Is the Disney Dining Plan Worth the Price Tag?
Pictured: The Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom
Disney dining plans are back but are they worth the money? It depends.
We opted for the table service dining plan for our recent stay at Disney. I spent a lot of time crunching numbers and reading reviews before I added the dining plan to our reservation. I actually added it the day before we left which is the last day you can do it. The deciding factor was that we had FOUR character dining dinners booked. These dinners are $60+ for adults. This high price ensured we would utilize the full cash value of the dining plan daily.
The other major factor that made me decide to add the dining plan is that both our kids were less than 3 years old and therefore free. If your kid is a great eater, than a dining plan is great! If they are more likely to eat the snacks you pack than what you order, not so much!
Character Dining
We opted to do a Character Dining experience at each of the parks that we visited. Note, that most the dining experiences we did were buffet style food. You do have servers that are responsible for your table bringing drinks and etc. but grabbing food was our responsibility. The Characters do loops around the restaurant and stop by the tables to meet the adults and young ones. The servers let you know that all the characters will come by the table at least once, so if you are wrapping up your meal and you have not seen one, absolutely let your server know.
Pictured: Tusker House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The one Dining experience we did that was not buffet style but was family style was located at Epcot called the Garden Grill. You have options between meat or plant based feasts. What’s also neat about this restaurant is that you are on a moving platform that allows you to see all kinds of different displays while you eat.
Pictured: The Garden Grill at Disney’s Epcot
Even though the food was buffet style, I was happy with the variety and quality of the food. They have a section with food that is good for the young kids including chicken fingers and Mac and cheese just to name a couple.
Positives of Dining Plan
A big factor was we knew we would want to sit down for dinner after a long day on the park with 2 kids. Both of our kids are less than 3 years old so they eat for free at all the character dining locations we booked.
The other thing I enjoyed about having the dining plan is that I did not feel like I had to choose the cheapest menu item at the quick service restaurants. Typically I go for whatever the cheapest lunch option is to save money and I never get a drink. Water all day. However it was nice feeling like I could splurge and have a glass of wine or fountain beverage since it is included in the dining plan.
I also felt like the dining plan helped us stick to a certain budget while at Disney World. Because we paid for the dining plan prior to our stay, our additional spending while on our trip was much less than our previous visit. The only money we spent on drinks was at Epcot. The rest of our spending was on souvenirs.
Pictured: Hollywood and Vine at Disney’s Hollywood Studio
Cons of the Disney Dining Plan
The big downside of utilizing the dining plan for me is I felt obligated to using the dining plan. On our day in Epcot, I probably would have been fine grabbing something quickly and riding more rides, spending time shopping in World Showcase etc. Also, we stayed at the Hollywood studios longer than we would have since we had a dinner reservation and wanted to utilize to max out our dining plan.
Last time we went was in November and there were definitely more characters out and about in the parks since it was cooler. I would not want to be wearing in a full costume in 80 degree heat either. So that is something to consider in your dining plan decision. Our son is very into the characters at 2 years old where my baby was not a fan.
Opinion On Disney Dining Plan
Overall, if we had to pay for our kids who aren’t big eaters at this point in time, I would probably skip the dining plan. It made so much sense for us because our son is at a magical time where seeing characters excites him so much and he is free. Once we have to pay for both kids, we would definitely need to assess if the character dining cost outweighs the want to focus on rides and time spent waiting in lines to meet characters at the park. But this trip, both kids were free and it absolutely made sense for us. Our character dinners basically covered the dining plan expense.
Trying to figure out where to stay at Disney World? Check out my post comparing Caribbean Beach Resort and Pop Century.
