Welcome back to planDisney, Victoria! I'm so glad to be able to answer your question today. I love using the
Disney Dining Plan when I'm on vacation, and I'm happy to walk you through exactly how it works!
A dining plan can only be added to your trip as part of a vacation package, which means that you need to have a
Disney Resort Hotel stay and theme park tickets bundled together under the same reservation. If you already have a park ticket but you're not staying at a Disney Resort Hotel, unfortunately, you won't be eligible to add the dining plan.
Now, if you
are staying at a Disney Resort Hotel and want to add the dining plan for just a one-night stay, then yes, you absolutely can! It's tied to the length of your hotel stay, so if you're booked for one night, you'll get one quick-service meal, one table-service meal, one snack, and a refillable mug to use at your resort! Your meals and snack will be available to use on your check-in day through your check-out day, so you could spread them across two days if you're only planning on a one-night stay.
As for how it works in the parks, the dining plan is valid across all four theme parks as well as at the Resort Hotels and many restaurants at
Disney Springs. So if you have a park hopper ticket and you'd like to spend the morning in
Animal Kingdom and then head over to
Magic Kingdom in the afternoon, your dining plan will work in both places, no problem at all! You'll be free to use your meals however you'd like throughout your stay, whether that's a snack at Animal Kingdom, a quick-service meal at Magic Kingdom, or even a table-service dinner at one of the resorts.
So, to sum it all up: the dining plan can only be added to a vacation package, but if you're eligible, it works at all the parks, even if you're hopping between them in one day. Sounds like a tasty plan!
Happy snacking, Victoria!
Jessica