All Four Disney Dining Plans Explained

Last Updated: October 6, 2020

*All Disney Dining Plans have been suspended until further notice*

At Walt Disney World, there are four dining plan options guests can choose from if you are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort or Good Neighbor Resort (Resorts who have partnered with Disney). If you are not staying on Disney property, you cannot purchase the Disney Dining Plan for your trip, so that’s something to consider when choosing where to stay for your next Disney vacation.

So what are the differences in each of the Disney Dining Plans? Is one better than the others? This really all depends on your family’s specific needs and goals for your trip, so we’re going to explain each of them for you, beginning with the most expensive and going to the least expensive, to help you decide which option is right for you.

Disney Deluxe Dining Plan

The Disney Deluxe Dining Plan is the top tier and most expensive dining plan Disney offers. This plan is a great option for foodies and those who are wanting more signature meals. This plan includes three table service or quick service credits of your choosing and two snacks or nonalcoholic drinks per night of your stay. The Deluxe Dining Plan is $119 per adult 10 and older and $47.50 for children 3-9 years old per night including tax.

Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney Dining Plan Plus

The Disney Dining Plan Plus is Disney’s newest dining plan option and is a great one for families or those wanting more character dining. This dining plan includes two table service or quick service credits and two snacks or nonalcoholic drinks per night of your stay. The Dining Plan Plus is $94.60 per adult 10 and older and $35 for children 3-9 years old per night including tax.

1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian

Disney Dining Plan

The regular Disney Dining Plan is great for couples or those wanting to try a variety of quick service and table service meals at Disney while still spending plenty of time in the parks. The Disney Dining Plan includes one quick service credit and one table service credit and two snacks or nonalcoholic drinks per night of your stay. The Dining Plan is $78.01 per adult 10 and older and $30.51 for children 3-9 years old per night including tax.

Three Bridges at Coronado Springs

Disney Quick Service Dining Plan

The Disney Quick Service Dining Plan is the least expensive dining plan option and is perfect for those families who like to go non-stop in the parks, only stopping for meals to quickly recharge before getting back to the rides. The Disney Quick Service Dining Plan includes two quick service credits and two snacks or nonalcoholic drinks per night of your stay. The Quick Service Plan is $55 per adult 10 and older and $26 for children 3-9 years old per night including tax.

Satu’li Canteen in Animal Kingdom

Included with All Disney Dining Plans

All Disney Dining Plan credits are per night of your stay, not per day. That’s important to keep in mind when booking your dining reservations. All dining plans also include a Refillable Resort Mug. These mugs are only good at the resorts where you can get water, soda, hot chocolate, coffee, and tea.

Everyone in the same room must have the same dining plan for the length of your stay. All dining credits are added to your account at the beginning of your trip, so you can use as many or as few in the same day as you’d like. If you choose to use two Table Service credits for a signature meal one day, you can. Or if you want to use five snack credits on the same day, you can. Just remember, your credits expire midnight the day you check out of your resort, so be sure to use them all up.

Mickey Doughnut Cookie at Screen Door General Store on The Boardwalk

Quick Service Meals

A Quick Service meal is a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that can be ordered at a walk-up window or ordering through Disney’s mobile app. A Quick Service Meal includes one entree and one nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverage (for those 21 and older). Most Quick Service Meals are normal theme park food like hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets, and pizza, but Disney has been working on adding more options that include a wider variety like fajitas, ribs, noodles, and more.

There are a couple exceptions to this that Disney has been experimenting with. One of these is Pizzafari Family Style Dinner and Restaurantosaurus Dig Site Burgers and Sundaes in Animal Kingdom and ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios. These three locations offer a “fast casual” option that allows you to make a dinner reservation and use a quick service dining credit for your meal.

Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom

Table Service Meals

A Table Service Meal is a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that requires a reservation. Table service meals can be fancy dining, character meals or buffets. A table service breakfast meal includes one entree or buffet/family-style meal and one nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverage (for those 21 and older). Lunch and dinner table service meals include one entree, one dessert, and one nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverage (for those 21 and older) or one buffet or family-style meal and one nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverage (for those 21 and older). Tips are not included with your dining plan, so you’ll want to take that into consideration when planning your budget for your trip.

Most Table Service restaurants require one meal credit; however, there are a few “Signature” restaurants that require two meal credits using the dining plan. A few examples of these include Cinderella’s Royal Table, Le Cellier, and California Grill.

California Grill at The Contemporary

Disney Snacks

Disney snacks range anywhere from ice cream sundaes to Mickey-shaped cookies to Dole Whip to Mickey bars. The price for most Disney snacks is up to $10, but there are some exceptions to this. Snacks are easily shareable and are great to enjoy while waiting for a ride or as a way to cool off in the hot Florida sun.

Dole Whip in Magic Kingdom

Conclusion

Our personal favorite dining plan has always been the regular Disney Dining Plan because it was enough food and snacks for us with some always left over. Two meals may not seem like a lot, but when you’re walking around in the heat for hours, you don’t really want to eat non-stop. We like that we can get a quick service meal during the day and end the evening with a table service meal while snacking throughout the day. Now that Disney offers the Disney Dining Plan Plus, we may consider that one for our next trip because of its flexibility. We love the idea of that dining plan, and though we haven’t tried it yet, hope to do so in the future.