Walt Disney World Dining Plan Meals

As part of your dining plan, you get a certain number of credits for different meal options (see at a glance chart below for full details).

On this page you will find details of the differences between the different meal options. You can also read about how the Dining Plan works, restrictions and exclusions etc. here and the different package options you can purchase here.

In principal, the different meal options are not interchangeable; for example you cannot bundle up a number of quick service credits to make a table service credit.

However you can use a higher value credit to purchase a lower value meal; for example using a table service credit to purchase a quick service meal if you wish.

Obviously if you do this, you are not getting good value; you may be better off just paying for the quick service meal with cash.

This is how you can use your various meal options:

Snacks

Snacks can be purchased at many locations including quick service counters, at the various carts you will find throughout the theme parks and in the sundry gift shops.

A snack is typically a single item with a value of less than $4 such as a frozen ice cream, piece of fruit, 20oz bottle of Coke®, Diet Coke®, Sprite® or Dasani Water®, 12oz coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea, single serving of popcorn or medium snack bag, medium fountain soft drink, prepackaged milk or juice.

If you find yourself with unused credits at the end of your vacation, then one way to use them up is to purchase snacks for the journey home. Remember, all you dining plan credits expire at midnight on the day you checkout.

Quick Service Meals

Quick service meals can be purchased at the quick service counters in any of the theme parks or at the food courts in some Walt Disney World Resort hotels.

For breakfast you can choose fruit juice, an entree and a non-alcoholic beverage or a combo meal with a single serving of juice or non-alcoholic beverage.

For lunch or dinner you can choose an entree, a desert and a non-alcoholic beverage or a combo meal plus a dessert and single serving of juice or non-alcoholic beverage.

Table Service Meals

You will find table service restaurants in all the Walt Disney World Resort hotels (except for the Value Resorts) and all the theme parks.

It is a good idea to make a reservation if you are planning to eat at a table service restaurant as they are popular and often tend to fill up quickly.

For breakfast you can choose fruit juice, an entree and a non-alcoholic beverage or a full buffet.

For lunch or dinner you can choose an entree, a desert and a non-alcoholic beverage or a full buffet.

Table service credits can also be used to purchase any of the other meal options described below, but sometimes you need to use two credits instead of one so if you wish to eat at a signature restaurant, you may need to use more than one days supply of credits unless you are on one of the more expensive plans that give you two table service credits per day.

Character Dining

You can use table service credits to purchase Character Dining experiences and all character dining is equivalent to one credit except for Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom which requires two credits.

Note that gratuities are not included with character dining for 2008 except for Cinderella's Royal Table.

Signature Restaurants

If you want to eat at one of Disney's signature restaurants then you will need to use two table service meal credits so you need to weigh up whether they are actually worth it.

For breakfast you can choose fruit juice, an entree and a non-alcoholic beverage or a full buffet.

For lunch or dinner you can choose an entree, a desert and a non-alcoholic beverage or a full buffet.

Gratuities not included in 2008. Note that signature restaurants have a dress code; i.e. Business casual so no cut-offs or torn clothing.

Dinner Shows

You can also use two table service meal credits to attend one of the Disney Dinner Shows.

The available dinner shows include the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review and Mickey's Backyard BBQ (seasonal) at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and Disney's Spirit of Aloha Show at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

For the p:30pm Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review you get category 1 seating (best view) and for the others, you get category 2 or 3 seating (not as good a view).

With the dinner shows, gratuities are included in both the 2007 and 2008 plans.

Private In-Room Dining/Pizza Delivery

If you want your own private in-room dining or a pizza delivery, then these are both equivalent to two table service meals. With in-room dining and pizza delivery, gratuities are included in both the 2007 and 2008 plans.

For in-room dining, meal menu entitlements are the same as table service restaurants.

For pizza delivery, you get one pizza entree, two desserts and two non-alcoholic beverages but you must order using two adult table service meal credits.

Grand Gathering Experience

If you are in a group of 8 or more people, then you might like to consider a Disney Grand Gathering Experience.

Both the International Dinner & IllumiNations Dessert Reception at Epcot and the Safari Celebration Dinner at Disney's Animal Kingdom are equivalent to two table service meals (unless you are on the Premium or Platinum plan when they are one credit).

However, the Good Morning Character Breakfast at Magic Kingdom only requires one table service meal.

Gratuities are included and reservations are required. Note only available on selected days.

New for 2008

For 2007, the dining plans include gratuities for all table service meal credits, but in the 2008 plans, they are no longer included but there are a couple of exceptions.

The other big difference is that an appetizer is not longer included for lunches and dinners; the 2007 plans still include an appetizer.

Contact Us  •  RSS Feeds

site, content and services © Copyright 2005-2008, FloridaReview.co.uk

Photo Credits  •  Site Map  •  Terms & Conditions