Hiya Kendra,
Welcome to planDisney! When my significant other and I plan a vacation to Disney World, we spend most of the time planning dining. We love sitting down and browsing menus, making our wish list, and drafting out our budget. When the
dining plans returned, we spent a lot of time researching it to see if it made sense for our family (of three at the time), and it is something we evaluate each trip since it changes.
Disney World has some of the most incredible places to dine, both within the theme parks and at the resort hotels, through the dining plans (including
Landscape of Flavors and
The Drop Off Pool Bar at Art of Animation!). Whether or not the dining plan will be cost-effective for your family generally comes down to your family's eating habits and preferences for dining experiences.
- The Disney Dining Plan includes one Quick-Service Meal, one Table-Service Meal, and a snack/nonalcoholic drink per night of stay for everyone in your group ages 3 and up. You also receive a Resort-Refillable Drink Mug for each person.
- The Quick Service Dining Plan includes two Quick-Service Meals and one snack/nonalcoholic drink per night of stay (plus that Resort-Refillable Drink Mug) for each person ages 3 and up.
When I evaluate whether I should book a dining plan for my visit, I start by figuring out where I want to dine. From there, I look at the menus and estimate how much we would spend without a dining plan. My Prince Charming and I prefer sit-down dining and rarely do quick-service dining, so the Quick Service Dining Plan wouldn't work for us. Additionally, with two little Mouseketeers under three, we do a lot of character dining (our favorite being
Topolino's Terrace), which tends to be pricier. On the flip side, we don't tend to eat more than one meal and a snack each day. The Disney Dining Plan includes an additional meal we generally don't eat since we choose larger meals, so we also factor that into our decision. With that in mind, I add up the estimated cost of what I plan to spend and compare it to the price of the Disney Dining Plan (or Quick Service dining plan if that is under consideration) to see which option is cost-effective for us.
I hope this was helpful, Kendra. I know I wrote a lot in my response, but it all boils down to preference and eating habits. Before I let you go, if you do decide to go with one of the dining plans, I highly recommend double-checking the
list of participating dining experiences before your trip in October. Available experiences are subject to change without notice, so I always like to make sure that what I have planned will be available. If you would like any dining recommendations or other assistance, please feel free to come back and see
me.
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.