Disney Dining Plan Tips & Tricks

Here are my best Disney Dining Plan tips and tricks for making the most of the plans at Walt Disney World.

Take Advantage of the Dining Plan’s Flexibility

My first Disney Dining Plan tip is that the plans are much more flexible than they sound.

The credits you receive for each member of your party are actually pooled together and can be used in any combination on any day of your trip.

For example, you can eat only Quick Service meals on one day and the next day use two Table Service credits to enjoy dinner at one of Disney’s fantastic Signature restaurants.

Plus your credits are good from the time you check into your resort (which we often do as soon as we arrive, as early as 8 am) until midnight on the day you check out.

This means you can stretch your 5 nights of the dining plan into 6 days if you use your credits wisely.

Get the Dining Plan for Only Part of Your Vacation

A split stay is when you break your vacation up between two different resorts on two separate reservations.

Any Disney Meal Plan has to be purchased for every night of your stay and for everyone in your room.

But this only means you must have it for the entire reservation – you can have it for the first part of a split stay and not the second.

If you don’t mind switching resorts once during your stay, you can rent DVC points for part of your vacation and add the dining plan for that part of your stay.

If you are changing Disney resorts (what is called a “split stay”) and get a refillable mug during the first part of your vacation, it will continue to work for the second part. The mugs aren’t connected to a particular resort and will work for 14 days once activated. 

Note:  You can add the dining Plan to a one-night reservation booked with DVC points, but you can no longer add a dining plan to a one-night reservation booked through Disney (unless it is booked with a Passholder discount). The minimum for adding the dining plan when you book with Disney is a two-night reservation. 

Share Credits & Use Them However You Want

Mynext tip is you do not actually have to use a credit for every member of your party every time you dine.

For example, one Table Service credit includes:

• One entree
• One dessert
• One beverage

If your partner wants an alcoholic beverage and entree and you just want an appetizer and dessert, you two can essentially “share” one Table Service credit and just pay for your appetizer out-of-pocket.

This can really help you get the full value of the plan, save your credits for a Signature restaurant, and avoid wasting food (a common complaint about the plan).

To do this, just tell your server that you’d like to use one table service credit from your dining plan and charge the appetizer to your room. You can then scan your Magic Band for both purposes and be on your way!

Get the Dining Plan Without Buying Park Tickets

The official line from Disney is that the Dining Plan must be purchased as part of a package that includes a minimum of two-day park tickets. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.

The one we have used most frequently is that anyone staying in a room booked with Disney Vacation Club points can add a Disney Dining Plan to their reservation without also adding park tickets.

Anyone can stay in a DVC room by “renting” points from a DVC owner (check out my post about how to rent DVC points to save money on deluxe accommodations here). 

Members of the military can also add a dining plan to their resort stay without having to buy park tickets (which can be bought at a steep discount at a military base or Shades of Green – thanks for this info, Peg!).

Choose Restaurants That Maximize Your Credits

My next Disney Meal Plan tip is to eat at the locations that give you the best value for your credits. 

There are definitely certain dining locations that give you the best value on the Disney Dining Plan. That said, I would suggest that you don’t let this fact drive your decisions about where to eat on vacation.

If you want to eat somewhere but it isn’t necessarily the best value on the plan because the entrees are less expensive than other places, then, by all means, eat there!

Overall, you will get your money’s worth out of the Disney Dining Plan almost anywhere you eat, so try to dine as if you weren’t bound by the plan.

You’ll get incredible value if you are able to get the dining plan for free with Disney’s popular “Free Dining” promotion, which you can read all about in this post. 

Locations in which the total cost of your Quick Service Meal is above $18 and Table Service is above $55 give you the best return on your investment on the Dining Plan.

Here are some of the best locations for getting the full value out of the plan:

Quick Service

• Flame Tree Barbecue (Animal Kindgom)
• Sunshine Seasons (Epcot)
• Tangierine Cafe (Epcot)
• La Cantine de San Angel (Epcot)
• Columbia Harbor House (Magic Kingdom)
• Peco’s Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe (Magic Kingdom)
• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (Magic Kindgom)
• Landscape of Flavors – Lunch/Dinner (Art of Animation Resort)
• Pepper Market – Lunch/Dinner (Coronado Springs Resort)
• Wolfgang Puck Express (Disney Springs)
• The Polite Pig (Disney Springs)

Table Service 

• Fantasmic Dining Package (Hollywood Studios)
• Chefs de France – Dinner (Epcot)
• Tutto Italia -Dinner (Epcot)
• Crystal Palace – Dinner (Magic Kingdom)
• Boma – Dinner (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (1 credit at breakfast only)
• Chef Mickey’s – Dinner (Contemporary Resort)
• ‘Ohana – Dinner (Polynesian Resort)
• Whispering Canyon Cafe – Dinner (Wilderness Lodge)

Signature Restaurants

• California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Narcoossee’s (Grand Floridian Resort)
• Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club Resort)
• Cinderella’s Royal Table – Dinner (Magic Kingdom)
• The Boathouse (Disney Springs)

The best use of Quick Service and Table Service credits on the Disney Dining Plan tend to be for lunch and dinner.

It is very hard to get good value out of your credits for breakfast.

I would suggest eating a light breakfast in your room (check out how to get groceries delivered to resort for free in this post) or paying for breakfast out of pocket at your resort.

Use Snack Credits Wisely

Snack credits may seem like a throwaway addition, but if used wisely, they really can increase the value of your Dining Plan.

Each member of your party will get one snack credit per day as part of every Disney Meal Plan!

I estimate the value of a snack credit to be around $6. If I want a snack and it is less than $6, I usually pay out of pocket for it, even if I’m on the Dining Plan.

If you happen to be visiting Disney World during one of the Epcot festivals, you can get incredible value out of your snack credits.

Most non-alcoholic drinks and food items available at the Marketplace Booths are “snack credit eligible”.

Some of these items are in the $8-$10 range which can almost double the value of your snack credit.

Last visit we had eight snack credits that we used to make a meal of eating our way around Food & Wine Festival.

It was so much fun and we got an incredible value out of the snack credits (get all of my Food and Wine Festival tips in this post). 

If you want someone to help you pick the best restaurants AND make all of your dining reservations for you (at no cost to you), then I strongly suggest that you get a free quote from my expert Disney travel agent Siera at Destinations in Florida! 

Get Alcohol, Appetizers, and More

Even though Table Service credits include only an entree, dessert, and a beverage, there are instances where you can get much more using the Disney Dining Plan.

And you can now get a specialty drink OR single-serving alcoholic beverage with every meal on the Disney Dining Plans!

I’m happy to report that pretty much ANY alcoholic drink is included in the Dining Plan.

For example, you can get a top-shelf Patron Lime Margarita from La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot that would cost $16 out-of-pocket as your drink with a Quick Service credit!

If you are going to get an adult beverage with lunch and dinner anyway, the Dining Plan makes it very affordable to do so.

Here are other ways to get more with the Dining Plan:

Get an Appetizer with the Prix Fixe Dinner Menu at Chefs de France

Another great use of one Table Service credit is the Prix Fixe menu at Chefs de France in Epcot’s France Pavillion.

You get to choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert from a set menu and all are included with your one table service credit.

Though this restaurant sometimes gets spotty reviews, I think the food is excellent (though not very adventurous), the atmosphere lively, and the servers helpful and eager to talk about their country and cuisine.

Get a Cheese Plate as An Appetizer at Several Signature Restaurants

Signature Restaurants are the high-end dining establishments at Disney and all require two Table Service credits.

However, several restaurants include their Cheese Plate as one of their options for dessert, which means you can order it as part of the dining plan.

The cheese plate is usually fantastic and pricey (some upwards of $20) and you can have it served before your meal as an appetizer.

One member of your party will have to give up their dessert entitlement, but most folks share desserts anyway so that likely won’t cramp your style too much.

Get Preferred Seating with the Fantasmic Dining Package

One of the best uses of one Table Service credit is the Fantasmic Dining Package at Mama Melrose’s in Hollywood Studios.

Not only do you get preferred seating to the Fantasmic show for the evening (the not-to-be-missed nighttime show at the Studios), but you’ll also get your choice of an entree, dessert, and beverage.

The trade-off is that you’ll eat at an off-peak time (lunch or an early dinner). You can also get a Fantasmic Package at Hollywood & Vine (for 1 credit) and The Hollywood Brown Derby (for 2 credits).

Kids Under Three Eat for Free at Certain Restaurants

You may have noticed that the children’s dining plan is for kids ages 3 to 9. What about one and two-year-olds who seem to eat their weight in food each day, you say?

Well, you will either have to purchase food for them out of pocket or dine at restaurants where they can eat for free.

Disney’s policy is that kids under three can eat off of their parents’ plates at any buffet.

This includes all of the character meals and any other buffet such as Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge) and Biergarten (Epcot). And they don’t physically have to eat off of your plate, you can get them their own plate of food at no charge.

Even better, at any all-you-care-to-enjoy table service meal (such as the Garden Grill, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Topplino’s Terrace, and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall), kids under three can get a kids’ meal off of the menu totally for free.

I was really surprised when I learned about this about a year ago and it influenced where we decided to eat with our daughter when she was still in the under-three crowd.

Disney Meal Plan Tips & Tricks Summary

To summarize, the Disney Dining Plan is just one way to experience the amazing dining options at Walt Disney World.

And if you’re able to get it for free (read my post about the popular free dining offer), it is an especially inexpensive way to try out different restaurants.

If want help planning a vacation with or without the dining plan, I suggest getting a from my expert Disney travel agent, Siera with Destinations in Florida.

She can help you find the right resort, book your dining reservations, and more, all at no additional cost to you!

I hope this post helped you understand the basics of the Dining Plan and how it works during a Disney World vacation. 

Any questions? Join the discussion in my free private Facebook group for my Disney-only site, The Budget Mouse!