Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it for a family?
How the Disney Dining Plan works
The Disney Dining Plan is a prepaid meal plan available to guests staying at Disney resorts. It comes in a few tiers: Quick-Service, Standard, and Deluxe. Each plan gives you a certain number of meal and snack credits per person, per night of stay. You can use credits at participating restaurants and snack carts.
The Quick-Service plan includes two quick-service meals and two snacks per person, per night. The Standard plan includes one table-service meal, one quick-service meal, and two snacks. The Deluxe plan includes three meals (table or quick) and two snacks. All plans include a refillable resort mug.
- Quick-Service: 2 quick-service meals, 2 snacks per night
- Standard: 1 table-service, 1 quick-service, 2 snacks per night
- Deluxe: 3 meals (table or quick), 2 snacks per night
- All include refillable mug
Is it worth it?
The value depends on how you eat. If you order the most expensive items on the menu and use all your credits, you can break even or come out slightly ahead. But if you have light eaters, picky kids, or prefer to share meals, you'll likely lose money. The plan is best for families who want to prepay and not worry about costs during the trip.
Also consider that the plan locks you into eating at Disney restaurants. If you plan to eat off-site or at Universal, you won't use all credits. And table-service meals require reservations, which can be hard to get. Without reservations, you might end up using table-service credits at less desirable locations.
- Good for: families who want all-inclusive feel, big eaters, character meal fans
- Not good for: light eaters, picky kids, those who want flexibility
- Requires advance dining reservations for table-service
Tips for deciding
Do the math: add up what you'd likely spend on meals and snacks per day, then compare to the plan cost. Disney's website shows plan prices, which vary by date and resort level. You can also look at menus online to estimate.
If you're on the fence, try paying out of pocket for your first trip. You can always add the plan later if you find you want the convenience. Also, note that the plan is only available for Disney resort guests and must be purchased for everyone in the room, including children.
- Estimate your daily food spend
- Check current plan prices
- Consider a split stay to try both
- Remember: everyone in the room must be on the plan
Common mistakes
- Assuming the plan always saves money; it often doesn't for light eaters.
- Forgetting that table-service meals need reservations, which can be booked 60 days in advance.
- Not factoring in that children ages 3-9 must order from kids' menus, which may not be a good value.
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