Disney Debates: Do You Buy the Dining Plan?
Sometimes, I wonder whether fans were having the same Disney arguments half a century ago.
Like, were people complaining about the opening of Magic Kingdom as being too expensive compared to Disneyland?
Image: The Healthy Mouse
Did fans argue about EPCOT having too many corporate sponsors? I know they weren’t happy with the number of rides available when Disney’s Hollywood Studios debuted.
Some parts of Disney seem cyclical, and we’ll talk about one today. It’s a longstanding Disney Debate. Do you buy the Disney Dining Plan?
What’s the Disney Dining Plan?
Photo: Playbuzz.com
The concept works the same as at many schools and colleges throughout North America.
You pay a set price for something. In exchange, you receive an allotment of meal entitlements.
From the meta perspective, a dining plan functions the same as room and board. When you buy or rent a house, you pay once a month to have shelter for that period.
With a dining plan, you pay once to have enough food to eat for a certain number of meals. It’s a very efficient exchange.
Photo: D23
Even better, since many students are familiar with the concept, it’s an easy one for Disney to implement at its theme parks.
Enter the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). It’s exactly what it sounds like: a dining plan for meals during your Disney vacation.
The basics of the DDP have evolved over the years, which triggers at least a small amount of the Disney Debate.
Some people feel strongly that the dining plan was better a decade ago than it is today, and I must acknowledge that this is objectively true.
Photo: Disney
Of course, that’s true of a lot of goods and services, as shrinkflation was undeniably a thing that impacted a wide breadth of society.
Explaining the Disney Plan Options
The modern dining plan comes in two forms. Let’s quickly discuss each one.
The Quick-Service Dining Plan (QSDP) provides park guests with the following:
- 2 Quick-Service meals per person per night
- 1 Snack per person per night
- 1 Resort Refillable Mug per person per stay
Meanwhile, the Disney Dining Plan offers the vacationer:
Photo: Disney
- 1 Quick-Service meal per person per night
- 1 Table Service meal per person per night
- 1 Snack per person per night
- 1 Resort Refillable Mug per person per stay
Credit: Disney
Oh, and there’s one other vital distinction. With the QSDP, you eat each meal at a Quick Service restaurant.
These eateries are generally counter-service dining options with a few kiosks thrown in for good measure.
Some qualify as equivalent to fast food, while others inch toward fast casual. It just depends on what you want and how much time you’re willing to spend.
With the DDP, you eat at least one meal a day at a Quick Service restaurant and, if you choose, one meal at a Table Service restaurant.
Photo: Wikimedia
Each plan provides you with two daily entitlements. When you purchase the DDP, one of these daily entitlements will work at a Table Service restaurant.
How big a difference is that? You can tell by the price. The QSDP currently costs $97.79 per adult and $30.56 for each child ages three to nine.
Photo: Disney
Also, and this is important, everyone staying in your hotel room must purchase the dining plan.
So, let’s say you’re traveling with four guests. You cannot pick and choose which ones buy the dining. It’s all or nothing.
Photo: Disney
Little issues like this one factor into the negative side of the conversation. So, let’s quickly discuss the reasons for and against.
Why People Don’t Buy a Dining Plan
Photo: Disney
I first wrote an article about this topic more than a decade ago. At the time, the most frequent criticism was simple.
People felt the dining plan included too much food. Critics claimed they just couldn’t eat that much. So, they felt like they were wasting food and money.
Photo: Disney
At the time, every dining plan entitlement included an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert.
In your daily life, I sincerely doubt you eat an appetizer and a dessert for lunch and dinner unless you’re on a strenuous workout plan.
Even then, I doubt you’re having that much dessert. Now, consider that the Deluxe Dining Plan was available then, and it threw in a third daily entitlement!
I speak from experience here, as that’s the one we purchased the most. We’d wind up with so many extra entitlements we’d sometimes “pay” for a complete stranger’s meal.
Photo: Disney
Over the years, Disney removed the Deluxe version and also reduced the dining plan package.
Currently, the QSDP doesn’t include an appetizer OR dessert, while the Table Service entitlement with the DDP no longer features an appetizer.
Photo: Getty
So, as I said earlier, it’s just a statement of fact that the dining plan is no longer as good. Also, it costs quite a bit more now.
Paying $100 per person per day for dining gets expensive quickly and definitely isn’t a strategy for everyone.
Photo: Disney
Then, we have a secondary consideration. You value your time at Disney and don’t want to waste any of it.
Table Service meals take longer, which makes the DDP more expensive but of more questionable value.
In short, there are plenty of reasons why people don’t purchase the Disney Dining Plan.
Why People Buy a Dining Plan
Conversely, people like me swear by the dining plan. Like, I missed it during the pandemic when Disney wasn’t offering it and said so on many occasions.
Proponents of the DDP know the best ways to maximize its value.
The entitlement provides us with a full meal here, and we know that not all entitlements are created equal.
We can select restaurants that would otherwise cost much more. So, we’re actually saving money by using the plan.
Dining Room
Alternatively, we are eating much better meals for roughly the same price in many instances. Knowledge is key here.
That’s not the reason why I prefer the dining plan, though. I don’t like to think about money while on vacation. I go to Disney to escape the world’s problems.
Summer House on the Lake
So, when my server brings my check, the dining plan means that I pay an entitlement rather than seeing a bill and thinking, “Yikes, did I really spend that much?!”
In truth, I usually feel the opposite way when using the DDP. I realize how much I would have paid and feel so good about my dining plan purchase.
Photo: Disney
Of course, my usage wouldn’t be the same as yours, but the ascension of Mobile Ordering makes it even better.
Now, whenever my family is hungry, we grab our phone, order our meal, use our entitlements, and bam! We’ve got “free” Disney food.
Photo: vecteezy.com
Well, technically, we paid for it months ago, but it feels free while we’re at Disney, which is what I want.
Do You Buy the Dining Plan?
Photo: Pexel.com
So, that’s the gist of the debate.
When you buy the dining plan, you’ll have a worry-free Disney vacation where you’ve paid for your food in advance.
View from Tokyo Dining
The drawbacks are that you would have gotten more for your money a few years ago, and some of the meals take longer.
Sadly, the criticism that “it’s too much” food is no longer quite so applicable. But the food you do get is spectacular.
Disney has mastered the art of theme park dining. So, you definitely get your money’s worth…and sometimes even more.
There’s a reason why Disney sells out its Free Dining Plan packages so frequently. Everyone knows what an exceptional deal they are.
Disney Dining Plans
That’s frankly the best way to attain the Disney Dining Plan, although I’d argue that you really cannot go wrong with any of them.
Do you agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.
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Feature Photo: Disney
we do ddp if we stay on property. if we stay off property we use disney visa rewards. We’ve gone 2 Disney 2x off property and have never “paid for a meal or snacks. on the positive, we can also choose to share a meal if we want as well because I just don’t want a ton of food in my belly if I’m getting on Tron or any other thrill ride. either way…I kind of feel the same as you. I don’t want to think about money when I’m at Disney either so using our rewards or the DDP solve that instantly.
When we got two snacks each day, I always got the dining plan. When Disney took away one snack and raised the price, I have not gotten the dining plan. I put $80.00 per person per day in a separate account before I go to Disney. I use that account to pay for food. We have not changed our eating habits or the restaurants we like. Including tip, we never go over and come home with about $200.00 which I put away for the next trip.