Disney Dining Plan

What is the Disney Dining Plan?

A Disney Dining Plan is a way of prepaying for your meals before you travel to Disney World. There are two different types of Dining Plans that Disney offers to guests who have booked with a resort vacation package.

What are the different types?

Disney Dining Plans come in two different tiers: the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) and the standard Disney Dining Plan (DDP).

What is the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan?

The Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) is designed for guests who want a dining plan but do not want to do sit down meals, or do not want to do as many sit-down meals. On the QSDDP you will get 2 Quick Service credits and 1 Snack credit per night of your stay. You will also receive 1 resort-refillable mug. This is per person on your reservation.

What is the Disney Dining Plan?

The Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is for guests who want a dining plan and intend to do an equal number of Table Service meals and Quick Service meals. With DDP you will get 1 Table Service credit, 1 Quick Service credit, and 1 snack credit per night of your stay. You will also receive 1 resort-refillable mug. This is per person on your reservation.

What does it cost?

Cost per night Adult (ages 10 and up) Child (ages 3 to 9)

Quick Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) $57 $23.83

Disney Dining Plan (DDP) $94.28 $29.69

Can you book a dining plan without a resort package?

No. The dining plan can only be booked as an add on to a resort package. The exception to this is DVC stays, for those stays you can call and have a dining plan added to your reservation.

Can you provide an example of how the credits get tallied?

Specific number of meals and snacks are determined by the number of nights included in the package stay. For example, if you book a 4 day, 3 night resort package with a DDP, you will receive 3 Table Service meals, 3 Quick Service meals, 3 Snack credits, and 1 resort-refillable mug per person on the reservation package.

Do you have to use a specific number of credits a day?

No. Meals and snacks can be redeemed at any time during your stay. If you had the DDP and decided one day to eat two quick service and the next day to eat two table service meals you could use your credits to cover those.

Are the credits assigned per person?

You get a certain number of credits per person, but they are not assigned. You can use the credits however you wish. For example, if one person in your party didn’t want any snacks then you can use those snacks for another person. Nothing is monitoring who is eating what on the credits.

What is included in a Table-Service meal credit?

When you eat breakfast at a Table Service restaurant you will be able to get 1 entree and 1 beverage - either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. When you eat brunch, lunch, or dinner at a Table Service restaurant you can get 1 entree, 1 dessert, and 1 beverage - either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Anything else you order will be extra and you will have to pay out of pocket for. These credits can be used at most Table Service locations. Note, you will almost always need a reservation to dine at a Table Service location. Read about Table Service restaurants at our post here.

What is included in a Quick Service meal credit?

With a Quick Service credit you can get 1 entree and 1 beverage - either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. These credits can be used at Quick Service locations throughout the parks and resorts. These locations do not require reservations, though you can mobile order ahead to save time. Read more about Quick-Service dining at our post here.

What are snack credits?

Snack credits are used to purchase items such as ice cream, water bottles, fruit, pastries, cup cakes, cinnamon rolls, cookies, or even french fries. A variety of breakfast items can be purchased at quick service resort restaurants using a snack credit, for example a single serving of cereal and milk, poptarts, or yogurt. Drinks or most baked goods at a Starbucks are also usually available for purchase using a snack credit.

Food that can be purchased using a snack credit are marked by the purple and white DDP symbol on quick service restaurant menus at all WDW resort hotels, parks, and Disney Springs.

Are all Table Service locations one credit?

No. There are specific restaurants throughout Walt Disney World Resort that will require two table-service meals to eat at. These restaurants include Fine/Signature Dining, Dinner shows, and select Character Dining.

Are all Quick Service locations one credit?

Yes.

Are there any dining locations that do not accept dining credits? Yes. Most notably Victoria & Alberts at the Grand Floridian along with Takumi-Tei in Epcot. Also, in the past both Rain Forest Cafe and T-Rex have not accepted Disney Dining Plan credits. There are also snack items throughout the parks that do not qualify as a snack credit.

Can you share meals using credits?

At Quick Service locations there is no one monitoring who is eating what so it is easy enough to share. At Table Service locations it will depend on your wait staff. They will never straight out let you share, per Disney policy, but we have had experiences where we would share a meal, with the intention of paying for it out of pocket, while using credits for the other meals, some of which were less expensive. Our end check had the more expensive meal listed as a credit, even though we had shared it, and we paid for the least expensive meal. Buffet and prix fixe meals cannot be shared, everyone must pay either in cash or with a credit for these experiences.

What is a resort-refillable mug?

Resort-refillable mugs are eligible for free refills from self-service beverage islands at any Disney Resort hotel Quick Service location. They are not eligible for refill in the parks.

What restaurants are excluded from the Disney Dining Plan?

Disney Dining Plan exclusions:

• California Grill, Disney’s Contemporary Resort

• Victoria & Albert's, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

• Monsieur Paul, Epcot

• Space 220 Restaurant, Epcot

• Takumi-Tei, Epcot

• Frontera Cocina, Disney Springs

• STK Steakhouse, Disney Springs

• Summer House on the Lake, Disney Springs

• Wine Bar George, Disney Springs

• Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Disney Springs
  

Is it worth it?

You can make it worth it. If you plan to enjoy the more expensive Table Service restaurants at the WDW resort. If you are planning to order alcohol with dinner. If character dining is something your family prioritizes. If you will use your refillable cup every day at breakfast and in the evening. If you plan on using your snack credits wisely - ordering more expensive items rather than a Mickey Bar. If you said yes to several of those you can definitely save a lot of money.

If your family are light eaters who often share meals. If you do not drink. If you have children over 10, old enough to have to pay adult dining prices, but still eat off the children’s menus. It is less likely that budget wise you will come out ahead.

Who do we recommend the dining plan for?

Foodies who plan to enjoy many of the more expensive table service. People who enjoy an all-inclusive experience and want to have pre-paid for as much of their vacation as possible (Us!). People who like to order adult beverages at every table service meals.

Ultimately it depends on your family’s budget, eating and drinking plans, and vacation style. Personally we do not like having to stress over a food budget while we are at Disney. We find it much more relaxing to have already paid for the majority of it. We then figure out tips roughly and bring that money loaded on a Disney Gift card. That, plus bringing cereal for breakfast in the room makes that part of our Disney Vacation stress free for us.

Here's a quick Disney Dining Plan Overview:

DDP

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