The Disney Dining Plan is officially back at Walt Disney World! 2024 is a huge year for post-pandemic Disney World. Since its reopening in July 2020, operations at Disney have been continuously shifting as health concerns related to the Coronavirus Pandemic ebbed and flowed. Now, three and half years later, Disney is once again changing things up.
Besides Disney’s recent announcement that they will be doing away with the Park Pass Reservation System for resort guests sometime in 2024, Disney also announced they will be bringing back a beloved fan favorite for many families – THE DINING PACKAGES!
For those of us who frequented Disney World often before the pandemic, the dining packages were often essential parts of planning and budgeting for any Walt Disney World Vacation. It’s exciting to once again see the dining packages return as a convenient and budget friendly option for travelers who like to pre-purchase the bulk of their vacation before they travel.
What is the Disney Dining Plan?
The Disney Dining Plan is an add-on package, similar to one a person would buy aboard a cruise, which allows the purchaser certain entitlements to food and beverage on Disney property including Disney resorts and Disney Springs. There are several different types of packages to fit every budget, family—and even those picky eaters. Split into 2 categories (The Disney Dining Plan and the Disney Quick Service Plan) these add-ons offer a convenient and easy way to make your vacation getaway less stressful and more focused on the fun of Disney food and snacks.
While you can visit Disney’s official page here, keep reading for our take.
How Much Does the Disney Dining Plan Cost?
If you are a family that enjoys meals at restaurants like Be Our Guest, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220 and other premier full service restaurants, you may want to consider the full Disney Dining Plan. However, if you are a family that likes to eat on-the-go and not take time out of your day to partake in a table service meal or are more budget conscious, The Quick Service plan is the way to go.
Prices for the 2024 Dining Plan options are as follows:
Quick Service Dining Plan – $57 per Adult | $23.83 per Child (Ages 3-9)
Disney Dining Plan – $94.28 per Adult | $29.69 per Child (Ages 3-9)
These prices are PER NIGHT of the reservation.
What’s included in the Dining Plan?
Each dining plan offers a variety of options for food and drink during their stay.
The Disney Dining Plan includes:
- 1 Quick-Service Meal
- 1 Table-Service Meal
- 1 snack or Non-alcoholic beverage
- 1 Resort Refillable Mug
The Quick-Service Plan includes:
- 2 Quick-Service meals
- 1 snack or non-alcoholic beverage
- Resort-Refillable Mug
The Resort mug is an amazing souvenir to take home and remember your vacation on those days when you’re heading into work and using it as a coffee travel mug, or something fun to pull out during the summer for cookouts and pool time. (Take it from a Genie who knows!) These entitlements are per night of stay, and expire at midnight on the last night of the reservation. They are also non-transferable, even between members of the same party.
How To Maximize the Dining Plan:
Maximizing the Dining Plans may seem complicated, but it’s essentially a mixture of the right planning and simple math. If you’re going by daily expense minus the refillable mug, the credits for each entitlement are as follows:
Dining Plan: 31.43/ credit per adult
Quick Service: 19/credit per adult.
To maximize the Disney Dining Plan, ask the following questions:
- What’s the price of this dish on the menu?
- What’s the quality (intricacy) of the dish I’m ordering?
- Does it actually make my mouth water? (Do I want to eat it?)
Often, meals at sit down restaurants are pre-fix and come with a minimal selection of appetizer, entrée and dessert. Meals for adults usually run in the 45-80 dollar price range (sometimes more) depending on the venue, so either way you are saving over $10 per table-service meal.
To maximize the Quick Service Plan:
- Look for restaurants with a wide selection of dishes.
- Try to find meals that include beverages.
- Check the cost of the meal on the menu.
- Again, make sure it’s something that you’d love to eat.
When it comes to snacks or beverages, always reserve those credits for something other than water. With your mug, you can obtain water from any water fountain as well as some locations which will fill them up with tap water, so to waste a credit on that bottle of Dasani would be unwise. Instead, use the credit for that expensive $15 Starbucks drink or that amazing Cinnamon Roll at Gaston’s Tavern. You probably won’t spend almost $32 on a little snack, but the money you may “lose” in this category could easily be applied to the table-service category where you may get meals at 50% price or an even greater discount.
What To Do with Extra Disney Dining Plan Credits
At the end of your vacation, your party may find itself with a few unused credits. In the event that this happens, as Genies, we recommend turning those credits into delicious Disney Snacks for the journey home.
What isn’t included in the Dining Plans?
Within both dining plans, not all meals are created equal. If you want a table-service meal and you’re on the Quick Service plan, you will have to pay out of pocket. If you are on the Disney Dining Plan, you will need to make sure that the meal you wish to enjoy is covered. For example, not all special events are covered under the dining plan. Also, character meals usually consist of the cost of 2 table service credits, meaning you will be subtracting a table-service meal from the following day.
Alcohol is another confusing element to the dining plan. Under both dining plans, you may not use a snack credit for an alcoholic beverage. However, if under the Disney Dining Plan, and alcohol is an included part of the meal, then you may order that beverage at no additional cost as long as it is included within the course of the meal. The same rule applies for the Quick Service plan where adults 21+ may substitute an alcoholic beverage in place of a soft or fountain drink. As with all elements of the dining plan, there are exclusions and limitations, so please be aware of those before making your selections.
There are also certain snacks that do not qualify for the plan. These include but are not limited to:
- Popcorn served in souvenir buckets.
- Drinks served in souvenir glasses.
- Drinks with straw toppers or other personalized elements.
- Multiple serving snacks like an entire box of doughnuts or a whole jar of peanut butter.
Other Important Information:
- Credits are non transferable even between members of the same party.
- Children ages 3-9 MUST order from the kids menu.
- The dining plan must be booked for everyone on the reservation for the entire length of stay.
- Your unused credits expire at midnight on the last night of your reservation.
Which Disney Dining Plan is Right for Me?
Interested in which plan is right for you and your family? Contact one of our Genies to discover even more tips and tricks and how to add this amazing value to your 2024 Walt Disney World vacation package!
