Free Dining at Disney! FAQ

Free Dining at DisneyWorld. It is one the most sought after promotion Disney has released in the past.There are also a lot of questions that arise from it and a lot of wrong information out there about it. So here are some of the Frequently Ask Questions I get about Free Dining at DisneyWorld.

First let me say, I  do not have inside information. I am going on experience and fact. Based on that I can give you some educated fact and opinion.

What is Free Dining at Disney World?
Free dining was/is a Promotion that  Disney began to use to promote their dining plan and to get people to DisneyWorld in the lower  crowd times of year. It was also designed to make it so that visiting DisneyWorld would make it more probable for you to  stay on site and not stray to other attractions in the area.  The promotion and the dining plans have changed since they were originally released. The dates in the past few years have been limited to the fall months but when it was first was released it was it was available in the winter months. Basically, free dining is as follows: 1) stay on-site at one of the qualifying  Disney Resorts for a specific length of stay and ticket length and 2)get a Dining plan for everyone on your package for Free. The dining plan would be based on the level of resort that you say at.

 Is Free Dining really Free? 
This is a question that people struggle with. The simple answer about free dining being free is  yes it is.
The more difficult answers come from  how far in advance you have booked your package.  There have been years when  if you booked as early as possible and the annual price increase hit, if you applied the Free Dining Discount, the package actually cost more. That sure doesn't sound free to me. Booking early did save people more money than those that waited for the actual release of the free dining promotion. Now to save money for those early booking people, the room only discount was able to be applied and it did save them some, but not much money.

There are some that also argue that Disney takes the room rate to full price for Free Dining promotion and they make up their cost there. What do you mean takes the room to full price? When Disney list their rooms rates, they will say rooms starting at $89 a night to $199 a night.  $89 a night would be the seasonal slow rate and full rack rate would be the $199 a night.

In my opinion even doing with the room at full rack rate, you can still come out a head with free dining depending again on how early you have booked**This is especially true if you book the room without a dining plan and your agent applies the promotion and there is no cost change in your package!( It can and has happened!) This will depend on room option, resort, and number of people traveling with you and their ages. This leads to the next question!
**What a lot of people don't realize and are not told is, if you book early and a price increase hits when applying the discounts or promotion your package now becomes subject to those price increases. So sometimes leaving the package alone is a better savings than applying the discount. So if you can book as early as possible!

Who saves the most with Free Dining if it is offered?
The more adults( people 10 and over) you have staying in the same room and the longer you stay(usually you can get free dining up to 14 days) the more you save. Again it depends on the resort level and room type you are staying in. For example a Family of 5 adults staying in a Moderate resort could save about $61 per person per night with the current dining plan pricing if they are given free dining.  If there are only 2 people in the room, the saving is obviously less or if there are children under 10 since the child cost of the Dining plan is considerably less.   Now a good travel agent would compare offers or opt to leaving the package alone if there were multiple offers out there to see what would save a family and have no difficulty explaining that to a client.

Last  year(2014) I had a client booked for Arts of Animation Little Mermaid rooms with no discount paying for the Dining plan with a family of 5. Arts of Animation is a value resort and the Little Mermaid rooms have not yet been part of any promotion. When the offer came out, I compared the deals, saw that moving to the Suites would cost them more money but thinking outside the box, looked at Coronado Springs resort and got them a larger room at the Moderate resort and saved them over $1000 to give them truly FREE dining!

 Is Free Dining Guaranteed? 
ABSOLUTELY NOT!  There are many reasons why free dining is not guaranteed.  First and foremost the head honcho of Disney Bob Iger has publicly stated that they want to start to ween people off discounts. Secondly, Disney reserves the right to limit the time frame a promotion is offered and the number of rooms at each resort. Last years promotion saw a huge change to the free dining promotion by reducing the number of dates and the number of rooms on the promotion. One of the main staple resorts for a family of 5, Port Orleans-Riverside, was not included and there were agents guaranteeing that resort would be available.

My Travel Agent said they would automatically apply it to my reservation, so that means it IS guaranteed right?
Again ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!! If you have a travel agent that is guaranteeing you free dining or any promotion, DROP THEM ASAP!!!!!!  As a Travel Agent myself, I promote discount monitoring. Just because I offer it doesn't mean you will get a discount. It really depends on how many rooms are offered in a promotion, the dates, the restrictions, and if it is truly a deal for you.  

NO travel agent gets priority on a discount. When a discount is offered, we all call in and we are all thrown in line. Each phone call get answered  by a cast member and we take time to see if the offer is good deal. Sometimes by the time we get through, the rooms are already full at the resort our clients are staying at. It is just luck of the draw. I will continually try back to see if for some reason there is a cancellation to see if I can get it applied all the way up to my clients travel date. Many agents give up after the first attempt.

 I tell my clients to be comfortable with Non-Discounted Package Price they are booking and look at a promo or discount that is released as bonus if they qualify for it . If they are really dead set on getting the offer, I tell them to be extremely flexible in their travel and resorts they are willing to stay at. This may require them to wait on airfare if they are flying and doing so may cancel out any discount that is applied to a package.

Just this Week(April 1st, 2015) Disney released an function for travel agents to make changes to a package online. If you do not have a good agent that knows what they are doing, this can cause them to really screw up your package and trip if they don't understand the discounts and go in and just apply the discount. 

Trust me there are a lot of agents out there that have no clue what they are doing! Shop around and look at testimonials of agent! Interview the agent, after all they are working for you if you book with them!

My Agent says they are EarMarked and have a special line to call in to get the Discounts so they have priority right? 
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!! They have special number to call alright... any Disney Travel Agent that knows it can use and every single agent no matter what phone line they use get put in the same line no matter what line they call. Plus an EarMarked agent does not mean you are getting the best agent possible, more on that another time!

 I got a Pin Code for Free Dining so yep I am getting free dining right?
Nope.  Pin codes are codes that Disney will send to you to try to get you to come to Disney during a specific time with some enticement. Sometimes they are released before an offer is open to the public, sometimes at the same time, other times weeks after the promo. There are usually a broad range of dates and many black out dates with it. If you get it before a promo is released to the public you have a better chance of getting the promo, but again it might not be the best deal for that travel time. Disney wants your vacation dollars so they are "personalizing" an offer for you and it really isn't random either. You have signed up for something Disney and you matched their magic algorithm to get the offer.

 There is this guy on Facebook, in a forum,  on this website that says they have inside information on what the  hotel capacity are and when, how many rooms, the magic express laying people off,  and what the offer details are; why don't you?
Easy answer... This "Guy" is full of s***.  Disney does not go around bragging about how many people are in rooms to the general public or even to many cast members that aren't at management levels.  Why? Because Disney is a public owned company that has to answer to shareholders on wall street and having some loose cannons saying we don't have a high attendance or rooms filled to a certain level could cause investors to loose confidence in the company. We do hear about how room capacities have been/are during shareholder meeting and quarter earnings. Plus it is illegal to release such data before those meetings and earning reports.

So the magical express is laying off people.It was a big news story because of the amount of people they are laying off.  This is an outside company that contracts with Disney. They do more than just the Magical Express. They may have been top heavy and had to shed some people to keep their company in the green.They maybe loosing the contract to do the Disney Magical Express. They may be loosing business in is other areas because of the SunRail.  It may or may not be associated with the attendance at Disney parks..... based on the numbers Disney has been sharing with Wall Street, I doubt this has little or anything to do with attendance at the parks and hotels. I would look more at the amount of people flying in to Orlando compared to those deciding to drive.

AS far as the promotion dates and details.... it is easy to guess when the offers will be released based on historical releases of past deals. There are a few sites out there what will throw dates out  and then constantly change them until they get it right. When called out about it, ban you from their Facebook page, mailing list, etc.

In the last few years, all agents have been lucky to get 24 to 48 hours notice about a promotion. Occasionally an over zealous District Manager will prematurely release information to an agency then get a huge smack on the wrist for doing it..... if not loosing their job.  Again, that "guy" with inside info posting it on all over the world wide web is full of s***.  That person(s) are just trying to get you to go their business so they can get your business.  If you are going to use a Travel Agent, do not use them because love to post rumors. Use them because they are good at what they do and know what they are doing!

Will Free Dining be released this year?
Possibly with a heavy lean to more than likely. Historically the signs point to yes. You will know just about the same time I will know.

When will it be released and what will it be?
Historically right around the end of April to June is when it has been released. It will be when Disney is ready to release it. What it will be we, won't know until Disney officially releases details of the offer.  One of those "guys" last year released a bunch of wrong information before the official details were released and caused a lot of problems for their clients. When they were raked over the coals they blamed it on their clients and changed or deleted all of their post with the wrong information.... Sorry once something is out there on the web.... someone is gonna find it!!!

More than Likely Disney Visa Card Holders will get first shot at the deal for a few day before the general public gets the offer.These offers may or may not be the same.


Be patient, be flexible, and most of all be comfortable withe price you book your vacation as no promotion is ever guaranteed!

Thanks for reading!

The Disney Dining plan! 2013's Plan in action!

One of the most common questions I get when booking a Walt Disney World Resort Vacation Package for a client is, "Is the dining plan worth it?"  To be honest with you, there really is no simple answer  because every family eats differently. Disney recognizes this and has come up with some cookie cutter plans that try to appeal to a broad audience. This is great for some families and not so good for other families. I am not going to debate the the pro and cons of the plans in this post because I did that  a while back in another post that you can access by clicking here.  While the plans have changed slightly over the years, the pros and cons have pretty much stayed the same.

Can the Dining Plans save you Money? Yes! Can a Dining plan waste your Money? Yes!


So that we are all on the same page, here are the current prices and a little video Disney has put together to tell you the benefits you get with a dining plan.(price can change at anytime and dining plans can be changed at anytime by Disney) I have also included short break down of what each plan includes for 2013! The breakdown below can be found just about every where you look when looking for information on the dining plans, but not many sites actually put the plan in action for you.

Quick-Service Plan
Price Per Night 2013
Adult (Ages 10+) $37.58
Child (Ages 3-9) $14.32

The Quick Service includes the following for each resort guest:
2 Quick Service Meals per night stayed
Each meal includes an entrée or complete combo meal, dessert (lunch and dinner only), and non-alcoholic beverage
1 Snack Option per night stayed
1 Resort Refillable Mug for the length of stay

Standard Plan- This plan is suggested by Disney and Myself
Price Per Night 2013
Adult (Ages 10+) $55.59
Child (Ages 3-9) $17.16
***During Peak Season (typically summer and holidays), prices increase for the Basic Standard Plan to $56.94/night for Adults 10+ and $18.16/night for Children ages 3 to 9****

The Standard Plan includes the following for each resort guest:
1 Quick Service Meal per night stayed
Each meal includes an entrée or complete combo meal, dessert (lunch and dinner only), and non-alcoholic beverage.

1 Table Service Meal per night stayed
Each meal includes an entrée, dessert (lunch and dinner only), and non-alcoholic beverage, or, if eating at a buffet, the full buffet.
1 Snack Option per night stayed
1 Resort Refillable Mug for the length of stay

Deluxe Plan
Price Per Night 2013
Adult (Ages 10+) $99.97
Child (Ages 3-9) $26.84
****During Peak Season, prices increase for Deluxe Dining Plans.to $102.27/night for Adults 10+ and $28.91/night for Children ages 3 to 9.****

The Deluxe Plan includes the following for each resort guest:
3 Meals per night stayed, which can be any combination of Table Service Meals and Quick Service Meals
Quick Service Meals include an entrée or complete combo meal, dessert (lunch and dinner only), and non-alcoholic beverage.
Table Service meals include an appetizer (lunch and dinner only), entrée, dessert (lunch and dinner only), and non-alcoholic beverage, or, if eating at a buffet, the full buffet.
2 Snack Options per night stayed
1 Resort Refillable Mug for the length of stay


Now that we have the details down, it is time to put the standard Dining plan into action!

Here is a good tip: While there are some exceptions to the rule, Table Service meals used for lunch are a waste of money. You get more bang for your table service meals during breakfast or dinner. 

I am going to use the dining plan I have set up for my family to show how you can use the standard dining plan.
Being the outstanding planner that I am, for our trip at the end of March through first week of April, I made our table service reservations right at the 180 day mark when they became available to get the times and restaurants we wanted. This is the peak season and the longer I would have waited, the less likelihood I would have gotten restaurants or time we wanted. The wild cards in our dining plan here will be our daily snacks and quick service meals. Since we are only getting 2 meals a day, we are going to supplement our dining plan with some items in our room to get those of us in our family that want 3 meals a day that "extra" meal. We are using a personal shopper that will deliver things to our room from the grocery store, beating the high cost of the onsite gift shop. We prefer to use Orlando Theme Park Shoppers. For about $35, they are delivering us groceries  that will supplement that extra meal for our 8 night/9 day visit. Their delivery will consist of  some snack items but mostly breakfast items. It will save us money and time in the mornings.

Day 1 is going to be a quick service meal for us based on our arrival time. So lets say because of our arrival time we are going to eat dinner at the food court of our resort.
Hypothetically, 2 from our family will get Carved Roast Turkey served with two sides that would cost out of pocket  $10.19 a meal. Another family member decides to get an Angus Bacon Cheese burger with Fries for $9.39 and then the final member(who is a child) decides to get a pepperoni pizza for $5.99.All meals come with a drink and desert. This meal would cost right around $36 out of pocket if we were not on the dining plan. Today we opted out of a Table Service meal because we are going to use a 2 table service meal credit dining experience later in the week.

Day 2 For breakfast, those that choose to, will be having bagels with cream cheese, granola bars and some bananas that have been delivered to us by Orlando Theme Park Shoppers.
Today hypothetically we are starting the day at the Animal Kingdom and will be using a quick Service meal at Flame Tree Barbecue (Great quick service meal highly suggest this place) for lunch.  1 adult choose the Rib and Chicken combo for $11.99.  Adult #2 orders The Pulled Pork Sandwich for$8.99 and Adult # 3 gets the 1/2 Slab of Ribs for $11.69. The child gets the Hot Dog for $5.99(the hot dog is enough for an adult) all meals  include a drink and desert. Lunch out of pocket would cost roughly $39, but we are on the dining plan and it already paid for!

Two Quick Service meals from Flame Tree barbecue

For dinner we are going to the very popular O'hana's at the Polynesian and this is a table service meal. This is family style all you care to eat meal is offering carved meat and other goodies brought to our table. This will run $59.99 per adult and slightly cheaper for children. This meal will be about $220 out of pocket but since we are on the dining plan, I will be responsible for the tip and any alcohol we may decide to purchase. We will be leaving stuffed.

Day 3 Today we are going to do breakfast in the room again and then another quick service meal for lunch that  will cost us about $40. Dinner is going to be a Character Dining Experience at Chef Mickey's which is a table service meal. This a buffet style meal all you care to eat. Again this meal will cost us $59.99 per adult and slightly less again for the child, putting us back at $220 for the meal. Again since we are on the Dining plan, I will only be responsible for the tip.

So you get the idea here that things are expensive out of pocket and paying for the dining plan in advance can lessen the burden on you paying out pocket while on vacation. The only thing you have to really worry about is choosing how you want to spend your dining credits for each category(a vacation planner like myself can help you choose really good meals), the tips, alcohol, and anything you may went to add to the meal i.e appetizers. For the rest of the post, I am going to skip putting in projected cost out of pocket. 

Day 4 We are going to shake thing up a little. Not only are we doing a table service meal for breakfast. We are doing a table service meal that will cost us 2 table service meal credits per person. We are having the Signature Dining experience/Character Dining at Cinderellas Royal Table! This plated meal, NOT all you care to eat.This a great location plus we get some one on one time with the Princesses when they come to our table for autographs and photo ops. Our princesses might not be so charming with the early morning wake up call to get here.
Later in the day will probably use a snack credit for something to munch on then have an early quick service dinner at which ever park we end up at for the evening. We love to park hop.

Day 5 Tonight we are dining at EPCOT for another great Character Dining experience table service meal at the Garden Grill Restaurant in the Land Pavilion  It is another all you care to eat family style meal and character meal with the added bonus of a restaurant that slowly turns while you dine! We will probably grab a quick service meal in the World Showcase for lunch and use a snack credit for Churros to watch Illuminations.

Intergalatic tunes from Sonny Eclipse

Day 6  Our table service meal will be at The Crystal Palace for dinner, another all you care to eat Character Dining experience. Again this morning, breakfast will be in the room and we may opt for an early quick service lunch at the the Magic Kingdom. One my Favorites is Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland  Not only is there a decent selection of quick service meals here, there is a great topping bar and you get entertained while you eat from Sonny Eclipse!

Day 7  We will be experiencing  the brand new Be our Guest Restaurant for dinner for our table service meal. We aren't sure what to expect here, but hear great things about it. During the day, if you want brave long lines, this restaurant is quick service meal. I hear it is great and maybe one of the days we are in the Magic Kingdom, we may try out the quick service offerings. This morning we be opting for a quick service meal at the food court of our resort.

Day 8 Tonight we will be dining at the Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano with and it will include the Fantasmic! package for our table service meal. What is the Fantasmic package? Well you will get your normal table service meal with reserved seating later in the evening at Fantasmic! We will probably have a quick service meal for lunch at  Typhoon lagoon today. We will also probably use some snack credits here for some treats while we wait for Fantasmic! to start.

Day 9 is our departure day. If we have any quick service meals left or snack credits left, before we head to the airport we will use them up at our resort. If we don't use them, we lose them. This is one way the dining plan can "lose" you  money.

So if you are keeping score, here is summary of the highlights of our Standard Dining Plan.
4 Character  meals
1 Fantasmic! Dining package meal
1 Signature Dining Experience that takes 2 table service meals.
Half of our Table Service meals are all you care to eat.
We haven't used many of our snacks or maybe we will along the way.  

Here is a tip: if you have snack credits at the end of your trip, stay away from bottles of pop and bottled water. Why you ask. You can't get past security with them at the airports and they will end up being put in the trash!

In my opinion, this is a lot of food to consume and more food than I normally would consume while at home, but then again, We are on Vacation.

While this is not an all-star line up for the dining plan, it more than meets my families needs and we save money and time in the mornings by using Orlando Theme Park Shoppers for breakfast items.

I hope that sheds a little more light on the value you can get with a dining plan and may help you choose one way or the other if you want to use it during your vacation. No matter how you look at it, using a Dining Plan or not using the Dining Plan will make Disney money no matter what, so ultimately it is your choice as to when they get your money.

I choose to promote Orlando Theme Park Shoppers because they offer excellent service at an affordable price. Orlando Theme Park Shoppers does not offer me any incentive to promote their business. I gladly promote businesses I believe in and never seek anything from them in return and believe word of mouth is one of best forms of advertisements. 

Tell us your experience with your dining plans at Disney.

Need something Special on your Orlando Vacation?

Challenges arise when traveling when it comes to bringing the stuff you want with you. As all air travelers are aware, there are strict guidelines for carry-on and checked luggage. Passengers may not carry any liquid or gel over 3.4 ounces including shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and Snow Globes, yes Snow Globes! Most of the theme parks have them for sale. Then there are the times when traveling you forget something and walk down to your resort's gift shop to be limited with over priced merchandise that is not your brand! You may even have a special diet that can sometimes be a hassle. This should not be an obstacle and  ruin your vacation. The perfect way to hurdle this obstacle and carry on with your vacations is to use a personal shopper.

What is a Personal Shopper?

Many personal Shoppers specialize in buying grocery items and delivering them to you at your resort. I prefer to use personal shopper that does more than that! That is why I choose Orlando Theme Park Shoppers. They do more than just grocery shopping. They can make Gift Bags for special occasions, grab that special souvenir you forgot to buy at the parks (if it still available) and ship it too you, grab those items you forgot or could not bring on the plane, and also deliver the groceries you want and the brands you want right to your resort.

How does Orlando Theme Park Shoppers work?

At least 7 days prior to your visit, orders can be sent to Orlando Theme Park Shoppers' email or Facebook page.  They will send you a quote (cost of items, sales tax, 18% service fee, $10 delivery fee) back to you. At that time they will send you a way to make payment to them  that is secure and then will purchase your items for delivery to your resort. Upon delivery of your items to your resort, they will notify you through email and Facebook to let you know your items have arrived to bell services/front desk of your hotel. The great thing is that all onsite hotels in the WALT DISNEY WORLD® RESORT and UNIVERSAL ORLANDO® RESORT are equipped to keep any perishables cold for you and have mini fridges in the rooms. Orlando Theme Park Shoppers handle emergency orders as well for an additional $15 fee that can be filled that day!

Suggested items to get from Orlando Theme Park Shoppers?

Have Orlando Theme Park Shoppers grab you a case of water for the warm sunny days, suntan/sunblock, Baby items, Ponchos, souvenir you forgot to buy, breakfast items, fresh fruit, juice, shampoo, sports drinks, the list goes on and on.

Orlando Theme Park Shoppers can make your vacation simpler and reduce your stress so you can enjoy your vacations more!
Make sure you stop by and like their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoThemeParkShoppers

The Magic Kingdom will no longer be dry......

More information has been announced about the Be Our Guest Restaurant and is sure to cause some controversy. For the first time in its history, alcohol will be served at the Magic Kingdom theme park. It will only be served at this one location and only offered with dinner. The alcohol will be part of the theming and consist of  wine that will complement the French-inspired cuisine. There will also be  French beer and Belgian beers. The complete adult beverage menu can be found here!

What are you thoughts to this addition to the new FantasyLand?

The Disney Dining Plan...Is it worth it?

The views in this post are based Dining plans that have been offered in the past at Disney World. Disney does reserve the right to change a dining plan option or restaurants included in the dining plan at anytime. 


"Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it?" The simple answer is yes, but there are pros and cons to each dining plan and here I will try to explain all of those that I have encountered.

Back in the day, when I was a wee lad, I would visit Disney World with the Boy Scout Troop that I was apart of. The Leaders of the Troop budgeted money for each scout to have a food allowance each day as part of the trip cost and would distribute it each morning to each scout. This is was my first introduction to a food budget and a very primitive dining plan. That food allowance per day was $10 and over the years would be raised as the cost of food rose. By the last trip I took as a scout, the food allowance per day was $20. I could eat like a king on that food allowance back then, not so much now at Disney or other theme parks for that matter. Yes, one can still plan a food allowance per person, per day which some people enjoy doing. At the same time, opting into a Disney Dining plan can take care of the budgeting and offer you a fairly decent amount of freedom and selections of food while on your vacation at Disney World. You have to eat and drink while on vacation; this is pretty straight forward. Eating and drinking is also something that can break the budget on a vacation. Choosing how you will dine at Disney World depends on several factors that should include your dining style, the amount of food that you are accustomed to eating, and the amount of research you have done on the pricing of food on and off the Disney Resort Property. Disney has taken those factors into consideration and offers a few different dining plans that can be a part of your stay at Disney World.(Disneyland offers a different type of dining plan not discussed here.)

In order to understand the Disney Dining plans, I will break down what Disney considers a food type or restaurant style. This is a general overview and specifics can be provided upon request and are provided to you in advance of booking a package with a dining plan and is explained at check in as well.

Quick Service- This is going to be your no frills basic fast food type style of food with some nice surprises thrown in(waffle sandwiches) but generally include food from soups, sandwiches, salads, pastas, fish, chicken, and meat entrées. Think of this as a walk up to a counter and order just like you would at fast food type restaurant and in most cases, but not all, larger portions of food.

Table Service- This is a type of meal you will have a waiter or waitress serve you at a table. The name is kind of straight forward and at this level the food will be like  standard chain restaurant offerings but much better quality with preparation and cooking generally supervised by a real live breathing chef.Character dining(well worth it) and buffets are in this category

Signature Dining- Signature Dining is going to be the upscale(some have a dress code, most don't) extremely popular restaurants that come with larger price tags. There are some Character Dining options at this level because of popularity and location( think Cinderella's Royal Table).

Snacks - There is plenty of junk food and other food stands spread out serving ice cream, funnel cakes, candy apples, turkey legs,etc.     The brochures for the dining plans will outline what you can use as a snack if you are on a dining plan and those stands will be marked with signage also.

Now comes the more difficult aspect of the Dining plans. How do you choose if you should have a dining plan and which plan is for you? That will be based on how much you want to pay, what you want to eat, and how much you think is too much or too little food for you and your family. This is all in the eye of the beholder and only you know your family and their eating habits. Disney understand one size doesn't fit all and to help you with this, Disney offers a couple of different plans. Note if there is a free dining plan promotion taking place, it may or may not be the best deal out there, this is where a travel agent, like myself, comes in handy.

The plans are: 

Quick-Service Dining Plan
Standard Dining Plan( my recommendation)
Deluxe Dining Plan

Breaking down each plan based on the 2012 options for an adult

Quick Service Dining Plan-
For each NIGHT of your stay you will receive a credit(non-cash value) for:
2 Quick-Service Meals per person on the plan, used per person, at quick service restaurants that honor the dining plan.
On the dining plan a quick service meal would be:

For Breakfast -1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal and 1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage
For Lunch and Dinner- 1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal 1 dessert 1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage
1 Snack per person on the dining plan, per night of stay.
1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person

Use them any way you like to until you use your credits up, if you don't use them, you lose um.

Standard Dining Plan-My recommendation

For each NIGHT of your stay you will receive a credit(non-cash value) for:
1 Quick-Service Meal per person on the plan, used per person, at quick service restaurants that honor the dining plan.
1 Snack per person on the dining plan, per night of stay.
1 Table-Service Meal per person on the dining plan, per night of stay. Which would  include1 entrée,1 dessert (lunch and dinner only),1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage or 1 full buffet(character meals are table service meals)

1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person

Deluxe Dining Plan- This is a lot of food!
This option offers 3 meals per person, per night of stay for those on the plan
Those meals can be either table service meals or Quick Service meals, your choice!( but they must be on the list of restaurants that honor the dining plan)
2 Snack per person on the dining plan, per night of stay
1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person

This is a basic breakdown of the 3 most common Dining plans that Disney has offered over the years, there are a couple of other package options but those include other upcharge items on top of the dining options.


Now that you see what the options are, here is a general list of pros and cons I have come across.

Major PROS for all of the dining plans is that it is paid for already once you have checked in and each person on the plan gets a resort refillable mug,a great souvenir.( The mug was added to the dining plan in 2012 and is a much welcomed addition)

Major Cons for all the Dining Plans are if you don't use it, you lose it! The price can be a con but you are going to pay for food one way or another why not in advance?

Major Pros of the Quick Service Dining Plan are that even for picky eaters, there is a wide selection of options. You can get in and out of locations quickly. All of the Food Courts in the resorts accept the quick service plan because they are quick service locations and you can use snack credits here as well.(Makes for a nice quick breakfast before the parks or nice after park snack) It's a decent amount of food because the portions are bigger than most fast food places. Cheapest of the plans!

Major Cons of the Quick Service Dining Plan  include that it might not be enough food for you. You are on vacation and might want a nicer meal, that will have to come out of your pocket(A Table Service Meal for a family of 4 can easily cost $150).

Major Pros of the Standard Dining Plan  are that some character meals are participants in the dining plan and the memories that come from this type of  meal last a lifetime.To super-size this pro, if you choose a participating character meal, it is paid for and character meals are expensive! Some buffets are a part of the table service meals, offering a wide variety and vast amounts of food! Signature dining meals can be a part of this dining plan, they use 2 table service credits, but again, it is paid for already. Finally,there is a lot of food with this plan, the snacks might even prove to much.

Major Cons of the Standard Dining Plan could include that  you could have dining options for table meals limited if you don't make advanced dinner reservations. You may have to end up paying for another meal if you use 2 credits on a signature dining option.Table service meals will eat up time in the parks, plan at least at the minimum of 1 hour for table service meals. Tips at some table meals are not included read the fine print, don't stiff the waiter or waitress, that is just not cool.


Major Pros of the Deluxe Dining Plan are that this plan has more than enough food for most people and allow for more flexibility in how dining credits options can be distributed between the types of food/restaurant types than the other two plans discussed. You can have a table service meal for every meal if you like and shoot for more signature dining meals if that is what you desire. You are less likely to run out of meal and snack credits. You could technically try to have every meal be a character meal.

Major Cons of the Deluxe Dining plan are that it is expensive. If you don't make advance dining reservations, your options can become limited, especially for the signature dining locations. Most signature dining locations fill up180 days in advance! You are more likely to have meal and snack credits lost if you don't use them. If you only use the meals for quick service meals, you might be better off just using the quick service plan and buying that extra meal a day. This is expensive but you may come out ahead in the long run depending how you use your credits!


As you can see, Disney has some great options for you when it comes to Dining plans. Based on my experience with the dining plans, this is something I will include on my family trips whenever staying at the Disney World Resort. It makes budgeting for a trip much easier and gives me a piece of mind while on vacation that my food is paid for in advance. This lead to less stress and more time to enjoy the park! So, tell us what has your experience been with the dining plans Disney offers?