cruises and spa treatments. All of the plans, from Quick-Service through Platinum, include refillable mugs that you can use at your resort to grab juice or soda to-go.
Which Plan is Right for You?
When choosing a dining plan, you need to consider a number of factors, and cost is just one of them. The Quick-Service plan is the least expensive, and by some accounts offers the most flexibility: You don’t need reservations, and you can just grab food whenever you want from a walk-up location. However, after a long day in the park — or if you want to have a meal with characters — having credits to use at table-service restaurants is appealing.
One way to figure out whether a dining plan is a good deal for you or not is to review the menus for the restaurants you’re interested in and figure the average cost of the meal. Many planning websites, such as Allears.net and WDWinfo.com offer detailed, up-to-date menus with prices for every restaurant. By adding up the cost of a mock meal, you can determine whether the dining plan will save you money, or whether you’re better off paying out of pocket.
Keep in mind that some table-service meals — like the coveted Cinderella’s Royal Table meals inside Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom — require two credits, which might make them more expensive than if you just pay out of pocket. Also, Disney World restaurants don’t skimp on portions; light eaters might find that three meals per day is simply too much food.
Managing Your Plan
The Disney Dining Plan is offered as a perk to those guests staying in Disney hotels, so if you are staying offsite, you aren’t eligible for the plan. Also, you must purchase at least a three-day park admission to be eligible for the plan. If you meet the criteria and purchase a plan, your credits, which you can use at any time during your trip, are loaded onto your Keys to the World card, or starting in fall 2013, onto your Magic Band. Simply swipe your card or band when it’s time to pay and the credits will be deducted from your account. Keep in mind that the plans don’t include alcoholic drinks or tips, so you’ll have to pay for those separately.
Also, table service restaurants almost always require reservations and fill up quickly. Exactly 180 days prior to your trip, call to make your dining reservations — or risk disappointment. If you are taking a last-minute trip and can’t get the restaurants you want, your best bet might be to get a quick-service plan, and pay out of pocket for any last-minute reservations you’re able to score.
The Disney Dining Plan is usually the best deal when it is offered free at various times throughout the year. However, even if you can’t travel during the free dining promotion, consider a plan to help you budget your trip and maybe save a little bit of cash along the way.
Goofy and Daisy Duck image from Flickr’s Creative Commons by Loren Javier.
About the Author: A confirmed Disney-phile, Karen Robinson has visited Disney World more than 20 times.
HilLesha says
I’ll definitely keep this in mind!
Kathleen says
There really are some great ways to save with the Disney Dining Plan. What I always loved about it is that everything was prepaid, meals were planned and I could order anything I wanted without being worried about the cost.