Hello LaCinda,
Oh boy! May will be here before you know it, and so will your magical vacation. You must be so excited!
So many people love the convenience of the Disney Dining Plan, and it will return eventually; however, right now there is no official date as to when that will happen. For me, one of the best features of the plan was just the ability to have the meal portion of my trip paid for in advance. I've found that by purchasing and setting aside
Disney Gift Cards, I'm able to set aside a little bit of money every couple of weeks to go towards my dining expenses.
Adding the
Park Hopper Option to your tickets gives you so much flexibility, especially when it comes to making dining reservations. If you can't wait to try
Space 220 Restaurant in EPCOT but can only get a reservation for a day that you've made a reservation for Magic Kingdom that's no problem if you have a Park Hopper! Speaking of
theme park reservations, you only need to make a reservation for the FIRST park you plan to visit each day. At 2:00 PM (or whenever park hopping starts), as long as you've checked in to the park where you made a reservation, you'll be able to head to any other park, no reservations required.
Hope this helps. Enjoy counting down the days until you join
The World's Most Magical Celebration!
Diane