Hi Margaret!
My family loves using the
Disney Dining Plan while on vacation at Walt Disney World! It is so flexible and the choices are seemingly endless. Your Disney Dining Plan starts on the day you check in and expires at midnight on the day you check out. You are more than welcome to use it on your non-park days.
I'll give you a little example of how it works. It looks like you are staying 7 nights for your vacation and I'll assume you have the regular Disney Dining Plan that gives you 1 Quick-Service meal, 1 Table-Service meal and 2 Snacks per person per day. You will have a total of 7 Quick-Service meals, 7 Table-Service meals and 14 Snacks per person to use any way you'd like during the span of your vacation. You do not have to stick to 1 Quick-Service and 1 Table-Service per day. If you'd like to have 2 Table-Service meals one day, go for it! If you'd like to have 1 Table-Service and use 4 snacks one day, that's perfectly fine! I view my Disney Dining Plan entitlements as a total number rather than what I get per day and you can ration them however you'd like. Just make sure you use them all before you head home on your last day or you lose them. Each person will also receive a Resort hotel refillable mug, which can be used for unlimited drink refills at any Disney Resort hotel, not just the one where you're staying.
There are tons of delicious places to eat outside of the parks! The Disney Resort hotels have some of the best restaurants on property.
Moms Panel Tip: a drink is included with a Quick-Service meal, but you can substitute it for a side item like an ice cream, cupcake, pastry or fruit if you're using it at a Disney Resort hotel.
If you're looking for something to do on your non-park days, head over to
Disney Springs. There are tons of fantastic restaurants to choose from that participate in the Disney Dining Plan plus there are great shops and live entertainment in the evening. My husband's favorite place to use a Snack entitlement is at
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop. Black cherry vanilla ice cream is my recommendation and my husband's is the ever famous chocolate.
Check out of the
Disney Dining Plan participating restaurants. I've filtered it by restaurants who accept the plan, but you can further filter it by location or type or restaurant.
Please stop back by and visit if you have any additional vacation planning questions or if you'd like any specific restaurant recommendations.
Have a magical day!
Leslie