Walt Disney World Dining Plan Options

There are two different options for dining at Walt Disney World that should be purchased before your trip if you decide one of them works for you.

The Disney Dining Plan is the pre-paid meal plan for Disney resort guests and the Disney Dining Experience discount card is the 20% discount card for Disney annual passholders.

There are also discounts available to Annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members.

For more tips on how to save money on your Walt Disney World vacation, also check out the Disney World Savings Guide. Written by a former Disney cast member, it has lots of tips for saving money on your WDW vacation and special insider info on enjoying the parks. 

The Disney Dining Plan is a cost-saving option for Disney Resort guests. For each day on the dining plan, you get credits for one table service meal, one counter service meal and one snack. While breakfast isn't included, there's a lot of food at the other two meals since they both include dessert, so the best way to take advantage of it would be to eat very lightly at breakfast time and save your appetite for lunch and dinner.

At nearly $40 dollars per day for guests over 10 years old and $10 a day for childen (ages 3-9), the Disney Dining Plan might appear to be rather extravagant, but dinner for a family of four at a table service restaurant inside Walt Disney World could easily cost more than you'd spend for the family to eat all day on the Dining Plan.

The Dining Plan is only available to Disney Resort guests who also have admission tickets to the theme parks, but if you're staying on property at WDW then the Dining Plan is certainly worth considering. Just keep in mind that Disney recently made some changes to the plan and gratuities are no longer included in the dining plan's costs.

For the past few years, Disney World has actually been doing a big FREE DINING promotion for guests staying at Disney resorts between mid-August and the end of September. Some years it is available to both US and international visitors and other years it is only available to international visitors. It just depends on how many rooms they need to fill. It is something to keep an eye on though if you travel at this time of year because it is an excellent deal, even at rack rates.

If you have an annual pass to Walt Disney World, then you might want to consider the Disney Dining Experience card. The DDE, as it's commonly referred to, is a discount card that you buy before visiting Walt Disney World.

It's only available to annual passholders and Florida residents, but if you are a frequent park visitor then it may make more sense for your family than the WDW Dining Plan. The Disney Dining Experience card provides a 20% discount at virtually all of the table service restaurants in the Walt Disney World theme parks, as well as restaurants in Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island.

One advantage of the DDE card is that the 20% discount can also be used for alcoholic beverages, an item that the Dining Plan doesn't cover at all. So if you have a couple of drinkers in your party, that 20% savings on beer, wine and mixed drinks can certainly add up.

The DDE card is also good for a full year from the day you order it so if you visit the parks multiple times per year (and most AP holders do), then it makes sense to order the card. It currently costs around $65 dollars for AP holders and $85 for Florida residents. If you order it before you go to WDW, they'll have your temporary card waiting for you at the Guest Relations booth at Epcot and your permanent card will arrive by mail several weeks later.

If you wait until you arrive at the Parks, you can visit Guest Relations at any park to buy it.

WDW Annual Passholders get some dining discounts even without the DDE card, but they are usually only 10% off food (not alcohol), it doesn't cover nearly as many restaurants and frequently the hours are restricted to lunchtime. Personally, I prefer to eat at a table service restaurant for dinner rather than lunch so I have a DDE card.

Disney Vacation Club members also get some dining discounts and the options are virtually identical to what annual passholders receive.

Discounts may also occasionally be available to Disney Rewards Visa card holders. And if you have an American Express card, I would always check with them as well to see if there are any discount possibilities.

Also, don't forget to check out the Disney World Savings Guide if you want to save even more money on your Disney trip.