All About Disney Dining Plan Options
If you are planning to stay at a Walt Disney World Resort, consider the option of purchasing a dining plan for your group. Disney Dining Plans are a pre-paid meal plan that are customizable for your needs and your budget, and can be worked into the cost of financing your trip!
You can choose a Quick-Service Dining Plan if you’re looking for quick and convenient meals, or the Disney Dining Plan if you’re looking for sit-down meals and character dining. You can purchase the plans when building your vacation package, or make changes to your existing plans if you’ve already done the legwork and made your vacation plans, but decide to add this feature in later. Annual Passholders can also participate in this feature!
Quick-Service Meal Plans
For use at Quick-Service Locations (no advance reservations required, order at a counter or register, or mobile order with pickup time window selected).
Included in the Quick-Service Plan, based on per night of stay*:
2 Quick-Service meals
1 snack/non-alcoholic drink (but alcoholic beverages may be substituted for guests over 21 years of age)
1 Resort refillable mug (only applicable at resorts, not at parks)
Excluded from the Quick-Service Plan:
Multiple serving items (ie, box of cookies)
Souvenir container items (ie, popcorn buckets)
Merchandise food items (ie, glow cubes)
Special dining events offered at certain Table-Service locations (ie, Fireworks dining packages)
*Meals and snacks can be redeemed at any time during your stay
*Unused meals and snacks roll over day to day, and expire at midnight on checkout date
*Meals and snacks are non transferable between party members
*Guests 21 and older may substitute for beer, wine and cocktails - valid ID required
*Guests ages 3 to 9 must order from a children’s menu (if available)
*Plan must be purchased for the entire length of stay and for the entire party ages 3+
To illustrate this plan better, if you book a 3-night package with a Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan, each guest 3+ in your party would receive 6 Quick-Service meals with items listed above included — which can be used at any time during your 3-night stay, in any order.
Cost of Quick Service Plan
This is where it gets tricky, as the cost will vary based on dates you are traveling, party size, etc. I did some research and found that based on a party of four, two adults and two children, staying during the month of April at Pop Century, the cost of the Quick Service meal plan was approximately $646.76 for the length of the stay, $161.69 per reservation day, $40.42 per person per day, and $20.21 per meal, counting 2 meals per day for 4 people (32 meals total). Resort: Disney's Pop Century Resort; Dates: 04/04/2024 - 04/08/2024; Travel Party: 2 Adults, 2 Children (based on Florida Resident Pricing
So, budgeting just over $20 per meal at Disney World is not too terribly bad, considering you can plan for the cost ahead of time and potentially finance it in your package, if that is the way your Disney vacation is being funded. Keep in mind that you will likely buy food and snacks outside of this budget, but it’s not a bad way to plan for a trip!
How to Use Your Quick-Service Dining Plan
When ordering in line at a Quick-Service restaurant, show your valid Disney Resort ID (MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass or Key to the World card) to your cashier at participating restaurants. If mobile ordering, you can pay with your Dining Plan at checkout.
Please let the cashier know which meals and snacks should be redeemed for each party, if multiple Dining Plans are eating together. Your dining plan is electronically linked to your reservation.
You can redeem your meals and snacks in any order during your stay, until depleted. All unused meals and snacks and the ability to use your Resort-refillable mug expire at midnight on your package reservation checkout date.
View your remaining meals and snacks in the My Disney Experience app.
Check your dining receipts. Remaining meals and snacks are printed on them.
Ask your Resort Concierge or Guest Relations to obtain them at any time.
As a reminder, unused meals and snacks will roll over day to day and expire at midnight on day of checkout.
Disney Dining Plan
If you’re not looking for non-stop action-packed park days, and want to reserve time to slow down and relax at sit down restaurants, but also want the option for quick service as plans change, then the Disney Dining Plan is a great option for you. Similarly structured to the Quick-Service Plan, this plan is designed for guests ages 3+ and is flexible to fit your needs and budget within your own unique Disney vacation experience.
The main difference between these plans is that making a reservation for table service meals up to 60 days in advance is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as reservations are based on availability and tend to fill up quickly (especially restaurants that feature character dining or are in highly desirable locations, like Cinderella’s Table located in Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom, or Space 220 at Epcot - no character dining is at Space 220, but you do get to dine 220 miles above Earth!)
Included in the Disney Dining Plan, based on per night of stay*:
1 Quick-Service meal
1 Table Service meal
1 snack/non-alcoholic drink (but alcoholic beverages may be substituted for guests over 21 years of age)
1 Resort refillable mug (only applicable at resorts, not at parks)
As an illustration, if you book a 4-night package with a Disney Dining Plan, each guest 3+ in your party would receive 4 Quick-Service meals and 4 Table Service meals, with items listed above included — which can be used at any time during your 3-night stay, in any order.
Cost of the Disney Dining Plan
As above, this will vary and be based on dates you are traveling, party size, etc. It does not seem to change based on the resort you are staying at, as the same cost is populated for a reservation at Pop Century and at Fort Wilderness. Based on a party of four, two adults and two children, staying during the month of April at Pop Century, the cost of the Quick Service meal plan was approximately $991.82, or $247.96 per reservation day, and $61.99 per person, $30.96 per meal per person per day.
Resort: Disney's Pop Century Resort; Dates: 04/04/2024 - 04/08/2024; Travel Party: 2 Adults, 2 Children (based on Florida Resident Pricing)
Considering the average meal at a Table Service restaurant ranges from about $35-$60 per person, and keeping in mind the fact that you can prepay and include this as a part of a package that you are potentially financing or are simply budgeting ahead of time for, this is not a bad way to go when preparing for a magical visit to Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks.
How to make reservations and use your Dining Plan
In your My Disney Experience app, navigate to the Reserve Dining tile on the main page.
Select your Party size.
Select the date you are looking to make a reservation for.
Select the time range you are interested in (ie, All Day, Afternoon 12-4 etc)
You can filter by location (Theme parks, resorts, character dining)
Hit apply, and you will see a list of restaurants that are available to make reservations at, or you can at this point select “Check Availability for Multiple Days” at which point you can select a range of days up to the length of your entire stay.This will populate several dining choices.
Make your selections and add any dietary restrictions or accessibility requirements, and tap “Continue”
Verify your contact information is correct and tap “Next”
Enter requested credit card information (please note that a fee may be applied for no-show reservations, or canceled reservations within two hours prior to reservation date and time. This varies per restaurant, see more information on cancellation policies per restaurant when booking.)
Tap “Next”
Read and agree to Guest Policies. Tap “Confirm.”
Once dining has been reserved, you will be given a reservation number. Tap “View Itinerary in My Plans” or go to Future Plans under My Visit, tap on your reservation, and you can then update your reservation to include names from your friends/family in “Update Party”. You can also see details about the reservation, including the date, time, and reservation number.
You can also modify your reservation, adjusting the date and time based on availability, or the number included in your party, by tapping on “Modify”. You can also cancel your reservation by tapping “Cancel” and confirm that you are canceling your reservation.
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