If you've booked a Disney vacation then you've heard of the Disney Dining Plan. I'm a fan of this, it has made it possible for my family to enjoy the great culinary experiences that you can find all around Disney that we otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. As I say with everyone one of my Disney posts, do your research. Make a mock up of your itinerary and see if you'd use the any of the plans to their full potential. All information for the plan you can find at the Disney Dining Plans page at the Disney World website. One thing I have learned is the most accurate information you'll find for anything Disney (including calendar and hours) gets better the closer to your vacation. Most restaurants are on the plan and I learned before that the restaurants listed usually are not the entire list. I called to ask once if certain restaurants would be added to the plan and they were confused because they were never off, but they were never listed in the PDF brochure. So always check at the individual restaurant page and click on the "Some Dining Plans Accepted" link to check. I feel that Disney just wants to get bookings open for the next year as soon as possible and puts out the information they have at that time. Like I said, the information only gets more accurate and detailed the closer you get to your vacation. Now, with that disclaimer out of the way, Disney offers 5 dining plans to help fit your family's budget and needs. Each plan offers dining credits, when the plan refers to the number of credits you get it's to the number of nights you stay (not days). So rule of thumb is if you are sleeping at Disney that night, you have credits. If it's the day you leave, you have no credits so if you plan on using them that day make sure you plan to have enough credits left to eat there. Credits come in 3 categories - Table Service (sit down restaurant), Quick Service (fast food) and snack (the little yummies offered all over the place). It's easy enough to make a plan to do 2 quick services in one day if you need a table service left on your last day or you're doing a 2 credit restaurant. Each plan also comes with a Rapid Refill mug. It's a Disney mug you can refill unlimited number of times during your stay.
Quick Service Plan
Most of the time this is the plan offered when Disney runs their free dining special. If you want to upgrade to any of the other plans, you just pay the difference. With this plan you get 2 quick service credits and 1 snack credit per night of your stay. As the plan suggests you can only eat at the quick service restaurants found on property. (Don't discount quick service restaurants, they are delicious!). If you are a more on the go family or tightly watching your pennies this is a great option.
Dining Plan
This is the base plan. We've been on this plan the last 3 times at Disney, and it's been awesome. It's kind of the "everything you need" dining plan. With this plan you get 1 quick service credit, 1 table service credit and 1 snack credit per night of your stay. You get to experience the great quick service of Sunshine Seasons (Future World, Epcot), Be Our Guest lunch (Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom), Flame Tree Barbecue (Discovery Island, Animal Kingdom) or Pizza Planet (Streets of America, Hollywood Studios) for lunch or dinner and then you get to enjoy a table service at any of those delicious restaurants (this is a long list, a separate blog post to follow) and a snack. Like I said, it's been a great option.
Deluxe Dining Plan
This plan is what we booked for our vacation next year. The difference between this and the regular dining plan is more credits and the ability to do more table service restaurants. We did this because there are some incredible signature (2 credit) restaurants coming to Disney Springs (Downtown Disney's soon to be new name) and we wanted to be able to try them without breaking our out of pocket budget. Plus, going back to Cinderella's Royal Table (Cinderella's Castle, Magic Kingdom) and finally trying Le Cellier (Canada, World Showcase, Epcot). With this plan you get 3 meals and 2 snacks per night. Essentially you get 3 credits a day. You can use 2 credits at a signature restaurant plus a 1 credit each day. You can use it at quick service as well. The way it was explained to me was that once a day you can use the credits at a quick service. So this is a great option if you want to have more freedom in how you use your credits.
Premium Dining Plan
With this plan you get breakfast, lunch and dinner plus 2 snacks per night of your stay. On this plan they don't work on credit, it's redeemable as 1 credit for any restaurants (including signature (2 credit) restaurants). They can be used at quick service as well. This also comes with unlimited use of recreation equipment, child activity centers and tours.
Platinum Dining Plan
With this plan you get breakfast, lunch and dinner plus 2 snacks per night of your stay. On this plan they don't work on credit, it's redeemable as 1 credit for any restaurants (including signature (2 credit) restaurants). They can be used at quick service as well. This also comes with unlimited use of recreation equipment, child activity centers and tours, viewing at Wishes and Illuminations, preferred seating at Fantasmic. Also tickets for Cirque du Soliel and a Spa treatment.
Here are 2 great links that helps you look at the dining plans
Shows you pricing and participating restaurants
A great chart showing what's included in each dining plan (and what's not)
It can be overwhelming but take it one at a time and look at what is best for your family. I think it's worth it to try it once, you will not regret it. And when in doubt just look for the logo...
