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Walt Disney World Dining Plan & Meal Plan Prices
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 Tables in Wonderland discount card is the 20% discount card for Disney annual passholders.
There are also additional discounts available to Annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members. So let's take a look at all your options for Disney World Meal Plans.
If your kids are looking forward to some characters, be sure to take a look at my hub on Disney World Character Dining for an explanation of what character meals are available and how to make reservations for them.
Disney Dining Plan
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.
More Disney Tips
- WDW Character Dining
Did you know you can use your Dining Plan at the Character Meals? Check out some of the options at my hub. - Walt Disney World Resource Guide
My guide to the best websites for planning your Disney World vacation - including forums, meal planning and restaurant menus, etc. - Surviving Your Disney World Vacation
My best tips for having an enjoyable, stress-free vacation at Walt Disney World. - How to Use Walt Disney World's Fastpass
Fastpass is Disney's line-cutting distribution system. Learn how to use it and you'll have more fun at the parks.
At nearly $40 dollars per day for guests over 10 years old and $10 a day for children (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.
You can check out my hub on the Disney World meal plan if you have some other questions about Disney dining. I've answered some of the most frequently asked questions about the plan.
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.
Tables in Wonderland
If you have an annual pass to Walt Disney World, then you might want to consider the Tables in Wonderland card. Formerly called the Disney Dining Experience (i.e. DDE card), Tables in Wonderland 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 Tables in Wonderland 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 TiW card is that the 20% discount can also be used for alcoholic beverages, an item that the Disney World meal 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 TiW 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.
Call (407) 566-5858, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern to order.
If you wait until you arrive at the Parks, you can visit Guest Relations at any theme park to buy it.
Walt Disney World Guide Books
Other Disney Dining Discounts
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.
Hopefully this gives you most of the information you need to know about the Disney World meal plans and you can make plans for your vacation accordingly. They various discounts can bring down the cost of your trip to Walt Disney World considerably.
Comments
WOW great information embitca.I must visit the United States just for Disney Dining Experience.
Do you know which dining restraunt or whatnot it is, where you can dine with the Disney characters?
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Whitney, there's several different ones. Character meals is big business at the parks and there's at least one restaurant in each park that does them, plus some of the Resorts as well.
One of my favorites is at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel. It's a buffet with Mickey, Goofy and usually Chip & Dale.Probably the most popular character meal is Cinderella's Royal Table at the castle in Magic Kingdom. Featuring the princesses of course. They have breakfast, lunch and dinner.
WOW! I've been planning to take my 6 year old grand-daughter Jasmine to Disneyland - Cinderella's Royal Table sounds just the gig. Can you tell me more? Which venue is it at? Fatnastic hubs, embitca.
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Cinderella's Royal Table is at Disney World in Florida. Are you going to DL in California or WDW in Florida? If you're going to Disneyland, they do character meals there too. If your grand-daughter is into princesses, you'll want to go to Ariel's Grotto in Disneyland's California Adventure. It's in Paradise Pier. You will want to book it BEFORE your trip. (714) 781-DINE.
If you're going to Walt Disney World in Florida, Cinderella's Royal Table is at Magic Kingdom inside the castle. However, you will need to book this well in advance. You need to book it exactly 180 Days before you trip or you can pretty much forget about it. 407-WDW-DINE
I'm going to go ahead and put some new hubs together to explain Character Dining.
I don't know why I didn't think of that already :)
The price of the dining plan for what it included I thought was a good deal. Now that you know lnger receive an appetizer and need to include a tip I'm not sure. You need to make people believe they are getting a bargain. We own a Disney Vacation club and the meal plan worked for us. Ihave heard from a lot of my friends who have also said they were disappointed in the changes.
i think thats really exellent for example i
thought the plan for the dining was a really good deal
We just acem back from Disney a few weeks ago, and the dining plan was a lifesaver!
If we did not purchase this options we would have spent thousands just to eat. Our plan was paid for the second day of our vacation.
I was a little surprised at how many options we had with the plan too. Everywhere we ate accepted the plan and we got more food with the plan than we could actually finish!
If you get a counter service meal on a plan, what can you choose ? Is it certain menu options ? Is it a combo plate or is a drink included ?
I want to purchase a dining plan but don't want to purchase a day pass to the parks, is this possible? We were there last year and saw all the parks. This time I want to go to the water park, miniture golf & tea at the Floridan. We are seniors and the walking is a little much. We will stay at Colorado Springs for 3 night. Get back.
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Allie, counter service meals include your entrée, dessert and a non-alcoholic drink. So you definitely get a drink included. Generally, you are not limited in menu options. if it is on the menu as an entrée or dessert, you can use your dining plan.
Mary, the dining plan is a package deal and you can only get it if you have a park ticket. But you only need one day's ticket to the parks to be eligible. So you wouldn't need a park ticket for the other two nights. If you have no intention of using that ticket for one day though, the dining plan is probably not worth getting due to the extra cost. I doubt you'd make up the $150 or so for two people getting a single day pass.
Hi There: I am a little overwhelmed with the whole dining plan thing. I am planning a trip to WDW from Friday,April 16 to Wednesday, April 21. This is our very first trip to WD and we are excited and a little nervous. We are travelling with with our 7 yr. old & 3 yr. old girls. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge. What is the differnece between the quick service and table service? Does the meal plan include breakfast? I'm trying to figure out what is the most economical for us -- moneyb is an object in our household. We are not big eaters, except for my husband of course ..LOL. Is there transportation available to locations outside of the resort? If so, how far of a drive is it and how much? I'm trying to get all my facts and I'm getting overwhelmed. I just want our first experience at WDW to be a wonderful one. I just don't know what to expect. We are planning on only visiting Magic Kingdom -- we want to keep it simple. We booked the Princess Breakfast for the 20th. I'm excited, but nervous about spending a lot more money. I would greatly appreciate any advice you could offer me. Like I said, I've never been there so I don't know what to expect. Thank you!
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Hi Samantha, the difference between the regular Dining Plan and the Quick Service plan is that the Quick Service does not include any Table service meals -- it is all counter service meals and snacks. With the regular Dining Plan, it includes one table service credit for each day. The Quick Service is definitely the most economical option and I think you will find that for most people, it is plenty of food.
There is no transportation out of the resort provided by Disney, but there are transportation services that will come on property and provide transportation to places like Universal Studio and Sea World, etc. I would check Mears: http://www.mearstransportation.com/
Also, you can rent a car on site at Disney. And that may be a good option as well if you just want a car for a day or two. You don't need to rent one for your whole trip, just the days you are going to go off property. This can often be a cheaper option than taking a shuttle if your whole family is going. You'll be able to to ask at your Resort about car rentals. I know National has some locations at Disney WOrld, and I believe Avis might have offices on property as well.
Thank you so much for the advice, especially the car rental -- we will definitely do that for a day trip. Sorry for this silly question, but is it possible to purchase the Quick Service meal 'plan'? If so, do you know how much that costs. Sorry, I really am clueless with this.
Hi There. I found the answers I was looking for regarding the Quick Service Meal Plan. Thanks for your time!
Samantha, I visited DW last spring and was in the same boat as you. Very overwhelmed and feeling nervous about arriving to this HUGE park. Huge doesn’t even describe it. You asked what the difference is between the quick service and table service is. Quick service is basically cafeteria style, grab a tray and wander around and choose your meal. There is a huge selection for instance lunch will have hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza , subs, sandwiches, deserts, etc and a drink or sometimes two is included on the size you choose. The portions are generous. You will NOT go hungry in Disney on the meal plan. If you are watching your weight, you will be in trouble. Table Service is a full blown sit down meal in a nice restaurant,....or you can do a quick service if you wish but would be a waste because some of the Table Service meals are awesome. I found that the best deal is to arrange to go to a buffet for your Table service meal, they are awesome and the best buffets I have ever been to. Every park has at least one buffet. The assistants that work at the entrances to the resorts will be your best friends. They managed to get us in to the best restaurants each day, just go see them in the morning to setup your Table Service for the day. Just showing up at a restaurant and expecting to get in is not advised. They can be very busy and booked most of the time during the prime times. As for transportation, you will not need a car if you stay in Disney. They have a bus service better than most modern cities. If you need a car, just go to the entrance of your resort and they will happily take car of your every request. The one thing I can say about DW is that you will find that they really value your business and will go out of their way to serve you. Everybody there is trained to help and assist you right down to the people that clean the sidewalks. They will literally stop what they are doing and help you. It's quite incredible. I wanted to write you this note because I was so blown away at our experience there last year. It exceeded my expectations in every way considering I was not all the excited to go there originally and was just going to rent a hotel in Orlando. I am glad we did not because we would have lost out big time. One last thing. On your first night there, arrange for a Table Service in Epcot and time it so you will be out in time to see the Fireworks over the lagoon. If you are like me, you will realize at that point that you and your family in for a real treat. Enjoy !
Can anyone tell me what the times are for Lunch & Supper at Disney World...just trying to figure out how much $$ to save for our 18% gratuity...
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Amber, the time varies by restaurant, but usually you can expect the switchover to occur sometime between 3pm and 4pm. Some restaurants serve lunch until 3pm (seated by 3pm) and others run up until 3:30 pm.
We are staying at the Dolphin Resort hotel. Can we still purchase the meal plans and make it worth it? We have already purchased the 5 day park hopper tickets. Also where is the best place to purchase the meal ticket plans?
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Hi Derrick, the Dolphin is not a Disney resort (it is owned by Sheraton), so no, you won't be able to get the Dining Plan while staying there.
We are staying at Disney's Port Orleans-French Quarter. I was wondering if we could purchase a dining package, I guess to make myself clear...can we purchase just a dining package alone, or a dining package with our tickets and not include our room in this deal? sorry for the confusion!
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Amy, you should be able to add the dining plan as long as you are also getting tickets.
Can you eat at any of the Disney Resorts restaurants? Ex: We will be staying at Disney All-Star Movie Resort. Will our Dining Plan allow us to eat at the Fort Wilderness Resort restaurants?
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TTunnel, you can definitely use your Dining Plan at all the other Resorts as well. Have fun!
I am not stayin at a Disney hotel but i am going to Disney for 5 days can i purchase just the dining plan? And if so how do i purchase it? is there a number? Please help
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Layla, you can only buy the Dining plan if you are staying at a Disney-owned resort.
Just purchased our trip to wdw, got everything hotel, tickets, meal plan, can anyone tell me because disney certainly couldn't, is their a limit or value to the table plan i.e. can we order whatever we want from the menu or is their a monetary value? Also i thought for 2011 the gratuities were included in the price of the table meals, if not i need to save up some more money:(
Neil: There is NO limit as to the dollar amount of food you can order. You can order anything from the menu (with the exception of lobster in some cases). There IS NO MONETARY value. THe plan works on entitlements. One meal includes main course, desert and non alcoholic beverage (deluxe dine includes appetizer).
Gratuities are NOT included in the plan, nor are alcoholic beverages. The dine plan is always a great value! It's easy to use and helps our family budget our vacation.
Also- you can use your meals any way you want to. This includes breakfast, contrary to the original article. Each time you use the plan instead of a receipt showing how much you owe, you will receive a balance of how many meals you have remaining.
Hope this helps. (PS. Curious why Disney couldn't answer your questions... Were you looking at the website or actually speak to a person. I have always had very helpful advice on the phone.
Best of luck to you and your family
I have a question... We are going to be at WDW Dec31 - Jan. 4... will we be on the 2010 plan or 2011 new rules plan?
I disagree. I don't think the meal plan is as good as it used to be. Paying the tip is an 20% raise from before. Also, if you don't want to desserts a day, you can't get an appetizer. Finally, many of the better restaurants require two table credits now.
If you wanted to add anything on to your meal and pay for it, for example order an appetizer, can you still do this with the dining plan? I understand most people wouldn't because it would decrease the savings, but if there is an appetizer that you just HAVE to try, can you do this and pay out of pocket for it?
Hello, my family and I are going to Disney in April. My question is, is it really worth getting the meal plan? I'd like us to go to some of the meals that have the characters visit at the tables. I do realize that these restaurants will accept 1-2 meal tickets per person for the meal, but it doesn't look like that will include the imaging package that is offered with some of these special meals. Can we buy the imaging packages separately, or would it be better to just prepay for meals online when I book our reservation, since the imaging package is included in that price? If the latter is the better choice, should I then just consider buying the quick service package? Thanks so much for any and all help that you can offer to me. This Hub has already been quite helpful, just by reading everyone else's questions and answers!!
We just back from WDW with my 19year old son and had the meal plan. We found it inconvenient. The meals gave us the largest fountain sodas and came with a dessert.
Too much.
Ended up using my quota to buy candys bars and bottled sodas for the trip home.
we are heading to disney in October but my kids are older and not interested in character dinning so I was going do Quick service plan but can you use any credits for a table service meal? also can you bring any coolers in?
our family of 15 is planning our vacation for 2012 to disneyworld and my father is paying for the accomodations ofour choice. we are responsible for our meals during the trip, how do i find out prices and purchasing meal plans for the trip
Do you have to get a vacation package to get the dining deal or do you just have to have tickets to the park. We have time share at Wyndham Bonnet Creek so we are not staying at a disney resort.
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Anne, you need to be staying at a Disney owned resort to take advantage of the dining deals. It's a package deal.
Hi, we are a party of 9 staying in a time share, the owner is my cousin and a disney club member. We wanted to know is there a food plan we could get and how much would a basic plan be, plus tickets to the park, hopper, no water parks. We are staying at old keywest the 18-26 nov. my cousin is noy going how do I go about all this? Thanks hope you can help!!
Can I use a table service credit for extra friends who are not on my room reservation? I have the dining plan for two adults but want to use 4 credits for dinner with another couple who are residents of the area.
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Mike, I have no idea if that would work.
Anthony, if you are staying at DVC you can sign up for the food plan. I'm sure Member Services can help your cousin out.
Hi everyone, we just booked our hotel in Disney resort, can we purchase the meal plan and tickets when we arrive there?
WE HAVE A GROUP OF 11 GOING DOWN ON AUGEST 17 THRU THE 24 AND WE ARE DISNEY CLUB MEMBERS AND WE ARE STAYING AT THE KIDANNI VILLAGE AND WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE IS GOING TO BE FREE MEAL PLAIN FOR US
How or can I get a meal plan if I'm not staying on the property?? Which would be the best??
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