Disney World Dining Plans

Disney World provides dining plans as an add-on to your vacation package. There are several plans available and we will break it down for you to make it a little easier to understand how the plans work and how to choose the one that is perfect for you and your family.

THE BASICS

Let’s start with the basics. There are three dining plans: Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan, Disney’s Dining Plan, and Disney’s Deluxe Dining Plan. These plans are added on to your “Magic Your Way Package”. The dining plans are only available to guests staying on Disney World property.

Disney uses a “credit” system. You will receive the allowed number of credits per night of your stay, and you will access them by using your magic band. Each person will have a preset PIN number to be able to access the credits. You can set this PIN number up in your My Disney Experience account or you can set it up at the front desk when you check in.

How It Works

Usually, before ordering, you will be asked if you are on a dining plan. For table service meals, one member of your party will have their band scanned to be sure there are available credits to pay for the meal.

If you have a larger party or are dining with someone from another room/reservation, please let the server know. This prevents you from being charged for more people than what is it in your room/reservation.

All Disney dining plan credits will “roll over” to the next day if they are not all used in one day. You will have until midnight on the day of check-out to redeem all of the credits. We like to save some of our snack credits so that we can grab some goodies to carry home!

DISNEY DINING PLAN PRICING

Adult and children Disney dining plans are available to purchase only if staying at a Walt Disney World Resort. “Children” are considered ages 3-9. Anyone who is older than 9 years old will be required to purchase the adult plan. Children under three years of age will dine off of an adults plate and will NOT require a dining plan. The current cost of the Disney Dining Plans for 2019 are as follows:

Pricing for 2019 Disney Dining Plans (children’s prices went up a bit, but the adult prices will remain the same).

• Quick Service Dining: Adult-$52.49; Child-$23.78-ages 3-9 (per person, per night)
• Dining (Regular Dining): Adult-$75.49; Child-$27.98-ages 3-9 (per person, per night)
• Deluxe Dining: Adult-$116.24; Child-$43.49-ages 3-9 (per person, per night)

QUICK SERVICE DINING PLAN

Disney World’s Quick Service Dining Plan will entitle you to two quick service meal credits and two snack credits per person, per night of your vacation. Quick Service restaurants are the equivalent to “counter” service meals, where you simply order your meal at the counter and take it to an available table to dine.

Quick Service meals do not require a reservation. There are two exceptions to this rule. Be Our Guest at the Magic Kingdom (breakfast and lunch) and Pizzafarri at Animal Kingdom (dinner only) will allow you to make a dining reservation in advance.

There are over 184 restaurants offering Quick Service items in Disney World! One of our personal favorites is Pinocchio Village Haus in the Magic Kingdom. Two people would easily be able to share one meal here and at many other quick service locations!

(Regular) DINING PLAN

This is commonly referred to as the “regular” dining plan and is probably the most economical and most popular.

Disney World’s Dining Plan will entitle you to one quick service meal credit, one table service meal credit, and two snack credits, per person, per night of your vacation. With table service restaurants, you will have a server who will take care of your dining needs. This also includes many character meals, such as Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood Studios, Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom, The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, Chef Mickey’s at Contemporary Resort and many more.

Whether you are dining at a buffet or being served by wait staff, please leave a gratuity at table service meals. If there are over six people in your dining party, the gratuity (18%) will be automatically added. This is the standard tip amount in America.

With over 120 table service options available, you will surely not leave hungry! We have lots of favorite table service restaurants, such as Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood Studios. This is also a character meal AND All-You-Care to enjoy buffet, requiring only one table service credit per person!

Another favorite is from Animal Kingdom’s Yak ‘n Yeti!

DELUXE DISNEY DINING PLAN

Disney World’s Deluxe Dining Plan will entitle you to three meals (three credits) per person, per night of your vacation PLUS two snacks. These credits can be used for quick service or table service restaurants. Keep in mind, this is A LOT of food! If you plan on doing some signature restaurants or dinner shows this plan might be an economical choice for your vacation. This is because any signature restaurants and dinner shows will require two table service credits. That will eat your credits up fast on the Regular Dining Plan.

REFILLABLE RESORT MUG

ALL dining plans will come with a refillable resort mug. These are available in your resort and will only be able to be refilled in a resort. Refills are unlimited! Coffee, tea, soft drinks, hot chocolate and more are available choices. Check out everything you need to know about the refillable resort mugs, right here: REFILLABLE RESORT MUGS.

TIPS FOR THE DISNEY DINING PLANS

• A few restaurants require two table service credits per person: All signature restaurants and dinner shows (such as the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue and Cinderella’s Royal Table) will require two table service credits, per person.
• If you decide to add on a Disney Dining Plan, EVERY person in your room/reservation will have to have the SAME plan.
• Gratuities (18%) will be added on automatically for parties of six or more.
• Do not forget to set your pin number before your vacation. This is done in My Disney Experience.
• Any children under the age of three will need to be included in the dining party reservation count, even though there is no charge for them.
• Alcoholic beverages are NOW included in the Disney Dining Plans. This was updated in 2019: 2019 DISNEY DINING PLANS
• At any time, you can go down to GUEST SERVICES in your resort and ask for a print out of the credits you have used and how many you have left. Meal credit balances will also be on the bottom of each receipt.

NEW Dining Updates for the My Disney Experience App 

You can now keep track of all of your dining credits on your dining plan as you go through your vacation. Long gone are the days of keeping up with your receipts to tally up how many snacks, quick service meals and sit down dining credits you have left. All you have to do now is check out the My Disney Experience App and Voila.

MOBILE ORDER is available now for quick service dining locations! As of now, mobile order will accept credit cards AND the Disney Dining Plans.

Don’t be scared of My Disney Experience! It is there to help you!

Check out our Facebook group: DISNEY EXPRESS LANE, to discuss this and all things DISNEY!

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Finding the Best Quick Service

If you do your research, you will discover that eating during a Disney World vacation is one of the best parts of the vacation. There is so much variety and so many places to choose, plus you don’t have to cook or clean. With all of the choices available, you might find yourself a little overwhelmed, but don’t worry. Walt Express has you covered! We have a new series to give you our top picks in each park, plus Disney Springs and the resorts.

Top 6 Quick Service Restaurants in Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom has some really unique quick service choices. From the very ornate to the super silly, they have something for everyone. Here are some of our favorites, in no particular order:

Be Our Guest

A lot of people don’t realize it, but Be Our Guest is actually a quick service restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The food is inspired by French cuisine, but don’t be afraid. There are plenty of options that will have you drooling. I love the pastries that come with the breakfast and I always order the croissant doughnut which is covered in banana-caramel sauce and chocolate ganache. For a more savory breakfast, I choose the assorted cured meats and cheese. For lunch, it’s braised pork (Coq Au Vin Style), the Croque Monsieur with Pommes Frites (french fries!) or the Carved Roast Beef Sandwich (oh that horseradish blue cheese!!!) with Pommes Frites. The French Onion Soup is always a great choice too if you need a lighter choice.

The only downside to dining at Be Our Guest for breakfast or lunch is the Beast from Beauty and the Beast only meets at dinner time, so you won’t be seeing him unless you make a dinner reservation. If you want to know more about Be Our Guest, check out our review HERE. You can also take a gander at the full menu and current prices HERE.

Sleepy Hollow Inn

Sleepy Hollow has the BEST waffle sandwiches (just note those aren’t on the Disney Dining Plan). They also have funnel cakes, baked potatoes, and pretzel dogs. When it isn’t hot out, we really enjoy sitting at one of the small tables to the side, which has a view of the castle. This area is also conveniently located near the hub, which makes it easy to get to any part of the park when you are done. You can find the menu and current pricing HERE.

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe

If you love Tex-Mex or Americanized Mexican food, you will love Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. They have tons of choices that most families will enjoy. From fajita platters to Beef Nachos, it’s hard to go wrong here if you frequent the Mexican restaurants at home. We love this place because they have Queso Dip (my youngest son is OBSESSED) and a toppings bar. We also like it because it’s a nice change of pace from burgers and Smucker’s Uncrustables (but those are also on the menu). You can see the full menu HERE.

Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe

Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland is an out of this world treat for quick service. My family loves the variety of offerings here. They have BBQ pork sandwiches, cheeseburgers, greek salads with chicken, and even 1/2 rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. Did I mention that they also have a toppings bar? Load that sandwich up with grilled onions, peppers, tomatoes, and so much more. Sadly, they no longer have the cheese sauce on the toppings bar, but you can order a cup of cheese dip to help drown your sorrows. Find the full menu HERE.

Columbia Harbour House

Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square is a really nice change of pace. This quick service location offers up fried shrimp, lobster rolls, soup, and much more. To be completely honest though, I love this one because they have an upstairs seating area that tends to be a bit less crowded, so we let the boys get up and walk around a bit if we have a section to ourselves. Did I mention this place is nice and cool and has TONS of seating? So go ahead, pull up a chair and enjoy the food and the cool air. You can take a gander at the menu HERE.

Casey’s Corner

If you love hotdogs, this is the place to be. They also have corn dog nuggets that are pretty hard to beat. Don’t forget that you can get some yummy cracker jacks for a snack credit, too! Talk about taking you back in time. However, my favorite part about this place is that it’s located on Main Street AND it has an air conditioned seating area. There is also a nice area outside where you can enjoy the shade and the view of the castle. You can learn all about the delicious ballpark inspired food HERE. Of course, don’t forget the amazing entertainment from the Casey’s Corner Pianist! Find out more about this amazing entertainer HERE.

Tips and Notes About Quick Service Restaurants

• Quick service restaurants all have one thing in common, you order your food at a counter or kiosk and then you find a seat and wait for your food.
• Some quick service options will deliver the food to your table, while others will require that someone retrieve the food.
• If you are using a Disney Dining Plan, you may order one entree and one non alcoholic drink in a standard cup. You may not order a souvenir cup with your credit.
• If you are using a Disney Dining Plan, you can use a snack credit to purchase a dessert.
• Quick Service meal credits are not separated into adult and child credits like they are for table service. That means, if your 3-9 year old would like an adult portion, you can order it!

Have you enjoyed any of these fabulous dining locations? Did we miss one of your favorites? Leave us a comment about your favorite and join the Disney Express Lane Facebook Group to tell us about your best and worst quick service meals.

Photo Credits: Vanda Bean and Brandi Perryman

The post Top 6 Quick Service Restaurants in Disney’s Magic Kingdom appeared first on WaltExpress.com.

Planning your Disney World vacation can be a bit overwhelming but, it doesn’t have to be. With the right tools and knowledge it can be easy and fun! Before you get overwhelmed take a look at these revised and up-to-date blog posts. All of these blogs will equip you with what you need to know with easy steps to get you well on your way to your magical vacation!

So let’s get started……

Step by Step Guide to Start Planning Your Next Disney World Vacation

1. First, learn what Magic Bands are and how they work! We love our MagicBands and customizing them are so easy.
2. Next, decide what tickets you will need for you and your family. Not everyone needs or wants the same tickets, so make sure you know before you go what tickets fit your family the best.
3. Learn how to use My Disney Experience and all it has to offer. It offers a lot to make your vacation easier, before you get there and while you are there.
4. Check out what Memory Maker has to offer and how it works.
5. Everyone wonders about food while they are on their magical family vacation. Dining plans can be a bit confusing at first glance, but it doesn’t have to be. Find out which dining plan is right for you and your family, so you can get more bang for your buck!

There you have it! Hopefully, these articles will help you get started with all of your planning needs. Whether you use a Disney travel agent or not, it is always nice to know your options.

Don’t forget to look to the right of this article and find our top ten articles. Our website is packed full of helpful information to help you with all of your planning needs.

Join the Disney Express Lane Facebook Group to discuss this and many other Disney related topics.

photo credit: A Night of Fantasy via photopin (license)

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