Hiya David!
Welcome to planDisney! The return of the dining plan is so exciting, and I hope you make good use of it when you arrive next year. I enjoyed using it last time with my family and found it encouraged us to be adventurous in our dining. Since my meals were all pre-paid I was able to consider booking different restaurants and character meals without worrying about the price. If they accepted the dining plan I was set!
The
Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan provides for all guests on the reservation 2 Quick-Service Meals and 1 Snack or Nonalcoholic beverage per night of your stay. Guests between the ages of 3 and 9 have to order from the children’s menu if one is available. On the day of your check-in to your Resort, all of the meals and snacks for your plan will be loaded onto your account ready for you to use. So that means that on day one of your trip you can redeem 3 Quick-Service meals and 2 Snacks for your family with the rest rolled over to the next day for you to use anytime you wish until midnight of your checkout day which is when they expire. It is possible when ordering for your family to mix up the meals and order what you like but realize the children’s meals must come from the children's menu and can’t be shared with people outside of your reservation. To keep track of your meals and snacks use your
My Disney Experience App! Look for "My Resort Stay" and then "Check Dining Plan." It's also noted on your paper receipt after each order you make.
My favorite use of my snack is any beverage from Starbucks and the clam chowder at
Columbia Harbour House. Columbia Harbour House is one of my favorite Quick-Service restaurants overall. It has delicious food with simple options for my picky kids like rice! It's a great option for those tummy trouble days from all the rich vacation food. Very few people miss that the second floor of the restaurant is spacious and quiet. I love the view out the window into Magic Kingdom Park and find it to be a peaceful oasis with fried shrimp and hushpuppies.
I hope this helps and you have a delicious time!
Happy planning!
-Nimmy