Hi Stephannie,
Thanks for visiting the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your question.
When you are purchasing the
Disney Dining Plan, you must purchase it as a part of a Magic Your Way package. This package includes your Walt Disney World resort stay, your theme park tickets, and your Disney Dining Plan. The length of your Disney Dining Plan will be the same as the number of nights you are staying at your resort. So for instance, if you check in on a Monday and check out on a Friday, you are staying for four nights, so you would receive four days of dining credits. You theme park tickets can be for however many days you choose, so you could do that same trip and only get one day of theme park tickets. The exception to needing to purchase tickets for a Magic Your Way Package is if you are an Annual Passholder. If you are an Annual Passholder, you do not need to purchase theme park tickets and can purchase the resort room and Disney Dining Plan together.
The cost of the Disney Dining Plan can change and may depend on your particular reservation. For the best information on your particular trip and the cost, call 407-W-DISNEY (407-934-7639) and the cast members there can help you with planning out your trip. For an idea of how much the dining plans may cost, you can visit wdwinfo.com. If you go to the tab for "dining" and click on the drop down option of "Disney Dining Plan" there is some information on Disney Dining Plan pricing.
I hope that this information helps with your planning, Stephannie. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any further questions!