Eating at Walt Disney World adds a lot of cost to your trip to the beloved theme parks. Sure, you can mitigate that by eating breakfast in your room, packing snacks, and opting to be frugal when it comes to in-park spending.
The problem is that eating has literally become a major part of the Disney World experience. Epcot, you could argue, has largely been built around food and drink while Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom have all upped their culinary game in recent years.
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Walt Disney (DIS) fully understands that food drives revenue and if the company makes its offering not only delicious, but sometimes unique and fairly often social media-ready, people will pay the price. The company understands that changing up its special offers, continuing to add new dining experiences, and generally thinking of dining as another attraction along with rides, shows, and characters will lead to customers continuing to open their wallets.
A previous dining offer, which has not been brought back since Disney World reopened after its covid closure, used to benefit people staying at Disney-owned hotels "on property" to lock in some price certainty when it came to meals. That's not coming back -- at least not for now -- but Disney has extended a bold offer designed to entice people to stay at its on-site hotels and eat at its restaurants.
Image source: Walt Disney
How Did the Disney Dining Plan Work?
Under its old Disney Dining Plan, guests staying at company-owned hotels had four options. The first one was more basic," but likely reflected what most people ordered.
"The standard plan provides, for each member of your group (age 3 and up), for each night of your stay, one counter-service meal, one full-service meal, and two snacks at participating Disney dining locations and restaurants, including room service at some Disney resorts," TouringPlans.com reported.
That plan also included one refillable drink cup per person that could only be filled at Disney resort counter-service restaurants. Buying that plan set visitors back $78 per guest ages 10 and up while kids 3-9 cost $30.50 and any kid younger than 3 eats free, albeit from an adult's plate.
Tax was included in the price while tips were not. Every person staying in a room had to buy the package, but meals are pooled. So, if you have a three-night stay for one person, that's 3 counter service meals, 3 full-service meals, and six snacks -- all of which could be used any time during the visit (meaning you could, if you chose to, eat all six snacks in the first hour of your visit and have three sit-down meals on your final day).
Disney World also offered thee other meal plans:
- Quick Serve: This plan, which cost $55.01 per day for guests ages 10 and up and $26 per day for kids included two counter-service meals and two snacks per day, in addition to one refillable drink mug per person, per package (eligible for refills only at counter-service locations in your Disney resort).
- Disney Dining Plan Plus: At a cost of $94.60 per adult (using the very Disney designation of 10-year-olds as adults) and $35 for kids offered two full or counter-service meals per day at any participating restaurant, two snacks, and a refillable drink mug.
- Disney Deluxe Dining Plan: The Rolls Royce of Disney meal plans, this one offered three full or counter-service meals per day, as well as two snacks, and a refillable drink mug. It cost $119 for "adults" and $47.50 for children ages 3-9.
Disney World Has a New Dining Offer
Disney World has not brought back its dining plans, but it has been using dining gift cards as an incentive to get people to stay at its on-site hotels. The company is offering up to "a $750 Disney Dining Promo Card when you purchase a non-discounted 5-night, 4-day vacation package" that includes a room at a select Disney Deluxe Resort or Disney Deluxe Villa Resort and theme park tickets.
To qualify for the offer, you have to book by March 27. The deal is valid for arrivals most nights, according to the Disney World website.
- July 1 to July 10, 2023
- Aug. 1 to Sept. 14, 2023
The deal is also being offered on different dates, but with slight lower-value dining cards.
- Most nights June 25 to June 30, 2023
- Most nights July 11 to July 31, 2023
Guests who book a Deluxe hotel get "up to" $150 in dining credit per night during the first set of dates and $125 during the second. People who book a moderate hotel get "up to" $100 for the first set of dates and "up to" $75 for the second. For Value resorts, the rates are "up to" $50 and $35 respectively.
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