Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel, Marcella!
This is a great question, and the answer really depends on your family. When my husband and I travel to Walt Disney World Resort, we use the
Disney Dining Plan almost every time we go because we love to try all the different meals and snacks that are on offer and we find that we really do save money when we purchase it. If you're the kind of person who likes to do a little bit of advanced planning and wants to try things beyond the classic burgers, hot dogs, and Mickey Mouse pretzels, then you might find that the Dining Plan will work really well for you too.
The Dining Plan will be worth it for your family if you make a plan for how you're going to use all of the credits. A snack credit can get you a bottle of water or a soda from a Quick-Service dining location, but it can also get you Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Shrimp and Sweet Chili Sauce from
Eight Spoon Café at
Disney's Animal Kingdom. You can always grab some Mickey Waffles at the Quick-Service dining location at your
Resort Hotel, or you can use that Quick-Service credit to have breakfast or lunch inside the Beast's enchanted castle at
Be Our Guest Restaurant in
Magic Kingdom Park. The Disney Dining Plan is also a great value if you'd like to do a lot of
Character Dining, like breakfast at
'Ohana at
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, or dinner at
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in
Epcot, both of which are only one Table-Service credit per person.
So to answer your question one more time, if you think that the amount of food you get on the Dining Plan works well for your family and you can see yourself making the most of those Table-Service, Quick-Service, and Snack credits, then I think the Dining Plan is definitely worth the money.
Happy Snacking, Marcella!
Jessica