Disney World Meal Plans FAQ
80There are a lot of questions that come up about the Disney World meal plans so I thought it would be a good idea to put together a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page so some of the most likely questions you have about dining at Walt Disney World are answered.
The various Disney World dining possibilities can get pretty complicated at times because there are so many different types of restaurants at Walt Disney World. So figuring out whether you can use your table service credits at the Disney character meals and Signature Dining restaurants might leave you wondering what the best way is to use your Disney Dining plan or whether its even the right meal plan for you to use.
Can you use the Disney Dining Plan for Cinderella's Table?
Cinderella's Royal Table is the most popular location to enjoy a character meal at Disney World. It isn't hard to understand why. The restaurant is located inside Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom and the characters that visit with Disney guests are the ever popular Disney princesses.
If you're wondering if you can use the Disney Dining Plan for meals at Cinderella's table, the answer is yes, but it will require two table service credits. Cinderella's Royal Table is one of Disney World's signature dining restaurants and they all require you to use two table service meals from your available Disney Dining Plan credits if you are going to use the meal plan to eat there.
How many table service meals are needed for character dining?
If you want to enjoy character dining at Walt Disney World, you will save quite a bit of money signing up for the Disney dining plan. With the exception of Cinderalla's Table, which requires two table service meals from the meal plan in order to eat there, all of the other character meals only require one table service meal.
So if you want to dine with the Disney princesses, you can save meal plan credits by choosing to make reservations for the Princess Storybook Dining meals at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot.
What is the best character dining meal at Walt Disney World?
The answer to this question really depends on what characters you want to dine with? Who are your favorite Disney characters? Who are your childrens' favorite Disney characters?
Cinderella's Royal Table is by far the most popular character dining destination at Disney World, but this doesn't mean it is the best. It may be the best if you have young girls who really love the Disney princesses. If you have young boys, they might not love it so much.
For dining with some of the most popular Disney characters, Mickey, Goofy and Chip & Dale, I really like Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. So I think your best bet is to decide what characters you want to have at your table and them make your plans accordingly. The food that's available at most of the character dining restaurants tends to be very similar. Of the 13 restaurants at Walt Disney World that have character dining, seven of them are buffet meals serving standard American fare.
Can adults use kids meals points in the dining plan?
If you want to use the Disney dining plan, you have to order it for everyone in your party that's over 3 years old. Now some kids are very picky eaters or just don't eat much, so sometimes you will find yourself with leftover kids meals -- usually the table service points. It would be great if the adults in your party could enjoy those kids table service meals, but unfortunately Disney doesn't allow it.
If you have kids meals points to use, only the kids can use them! Sorry. Adult diners have to use adult dining points regardless of what menu you order off of. So you can't get around the restriction by ordering from the kid's menu. Basically, if you are over 10 years old, Disney is going to insist that you pay full price!
Can I buy the Disney Dining Plan for just part of my stay at a Disney resort?
You have to get the Disney Dining Plan for each night of your stay, so you cannot use it for a partial stay at a resort.
One way around this is to break up your stay -- for instance, if you are going to Disney World for 5 nights, you could do two nights at one resort and three nights at another --- since it is two separate reservations, you would then be able to buy the dining plan for just one of those stays.
Just remember that the Dining Plan is part of a package deal that is tied to theme park tickets. You have to have at least a one day Magic Your Way ticket to be eligible to purchase the dining plan. Since this is the case, it usually makes the most sense to schedule your trip so the first resort stay is the one where you use the Dining Plan.
Have more questions?
If you have some other questions about the ins and outs of using the Disney World meal plans, please feel free to ask in the comments. If I can find the answer, I'll be happy to post it.
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Hi Marcia, the Disney meal plan is only available to guests staying at a Disney-owned resort. Have fun at Bonnet Creek though. That's a beauty. I'm staying there in Sept. myself!
What are the reservation window times for Walt Disney World Breakfast,lunch and dinner?
can an adult order a kid's meal at a sit-down resturant?
my sister had gastric bypass surgery and therefore can only eat about 6 bites of food at a serving. She would like to join us at the Royal Table would if be possible for her to do so without ordering a meal
Gin, I don't see why that would be a problem, but your best bet is to call WDW directly and ask them. 407-WDW-DINE is the number.
I'm getting the Disney Dining plan (the basic plan), and I'm pretty sure we'll go over our allotted table service meals. If I run out of table service meals on my plan, can I still go to these restaurants and pay cash for those meals?
(I was debating upgrading to the Deluxe Dining plan, but i don't think we need that much of an upgrade).
Hi Michelle, yep, you can pay cash at any restaurant. They are all open to everyone, not just disney dining plan participants. Have fun on your trip!
used the dinning plans and its great for a family
Hi bob! We are going in November and are trying to figure out which plan to use. We went in 2008 with no plan and went broke. We will be there for 7 days 8 nights with 7 days in park. I have 3 questions for you. #1 is is the meal plan based on how many park days or how many hotel days? We plan on checking in on day 1 and doing downtown disney and leaving early on day 8. So i'm a bit confused on how that works. #2 is are they per day credits or can we use more on one day and less on another and my 3rd question is that I know that on the meal plans that 2 table service credits are used for the Cinderella meal, can you do anything like this with the quick serve plan?
Hi Rebecca, the plan is based on the number of nights at the hotel.
The credits are basically loaded "in total" so you can use them however you like. So if you aren't going to be eating table service meals on day 1 or day 8, you should easily have enough table service credits for the extra required at Cinderella's. If you want, you could also use all of your quick service credits at once too -- so if you had some leftover before leaving the resort, you could stock up for your flight home before you go.
Not sure what you are asking in your third question. But if you are asking if there are character meals available for the quick serve plan, the answer is no. All character meals are at table service restaurants. Most of them don't cost extra table service credits though. You might want to look at Restaurant Akershus for princess dining if you are trying to save credits, as it is only 1 table service credits to eat there.
If I buy the deluxe dining plan, can the sit down meals be traded and used as a quick service meal if we find that we don't want a sit down service?
Are you saying that if we are not booked at Disney World then we can't get a meal ticket?
Jothea, that is correct. You cannot buy the Disney Dining Plan unless you are actually staying on Walt Disney World property. The Dining Plan is part of a package deal that includes both accommodation and tickets.
You can however pay cash at any Disney restaurant you like, regardless of where you are staying.
Hi, If I buy the hotel and the park passes at a different site then disney world and we are staying at the Dolphin can I buy the dining plan seperately.
This is great info about the meal plan, but can you explain exactly how the meal plan works? We're taking our kids to Disney World in a few weeks for the first time and I'm not sure if we should purchase it or not because I have no idea how it works. Thanks!
Shelley, the Dolphin is not owned by Disney so you cannot get the meal plan staying there.
Lily, the meal plan is pretty simple. You get credits for each meal and they are loaded onto your resort keycard, usually a variety of table service and counter service credits and snack credits. It all depends on which meal plan you purchased. Then when you stop for meals, the server or cashier will just swipe your keycard and remove the points.
We are using base tickets (not park hopper) but want to schedule a character dining experience at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Is this possible?
Thanks
Jeremy, if you want to eat at Akershus and you aren't using park hopper tickets, you'll want to make the reservation for the same day that you are planning to spend at Epcot.
Thank you for that explanation. Now, can you tell me - does buying a meal plan save you money, or do people buy it simply for the convenience? I'm still not sure whether or not to go this route. We'll be there 4 days and I plan on bringing as many of my own snacks as I can, but we'll most likely be eating a lot of meals in the parks. I already have two character meals reserved, one I had to pay in advance (Cinderella's Royal Table) and the other I have not paid. The rest we'll be "winging it."
Most people find that it saves money if you would be eating in the park and at the resorts anyway. But I think part of it depends on how much you eat -- it really pays for itself if you eat at least two full meals a day and one of them is always table service (so light eaters probably won't see much benefit). And if you get the plan you may find that you don't need to buy as many additional snacks.
If you are eating at multiple table service restaurants, it is definitely worthwhile.
We are going to WDW for the World's Cheerleading Competition and have been required to puchase our WDW resort hotel and park tickets through this organization. The dining plan is not an option through this group. Since we are staying at one of the WDW resorts, can I buy a dining package separately?
I am booking hotel and flights seperately because I can't get an air/hotel package for this particular hotel. Can I purchase a meal plan when we arrive at our hotel, or do I have to do it before we arrive?
My family will be making the trip to Disney this summer....we are not sure if we are going to go to the park at all this time (we have been to Disney over 20 times) but as usual we are staying at Saratoga Springs we have never purchased the dining plan before but were interested in trying it....do we have to buy the whole package or can we get the plan with just disney accomidations ?
Cindy, I'm not sure how that would work ,but it wouldn't hurt to give Disney a call and ask.
Tina, I believe you have to add the meal plan before you arrive, but I will double-check. I should know that already LOL
Kaitlin, you need to have Magic Your Way tickets as well in order to buy the dining plan, but you don't need the park tickets for your entire stay -- so you may want to look and see whether it might be worthwhile to get tickets for a single day.
We are planning a trip late summer, and although this will be our 4th time there, we've never purchased a meal plan before. We will be there for 5 nights/6 days. We are a family of 4 (2 teens). How many sit down dinners would be enough to benefit from the plan? Thanks!
Linda, with two teens in your group, if you guys sit down for a meal once every day it will certainly pay for itself.
Later this year my family is going to stay 3 nights off Disney property and then 5 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. My question is, can I purchase 7 day park tickets ahead of time and then add the 5 day dining once we check-in to the Disney property?
Similar to comments above...we are planing to stay at Beach Club Resort. (My sister in law was able to book rooms as part of a larger block) Tickets and dining plan are not part of the block. I was wondering if I will able to book park tickets & dining plan through hotel since our hotel is already booked. I am hoping this can be done in advance of our stay or upon check in. Does anyone know if this is possible?
For a table service ,with the meal plan, can you order anything off the menu? Or are there certain entrees you have to choose from?
Liz, you can usually order anything.
Davis, I believe the park tickets need to be bought at the same time as the dining plan as it is a "package deal" so I don't think you will be able to do that.
Julie, I would think you would be fine with that option.
if we are staying 7 nights at a Disney resort Hotel, do we have to get the 7 day dining package or can we get 5 days dining plan and pay for the rest
Philip, the dining plan is for your full reservation so it will have to be for the seven days. One way around this is to make two reservations if you don't mind resort-hopping.
Nice! It's think it's time for me and the kids to go to Disney Land once more!
If you have anaual passes and stay on the property can you still get the dining plan? If so, how do you do that?
Hi,
I purchased my flight and hotel through expedia and im staying the pop century...im going to purchase park tickets so im just confirming what you previously said-I can still purchase the dinning plan correct?
One other question, how does one purchase the dining plan?
Lisa, you can add the Dining Plan if you have an annual pass, but are also staying on site. It is available as package. This is fairly new. Here's what Disney says:
Annual Passholders can now add the Disney Dining Plan to their reservation. This will make the booking a package subject to the terms and conditions of those reservations. (Paid in full 45 days in advance, etc.)
"Availability of the Disney Dining Plan add-on is limited and cannot be combined with any other discounts (AAA, Bounceback, etc.) It can be applied to a AP discounted room as well as one that's rack rate."
You will need to call them to add it.
Kellyan, the dining plan is available as part of the Magic Your Way package which you purchase from Disney, so I am not a 100% sure it is available if you already got your room from Expedia. But I would call Disney to be sure. You will need to call them anyway to purchase the dining plan.
The number is (407) 939-7675
We're booking 3 nights plus Deluxe dining at a Disney resort and then 7 nights at Bonnent Creek. If we didn't use all the dining within the 3 nights would they expire when I checked out in the Disney property or could I still use them?
If you have any left over meals on the plan can you buy snacks instead?
Shawn, the credits will be good until midnight on the day you check out. They do expire after that.
Richard, not sure on the snacks issue.
I have a 3-year-old who doesn't eat very much at all. Do I have to purchase a meal for her when making reservations at a sit-down restaurant? Is it a requirement, or can I still share with her?
Also, I am an Annual Passholder (FL Resident), and I read your post about adding the dining plan, a relatively new thing. Where did you get your information. I'd like to call Disney and add it to our existing reservation, but when I tried to do that about a week ago, they still said I had to purchase at least one ticket per person for one day.
I posted a question over an hour ago. Why didn't it make it to the page?
Because messages only appear when I approve them and I don't live by my computer.
As for the question about your 3 year old, I really don't know Disney policy on that, but as long as it is not a buffet restaurant, I can't imagine a problem.
The Annual Passholder thing is new and I know it is with limited room availability so it is possible to book a resort room, but not be eligible for the dining plan. I believe you need to book it specifically as a Passholder Dining Package.
I'm thinking of getting the plan that has a sit down dinner a day. My question is what restaurants in Disney are participants of the plan or which are not (whichever is easier to answer)?
Ed, as far as I know ALL of the Disney owned restaurants participate. You can only use it at Victoria & Albert's if you are on the Premium Dining Plan, but virtually everywhere else you should be fine with the regular or deluxe plan. Even many of the non-Disney restaurants in Downtown Hollywood accept the Dining Plan - although you should always ask first at those restaurants just in case. The other places that don't take it are the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin as they are not owned by Disney.
I understand that if a restaurant does not have a kids menu, the kids can order from adult menu. This is a great loophole if your kids like adult fare. (mine do)Do you know which restaurants do NOT have a kids menu?
I have a quick service meal plan already as part of our holiday package but want to know, can you use two quick service meals for one table service meal?
Hi Lyn, sorry, but that isn't possible. You have to have table service credits.
Brad, I don't know of a list of restaurants with a kids menu.
My friends are renting us Vacation Club points for our room. Can we still pay for the dining plan when we buy our tickets?
We will be going in a week and are trying to purchase the dining plan, but because my wife was a cast member of the Disney Store in Canada when she ordered the vacation package the WDW booking staff are refusing the Dining plan to us? Any suggestions on how to go about getting this?
Other people my wife worked with are getting the plan for 2 weeks after we visit. It's really frustrating.
Chris, I have no idea what to tell you. The Dining Plan is a package deal with tickets and room so maybe your wife got some kind of discount that makes her ineligible to purchase it? I'm not familiar with Disney's policies on that though.
Michelle, best thing to do is to have the person who is renting the points to you call up Member Services and find out.
Great site, congratulations. I made and pay my reservations through my travel agency w/o the dining plan. Will it be possible to purchase the dining plan at the front desk of the Resort I'm traveling to? I'm going to the All Stars Movies Resort. Thanks!
Jose, I'm pretty sure you need to book the dining plan .before you arrive at Disney World. I would call 407 WDW-DINE to check.
How do we do tips during the free dining plan since they aren't included in the price of the meal? Cash? Card
I purchased a meal plan for our stay and my son who is 15 years old is very pickie eater. Can he order from the kids menu and we're ok with being charged for an adult meal?
Hello,
Thank you for all the valuable information. I have an odd question. I have had lap band surgery and as a result cannot eat very much. If my husband purchases a pass can I just eat off his plate?
we are staying at a disney resort but did not book it thru disney. Can we do the dining plan
If I go outside the park for a day to go to Universal can I go back into the park to use my meal plan points? What about in the hotel if not the actual park?
Peter, I'm not sure, so it is best to call and check.
Michelle, yes you can use yoru meal plan points when you get back from your visit to Universal. Though you may not want to go into the park just to eat, that would use a day's admission. You can use your points at any of the Disney resorts too. That might be the better option.
can you use the meal plan for the restaurants at your hotel, we're planning on staying at the animal kingdom, thank you!!!!
Melissa, yes you can definitely use it at the Resort hotel restaurants. Have fun at Animal Kingdom. That's my favorite resort!
It's not over 3 years old, it's 3 and up. :)
Hi, I'm staying 10 nights in a moderate resort with free dining plan, no table service credits, then 5 nights in a delux resort with table service included. Can I use the delux points while at the moderate resort or do I have to wait until I'm booked in the delux resort? And if I don't use counter service credits do they roll over while I'm in the delux resort? Thanks x
Hi Sophie, you can't use the table service credits until you check in at the Deluxe Resort, and your counter service credits don't rollover. They expire at midnight on the day you check out of the Moderate resort.
embitca, in your opinion would a family of 5 (3 children under 7 yrs) benefit from this plan? we are going 5 days 4 nights with 3 days at the park. we are staying on the resort.
We actually booked through AAA, and were offered and accepted the dining plan. Doing the quick math, we saved about $200+ over the pricing on the Disney site so I'm pretty certain we received the AAA discount as well
Hi, I'm staying at the Coronado Springs Resort in May. My wife has a convention rate with the hotel and we thought we'd bring our two kids as well. We're getting the 'convention' room rate. Would we qualify? Thanks.
Can you pay the difference of a 1 credit meal to a 2 credit meal so you can save credits but not eat fancy every day?
Hi Todd,
You can't pay the difference. What I would do is use the 2 credits for the Signature meal and then just pay cash one night for one of the typical 1 credit meal. You'll get more bang for the buck.
We have the ability through our Company to buy discounted Disney tickets "EXTRA DAYS FREE!
Purchase a 4-Day Park Hopper® or Park Hopper® Water Park, Fun & More Ticket and
Get 3 Extra Days for FREE!" This is the package they are offering as of today. There are no options to add hotels and or meal plans etc. My question for you is, are we able to purchase this package through the company getting the tickets only and then going through the Disney website we purchase the hotel room for our stay at one of the Disney resorts can we then contact Disney and purchase the meal plan either separately or in the resort package? Or is it something that must all be purchased together at one time? Thank you
I read somewhere you can trade a quick service meal for four snack credits. is this true?
Susan, not true!
We have already booked and paid for our holiday 1-15th December 2011 - 2rooms -4 adults 2 children. Can we book the Disney Dining plan separately from Disney. We come from the UK. Thanks Jennifer
We have the quick service dining plan. But the rules are kind of confusing...I'm allowed to use one credit for an entre or a combo meal. So what if the entre is a sandwich only? Do I have to use a snack credit to get french fries with it? Also, I don't eat desert (which is part of the plan), what can I substitute for desert? Thanks.
I reserved some dining reservations for the epcot candle procession and dinner package and the fantasmic show and dinner a while ago. I have just made my hotel res with a dining plan. Am I correct that they are just holding my credit card in case I don't show up but that I can use my didning plan to pay for it ultimately? Or, do I need to call down there and tell them that I will be applying meal plan to the reservations? Thanks, Allison
Can you use unused snacks for meals at Disney World. For example, if I do not use any snacks one day, can I use both snacks for two people for a meal?
My boyfriend and I are going to Disney World next month, and we usually share meals in the parks and we were looking into the Quick Service dining plan--but would we be able to get a Dining Plan for one of us and just share the meals? Or do we have to get two separate dining plans for our stay? I know we would eat cheaper not getting two plans--but getting one plan would be perfect for us.
Any help would be amazing! Thanks!!
HI - I am taking a 2 1/2 year old with me and am a bit confused if I need to purchase a dining plan? Would he have to eat exactly what I have, without one? He is a growing lad and would appreciate his own plate! :)
Jennifer,If you are staying on property ,you can add a dining plan even if you have already padi for the rest of the trip.
Susan, The counter service places will be specific about what choices are available, but usually a counter service meal would be alike fish and chips with a dessert and drink. the last time we were there ( May 2011) you were only allowed a dessert -no exchange.
Britany,
You cannot use snack tokens for a meal ever. You can use snack tokens in shops like the candy shop in Magic Kingdom to get things that can come home with you... like a rice krispy Mickey. you can use them for something like a muffin for breakfast. Look for the symbles on each menu.
Nikki,
although they wouldn't prevent you from sharing a meal. You are not allowed to have one dining plan for two people. you might choose to share a meal to use two another night.
The hub author seems to be awy at the moment, so I answered as good as possible. I think this hub is a great help. hope I've helped.
I would like to ask the author to clarify a question I have... If i got the plan for a 8 day, 7 night stay...do I get 7 sitdown meals or 8?
Also, since you do not pay for a 2 year old to be on the dining plan.. do you just pay cash for there meals at each place?
We're taking my son to Disney for the first time on Saturday. We have the Disney Dining plan that includes one each, Table Svc, Quick Svc, and Snack per person/day. I've heard (mostly in guidebooks) that people have had a lot of trouble making sure the right amount of credits are used when they order food. What is the BEST way to present an order, especially at Counter Svc areas, so the right number are deducted? Also, my son is usually a really healthy eater, so a week long diet of nuggets, hot dogs & mac and cheese my make him sick but I've heard this is the extent of the offerings on the kids menu. One friend told me they were advised by a cast memeber to just order their child's meals from the adult quick service menus and not tell the cast member taking the order it was for someone under 10. They were told Disney doesn't actually pay attention to the ages/types of meals ordered at QS restraunts, and that all the QS credits are just lumped together - kids and adults alike - and they don't distinguish between them when keeping track. Would this work? I'd hate to let all his credits go unused and wind up double paying for all his food.
Donna, thanks for chiming in! You've been very helpful, and yes I have been away. Unfortunately I cannot possibly answer all the questions I get asked on this hub, but I would recommend that if someone has a burning questions they should just call WDW directly and ask them -- they are very helpful and knowledgeable.
Donna, I believe that it would be seven as Disney charges for the meal plan based on the number of nights that you stay.
For the two year old , I'm sure you could just pay cash everywhere if you are actually going to order a full meal for them.
hi, can you tell me how to add a dining plan to my stay at disney please. ive booked through travel republic, so should i contact them, or can we wait till we get there to add on?ive looked on the disney website, but i cant see if you can buy it from there. we re only staying at disney for 5 days, then moving onto i drive. thanks
Julie, you need to add on the Dining Plan before you arrive. Your travel agency should be able to sort this out for you. That's their job.
My family is going to disney and we have the dining plan, but unsure of a few things. Can the dining plan only be used on the day we have our hopper passes? We get there wednesday and leave on a sunday. Only have passes for 4 days to use wed-saturday. If we have an extra table service meal left over, can it be used on sunday before we checkout and leave, do you know or only during the 4 days of passes? Thanks!
My family of 5 (me, wife, & kids of 10, 8, 6) will be at Disney in March and we have the Dining plan for 7 nights. It is my understanding that we will have 21 total credits for the three 10 and up in my family and 14 total credits for my kids who are 8 and 6. My question relates to the flexibility in using the credits for my 10 year old. Can my wife and I use his credits and simply buy another kids meal for him when we eat at table service restaurants? That will enable us to eat at a couple of more table service restaurants during our stay. Or do they have a policy that he must use his own credits? Thanks.
I have a ten year old who prefers to eat adult type meals...is it possible to upgrade to a 10+ plan for him?
Marcia Leonard 2 years ago
Can you purchase the Disney Meal Plan if you are staying outside of Walt Disney World? We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort.