Hi Deanna!
There are several different Disney Dining Plans you can choose. The primary one's are:
Quick Service Dining,
Standard Dining, and
Deluxe Dining.
Quick Service Dining entitles you to 2 Quick Service Meals, 1 snack, and 1 refillable mug. Quick Service restaurants are more of the faster service restaurants, where you order and serve yourself (no waiter).
Standard Dining entitles you to 1 Quick service Meal, 1 snack, 1 Table Service, and 1 refillable mug. Table Service are the "hosted" meals, where one leads you to a table, you get served, and the like.
Deluxe Dining entitles you to 3 meals, 2 snacks, and 1 refillable mug. Those three meals can be either Quick Service, Table, or a combination of the two.
Look over the plans to see exactly what you're entitled to. The restaurants are also usually good at displaying what's covered under your plan and what isn't. For example, if you eat a Table Service lunch under the Standard Dining Plan, you get the entree, dessert, and drink. But if you have the Deluxe plan, you also get the appetizer as well as everything just mentioned. Character meals are considered Table Service, and are part of the plan. Other food events such as Dinner Shows, however, are at separate costs.
Hope this clarifies some. Have a good time with your Disney planning!