The Disney Dining Plan at Walt Disney World is a pre-paid option that allows you to get (1) Quick-Service Meal, (2) Snacks and (1) Table-Service Meal per person per night of your stay. Plus each person receives one Resort refillable drink mug.
Cost
$78.01 per day for Adults (10 and up)
$30.51 per day for Children (3-9 yrs old)
Details
- Everyone staying in the resort room must be on the same dining plan.
- You will automatically be charged for the dining plan for every night of your stay in your resort room. For example, you cannot have the dining plan for 3 nights of a 7 night stay. The only way to get around this is to have multiple resort reservations and transfer resorts.
- Kids ages 3-9 must order from the kid’s menu where available.
- For breakfast, you will get 1 entree or 1 complete combo meal and 1 single-serve beverage. Breakfast is not a good use of the Quick Service credit. Use your credit for lunch or dinner.
- For lunch and dinner, you will get 1 entree or 1 complete combo meal and 1 single-serve beverage at Quick Service restaurants. At Table Service restaurants you will receive 1 entree, 1 single-serve beverage and 1 dessert.
- On the first day of your resort stay, all dining credits will be added to your account. You can choose to redeem them in any order you want. Want to use 3 Quick Service credits in one day, you can. Want to schedule 3 Table Service meals in one day, you can. As long as all credits are used by midnight on the day you check out, you can redeem them however you want.
Price Comparison
So let’s figure out if the Disney Dining Plan would save your family money. Here is an example day and what it would cost you to eat if you paid cash for your meals:
Breakfast
Eat in the room; Enjoy Poptarts, Oatmeal, etc from Garden Grocer.
Lunch
Eat at Cosmic Rays restaurant in the Magic Kingdom.
- 1/3 lb Angus Bacon Cheeseburger with fries – $13.29
- Soda – $3.99
Total: $17.28 (+ tax)
Dinner
Eat at ‘Ohanas for dinner
- Adult Meal $55
Total: $55 (+ tax)
Snack #1
Eat at Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom.
- Dole Whip – $4.99
Total: $4.99 (+ tax)
Snack #2
Eat Plaza Ice Cream Parlor in Magic Kingdom
- The Plaza Ice Cream Sundae — $6.99
Total: $6.99 (+ tax)
Grand Total: $84.26 (+ tax)
Cost of the Dining Plan: $78.01 (tax included)
I based the above day on entrees my husband has chosen at each restaurant.
My Advice
Visit Disney.com and search for the Quick Service and Table Service restaurants that appeal to your family. Check out the prices on their menu for lunch and dinner and ask yourselves the following questions:
- Would you choose to eat dessert at the table service restaurant if it was not included in the dining plan?
- Would both of your kids get a kid’s meal or would they split an adult meal if you were paying out of pocket?
- Would you purchase a snack everyday for each member of your party if you were paying out of pocket?
- The refillable mugs are located at the quick service location at your resort. The cup holds approximately 12 ounces. How many times would you be able to refill it? The mug is valued at $19.99. Figure out how many times you would refill it and divide the cost of the cup by the number of refills. If you refilled it both morning and night for 7 days, you would pay approximately $1.42 per refill. Also consider the fact that you would have to either return the mug to your room or tote it with you during the day. Will you want to walk all the way back to your room before visiting a park or will you want to carry it around with you all day in the parks?
Only you can figure out if this plan is cost effective for your family and will save you money. I do hope that I provided you with the resources to conclude that on your own. Don’t just assume the dining plan is a good investment and end up spending more for the dining plan than what you would have spent out of pocket.
Check out the details on the Quick Service Dining Plan.
Learn more about Walt Disney World Dining and get suggestions for where to eat, how to use the Disney Dining Plan and more.
Photo Credit: Renea!
For those that say they like to pay ahead, you can do that without the dining plan. Buy a Disney gift card! Better yet: buy a gift card for the exact amount you would have spent on the Dining Plan. Whatever is left at the end can be used to buy souvenirs :)
Thank you for this article! We bought the DDP last time. We had two QS and a snack. I loved the convince of not having to save back money for food and just scanning our band. The next time we go we are wanting to have table service meals. This will really help me decide if the plan is worth it.
Glad you had a good experience with it! :)
I think we usually break even or end up saving a bit when we use it. I am actually going to be taking photos of the receipts this year when we go before they cash them out so I can figure out what is the better deal. I do know that I like the convenience of having my meals paid off ahead of time and just paying for tip at the table service restaurants. I’m sure some will say we’re spending more, but I’m ok with that. We usually have the regular plan with one sit down meal as we enjoy the break out of the hot Florida heat and my hubby likes to enjoy his meals.
We have found that the standard DDP is worth the cost if you plan on doing a lot of character meals. If you don’t want to take time out of your trip to sit down to a meal and you instead want to hit the kiosks or QS locations, then consider paying out of pocket or doing the QS DDP.
Really loved this article!! It helped break down so many things about the dining plan! Thank you for a great article!! Love your blog!