There are two ways to enjoy the Disney Dining Plan- free, and paying out of pocket. Clearly, everyone prefers Free Disney Dining- and if you plan to travel in late August through early December, I would recommend you look into booking this deal. Please be aware that you will probably have to pay for the dining plan initially- the Free Dining promotion is typically not released until June. I remember in 2013, my family and I had all booked a package, and we had paid for the Disney Dining Plan. I had heard a rumor that Free Disney Dining would be announced on June 1- all night on May 31 I checked the website for any information. Finally sometime that night, the promotion was listed on the Walt Disney World webpage! I set my alarm for 6am so that I could call my travel agent as soon as they opened, as she had to be the one to change my reservation. I had used AAA that year, and even though at that time they were the Official Travel Agency of Walt Disney World, she was not aware that this promotion was being released that day- she told me that in the past, Disney had let AAA know a day in advance so they could prepare, but not that year! She was on the phone for HOURS that day changing not only my reservation to include free dining, but all of her clients that qualified as well. Please note that the release date is different every year, and there is NO guarantee that Disney will continue to offer this promotion in the future. But if Disney does offer it, I want my readers to be able to take advantage of this wonderful promotion!
In January of this year, my husband and I took advantage of another offer called ‘Stay, Play and Dine’- this offer did not save us as much money as the Free Dining Promotion, but it definitely did save us some money! This offer was released several days in advance of the general public to those who have a Disney Chase Visa credit card (which most discounts are). For this promotion, a discount was simply given off the package (resort room, theme park tickets, and the dining plan).
Ok so now onto food! My husband INSISTED I write a post on how best to maximize your Disney Dining Plan, and that’s what I intend to do here. Please take into consideration how much your family likes meal times. For a lot of folks, they’d rather spend extra time in the theme parks riding attractions and seeing shows, and not spend a couple of hours in a restaurant- if this is you, then the dining plan may not be for you! Not my family, however! We love getting out of the Florida heat for a big meal together, where we can talk about how much fun our day has been. Because of this, we schedule at least one table service meal almost every day. Some of our favorite dining experiences have been in World Showcase in Epcot. As you may or may not know, there are 11 fabulous countries to discover in World Showcase. It is a lot of fun to check out the attractions in some of the countries, do some shopping, talk to the natives of the country you are in, and of course, try food and drinks from the respective countries. Each country (except for America) has at least one sit down restaurant, and I highly encourage you to check out at least one out on your trip. My family has eaten at the restaurants in Mexico, Japan, France, Italy, and Canada, and in several more countries’ quick service locations. When we’ve got the free dining plan, we like to do a meal Le Cellier steakhouse in Canada. Several entrees here cost about $50 per plate, and so we are happy to have the free dining so we don’t have to pay this out-of-pocket (or with my coveted Disney gift cards). I would like to throw out there, though, that if you are paying for the dining plan, this may not be the best use of TWO table service credits. Yes, this is a Signature Restaurant, which means it is one of Disney’s best, and therefore, you are essentially giving up 2 nights worth of dinners for one meal here. Even though it is expensive, the reason I say that it may not always be worth 2 credits is this: there are other Disney restaurants that cost as much as $40 per plate (or buffet) that are only 1 table service credit. So now I’ve got you thinking about the fact that you could get $80 worth of food with 2 credits elsewhere, or $50 at Le Cellier. This is how I like to think when using the Disney Dining Plan. No, it’s not ALL about the money, but I do like to take this into consideration on my trips. I believe that it pays to do the math- figure out whether it would be better to save your credits and use them elsewhere, paying cash for your Signature Dining experience, or just go ahead and use 2 credits for a meal. We have done both, but when we have Free Dining or even a discount package deal (Stay, Play and Dine, for instance), we have chosen to use credits; when we have paid full price for the dining plan, we tend to save our credits and pay cash for our Signature Dining restaurants.
So now you’re doing math while trying to plan a vacation. That’s not very ‘vacation-like’, now is it? If you prefer, you can use a travel agent to figure out these details. Personally, I love doing this, and it makes me even more excited for my trip! There are also websites out there where you can plug in where you will eat each day, and it will generate an estimated amount that you will spend per day of your vacation if you were to pay for your meals out-of-pocket. I don’t like these, though, because it only gives you the average cost of a meal at that restaurant- if you are a beef-lover like me, then you probably will pay more than this calculator states, as beef is typically the most expensive dish on the menu.
So now that I’ve covered how to maximize your table service credits, I would like to point out that I try to do the same to maximize my quick service credits as well. Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney (soon to be called Disney Springs) is one of our favorite quick spots to grab a bite- the Holiday Turkey sandwich is what dreams are made of! These sandwiches, however, are extremely reasonably priced. The most expensive sandwich on the menu only costs $6.99. Compare this to one of my favorite quick service places in Animal Kingdom Park. Flame Tree BBQ offers a rib and chicken combo platter (there is a photo of this beauty in my Dining at Disney- Part 1 post!) for $16.19. That’s a big difference when it comes to price! If you are going to eat at more quick service locations than you have credits for (say, you’re staying 5 nights so you have 5 quick-service credits, but plan on eating at 6 quick-service locations), please be mindful of the cost of an entrĂ©e at each restaurant, and be wise when it comes to using your credits versus paying out-of-pocket.
Finally, we come to the topic of snacks. Each person over the age of 3 is entitled to one snack credit per day with the Disney Dining plans. You don’t, however, have to have one snack per day- you can go crazy on your first day and use 4, and then go several days without using your snack credits if you wish (the same is true for meal credits). I LOVE my Disney snacks! My two favorite treats are cupcakes and the famous Dole Whip Float. My saying is this: if a snack costs more than $4, that’s a great use of a snack credit. My family has heard this over and over again. If a snack costs less than $4, I will typically use my gift card to pay for it. Some mornings I like to eat a banana, which I technically could use a snack credit for. However, a banana costs under $2, and so I don’t like to use my snack credit on this item. Specialty cupcakes can cost over $5, and so I would much rather use a snack credit for a cupcake. If you are visiting during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival in September, October, and November, and are interested in trying different foods from around the world, I highly recommend saving at least several snack credits to use at the booths at this event. Snack credits are not good for alcoholic beverages, but they are eligible to use on specialty non-alcoholic beverages if you’d like to try any of those as well.
Ok I hope I have not bored you with my somewhat extensive explanations of the Disney Dining plan, and how I like to use it to maximize the value of my trip. Now I would like to offer two more tips to my readers: if you are planning on taking a trip to the World, or even just thinking about it, please sign up on the Walt Disney World website for anything that you can, including the free planning DVD. I say this because from time to time, Disney will mail/ email a pin code which can be redeemed for some sort of discount. I have yet to figure out if there is any sort of method to these mailings, but I have received them in the past, both before I have booked a trip, and even after (if you receive one after you have booked, you may call Disney, and they will apply the discount and credit you back the difference). Anytime Disney asks me to put in my email or home address, I will, in hopes that I will receive a pin code. Please note that your identity is attached to these codes, and the person given this discount must be the one traveling- i.e. I could not receive one and then let a friend redeem the discount.
My final tip is this, and it applies to those who are already on Disney property enjoying their WDW vacation- somewhere in your resort hotel room, you may find a pamphlet offering Free Dining, or another offer, to enjoy on your next WDW visit! Several years ago, after hearing this on another Disney blog, I searched through my Disney resort hotel room, and I was able to find an offer for the Free Dining Plan if we booked next year's vacation before we checked out on the final day of our current trip. Since my family is flexible with our travel dates, we were able to take advantage of this great offer. Please note that travel dates for the following year, as well as resorts you may stay at, may be limited, and typically there is a set minimum of nights you must stay to cash in on this deal- but for those looking to save money on their next trip to the World, this can be a great deal! Don't forget to file this tip away in the back of your mind if you are thinking you may want to travel to WDW several years in a row.
