Prix-fixe menus, or multi-course meals at a singular fixed price, have become more commonplace around Disney World. More recently, menus at new restaurants like Space 220 are totally centered around the prix-fixe experience (EPCOT’s other new restaurant, La Crêperie de Paris, has a prix-fixe option on their menu as well). Some long-standing restaurants have shifted to a prix-fixe model as well, including Be Our Guest Restaurant, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and the new three-course menu at California Grill for the 50th Anniversary Celebration.

Is this just a slick new way for Disney World to get guests to pay more for more food than they’ll actually eat while disguising it as a bargain?

If so, then this would make prix-fixe menus very similar in design to the Disney Dining Plan — it seems like a bargain, especially when you consider how much food is included. But, it’s very hard to actually save any money on the Dining Plan. As a quick recap, the Disney Dining Plan is a prepaid add-on to your vacation package that allows a certain number of counter service and table service restaurant meals and snacks per day. While the Dining Plan comes with a lot of convenience, it’s priced in a way that almost guarantees Disney is making more money off of your vacation.

In order to save money on the Disney Dining Plan, you would need to eat at the most expensive restaurants and order the most expensive items on the menu every day in order to come out ahead. If you were to purchase the Standard Disney Dining Plan in 2020 (which included one quick-service meal and one table-service meal, plus two snacks per person per day), it would have cost you $78 per adult per day and $38.50 per child per day (even the free Dining Plan offer that came out every year prior to the closures in 2020 is designed to get you to pay more, since it’s often linked to a pricier hotel stay).

When you crunch all of those numbers and compare prices to Disney World’s menus, you’ll find it a challenge to reach that $78 threshold every day. But the big selling point about the Dining Plan is convenience. Your meals are pre-paid, giving your vacation more of an “all-inclusive” feel. While this may justify the cost to some guests, if you’re looking to get the most bang for your vacation buck, you’re likely better off skipping the Dining Plan and paying for your food out-of-pocket.

Of course, every guest for over a year now has had to pay for their meals out-of-pocket. That’s because, as of this writing, the Disney Dining Plan has yet to return. Disney has stated that they intend on bringing the Dining Plan back, but its timeline and what it may look like when it does return are still in question. Until then, Disney may have been thinking of new ways to get guests to pay more per meal. Enter: the prix-fixe menu.

Click here to read what we know right now about the return of the Disney Dining Plan.

Which Disney World guest benefits from a prix-fixe menu?

While prix-fixe menus are designed to have guests pay more for their meal than they possibly normally would, that doesn’t necessarily mean prix-fixe menus aren’t for anyone! There are some benefits associated with dining at a restaurant where you’ll order off of a multi-course menu at a fixed price.

Similar to the Dining Plan, prix-fixe menus are ideal for those who want that singular fixed price on what they’ll pay — you know exactly what you’re paying, and you know exactly what you’re getting for that price. There’s a sort of “comfort” that comes knowing as you walk in what you’ll pay per person, making the price tag easier to swallow.

Keep in mind that prix-fixe menus are different from the Dining Plan in that, when you purchase the Dining Plan, your food is pre-paid before you even arrive at Disney World. With prix-fixe menus, you’re typically still paying the bill at the time you dine. Also, not everything is included with some prix-fixe menus. Certain add-ons could raise the price of your meal even higher, like menu enhancements (think those new Supplementals at Space 220), additional side dishes, and alcoholic beverages. And, like the Dining Plan, gratuity is not included.

If you enjoy buffets and family-style meals at Disney World, then you’ll also likely enjoy the benefits of a prix-fixe menu. These two dining experiences are almost like “casual” prix-fixe menus in that you pay that one fixed price per guest, and from there you can kind of have your “choose your own adventure” dining experience.

If you find yourself re-booking the same restaurants on your vacation like Garden Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, Biergarten, etc., then you may be the type of guest that finds prix-fixe menus to be convenient ways to pay for your food while in Disney World.

Click here for ways on how to save $1,000 (really!) on your next Disney World vacation.

Which Disney World guest might prix-fixe menus NOT be the best value?

Simply put, prix-fixe menus aren’t going to be a good fit for guests that want more bang for their buck and don’t want to stuff themselves silly with food. But there are other instances too where prix-fixe menus are less than ideal.

Prix-fixe menus, like buffets, family-style meals, and the basic premise of the Disney Dining Plan, are designed to serve you a high amount of food, making it seem like you’re getting a good bargain, when in reality, Disney is likely up-charging you (yes, even with ALL of that food). And if you’re a light eater, you could find yourself with wasted food on your plate and/or a bill you likely didn’t need to pay as much to order.

Prix-fixe menus are also not ideal at all for any guest with a dietary restriction. While Disney World is known for being extremely accommodating to those with dietary restrictions or food allergies, prix-fixe menus may corner you into the singular Vegetarian option on that menu, or the one meal that doesn’t come with any common allergens. Not to mention, the value of a veggie dish is nowhere near the value of a meat dish, yet you’ll be paying the same prix-fixe price.

Similar to the Dining Plan, you may not have even considered ordering dessert with every meal, but since you paid for it, you’re going to find room for it — even if you don’t really need that slice of cake (while we are total advocates for eating delicious slices of cake, you may not enjoy it after the third or fourth day on vacation). Prix-fixe menus essentially “force” you to possibly eat more than your body normally ingests. This can lead to lots of thrown away barely-eaten desserts. Even if you choose to opt out of the final course, you’re leaving money on the table.

Traveling to Disney World in 2022? Here’s one planning tip you CANNOT forget about!

Can we expect more prix-fixe menus to pop up around Disney World?

Disney World mentioned earlier this year that they plan on bringing the Dining Plan back, so it doesn’t look like prix-fixe menus are completely “replacing” the Disney Dining Plan. For now, prix-fixe menus are kind of acting like an à la carte Dining Plan (as bizarre as that is to say…since à la carte is the complete opposite of the Dining Plan…and the complete opposite of a prix-fixe menu…you get what we’re saying).

That said, since Disney World usually winds up making MORE money per guest when they sign up for the Dining Plan, they may be applying this same logic by introducing more prix-fixe options to their menus as a way to get more money out of guests who normally wouldn’t consider a prix-fixe dining experience or would usually order one course, instead of a three-course meal. For highly sought-after spots like Be Our Guest or Cinderella’s Royal Table, the appeal of getting to eat at these impressive spots at all can outweigh the negatives of the high cost of a pricey prix-fixe meal. 

For example, think about California Grill — for the entire 50th Anniversary Celebration (which runs through April of 2023), their menu has completely shifted over to a three-course prix-fixe menu, and guests will not be able to order à la carte as they could in the past. That three-course menu costs $89 per adult, which includes one Appetizer, one Entrée, and one Dessert. That means, if you want to experience this unique restaurant and its stellar fireworks view, you can’t book a reservation and just order dessert. You’ll have to commit to the full dining experience and the price tag that goes with it.

Let’s also look at what would cost you 1 table service credit on the Dining Plan — an à la carte dinner at Chefs de France in EPCOT — to a prix-fixe dinner at Space 220. As of this writing, the most expensive Appetizer, Entrée, and Dessert combo at Chefs de France would total $68.95 before tax and gratuity ($16.25 for their Cheese Charcuterie, $39.75 for their Grilled Beef Tenderloin, and $12.95 for a Chocolate Tarte). On the LOW end, a three-course meal there would cost you $47.89. (French Onion Soup for $10.95, Ratatouille for $24.99, and Creme Brulee for $11.95). A three-course dinner at Space 220 costs $79 per adult before tax and gratuity (it is worth noting here, as we pointed to at the start, that Chefs de France also happens to have recently added a three-course prix-fixe menu option for $59.90 — with one alcoholic beverage included — which actually seems like a solid value compared to their à la carte prices — if you order the right food, that is.).

Ultimately, the big question for you as you plan for your next Disney World vacation is if prix-fixe dining is a value or a total money pit? Like we mentioned earlier, some guests may find the intangible benefits justify the price tag, while others will want to stick to regular menus.

Wondering if the prix-fixe dinner menu at Space 220 is worth the price? Click here to read our full review!

Until Disney World either brings back the Dining Plan or rolls out more prix fixe menus, we won’t know for sure whether this has been a slick new way to get guests to pay more for their food. As with any decision in how you choose to spend your vacation dollars in Disney World, it can make a huge difference to do your due diligence in crunching the numbers prior to booking your trip, as well as prior to deciding where you want to dine and where you book your Advance Dining Reservations.