I bought the Disney dining plan for my 6-day trip. I would've saved money without it, but it was still worth it.
Mollie Davies and her partner were excited to try the Disney Dining Plan on their most recent trip.
The couple pre-paid $95 each per day which covers meals, drinks and snacks in the parks.
Davies said if they had paid out of pocket for their meals they would have saved $100.
My partner and I visited Walt Disney World for the third time last September.
The last time we visited Walt Disney World, I spent a fair chunk of money on eating and drinking. As we were staying on Disney property for the first time, we jumped at the chance to add on the reinstated Disney Dining Plan.
The plan is only available for guests staying at resort hotels and costs $95 per adult per day. Each person on the plan gets one quick-service meal, 1 table-service meal, one drink per meal, which can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic, and one selected drink or snack a day.
We stayed at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa for six nights. Our Disney Dining Plan totaled $1,131 for both of us over a six-night stay.
Everything was paid upfront, which helped with budgeting. We got wristbands which we tapped to redeem meals.
The Disney Dining Plan is perfect for planners
On the plan, we could eat at over 170 locations throughout Walt Disney World Resort. It's a great setup if you're willing to do a bit of planning as the table service restaurants book up.
Disney Resort Hotel guests can make reservations for the entire length of their stay (up to 10 days) as early as 60 days before their arrival.
Both my partner and I are big planners, so getting our ducks in a row was a breeze. When it came to our 60-day out booking, we had a list of the Table Service restaurants we wanted to visit and coordinated the bookings with the relevant days we'd be in the parks. We were lucky and got almost every booking we wanted.
Great food was more important to us than making money
For us, the experience of having the Dining Plan was about being able to enjoy the Disney food we love and try new places with the convenience of just a tap of my Magic Band. For this reason, we were less concerned about getting the most value for what we paid.
We found the Quick Service meals incredible value especially as we could enjoy premium drinks using our drink allowance alongside our main, side, and snack. This made casual meals feel like more of a treat.
Character Dining options are well worth using your credits. They are a great option for guests who love the food but also Disney's entertainment. Many of these experiences only require one table service credit, and you get the chance to meet with characters, get autographs, and take special photos.
Our stand-out meals were both table service. The best was at Topolino's Terrace. I'm still dreaming about my sour cream waffles with orange-flavored maple syrup. The meal would have cost around $102.
Another was our trip to 1900 Park Fare, which would have cost $164 in total. We saw Cinderella, Mirabel, Tiana, and Aladdin.
The buffet really surprised us. It was hot, high-quality food, including the most succulent prime rib. We thought both these table-service character meals to be the best value of our whole trip.
It can be too much food
To get the most out of the plan, we had to commit to eating at Disney every day.
But some friends on the trip weren't on the plan and we ate outside Disney for a few days. This meant we had three credits spare on our last day. We got some chicken strips to share with our friends and picked up a quick pizza at the hotel on our way to the airport.
As we had the plan, we didn't want to be wasteful, and on certain days, we found ourselves eating more than we would have had we not prepaid.
For example, our meal at Tony's Town Square Restaurant at Magic Kingdom and Casey's Corner were definitely not needed, and we felt we were being a tad gluttonous.
Tony's Town Square Restaurant ended up being our least favorite of the restaurants. My chicken parmigiana just didn't live up to some others I'd had. It was a big portion but didn't taste particularly fresh.
If you're finding the food a bit much, I recommend using snack credits to pick up a muffin or something from a bakery to enjoy for breakfast the next morning.
We didn't quite break even, but still see the value
We calculated that if we had bought everything without the Disney Dining Plan, we would've spent a total of $1,005. Although we didn't quite break even, we still feel that the plans are good value.
If you want the chance to dine at some of the more expensive locations for an all-in price, it's a great option. Our spend value could've been much higher had we planned our meals this way and chosen to add alcoholic beverages with each meal.
Whilst we didn't quite get the value back that we spent on the Disney Dining Plan, we certainly had the option to. For example, with every table service meal, we could have an alcoholic beverage, such as a cocktail, or premium drink, alongside refillable fountain beverages. When we added these beverages, we increased the value of our meals significantly.
The Disney Dining Plan might not always save you money, but is more a method of convenience. If you're a family that plans on having a sit-down meal every day and enjoying cocktails, the plan will work well for you. Just be sure to book your reservations in advance.
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