Hi there, Rachel! I am so glad you found us here at planDisney to ask your dining question. Disney Dining is one of my favorite topics, and you have asked a very popular question.
While answering questions here at planDisney, I have seen SO MANY guests who love the ease of using the Disney Dining Plan on their vacations, and your question is a popular one. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that anyone knows when to expect to see the Disney Dining Plan return. A great place to check for information on Walt Disney World happenings is the Disney Parks Blog. You can be sure that they will definitely let us all know as soon as the Disney Dining Plan is making its glorious return.
Should the
dining plan return before your April vacation to The Most Magical Place on Earth, you can add it onto your package online up to 30 days before you arrive or by calling if you have already paid in full. If it doesn’t return, you can try one of my favorite Disney vacation tips; purchase Disney Gift Cards in the amount of what the dining plan would cost. I typically purchase my Disney Gift Cards at a store where I get a slight discount. Then, I combine the cards into $1000 values online at the
Disney Gift Card website. You can bring these gift cards along on your vacation to pay for all your food (and more!). You can even use a Disney Gift Card on the
MyDisneyExperience mobile app to pay for quick service mobile orders.
In the past, when we used our Disney Gift Cards to pay for our food, my family has found that we ate better (like more signature restaurants, more full-service meals than would be included in the plan, and less desserts) and used less money than what the Disney Dining Plan would have cost us. Disney Gift Cards can be used at most snack carts, restaurants across WDW, and in shops. I love the flexibility that this provides us. It’s nice to be able to go to a restaurant and get exactly what I want and not feel the pressure of having to order something I don’t really want (like a dessert).
You can also begin making your dining reservations for your April vacation 60 days before your arrival, so in February for you. Often the restaurants at the resorts are overlooked. One of my favorite resort restaurants is
Whispering Canyon Café, at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. They have delicious breakfast skillets, and the bison burger at lunchtime is SO good. Plus, this resort is a quick boat ride from Magic Kingdom.
I hope this helps with planning for your visit to The Most Magical Place on Earth this spring.
Happy Traveling (& eating),
Tracy