Hi Barbara!
I am an avid user of the
Disney Dining Plan as I find it so convenient and it saves my family money on dining while on vacation at Walt Disney World. It can be a little confusing at first, but it's easy to get the hang of once it's all figured out.
Since your vacation is for 8 nights, you will have 8 days of dining entitlements to use. You can start using them the day you check-in up until midnight on the day you check-out. How you use your entitlements is completely up to you. Let's say you have the regular Disney Dining Plan that gives you 1 Quick-Service and 1 Table-Service meal per day. You can use 2 Table-Service entitlements one day or 3 Quick-Service entitlements another day. You don't have to stick to 1 Quick-Service and 1 Table-Service each day. The same applies to your snacks, so you can use any number of snacks any day you'd like. I like to think of the entitlements as a running total and not a daily allotment. That is what makes it easier for me to keep track of.
Each time you use an entitlement, you'll see the total remaining balance on the bottom of your receipt. You can also use your
My Disney Experience mobile app to view your Disney Dining Plan entitlements as well.
If you plan on dining at any Table-Service restaurants, I highly recommend making
advance dining reservations if you haven't already. Stop back by if you would like any recommendations on restaurants during your Walt Disney World vacation.
Have a magical day!
Leslie