Hi Megan!
Thanks for stopping by the Disney Parks Moms Panel. It sounds like you are planning a magical Walt Disney World Resort vacation and I'm happy to help you with your question.
Disney dining plans are a great way to pay for the majority of your dining expenses in advance of your vacation. When you add a dining plan to your vacation package, you will receive one set of dining entitlements per person on your hotel reservation per night of your reservation. So if you will be checking in to your hotel on March 3 and checking out on March 8, then your reservation will cover five nights and you will receive five sets of entitlements, based on the specific dining plan you choose.
One of the best parts of the dining plan is that it gives you complete flexibility in how you use your entitlements during your vacation. You will have access to all of your entitlements from the time you check in to your hotel and they will be active until midnight on the evening of your check out date. During your vacation, you can flexibly use your entitlements how you choose and you aren't required to use one "set" of entitlements per day. So you can make your entitlements work for you during your vacation and save just the right number of entitlements for your final day of vacation before you head home.
To keep track of your remaining dining entitlements, you can check any of your dining receipts or download the
My Disney Experience Mobile App, which will display your remaining entitlements right on your smartphone. Let us know if you have additional questions as you continue planning! T-T-F-N, ta ta for now!
~Crystal