Free Disney Dining…Which Plan Is Right For You?

With all the talk about Free Disney Dining, I thought it would be a great time to rehash the Disney Dining Plan!  What is included in these plans? Which resorts offered these plans last year during free dining and can I choose to upgrade a plan that is offered if free dining is released?

Historical data from 2014 free dining indicated the Value Resorts offered the Quick-Service Dining Plan for its resort guests.  Moderate and Deluxe / Deluxe Villa resorts offered the Plus Dining Plan.  Some resorts were excluded from the promotion!  Here are the room exclusions from the free dining promotion in 2014: All-Star Movies, Port Orleans Resort Riverside, Port Orleans Resort French Quarter, Fort Wilderness campsites, Grand Villas at all resorts (3-bedroom Disney Vacation Club rooms), Art of Animation Little Mermaid Rooms, and the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, were all not eligible for Free Dining.

One of the biggest questions I receive is… Can I upgrade my dining plan during free dining?  Absolutely!  The answer is yes!  Disney allows you to upgrade your dining plan by paying the difference.  This can be calculated to help you decide if staying at your current resort is your best option or if upgrading your resort is a better choice.  Be sure to talk with your travel agent about your options during this time!  You might be surprised at the outcome!

Let’s take a look a the Disney Dining Plans.  There are three dining plans:  Quick-Service, “Plus” Dining and Deluxe Dining. Let’s take a look at the Quick Service Dining Plan first.

Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan
For each night of your Quick-Service Dining Plan package, each Guest in your party (ages 3 and up) receives:

2 Quick-Service Meals
Each quick-service meal includes:

For Breakfast
1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage

For Lunch and Dinner
1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal
1 dessert
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage

Children ages 3-9 must order from the Children’s Menu (if one is available).

1 Snack
Examples of snacks are: 1 frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single-serving box), single-serving bag of snacks, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, 22-oz. fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea, single-serving prepackaged milk or juice

Plan must be purchased for entire length of stay and for the entire party (ages 3+). Meals are non-transferable between party members and expire at midnight on day of check-out.

1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person
Bring your Resort mug to any quick-service restaurant at your Disney Resort hotel and refill it as often as you like!

The “Plus” Dining Plan is the next plan we will look at.  This plan is for the guest looking to enjoy sit-down meals.  You can use your table service credit to eat with the characters!  This is a VERY popular plan!  In fact, this is the plan my family chooses to use when we vacation at Disney!  Here is the Disney Dining Plan!

Disney Dining Plan
With your Disney Dining Plan, for each night of your package, each Guest in your party (ages 3 and up) receives:

1 Table-Service Meal
Each (adult or child) table-service meal includes:
1 entrée
1 dessert (lunch and dinner only)
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage
Or
1 full buffet

1 Quick-Service Meal
Each quick-service meal includes:
1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal
1 dessert (lunch and dinner only)
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage

1 Snack
Examples of snacks are: 1 frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single-serving box), single-serving bag of snacks, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, 22-oz. fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea, single-serving prepackaged milk or juice

Children ages 3-9 must order from a Children’s Menu where available. Plan must be purchased for entire length of stay and for the entire party (ages 3+). Meals are non-transferable between party members and expire at midnight on day of check-out.

1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person
Bring your Resort mug to any quick-service restaurant at your Disney Resort hotel and refill it as often as you like!

It is highly recommended to make reservations for all table service meals!  You or your travel agent can make these reservations up to 180 days prior to your arrival.

The final Disney Dining Plan is the Deluxe Dining Plan.  This dining plans allows you to have a unique and exquisite culinary experience if you so desire!  Now, let’s take a look at this extraordinary plan!

Disney Deluxe Dining Plan
With your Deluxe Disney Dining Plan, for each night of your package, each Guest in your party (ages 3 and up) receives:

3 Meals
Choose from select Walt Disney World Resort table-service or quick-service restaurants for all 3 of your meals.

Each adult or child table-service meal includes:
1 appetizer (lunch and dinner only), 1 entrée and 1 dessert (lunch and dinner only)
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage
Or
1 full buffet

Each quick-service meal includes:
1 entrée or 1 complete combo meal
1 dessert (lunch and dinner only)
1 single-serving, non-alcoholic beverage

2 Snacks
Examples of snacks are:
1 frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single-serving box), single-serving bag of snacks, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, 22-oz. fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea, single-serving prepackaged milk or juice

Children ages 3-9 must order from a Children’s Menu where available. Plan must be purchased for entire length of stay and for the entire party (ages 3+). Meals are non-transferable between party members and expire at midnight on day of check-out.

1 Resort-Refillable Drink Mug Per Person
The Disney Deluxe Dining Plan also includes a refillable Resort mug. Bring your Resort mug to any quick-service restaurant at your Disney Resort hotel and refill it as often as you like!

Now, how do we use these entitlements?  Here is a listing to help you decide how to “use” your table service credits with the Disney Dining or Deluxe Dining Plans.

Special Dining Experiences
Your Disney Dining or Disney Deluxe Dining Plan allows each person in your party to trade meals for special dining experiences that your family will remember for a lifetime. See the exchanges below:

1 Meal =
1 Character Dining Meal (except meals at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom theme park)

2 Meals =
1 Signature Dining Experience (such as Citricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa)
Or
1 Character Dining Experience at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom theme park
Or
Private In-Room Dining at select Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts
Or
1 Disney Dinner Show (category 2 or 3 seating only, subject to availability)
Or
1 Pizza Delivery to your room at select Disney Moderate Resorts and Disney Value Resorts (Requires 2 adult table-service meal entitlements for each pizza.)
Or
1 Candlelight Dinner Package (Requires 2 adult table-service meal entitlements per person dining.)

4 Meals =
1 Pizza Service at select Disney Deluxe Resorts (Includes one 16″ pizza, 2 beverages, 2 appetizers and 2 desserts delivered to your room)

What’s Not Included in Your Package?
Gratuity , except for pizza delivery, Private In-Room Dining, Dinner Shows and Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Merchandise or photo-imaging products that may be offered at Character Dining experiences, except at Cinderella’s Royal Table and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.

As you can see there are many options to consider when using a Disney Dining Plan.  You can get very creative with your choices and there are many ways to maximize the use of these plans.

Free Dining is very exciting when it comes to traveling at Walt Disney World.  It helps families to save exorbitant amounts of money on food during a vacation of a lifetime!  The culinary experience at Disney World is like no other! My family looks forward to specific recipes only found within The Walt Disney World Resort!  If you have never experienced the Disney Dining Plan, I highly recommend you consider trying it!  I doubt you will be disappointed! It’s amazing and delicious!

My name is Jen Perkins.  I am a travel agent with World of Magic Travel Services.  I’m a Disney Destination Specialist.  I am also a writer for Chip and Co. and Disney Addicts.  If you have any questions regarding free dining, please do not hesitate to ask!  You can contact me at jen@worldofmagictravel.com.  I would love to hear from you and help you plan your next “magical” vacation!

You can also visit my facebook page here for more details on Disney World, updates on promotions, articles and upcoming events all related to Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Universal Studios and much more!  You will also find an array of photos of many of these amazing places!

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