Disney Dining Plan: Getting the Best Value on Your Disney Vacation

Even though the Disney Dining Plan is worth every penny, many are still skeptical about adding it to a vacation package. The secret is to know how to use it efficiently. You just have to make the right dining choices when planning your meals in Walt Disney World. I have done so much research while planning my recent vacations to Walt Disney World and using the Disney Dining Plan. I'd like to share everything I have learned throughout my research.

You need to know the details of your vacation, as well as of the dining plan. You need to book a Disney World vacation PACKAGE in order to take advantage of the dining plan unless you are a DVC member (in which case, you probably already know a lot about the Disney Dining Plan). With the package, you need to book your hotel stay at one of the Walt Disney World resort hotels and you need to have at least a one day theme park ticket added to your package as well. If you own Annual Passes, you'll still need to get that one day pass, but if you don't have an Annual Pass, you'll need the tickets anyway.

The cost of the Disney Dining Plan is $38.99 per adult (ages 10 and up) per night and $10.99 per child (ages 3-9) per night. The Disney Dining Plan includes one table service, one counter service, and one snack per person per night. Now, you don't have to use them in that order. Instead, all your meal credits get put in an account and you can use them however you want. Table service includes many of the sit down meals throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. The counter service meals are from the quick service food places onsite, and the snacks you can get at many various stops around the resort and may include ice cream novelties, popcorn, soda, water, fresh fruit, chips and more. If there is a children's menu available, your child must order off of it unless the restaurant will substitute for a smaller portion of an adult meal.

There are also promotions that offer the Disney Dining Plan for FREE when you purchase a Walt Disney World vacation package for at least three nights. That is usually in late summer or early fall. In fact, the current promotion is offering free dining for check-in dates from August 26, 2007 through September 22, 2007. This is really an amazing savings. If you want to book this promotion, call (407) WDISNEY but you must book by June 24, 2007 to take advantage of this deal. You can also book online if you wish by going right through the Disney World official website.

Now that we've covered the information needed, we can move on to making your dining reservations using the Disney Dining Plan. The one thing to remember is that you still can pay cash for some meals, but it's important to pick the least expensive meals to do this with. Some great places to choose to pay with cash include Casey's Corner in the Magic Kingdom or Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney. It's not worth it to spend a counter service meal credit on these meals because they are so inexpensive. Another tip is that each meal credit includes a dessert. With many counter service meals, the desserts are or can be wrapped up or even a piece of fresh fruit. Save it for later in the day for a snack by taking it with you.

Another great tip is to find meals to share, even if it's a burger and fries. You can use one counter service meal to order a double cheeseburger combo meal. Then tell person at the counter that you would like to order a separate bun. Then when you get to your table, you can split the burger apart, and with the extra bun, you have two cheeseburgers. The fixings bars at the counter service locations are usually loaded with everything you could want, so load up your burger, split the fries, or even order another side that you pay cash for. You have now fed two adults using only one counter service meal.

Another great idea is to pick out the restaurants that offer the most food for a counter service meal credit. Once place you can do this at is at Cosmic Rays Starlight Café in the Magic Kingdom. They offer a combo meal that includes a half chicken and barbeque ribs that is served with mashed potatoes and another vegetable. Normally this meal would cost $13.99 but two adults could really share it. At the very most, you could buy another side with cash to along with it.

At table service locations, it can be a little more complicated. There are so many places that have all you can eat family style meals or buffets that cannot be shared by two people since you pay per person. Character meals are normally the same way which you can use table service credits for. There are, however, many restaurants that you can order off the menu. I'm only going to list a few examples of great values with the Disney Dining Plan but you can check out the menus and get some great ideas of where you'd like to eat while you're in Walt Disney World.

Le Cellier in Canada in Epcot is one of the most valuable meals on the Disney Dining Plan. We have eaten here and first, the food was absolutely amazing and in my opinion, the best in Walt Disney World. We had a family of four which consisted of two adults and two children. Our final bill came to just under $150 for all of us. We paid nothing, because we used one table service credit. Now, keep in mind that when paying for your Disney Dining Plan, the cost for a family of four like us would cost just under $100. That is for the whole day. Our one meal cost more than that. You get plenty of great food and you will not leave there hungry.

Another great value is Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary Resort by the Magic Kingdom. The meals here are also extremely good and filling. Our same family of four ate here on the same trip and the total bill came to $120. Again, we paid nothing and it was well over the cost of what the dining plan would cost for one day and it was the same type of meal.

You can also share meals at the table service locations as long as they're not a buffet or all you can eat meal. Since each table service meal includes one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert, you can choose meals that would give you plenty of food to share between two adults. Then pick another table service location that you can do this with and you can stretch the value even more.

With the snack credits, there really isn't anything you can do to make it better. The only suggestion I can give you is to make sure that you don't waste your snack credits. If you have any left at the end of your trip, be sure to cash them in. You can get some great Mickey Mouse shaped rice krispy treats on a stick with or without a chocolate coating. These are great to have on the way home, or to bring home for someone else as a souvenir. Walt Disney World is pretty much recognizing a snack on the Disney Dining Plan as being under $4.00.

So no matter how much of a skeptic you are about meal plans, the Disney Dining Plan at Walt Disney World really is a great value. Let the numbers prove that to you. Not only is the value unbeatable but the convenience is amazing. All you need to do is make sure you room key / park pass is with you and you present that for payment. You then sign the bill, being charged nothing, and on your receipt, you will se the balance of your Disney Dining Plan credits. It's as simple as that!