You’ve booked a Disney Dining Plan, or got one for free with a dining offer, and now you are wondering how to maximise your Disney Dining Plan for value and yumminess . Feeling like you have got good value for money from your dining plan adds an extra level of magical satisfaction to your trip. Plus, it means you can indulge in an extra pair of Mickey Ears knowing you saved money on food. The secret to maximising your plan is about to be revealed, so read on to find out more.
Maximizing Your Disney Dining Plan
It’s the million-dollar question, how do you get the most value from you dining plan? You’ve paid for the convenience and now you want to make your money and your dining plan work for you. Let’s start by looking at the UK’s very own Tesco Meal Deal. An odd comparison given it is less than 10% of the cost if a dining plan, but the principle of maximising value is the same.
A Tesco Sandwich Meal Deal Comparison
Be honest, who hasn’t bought a Tesco Meal and done the ‘value maths’. Working out what you can pick to get the most for your £3.40. Choosing more expensive options in the deal to save you more money. Perhaps using it to try things you wouldn’t usually make, or buy as they are a bit more expensive. All while remembering you have to want to eat what you buy, or at least be willing to put in a lunchbox for someone else. Maximising the value of Disney Dining Plans is doing the exact same process.
Opting for a bottle of smoothie which is £3 instead of a bottle of water will save money, especially when you can refill a water bottle for free or get a glass of water at home/work. Choosing a more expensive sandwich that you would not be able to easily make at home and picking a more expensive snack like a Graze flapjack saves more money. You can end up saving more than the cost of the meal.
Maximising the value of Disney Dining Plans is doing the exact same process. Pick the more expensive options to maximise the value of your credits, use credits to try new things you don’t know to cook or want to try but no one else does.
Disney Dining Credits
When you have a dining plan you are given dining credits to pay for your meals with. You can pay using your resort card, magic band or app. The credits awarded are based on the number of nights you are staying. A 7-night stay will get 7 days of dining credits. Here’s an example:
Quick service dining plan credits for a 7-night stay per person:
- 14 quick service meals and drinks
- 7 snacks
- 1 Resort Refillable mug
Dining credits are issued based on the number of nights you stay, so it doesn’t matter what time you get to resort. A 1 night stay = 1 full days worth of credits. This is really handy when you are travelling from the UK. It’s not like when you stay in a resort hotel on a package holiday, your flight is delayed and you get a sub-par cold snack style meal as a substitute for your three course dinner.
You receive all your credits at once. They do not have to be spent daily, so if you don’t feel hungry you won’t lose credits. You can choose to use them as you wish throughout your resort stay. They expire at midnight on the day you leave. Having a strategy to maximise your dining plan, will help you get the best value out of your credits.
Strategies for getting the best value from your Quick-Service dining credits
There is room to lose money with the Quick-Service Dining Plan so here is our strategy to maximise the value of your quick-service dining credits:
- Do not use a Quick-Service credits for breakfast as this is the cheapest meal of the day in general at Disney. Spend your quick-service credits on lunch or dinner where meals cost more.
- Choose meals that are more expensive from the Quick Service options – the more expensive the meal the more you will save. (Sadly, this often puts vegetarians and vegans at a disadvantage as Disney do not cater well for this dietary requirement).
- When adding your drink on, choose the milkshakes or smoothies as these will give you more value for money over a bottle of water or fountain drink. If you drink alcohol, have it with your meal rather than paying for it later by the pool.
- Steak options make the credits work for you. Often costing the most on the menu, the beef option will maximise the financial value of your credits. Healthy eating tends to go out of the door with a Quick-Service dining plan at Disney.
- You can use two quick service credits to get a large pizza to feed the whole family if you are feeling full. This is not necessarily maximising the value of your credits, but it will stretch your credits further for a different day if you are a family with children. While saving your tummy on those days you just don’t want to eat a big meal.
Where to use quick-service credits
Quick-service credits do have a limited value return in terms of cost, as the average quick service meal costs less than $15. Eating in the parks rather than at resort will give you the best chance of maximising the value. Ordering the more expensive drinks to accompany your meals will help add even more value. Eating out in the parks, at different locations every day, adds value to your holiday too.
How to maximise snack credits
You can use your snack credits in very clever ways to maximise your dining plan. To try awesome festival foods in EPCOT and even limited edition and seasonal offerings across the resort, including at Disney Springs. Knowing how to maximise snack value not only makes you feel good, it means you get to try some awesome yummy Disney goodies.
When not to use your snack credits
If you are looking to maximise the value of your snack credits, don’t use them in the following ways:
- Your snack credits can be used for non-alcoholic drinks. We advise you not to spend them on a bottled drink or fountain beverage. They cost less than $5 which means you aren’t getting good value for your credit.
- If the snack is less than $5 you aren’t maximising the value of it. Choose to spend your snack credit on items which cost more than $5. Disney have beautiful seasonal snacks to enjoy, some of which you can purchase with snack credits. Choose them. They’re worth more, but they’re also great to try and add more magic to your trip. For instance, a Christmas snack at Christmas will have more value to your experience and your financial value than a bottle of water.
- When you aren’t hungry, don’t feel you need to spend the snack credit. Unlike the meal credits, snack credits can be used to redeem some snacks which are packable. And as you don’t have to redeem them daily you can just use your snack credits for edible snacks you can gift to people when you get home. Don’t give yourself a tummy ache for the sake of a snack.
What to spend your snack credits on
Maximise dining plans by using your snack credits in the following ways:
- To enjoy Epcot festival foods. Festival foods usually cost more and there are some delicious options throughout all of the festivals.
- Repurpose them as gift credits. In Magic Kingdom in Main Street Confectionary you can get long dated snacks like the Mickey cereal treats. Pick them up at the end of your holiday and bring them home as gifts, or treats for yourself to beat the Disney Blues.
- For breakfast. Although the dining plan only has two meals, the snack credit can be used for a breakfast. Pick up a Mickey Scone in Main Street Confectionary, or even better head to Amorette’s Patisserie and have cake for breakfast with a Tropical Cream Puff.
- Use your snack for lunch. If you’re feeling full using your snack tokens for a light lunch is a great idea. The legendary Mickey Pretzel and cheese sauce is big enough to share between two as a snack, or have for lunch or breakfast if you want something light.
- Share snacks. This is a great way to try lots of snacks between you, and works well for families and couples alike. It also means that you can make bigger meals with snack credits.
- Participate in some pixie dusting. Make someone else’s day and spread the Disney Magic by gifting a snack credit or using your credit to pay for the snack in front of you if you can see it is covered by the scheme.
Top tip for spending snack credits
Make a list of treats you’d love to try before you leave and keep them on your phone. Sitting with a cup of tea and choosing the most yummy and expensive snacks to munch on in the parks is great fun. You can find the menus in the My Disney App and online at Disney. The snacks in the dining plan will have the words “Qualifies as a snack” under the description, as you can see in the image.
It’s an activity that will leave you drooling, but will definitely build the anticipation while maximising the value of snack credits. If you have an itinerary for the parks, add a section called “snacks” and put them in it, so you don’t forget what you want to try.
Tips for using table-service credits effectively
Table-service meals are part of the Disney Dining Plan. The average sit-down meal cost at Disney varies, and some table service locations don’t cost as much as others. Ordering the more expensive meal option in table service venues will help you to maximise your dining plan. You will get the most value out of your dining credit if you are not at a buffet. Again though, you will find that this is a meat option, usually beef based.
Using your table-service credits for character dining experiences is a great way to get value for money.
Character dining experiences
A great way to spend your credits, not all character dining costs the same. Some character dining options cost 1 credit, while others cost 2. Our 3 favourite options for 1 credit meals, which cost over $60 per adult and $ per child outside of the dining plan, are:
1: 1900 Park fare Dinner buffet at The Grand Floridian
2: Dinner Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios
3: Breakfast at Ohana at the Polynesian
Avoid upgrades that cost 2 credits
Using two dining credits to upgrade your experience is not worth the outlay in our experience, we do not recommend you do this if you are looking to maximise financial value. Including dining experiences at Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Castle, choosing these upgrades can leave you with days where you will need to buy meals. If you are looking to incorporate these dining experiences into your holiday, consider avoiding the Disney Dining Plan. Two credits effectively swap 2 dining experiences for 1. No matter how good that experience is, it’s a cost not worth paying.
Ordering the more expensive meal option in table service venues will help you to get the most value out of your dining credit if you are not at a buffet. Again though, you will find that this is a meat option, usually beef based.
The secret to maximising your Disney dining plan from the UK
The trick to maximise your dining plan is to use it to get the experiences you want. Financially, there is a simple trick to find out if you are getting value for money.
The quick service plan
The cost of a Quick-Service Dining Plan is £44.99 per adult and £19.99 per child in 2024. You get 2 quick-service meal credits and 1 snack credit per night you stay. You resort mug is £18.20 including tax for free refills for the length of your stay. Here’s the secret formula we use to calculate the daily value of 2 quick service credits and a snack credit, using a 14 night holiday as an example.
For adults:
£44.99 x 14 – £18.20 = £611.66
£611.66 / 14 = £43.69 = $56
Your spend for the day on two quick-service meals and a snack needs to be more than $56.
For children:
£19.99 x 14 – £18.20 = £261.66
£261.66 / 14 = £18.69 = $24
2 quick-service children’s meals and 1 snack would need to exceed the cost of $24 including tax every day to maximise value.
If you want to work it out in total, you would need to keep track of the cost of what you had and spread it across the total cost of the plan for your party. It just isn’t worth the effort when you’re on holiday. Just enjoy.
The Disney Dining Plan
In 2024, the cost of the Disney Dining Plan is £77.99 per adult. You get 1 quick-service dining credit, 1 table-service dining credit and 1 snack credit. If you calculate the cost of the resort mug, which is £18.20 including tax and deduct that from the total cost of your plan you can work out a daily dining plan cost. To maximise dining plan value you need to beat the daily cost, but remember to add tax to the cost of the items.
For adults:
£77.99 x 14 – £18.20 = £1073.66
£1073.66 / 14 = £76.69 = $98.50
Spend more than $98.50 a day one one quick service meal, one table service meal and one snack and you have maximised your financial value.
For children:
£24.99 x 14 – £18.20 = £331.66
£331.66 / 14 = £23.69 = $30.50
The total value of a child’s quick-service meal, table service meal and snack needs to be $30.50 or more to get value for money with the dining plan.
As with the quick-service plan, if you wanted a total you would need to keep track of the cost of everything you ate which isn’t hat having a holiday is about. The best way is to have this figure in your head and simply beat it. Then you know you are maximising the financial value of the plan.
Conclusion
Now you know the dining plan secret you’re ready to maximise your plan. Armed with that magic price point, you can tailor your choices to meet or exceed that amount knowing you will get the most value out of which ever dining plan you have chosen. Happy Disney dining Brits!