Disney World Free Dining 2025 Ultimate Guide
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All of the details on any current Free Dining offers at Walt Disney World.
The Disney World Free Dining offer is by far the most popular promotion of the year. It is pretty clear why… FREE FOOD at Disney? Ummm, yes please!
In this post, I’ll answer the most common questions I get asked (e.g. Is it always the best deal? How much can I save?) and share everything you need to know about Free Dining in this post.
What Is Disney Free Dining?
First, let’s look at some basic details of how the free dining offer works.
The basic principle is that you pay full price for your resort stay and park tickets and get a free Disney Dining Plan for everyone in your party.
You will need to book a minimum four-night resort stay and purchase a minimum of four-day Park Hopper tickets.
There are lots of other details to know about this year’s offer, so read on to learn all about Disney World Free Dining 2025.
When Is Disney Free Dining Offered?
Beginning March 27th, everyone on your reservation can get a free dining plan with the purchase of a non-discounted minimum 4-night, 4-day Disney World vacation package that includes a room at select Disney Resort hotels and a Park Hopper ticket.
The 2025 dates that are eligible for the Free Dining offer are:
- June 29 – September 30, 2025
- October 20 – November 1, 2025
- December 6 – December 22, 2025
Most resorts are included with this offer! And keep in mind you jsut have to check-in during the date ranges above. Your trip can actually extend past these dates.
The hands-down best way to book this package offer is with my Disney travel agent partner, Siera Duiser with Destinations in Florida.
She can help you sort out all of the details of your reservation and make sure you’re getting the best deal – all at NO COST to you.
Who Is Eligible for the Free Dining Offer?
Currently anyone in the US and Canada is eligible for this Free Dining package deal.
What Resorts Are Included in Disney Free Dining?
In 2025, all Disney World Resorts are included in Free Dining EXCEPT the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Bungalows at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, and all Three-Bedroom Villas at any Disney World resort.
All other resorts and room categories are eligible for the Free Dining offer.
What Dining Plans Are Included?
If you book a Free Dining package at a Disney Value or Moderate resort, you will get the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan for each member of your party at no cost.
If you book a Free Dining package at a Disney Deluxe Resort, then you’ll get the Disney Dining Plan for everyone on the reservation at no cost.
To learn all about the Disney Dining Plans and how they work, check out this post.
Also as part of any Dining Plan you’ll get a Resort Refillable mug – learn all about the awesome benefits of the mugs in this post!
Can you upgrade the free Disney Dining Plan?
Yes, you can definitely upgrade a dining plan you get for free as part of the Disney Free Dining offer.
If you get the Quick Service plan with your package and want the standard Disney Dining Plan, you will just pay the difference between the two plans.
How can I book a Free Dining Package?
You can only book a Disney World Free Dining package with a Disney authorized travel agent or directly through Disney.
I strongly recommend using a travel agent who specializes in Disney travel to help you with booking any Disney package!
I personally recommend getting a free quote from Siera with Destinations in Florida because she is one of the most experienced agent you will find to help plan your Disney vacation.
It won’t cost you anything extra, and you’ll have someone to handle all of the complicated details (trust me, there are A LOT), so you can just sit back and dream of your upcoming trip.
So those are the basics of how Disney Free Dining works. Next, I’ll break down who stands to benefit most from the free dining package and who might save more with a different type of discount.
Is Disney Free Dining The Best Deal?
The short answer to the question “Is Free Dining the best deal?” is not always. Whether or not Free Dining works out to be the best deal for your travel party depends on several factors.
First, you’ll get a dining plan at no additional cost for every person in your travel party, which means you’ll save more when there are more people in your room. A family of four will save MUCH more than a solo traveler with the free dining offer.
Next, where you stay will greatly impact whether or not Free Dining is the best deal for you.
Generally, you’ll save the most from Free Dining at Disney’s Value or Moderate resorts.
If you want to stay in a Deluxe resort, you’ll almost always save more with a “room-only” discount. To get an idea of what the regular or “rack” rates are at Disney’s resorts, check out this excellent resource from MouseSavers.com.
Disney regularly offers discounts of 10 – 35% off room-only reservations or those that don’t include park tickets or a dining plan. The best discounts are for the Deluxe resorts, with savings commonly in the 25-35% off range.
It is possible to put together your own “package” by purchasing a room-only reservation then adding the tickets and meals separately. This will always be more work than purchasing a package deal, but the extra savings may end up being worth it to you.
If you’d rather listen, check out this episode of The Budget Mouse podcast in which I tackle the question of whether to get the Dining Plan or not.
Let’s look at how much you can expect to save with a Free Dining package next!
How Much Can You Expect to Save?
Now let’s crunch some numbers to see how much you can expect to save with Disney World Free Dining.
Don’t worry, I’ll do the heavy lifting (I was a middle school math teacher in the recent past!)
| Credits (per night) | Cost
(including tax) |
|
| Quick Service Dining Plan | 2 Quick Service Meals + 1 Snack | $59.14 (adult)
$24.70 (child) |
| Disney Dining Plan | 1 Table Service Meal + 1 Quick Service Meal + 1 Snack | $97.70 (adult)
$30.78 (child) |
Here is a chart showing the cost of the three different dining plans if you were to purchase them out of pocket. It is helpful to know the cost of the plans when figuring your potential savings with Disney Free Dining.
Next, I’ll give some examples for a five-night stay during the last week of September.
First let’s take a family of four, with kids ages 7 and 9, staying in a standard view room at Disney’s Pop Century resort (you can read my full review of the resort here).
They want to visit more than one park in a day so they’ve already planned on purchasing five-day Park Hopper tickets. They are interested in the Quick Service dining plan so they aren’t tied down to reservations.
If you purchase your park tickets separately (i.e. not as part of a package) I always suggest getting them at a discount through Undercover Tourist.
I’ve included their discounted prices here for the room-only discount comparison, which in this case will save over $100 compared to Disney prices.
Since Disney hasn’t leased a room-only discount for these travel dates yet, I’ll use a 15% discount since that’s often what you can expect to save at the value resorts, and I’ve included the hefty 12.5% resort tax.
Here’s a chart comparing the cost of the trip with a room-only discount versus one with a Free Dining package.
The trip costs roughly $3,200 with the room-only discount and discounted tickets and roughly $2,600 with the Disney World Free Dining Package. That’s savings of $600 for the five-night trip, or almost a 20% discount.
While it isn’t outrageous savings, most folks would like to keep $600 in their pockets, I’m sure. So in this situation, Free Dining looks like the best deal.
Now let’s look at a different situation. A couple wants to stay in a Savannah view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge the same week to visit the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.
They want the standard Disney Dining Plan for all of those amazing snack credits and to eat at a table service restaurant most nights. Plus, they don’t really need a Park Hopper ticket and only want to spend three days in the parks (remember that you are required to add the Park Hopper option to get a Free Dining package).
Here’s a comparison of what they’d pay with a 30% room-only discount versus a Free Dining package.
In this scenario, they’d save $330 by NOT booking free dining and going with the room-only discount instead. So clearly Free Dining isn’t always the best choice!
Get my insider tips on how to get the most value out of the plans here.
Should You Get a Disney World Free Dining Package?
As you can see, it is complicated to determine whether or not a Disney Free Dining package is the best choice for you.
In general, the best value from Disney World Free Dining comes from parties of three or more staying in a Value or Moderate resort.
But even then there are other considerations, such as whether or not you’d really use the required Park Hopper tickets.
Some of the best dining is outside of the theme parks at Disney resorts – learn how to use Uber to get from one resort to another in Disney World here.
Because deciding if Free Dining is the best fit is pretty complicated, I strongly suggest working with a travel agency that specializes in Disney travel.
I recommend Destinations in Florida, an award-winning agency with many Authorized Disney Vacation Planners who can help you decide if Free Dining is a good fit. Their agents can crunch all of the numbers for you, and find the resort and offer that is the best fit at the best price!
A Few Other Thoughts
Here are a few other things you should know about Disney World Free Dining:
- Packages are bound by different cancellation policies than room-only reservations. You can change or cancel a room-only reservation up to eight days before check-in without any penalty. You can cancel or change a package reservation with no penalty up until 30 days before check-in, making them less flexible for last minute changes.
- Free Dining is a wildly popular promotion. You will need to book as soon as it is released because availability is limited. You only need a $200 deposit to book and it is refundable up to 30 days before your trip, so it makes sense to book even if you aren’t 100% sure you’ll go.
I hope this post answered all of your burning questions about Disney Free Dining. I’ve taken advantage of this offer MANY times and love using the Dining Plan at Disney World.
This year Free Dining is offered in summer, so learn what to expect from Disney World in summer in this post.
If you have any questions, just leave a comment below!
I’m South African. We’re a family of 5 going to WDW from 12 – 17 December 2019 (which falls in the period for free dining). We’re booked at All-Star Sports resort and have 5 days park tickets. Everything already booked and paid for via a travel agent in Cape Town. Can we make use of the free dining plan?
Hi Mirna! I checked with my travel agent partner Siera and she said that the US Free Dining may not be available to you there in South Africa. She said though to check with your travel agent to be sure – there might be some similar offer.
My mom got the free dining plan for September at a moderate resort. I am coming down for part of the stay (Saturday to Monday), while she stays out the minimum required stay.
I can’t add myself to the hotel reservation, correct? I purchased tickets separately and we will be sharing her free dining. If I add, it will mess up her reservation, right? Thank you!
Yes, this is a bit tricky. If you were to be added to her reservation, you’s also have to pay for a park ticket with the package. Since you already have a ticket you probably don’t want that. The issue with her NOT adding you to the reservation is that you won’t be able to use Magical Express, or Extra Magic Hours, or get Fastpasses 60 days in advance. Also if the dining plan is the Quick Service plan it will work totally fine for you to share her credits. But if she has upgraded to the standard Disney Dining Plan, I have heard of trouble sharing table service credits. If you have other questions or want more advice just respond to this comment or email me leah @ thebudgetmouse.com
Thank you so much! That’s exactly what we thought. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t stay the entire time, but I just don’t have enough time off from work.
The FastPasses are the only thing I’m bummed about– it’s going to be difficult for us to link ours up.
What kind of trouble sharing the dining plan? We have reservations for the Snow White dinner at Wilderness Lodge.
I personally haven’t tried to use a table service credit for someone not on my reservation in a few years. I have heard secondhand reports (not from anyone directly) of people not being allowed to use a table service credit for someone not on their reservation. I have NO idea if this is actually true and is happening. It could be just a rumor to deter people from trying to share table service credits with those not on the plan. Disney used to have language on the Dining Plan site that credits could be used for anyone, but that language is no longer there. Just so you know going in. I HIGHLY doubt a cast member will not allow your mom to use her credit for your meal.
Thank you for your detailed replies! Really appreciate it. I was just checking out a thread on DISboards, and I see the reports about issues at 50s Prime Time and Hollywood & Vine– nearly of which we are going to. So, we should be fine! (Plus, my mom is pretty persuasive if there is any trouble!)
We are just doing two table service meals sharing credits– my mom is shy about eating at a table service restaurant alone, haha. We also have Afternoon Tea at GF (no dining plan) and then eating at Food and Wine with snack credits. Thanks again!
Hi, my name is Gardelly, I’m peruvian and I have some questions about free disney dining plan. I think US, Canadian and UK residents can only book this type of dining plan. The problem is that I’m a peruvian resident so I can’t book this. My question is, if a friend of mine is a US resident and he books everything (tickets + hotel) with his credit card but he is not going to be in Disney with me, he is only booking for me and my husband. Can he book the free dining for us or is it necessary being with him to have the free dining? I will appreciate your answer:)
Hi Gardelly! Technically he answer is no. However, it appears that your friend could make the reservation with his My Disney Experience account in your names. The Magic Bands would be mailed to his US address and then he would have to mail them on to you. If you do online check-in you could go straight to your room and not have to stop at the front desk to show ID. It could work or you could run into issues that I am not able to anticipate. Free Dining is only a fantastic deal in certain instances (as I explain in this post) and otherwise you could likely get a similar price by making your own package of a discounted room, discounted tickets, and planning your dining carefully. I personally wouldn’t risk having any issues on vacation but that’s just me!
Can you get free dining if you use rented DVD points?
No you can’t, but you can add the dining plan and pay for it if you rent points.
I plan to go to WDW in 2020 and I’m waiting for the free dining plan… Do you think I should book my room now and then, add the free dinning plan once it is available? Can I do that to make sure I have my room and the free dining plan?
Hi Elise! Yes, I always think it’s a good idea to go ahead and book if you know you are going. Then hopefully a great offer will come out for your dates and resort – fingers crossed for free dining. You only have to put a $200 deposit down to save the room. My travel agent partner Siera with Destinations in Florida will monitor the discounts and automatically apply the Free Dining deal if/when it comes out (at no cost to you). You can get a quote from her here: https://thebudgetmouse.com/get-a-free-disney-world-vacation-quote/
When are the recommended times to book in 2020 to score free dining?
Hi Lisa! If you know the dates you’d like to go I suggest making your reservation now since it only requires a $200 deposit with my travel agent Siera. If/when Free Dining is released she will automatically apply the discount to your reservation and your balance due will reflect the deal. You can get a quote from her here: https://thebudgetmouse.com/get-a-free-disney-world-vacation-quote/ Hope that helps!
Hello!
We already have our vacation booked for July 11th-July 18th using our DVC points. Would we be able to take advantage of this?
Thank you!
It looks like, based on our dates alone, we would not be eligible. I guess same question would apply for the valid dates, for others that might ask in the future. Thanks anyway!
Well, stays booked with DVC points don’t qualify for Free Dining, unfortunately. But rest assured you are saving much more per night by renting points than you would with this offer!
Hello,
I have booked the free quick service dining plan for 14 nights in September 2020. I am wondering if I would be able to upgrade to the Disney dining plan now even though the free dining promotion has finished?
thank you!!
Yes you can definitely upgrade at any point – I believe up to a few days before you arrive. You’ll just pay the difference between the two plans. We have done this exact thing ourselves!
Do you think Disney will release any more free dining dates?
Hi Marie! I expect they will based on the discounts released last year. It may not be for a while since they’ll assess how the current promotions are working to fill rooms. I think April would be the earliest.