Hi Rachel!
Thank you for bringing your question to the Disney Parks Moms Panel!
I love the
Disney Dining Plan! With two teenage boys that love to eat, I feel good knowing that our food is paid for in advance and I'm not constantly shelling out money for their meals.
Basically, you will receive credits based on the number of nights you're staying at the
Walt Disney World Resort. So if you're staying five nights, you would get five table service credits, five quick service credits and five snack credits per person. (that is for the basic dining plan, the quick-service plan and deluxe plan will have different credit numbers) You can use your credits on whatever days you like. The credits become active on your day of check-in and will expire the day after you check out.
The credits are lumped together on your reservation, so technically anyone in your party can use any of them. They aren't specific to a person and they don't have to be spread out evenly. After each meal, the server will give you a receipt that has your remaining credit number on it.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.