The Disney Dining Plan has remained suspended since the parks reopened last summer.

While Disney has not indicated when it could return, we have seen that it is not available (for now, at least) to add to vacation packages in 2021 and 2022. However, today Disney announced a 2022 50th anniversary vacation package for U.K. residents — which includes a “Disney Dining Credit.” So…what does this mean for the Disney Dining Plan? Well, here’s what we know.

Historically, the Disney Dining Plan has allowed guests to pre-pay for a select number of meals and snacks for their vacation. Depending on which Dining Plan you used, you would be given be given a specified number of snack credits and fast food and/or sit-down meal credits per day, along with a refillable mug for each guest. Essentially, this means Dining Plan guests could pre-pay for most of their food (excluding gratuity at Table Service restaurants) before their trip even began.

Now, the new U.K. 50th anniversary package includes up to a $950 Disney Dining Credit per room (your credit level scales depending on what level of resort you’re staying at), so long as that room is booked for a minimum of 2 weeks. It’s basically a gift card for food! The Dining Promo Card can be used at “select participating food and beverage locations within the Walt Disney World Resort” — and cannot be used to purchase merch or anything else in the parks.

Although the Disney Dining Credit is by no means identical to the Disney Dining Plan (for starters, we’re looking at a set amount of “cash” instead of credits), you could argue that this means the Disney Dining Plan is returning in some capacity in 2022. But how do these 2 offers compare? Well, for starters, the U.K. Disney Dining Credit offers significantly less bang for your buck.

Even that max $950 credit, when divided up over 2 weeks, adds up to roughly $68 per day. That doesn’t really come close to covering your family’s food in the parks — but the Disney Dining Plan did (for the most part). So yes, the Disney Dining Credit will help towards food costs — and it’s definitely a nice perk to the package! — but it won’t cover all of your expenses. In this way, we can’t really equate it to the Disney Dining Plan.

Still, the idea of prepaid meals (even in gift card form) does sound kinda like a modified version of the Dining Plan — at least until its return. You could argue that it’s an answer to the Dining Plan while it’s on pause! And with the DDP currently unavailable through 2022 (although that is subject to change), this seems like the closest we’re going to get at the moment. You can check out the full package here!

Like we mentioned, Disney hasn’t indicated when the Disney Dining Plan as we know it will return — so U.K. residents, enjoy this version for now. And stay tuned to DFB — we’ll keep ya posted with the latest updates.

Read More About This New Vacation Package!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Are you going to take advantage of this Dining Credit? Let us know in the comments!

The post Is This Disney World’s Answer to the Disney Dining Plan in 2022? first appeared on the disney food blog.