Hi Amanda,
Welcome to planDisney! I love all things dining at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Currently,
Disney Dining Plans are not available to add to a
vacation package. In the past, my family loved using the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. As you suspected, dining plans were only available for Guests of Walt Disney World Resort Hotels. We always did the math to determine if a dining plan was the best option for us and usually, it was. We loved having a pretty precise estimate of all of our food costs prior to our trips.
On our most recent visit, we estimated our food costs with our
Annual Passholder discount. To estimate, I reviewed the menus of all of the restaurants we planned to visit and calculated the cost of each meal including taxes and gratuity. Thankfully, my estimate was really close! If you have not reviewed the restaurant menus, go to a restaurant's homepage, and then click on the link that says View Menu. Select the meal period and take a look at the menu. One of our favorite restaurants is
Be Our Guest Restaurant. The
dinner menu is delightful!
As you prepare for your visit, be sure to make
advanced dining reservations. We were thrilled to be able to use
Mobile Dine Check-in when checking in for our dining reservations. I loved being able to select a seating preference when possible. Also take a look at other dining options including
Mobile Food & Beverage Ordering and
Mobile Dine Walk-up Availability. On the planning chart I create, I make note of when we may need to do mobile ordering.
Amanda, even though dining plans are not currently available, rest assured that there are plenty of dining options and ways to budget your meals while on vacation. Sending you a little extra pixie dust as you plan those meals!
Magic and memories,
Donyell