Hey everyone, it's Jacqueline for Pixie Dust PhD! The Disney Dining Plan is
a way for your party to prepay for your meals during your vacation at Walt
Disney World. Let's go over some considerations and
the details of the Disney Dining Plan today.
First, eligibility. Who can buy the
Disney Dining Plan? Guests staying at Walt Disney world as part of a package
vacation, that is your bundling your ticket, your
room, and the Disney Dining Plan together, are eligible to purchase the Disney
Dining Plan. Typically there's a minimum night stay required for these vacation
packages, it's often three nights. Generally speaking you cannot add on the
Disney Dining Plan to your hotel if you aren't purchasing the full package, that
is with the tickets as well. Largely there are only a few exceptions to being
able to add the Disney Dining Plan without purchasing a vacation package.
For example, if you're an annual pass holder and you are staying on property
you can go ahead and add that Dining Plan without having to also buy tickets.
The same is true for DVC members staying on points. And lastly if you're a
military member using the military salute room discount you'll be able to
add a Disney Dining Plan to that, as you'll be picking up your tickets from
your local military base. Two, restrictions. There are, of course, rules that come with
the Disney Dining Plan. For example, all party members staying in a single room
will have to purchase the Disney Dining Plan. If you have four guests in one room
you won't be able to purchase the Disney Dining Plan just for one person, all four
will have to participate. Additionally, you'll have to purchase the Disney
Dining Plan for all the nights in your stay. For example, if you're doing a
seven nights stay you can't purchase the Dining Plan for only three nights. In
addition to everyone in your room having to purchase the Dining Plan for the
entirety of your stay, you'll also all have to purchase the same type of Dining
Plan--there are four different types. Each member of your party can't pick and
choose the Dining Plan that they prefer more; you'll all have to settle on the same
type of Dining Plan. And the last big restriction is that pre-purchase is
required. You can't show up on your arrival date and decide that day or
later into your trip that you would like to add the Disney Dining Plan. You have
to pay for this in advance. Typically, they require at least 48 hours notice to
add the Disney Dining Plan to your package. And while these restrictions
exist, there are a few tricky ways to get around them. For example, if you have a
very large party and are staying in multiple rooms it's possible that not
everyone will need the Disney Dining Plan. All the members in one room can
decide to purchase the Disney Dining Plan, but the rest of your party in rooms
2, 3, 4, etc., don't necessarily have to do that. And if you only want the
Disney Dining Plan for a portion of your stay you can consider doing a split stay.
This means staying at two or more hotels rather than staying at the same hotel
the entire time. For example, if your vacation is seven nights you could do
three nights at Art of Animation and then four nights at Port Orleans. By
splitting up your stay and having separate hotel reservations you're able
to have a vacation package for just one of those resorts. In this example you
could purchase a vacation package for the beginning of your trip, three nights
at Art of Animation, and add the Disney Dining Plan for those three nights. You
are able to add a ticket that is longer than the amount of nights that you're
staying, so here you could add an eighth night ticket to this vacation package so
your ticket will last for your entire vacation, but you'll only have the Dining
Plan for the first half. Three, so how does the Disney Dining Plan actually
work? For each Dining Plan type guests get assigned a certain number of dining
credits. There are snack credits, quick service meal credits, and table service
meal credits. The number of credits you get is based on the type of plan you buy
multiplied by the number of nights that you're staying. These credits are linked
to your My Disney Experience account and you use them by tapping your Magic
Band for payment. Although your credits are calculated based on the number of
nights you're saying they aren't allocated per day. Instead, you are given
a general pool of credits that you can use at any time during your stay. This
begins when you check in on your arrival day and ends just before midnight on the
day that you check out. So for example, if you have a two night stay--let's say
you're checking in on Monday and you're leaving on a Wednesday--you have those
three days to use all of your credits. You can use your credits at any point
over the course of Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. If you'd like you could use
them all on Monday; you don't have to divvy them up evenly between your three
days. Four, plan types and cost. New for 2020 there are now four different plan
types. All for plan types include a refillable drink mug. With this mug you
can get unlimited water, coffee, tea, and sodas at any of the resort's on Walt
Disney World property. Note that this does not include real
fruit juice or milk, and that you can't use these mugs in the theme park.
You can surely bring your mugs to the theme park if you want, after having
filled them up at your resort, but you won't be able to fill them up
throughout the day at the theme parks. The least expensive Disney Dining Plan
includes the refillable mug, as well as two quick service credits and two snacks
per night of your stay. A quick service credit includes one entree and one
beverage. For your entree you can think of this in terms of a combination meal.
For example, if you were going to a quick service restaurant and they had chicken
tenders with fries, your entree would include that side of fries and not
the chicken tenders. Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged your side item if
that's a standard component of the meal. The beverage can be non-alcoholic or
alcoholic for guests 21 years or older. These quick service credits can only be
used at quick service restaurants and may not be substituted in at table
service restaurants. The price for this in 2020 is 55 dollars per adult per
night and 26 dollars per child per night. Note that in Disney World speak a child
is a child who's 3 to 9 years old, so anyone ten and up pays the adult price.
The second Disney Dining Plan is simply called the Disney Dining Plan; for this
reason a lot of folks will call it the standard plan, as to not confuse with the
overarching concept of the Disney Dining Plan. The standard Disney Dining Plan
includes a one quick service credit, one table service credit, and two snacks per
night of your stay, as well as the refillable mug. A quick service credit is
the same as before: you'll get an entree slash a combo meal if that's what is
generally served, and a beverage. Table service credits are different for
breakfast than they are for lunch and dinner. Breakfast only includes an entree
and a beverage, whereas lunch and dinner include an entree, a dessert, and a
beverage. And just like before your beverage can be alcoholic if you're 21
years or older. If you're dining buffet or family meal style rather than a
single entree your credit will cover that full experience of the buffet or
the family meal. Note that if you're doing buffet or family meal style dining
that normally would come with a beverage anyway, typically juice, soda, tea, coffee,
or water, you may be entitled to receive that beverage along with an additional
beverage from your Disney Dining Plan credit. Ask your cast member to be sure,
but it's completely plausible to get that free drink that comes with your
buffet or family-style meal and an additional specialty drink that's
covered in your Disney Dining Plan credit. The standard Disney Dining Plan
costs seventy eight dollars and one cent per adult per night, and thirty dollars
and 51 cents per child per night in 2020. The newest addition to the Disney Dining
Plan is the Disney Dining Plan Plus. In the Disney Dining Plan plus you'll get
two meal credits, as well as to snack credits, and your refillable mug per
night of your stay. Unlike the standard Disney Dining Plan
your meal credits are not designated to be table service or a quick service, so
really you're paying for the added flexibility here. Of course, you'll
probably get greater value if you end up using all of your dining credits at
table service meals instead of quick service meals. Just like the prior plan a
quick service credit covers an entree or combo meal and a beverage, and then a
table service meal for at lunch or dinner you get an entree, a beverage, as
well as dessert. For breakfast you just won't get that dessert.
Of course, you will pay an increased price for this additional flexibility. The
Disney Dining Plan Plus is 94 dollars and 61 cents per adult per night and 35
dollars per child per night. And last, the most expensive plan is the Disney Deluxe
Dining Plan. In the Deluxe plan you get three meal credits and 2 snacks per day
along with your refillable mug. Like that Plus plan your meal credits here aren't
designated to quick service or table service. On the Deluxe plan quick service
meals are the same, you get one entree or combo meal and a beverage. However, if you
use your deluxe credits at a table service restaurant you will also get an
appetizer; so you'll get one appetizer, one entree, one dessert, and one drink per
meal. The Deluxe Dining Plan costs $119 per adult per night, and $47.50 per
child per night. Five, locations and tipping. A vast majority of restaurant
locations at Walt Disney World accept the Disney Dining Plan. When you're
paying for an item, be it a meal or snack, simply let your cast member know you'll
be paying with your Dining Plan credits. At table service restaurants cast
members are often quite good at asking if you'll be using the Dining Plan at
the beginning of your meal. Sometimes then they'll come scan your Magic Band to
make sure you have enough credits to pay for that meal. Note that a few table
service dining locations around property actually cost two meal credits and not
just one. Specifically all the signature restaurants at Walt Disney World cost two
table service credits. A quick service credit is only good at a quick service
restaurant, table service credits are good at table service restaurants. If you
have the general meal credits as in the Plus and the Deluxe plan you can use
those at either. Snack credits are designated on menus with a white and
purple check box. Any menu item you see with the symbol you'll be able to use
your snack credit on. Snack credits are often a great value at the booths in
EPCOT if there's a festival going on. So when you're using the Dining Plan to
purchase a snack or a quick service meal you will simply use credits from your
Magic Band and that's it. However table service dining is a little bit more
complicated. While the price of your meal as well as
the price of tax is included, gratuity is not. So although a major point for many
folks about the Disney Dining Plan is pre paying for meals, make sure that
you budget enough to add tips to all their table service meals. Six, overall
value and worth. Only you'll be able to decide if the Disney Dining Plan is a
good value or if it's worth it for you and your party. Of course, note that we do
live in a capitalistic society. This means that Disney has ensured the
pricing of their Disney Dining Plans--all four levels--to guarantee them a profit
on the whole. If you do your research beforehand, meaning you're using your
snack credits for expensive items and you're generally ordering the most
expensive item at as many table-service meals as
possible, you definitely can make the Disney Dining Plan worth it monetarily--
meaning you'll come out ahead versus what you would have spent out-of-pocket.
That being said a lot of the Disney Dining Plans simply are a ton of food, and
you may not want to eat that much. Particularly if you have children who
are 10 or older but don't eat a ton, you'll be paying the full adult price
for them even if they really only want the amount of a kid's meal. However, aside
from just the money a lot of the value of the Disney Dining Plan for many folks
is the convenience. You're pre-paying for a vast majority of your food on vacation,
so you won't have to worry about that bill or think about how much you're
spending item to item the whole time you're at Walt Disney World.
Really the only thing that isn't included is gratuity on your table
service meals. So many parties simply accept the fact that they are possibly
losing a little bit of money by pre-purchasing the Disney Dining Plan rather
than paying out of pocket for every item, but they just like that peace of mind.
Some folks achieve this feeling without purchasing the Disney Dining Plan by pre-
purchasing Disney gift cards as money becomes available to them. In this method
though you do have to keep track of those Disney gift cards and remember to
bring them with you, be sure you're not going to lose any of them, etc., so it's
just not quite as simple or straightforward as a Disney Dining Plan.
There are definitely pros and cons purchasing the Disney Dining Plan, and
I'm not gonna be able to tell you what's right for you and your party. I hope you
found this information helpful; if you did, please leave a like on the video and
consider subscribing to the channel. Ring that bell icon for notifications
whenever I post new videos. If you want to interact more regularly or in a more
casual manner go ahead and find me on Twitter and Instagram at Pixie Dust PhD.
Do you use the Disney Dining Plan? What are the pros and cons for your travel
party? Let folks know in the comments down below to help them decide what
they're going to do for their upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. And until next
time, we'll see you real soon at Pixie Dust PhD!