Hello, Terry. Thanks for visiting us here at planDisney with your question. It seems like you have your trip planning off to a great start. May will be here before you know it, I bet you are getting so excited.
My family and I have enjoyed the
Disney Dining Plans over the years, too! It is really nice being able to have everything paid for before actually being at Walt Disney World. Terry, since the reopening of Walt Disney World last summer, the Disney Dining Plans have not yet returned. There have not been any announcements on when the Disney Dining Plan will be offered again. When an announcement is made, we will be able to find all of those details over on the Disney Parks Blog. If you want to mimic the concept of the dining plan, I suggest putting some money aside on a Disney gift card only to be used for food during your vacation. This will allow you to still have that carefree attitude when selecting menu items because, in a sense, it is already paid for as well!
Terry, I also wanted to make sure that you know that on top of purchasing theme park tickets, you do need to also make a park pass reservation to visit the Walt Disney World theme parks at this time. A
park pass reservation is basically a virtual place holder in line and will guarantee you entry to the Walt Disney World Theme Park with the park pass reservation. Before making your park pass reservations, you'll want to take a look at the
Walt Disney World Theme Park availability calendar. The calendar is broken down into three categories - Guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, Guests with theme park tickets only and Annual Passholders. There is different availability for all of the categories so you'll want to be sure you are viewing the one that most pertains to you. From there, if there is availability for the theme park you'd like to visit on a particular day you can then head over to the park pass reservation website and reserve your spot. You'll select your party, pick the date and then a theme park. If there is availability you'll be taken to a confirmation page and be able to make park pass reservations for a different day of your trip. Once it's all squared away, you'll be able to view all of your plans on your MyDisneyExperience account.
Terry, I'm sorry you won't be able to add the Disney Dining Plan on to your next Walt Disney World vacation but I know you are still going to have a fabulous time. If you have any other questions about your trip, please come back and
ask me. I'm happy to help. Have fun!