The Disney Dining Plan is FINALLY coming back! But how is it changing, how is it staying the same, and how can you make the most out of its purchase? Find out all of these things — AND MORE — today, on DFB Guide.
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44 Comments
I been to Disney world 19 times since 2020 and never heard of the ddp but as an annual pass holder and not much of a foodie it’s not worth it for me as I only eat 1-2 meals a day and get full fast
We did the DDP in 2017 with one quick service, one table service, two snacks, and a refillable mug. Son was 9 that year so he had the kid price and hubby and I the adult price. It was fun eating at Coral Reef, Ohana"s, T-Rex, but at Be our Guest were in line for Monster's Inc and had to come out of line to go to the reservation (great food by the way), and the table service at our resort (Coronado Springs) we kept pushing our reservation back because we were so full. We did use most of the snack credits but just started grabbing bottled beverages on our last day as to not loose them. Paying for the tips was fine but that was an additional expense. We loved the "luxuriousness" of the plan though— three course meals everyday!
We already have our 2024 trip booked and got the DDP. I am happy to try various alcoholic beverages to help make it worthwhile! 🙂
Might work for guys, not ladies ( my friend hubby ate twice as much as either of us
We hate the DDP. It will not save you any money. Disney would not offer it if it didn’t make them money. You are not getting food for less money. You just paid for it up front. It causes added stress when choosing meals because of the mental struggle between ordering the most expensive thing to get your money out of it versus ordering what you actually feel like eating. No appetizers is another negative. Sometimes I want an appetizer and no dessert. If you eat at signature restaurants which are two credits, you will run out of credits way before your trip is over. If you don’t use all your snack credits, you will lose them or be forced to buy snacks to take home. The only way it is worth it is when they offer free dining plan.
We definitely save money buying gift cards at Target for 5% off vs the DDP. Then we still have flexibility to eat where we want.
The DDP is such a waste of money
I am big fan of the DDP (last used it in September 2019) but I have an unrelated question for anyone to answer. In the video there is a shot of a wall of photos from "Broadway At The Top" (1981 – 1993). Where is this wall of photos? I am a friend of one of the original cast and I would love to point him to this wall for his next Florida visit.
You’re paying for the convenience and then some… certainly not getting any value here.
The Dining Plan is great when you host older teenagers, who need the flexibility to eat when and wherever they want, using their wristbands or phones, without the hassle of handing them gift or cash cards. It also Makes it easier if your party splits up.
Do you know if we can use quick service credits to transform then on snacks
Last time I used the DDP, my 3 kids were considered children, so DDP was great, because they could eat adult quick service meal. We also had 2 snacks back then. When we went back, DDP was no more, so we cut alcohol during meal and ate more often at quick service. So, a lot less expensive. Next time, in 2025 (such a long wait…) my 3 kids will be considered adults (12-14-15), there’s no way we’re gonna pay that much for meals…
I'm going with my daughter who will have just turned 10, I despise the cut off age for the child meal age, I'm not going to ask her to lie but there's no way she eats enough to be considered an adult. Last time we went was Feb 2020 with a larger group and I loved the ease of the DDP!
I’m a bit annoyed about them taking away one of the snack credits at that price. I was willing to pay a bit extra for the service because I used my credits up and I like pre-paying for my vacations. I would double up my table service credits to do signature dining so I relied on those 2 snacks to have on the days I had no table service. I was fine to do one quick service and 2 snacks. Also, I would use a big chunk of my snack credits at the Epcot festival booths. I feel like using 2 credits on the better restaurants kind of leaves you short on the other days now.
you used to be able to convert unused dining credits to snack credits. So, before we left, we'd fill our carry-ons with snacks to have at home. Don't know if that will still be possible.
Daisy Duck vogueing! Sign me up!
Very excited for this to add to our trip in 2026
I know people complain about breaking even and leftover credits, but neither of these are problems we have EVER had. Yes, I know every trick in the book, but it's still not hard. Even quick service, even with an 85 year old, a vegetarian, and a fussy nine year old (technically we had a couple of 'left over" credits, but hit the quick service, and got food for the car/train). Any time I have been without a dining plan, I'm always horrified by how fast the bills pile up, and anytime we track it, we're definitely doing well.
If you have kids and go to a lot of one credit character dinning, totally worth it.
Can I add the DDP on if I’m renting DVC points?
What is that cupcake at 7:53??
The day before this video came out, I decided to price out whether or not I could make the DDP work for me. I priced out everything I wished I could eat on a Disney vacation, and I only came out $15 ahead on the DDP based on current pricing. It also ended up being way more food than I would typically eat on vacation. The only thing I could see as a benefit is that paying for it now protects you against price increases on menu items and pre-fixe/buffet prices.
Nope. Tables in Wonderland (if it ever comes back) is the better deal, you eat WHAT you want, WHERE you want and only as MUCH as you want and save 20% on Food & Booze.
I've never had a DDP but I really want to eat everything, mostly in snack form 😂 I was interested in Akershus restaurant but 2 table service credits is RIDICULOUS 😮 I can get Norwegian food at IKEA 😂
The dining plan only covers dessert. Can you use points for the main, dessert and the cocktail. But pay for starter and any extra sides in cash?
I wouldn’t want to use snack credits for that.
Can the extra items be paid for in cash like you do for tip?
I just put a deposit down for my trip for the fall of 2024 and I added the DDP to it. I just added the Quick Service plan to see if I will benefit from it. I'll be going alone and I don't necessarily need to eat at a fancy place by myself. I won't know if it will be worth it until I arrive there next year. I wish they would have had this back when I was planning my trip this year so when I arrive in September, maybe I'll be able to gauge it when I start buying meals. Thanks for the video, AJ. Always informative and I'm glad I found your page.
Do you think the dining plan is worth it if you have a gluten-free diet?
“Prepaid” is a beautiful word!! ❤ I love my vacation feeling more all-inclusive. 👍🏻
My tip is if you have two rooms, you can get DDP for one room and share with the other during shared meals. Another is doing a split stay where you can also box up uneaten food and put it in the fridge to have a few days later at the second stay.
We love the dining plan since it takes away one more thing to worry about while vacationing. And I never had to deny my kid a $40 steak if they wanted it. 😅
I loved the dining plan when I had it in the past. My thoughts on it are that for our family it worked well we got a lot of convenience out the time it saved not having to worry about cost at the parks when we were there plus it was very helpful that we could use it on character dining and meals we would not normally do on a theme park day.
I agree it is not for everyone as it can be hard to want Io spend you whole trip trying to plan out every meal and if everyone will eat that much food.
My husband and I booked for 2024. Just the 2 of us, we don't have kids. We know where and what and how much we want to eat, drink, and snack.
For us, it was an easy decision to skip the DDP. For the price and what we want vs what you get or don't get, it will probably work out the same on our food, maybe less if we just pay as we go, and we don't have to think about the dining plan and any stipulations or limits.
We always do the dining plan. Last trip in 2022 it was not available and it was a nightmare. The dining plan is worth it just to take the pressure off your back.
From the Disney site “Guests ages 3 to 9 must order from a children’s menu, where available.” So kids can’t order an adult meal at QS anymore – darn!
Any word on free dining coming back?
So no app now and they've cut the extra snack… 🙄
Such a ripoff. There is no way it is even remotely possible to justify giving these clowns your money.
I have found if you tend to order the more expensive menu items and get alcohol with your meals the DDP is very worth it. Or if you do more of the expensive restaurants.
we loved disney dining plan and we have missed it. I like the not worrying and we always do sit down meals not quick service
We went pre-closure, a group of ten, we had the DDP, at the end we had 43 snack credits left over after they broke down the meals into snacks. We were scrambling before the bus picked us up for the airport, in the hotel gift shop getting gummies, mints, bagged snacks, and cramming them in our luggage so we didn’t waste them. It was actually stressful.
If you do character meals, the DDP is a MUST HAVE. A character meal can easily be as much as the DDP costs for an entire day.
It is a scam. Like dvc.
I prefer to put the money I would spend on. DDP onto Disney Gift cards. Then they are still prepaid..all inclusive feel but if we don't use all the money on food, we can use it for souvenirs instead…OR bring it home with us to use on a down payment for our next trip!
My husband and I went to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon in 1995. We stayed 7 nights at Wilderness Lodge and included park hopper tickets, and the Food and Fun card. Total cost of our entire vacation was $1600. At that time, the Food and Fun card included bicycles, watercraft, etc. The food portion included gratuities. The servers wanted to give you extra food so that their gratuity was based on your total bill. The more you eat, the more they made. It was amazing! I mean seriously…..$1600!