Eating in Disney World: Budget for Meals or Get The Dining Plan

Experiencing the food in Disney World is an activity all by itself. Choosing which restaurants to visit is a fun part of the planning process for many people.

It’s easy to get carried away or not think about cost while you are on vacation. However, it never hurts to come up with budgets for things like souvenirs and food. Disney has a list of all their dining options on the website, so it’s easy to find prices and get an idea of cost.

The best thing to do is to take a look at the restaurants you want to visit. Then pick out the meals people would like to get and add up the cost of each meal. This will also help you decide if the dining plan is right for you. Some don’t feel it’s worth it to get the dining plan and others say it saves them some money. So, calculating the cost of food will help to determine if you should get the dining plan.

Keep in mind that if you are looking to get a dining plan then you need to pick restaurant choices that match up with the dining plan you want. For instance, if you get the Quick Service Dining Plan you wouldn’t put table service restaurants on the list, because that wouldn’t be an accurate comparison.

Here is what you get for each dining plan:

• Quick Service Dining Plan
  • 2 quick service meals per person/per night of your stay
  • 2 snacks per person/per night of your stay
  • A refillable mug for each person in your party
• Disney Dining Plan
  • 1 table service meal or 1 full buffet per person/per night of your stay
  • 1 quick service meal per person/per night of your stay
  • 2 snacks per person/per night of your stay
  • A refillable mug for each person in your party
• Deluxe Dining Plan
  • 3 meals (any combination of table and quick service) per person/per night of your stay
  • 2 snack per person/per night of your stay
  • A refillable mug for each person in your party

Staying on property? Start your budgeting/comparison early.

If you are staying on Disney property then you are able to make dining reservations 180 days out from your arrival date. Planning for the 180 day mark is a big deal for a lot of guests who visit Disney World. Most people have a list ready of their first choices and there is a lot of anticipation to see if they will get their first choices.

If you are planning on booking dining reservations 180 days out, then you should start your budget early. This way you will know how much you want to spend on table service restaurants. Once you know how much money you want to spend on table service restaurants you can budget for other dining options.

If you have a dining plan that includes table service restaurants then you will definitely want to book at the 180 day mark. That way you make sure you have used all your credits. You can wait until you get to the parks (people do it all the time), but there’s no guarantee you will be able to get into every restaurant you would like to visit.

Always Expect to Spend More

I would say to expect to spend a little more than you originally budget (even if you have a dining plan), so it’s good to save some money on the side instead of putting everything in the dining budget right away. The reason being is that when you are in the parks you might pass by a snack stand or a quick service restaurant and want to try something.

Keep Track and Compare

I put together a Disney World Food Budget sheet and have added it to both the Main Street Wishes Facebook group and the Countdown for Disney Facebook group. The sheet has different categories to budget for and a section to add the cost for the dining plans. This helps to prioritize where you want to spend the most money and to see if the dining plan is right for you.

The different categories on the sheet are:

•  Table Service
• Quick Service
• Snacks
• Drinks (beer, wine, cocktails, specialty drinks, etc.)

Hope this helps when deciding how much to budget and whether you should get the dining plan!

Thanks for reading!

*Liz*

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Liz

I love all things Disney, but my main love is for Disney World and I'm always planning for the next trip. Before becoming a Disney blogger, I was a radio DJ, so I guess I'm just continuing in the communication industry, just in a different form. I love talking Disney and I could talk about Disney all day. That's why I started blogging and created the Facebook group. The Disney community is full of friendly, helpful, and happy people...and I love being a part of it! If there is any Disney subject you would like to see covered just let me know! Need help planning your Disney vacation. Feel free to contact myself or Melissa at Never Stop Dreaming Travel Co. We love helping people plan their trips! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to check out our Countdown to Disney app! Feel free to email me with suggestions of things you would like to see in the app :-)