The Disney Dining Plan has been on pause since Disney World shut down in March of 2020.

Disney has said the Dining Plan will return in the future, but hasn’t mentioned a specific timeline or if it will even return in the same form. We may have received some clues that an announcement about the Dining Plan could be coming soon, and many of our readers think it could be returning this year. But, when the Dining Plan returns, will it be a better deal than it was before? Let’s take a look! 

What is the Disney Dining Plan?

First of all — what is the Disney Dining Plan? If you don’t know, the Dining Plan was a way to pay for all of your food before your Disney World vacation. Under the previous system, the Dining Plan was pre-purchased and added on to your Disney Vacation Package. Under the previous requirements, guests had to be staying on a Vacation Package at a Disney owned-and-operated hotel (which includes park tickets for each guest for a certain minimum amount of days) to use the Dining Plan, and it did not apply to guests staying at non-Disney-owned hotels on property like the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resorts or Shades of Green.

Basically, this was a way to pay for all of your food in advance of your vacation so you didn’t even need to think about money or budgeting when it comes to meals (except for the gratuity at Table Service restaurants or any food you wanted in addition to the ones included in the plan). If you bought the Dining Plan, all you have to do when you arrived at Disney World was head to a restaurant on the list, eat, scan your card, and (if applicable) pay gratuity.

Instead of paying for the meals during your trip and worrying about budgeting out each individual item, etc. the Dining Plan provided you with a certain number of credits which you would then redeem to pay for your food during your trip.

Before the Disney Dining Plan was put on pause, there were several different options you could choose from for your vacation based on what would fit your group’s needs. Here’s what was included in each plan:

**Note that these allotments are per day**

Quick Service Dining Plan: 

• Two quick service meals (entrée or combo meal at lunch and dinner and a beverage)
• Guests under 21 years of age can choose one non-alcoholic beverage with their quick service and table service meal. Guests 21 and older can can choose either one non-alcoholic beverage or one single serving mixed cocktail, beer, or wine within their meal entitlement.
• Two snacks
• One Resort refillable drink mug per person, per package
• 2020 Cost:
  • $55 per night ages 10 and up
  • $26 per night ages 3 to 9

Standard Dining Plan:

• One table service entrée, dessert (lunch and dinner only), OR full buffet
• One quick service meal, including entrée OR combo meal
• Guests under 21 years of age can choose one non-alcoholic beverage with their quick service and table service meal. Guests 21 and older can can choose either one non-alcoholic beverage or one single serving mixed cocktail, beer, or wine within their meal entitlement.
• Two snacks from a wide variety of options
• One Resort refillable drink mug per person, per package
• 2020 Cost:
  • $78.01 per night ages 10 and up
  • $30.51 per night ages 3 to 9

Disney Dining Plan Plus:

• Two meals of any combination at quick service or table service restaurants per night of stay:
  • Table service meals include one table service entrée, dessert (lunch and dinner only), OR full buffet
  • Quick service meals include one quick service meal, including entrée OR combo meal
• Guests under 21 years of age can choose one non-alcoholic beverage with their quick service and table service meal. Guests 21 and older can can choose either one non-alcoholic beverage or one single serving mixed cocktail, beer, or wine within their meal entitlement.
• Two snacks or non-alcoholic drinks per night of stay
• One Resort refillable drink mug per person, per package
• 2020 Cost:
  • $94.61 per night ages 10 and up
  • $35.01 per night ages 3 to 9

Disney Deluxe Dining Plan:

• Three table service or quick service meals:
  • Table service includes appetizer, entrée, and dessert (lunch and dinner), OR full buffet
  • Quick service includes entrée OR combo meal
• Guests under 21 years of age can choose one non-alcoholic beverage with their quick service and table service meal. Guests 21 and older can can choose either one non-alcoholic beverage or one single serving mixed cocktail, beer, or wine within their meal entitlement.
• Two snacks from a wide variety of options
• One resort refillable drink mug per person, per package
• 2020 Cost:
  • $119 per night ages 10 and up
  • $47.50 per night ages 3 to 9

That’s what Dining Plans looked like when we last saw them. But things could change when they return.

Click here to see our page full of info about the Dining Plan!

When the Dining Plan Does Return Will It Be a Better Value? 

Will the Dining Plan be a better (or worse) value when it returns? Disney hasn’t announced very many details about the return of the Dining Plan, but here are some observations we’ve made based on other things Disney has done recently.

Recently, when Disney World has brought things back that were on pause, they have brought some of them back at a higher price point. For example, we saw price increases on things like Annual Passes and even the replacement of the free FastPass+ service with the paid Disney Genie+ service.

We’ve also seen hundreds of menu prices increases all around Disney World’s restaurants. Lots of items — from DOLE Whips to popcorn refills — have seen a little bump in price. We could see the Dining Plan cost more when it returns, as the food now costs more than it did the last time the Dining Plan was available.

But, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Dining Plan will be a worse value than it was before. Part of it could just reflect the increase in cost of items across property. But, Disney could also potentially bring the Dining Plan back and make it more enticing by adding more perks or modifying things that would work on guests’ favor. We’re not saying this is something that will happen, but it is within the realm of possibilities. Disney does surprise us sometimes! We’ll just have to wait and see what Disney ultimately decides to do.

The value of the Dining Plan might also be called into question with the now more  popular use of prix fixe menu options around Disney World. Places like La Crêperie de Paris offer prix fixe options for a lower cost than a lot of other Table Service spots, like Cinderella’s Royal Table, so will it still be considered the same level credit-wise as other similar restaurants?

We also recently saw California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort switch to a prix fixe menu for the 50th Anniversary. Prix fixe meals usually set pricing at the highest level possible out of the options available for guests to choose. For example, you could choose the cheapest food items on the prix fixe menu (the ones that would normally cost the least and/or that are the cheapest for Disney to make), but with a prix fixe menu, it will cost the same as the food items that would be the most expensive to order otherwise or for Disney to make. Disney (and other spots) generally price those prix fixe menus on the higher end so they can cover those high-cost items.

It’s the same idea, in a way, as the Dining Plan itself, where you pay a set amount for meals at certain participating locations. Your credit might include an entree and dessert, let’s say. You could pick the combination of those items that costs Disney the least to make (and would likely cost you the least if ordered on their own) or the most expensive ones. Either way, under the Dining Plan, you’d be redeeming 1 credit (or whatever applies) for that meal.

Disney prices prix fixe meals and the Dining Plan at a higher level to cover those high cost items. If you order the least expensive items to make on the menu under the prix fixe or Disney Dining Plan scenario, Disney is actually making money (which they likely do in many scenarios assuming every single guest doesn’t order the most expensive thing included in these plans).

Prix fixe meals coupled with the Dining Plan can actually be a good thing in terms of value though! Prix fixe meals actually force you to get more value out of the Dining Plan since you would’ve paid the highest cost possible even if you chose the food items that are the least expensive to make at a restaurant. So, more prix fixe restaurants in Disney World actually should mean the Dining Plan will become a better value for most people.

As for signature dining in Disney World, will we see Disney change the credit amount for restaurants? Disney could reintroduce the Dining Plan with restaurants that used to be one credit now costing two credits. This would make the Dining Plan a worse value than before. But, the opposite could happen as well — restaurants that used to be two credits could now only cost one, making the Dining Plan a better value. Truly, anything is possible here.

And, we are interested to see how Disney handles their current situation with some hard-to-get dining reservations. Some Table Service restaurants can be incredibly challenging to get a spot at. A general lack of available dining reservations has been a bit of a hot-button topic and several readers have reached out to us with some concerns. What if you pay for a plan that includes Table Service restaurants, but you can’t get any reservations?

Based on the searches we’ve done, we’ve found that reservations are available, but you might not find them for the places you’re hoping to visit. Presumably that wouldn’t impact Disney’s arrangements, but if Table Service reservations do become so difficult to come across that you can’t find ANY (or at least you couldn’t find any for the park you’ll be visiting or hotel you’ll be staying at), then we might be in a different situation.

Could Disney possibly allow people with the Dining Plan to have priority/earlier access when it comes to making reservations? Earlier than the timeframe already provided for those staying at a Disney World hotel? 

Let’s also not forget that some menus have become smaller around Disney World since the pandemic began. For example, Skipper Canteen in Magic Kingdom had 10 entrées on the menu in 2019…

…and now they only have 7 entrées.

And the same can be said for 50’s Prime Time Café in Hollywood Studios. In 2019, there were 10 entrées available…

…and now, there are only 7 entrées available.

So, will this be taken into account when it comes to the return of the Dining Plan? Now that there are fewer options available at some spots, the price of the plan could reflect that.

With so many changes since we last saw the Dining Plan, it will be interesting to see how and when Disney brings it back. Will it look exactly the same? Will it get a complete overhaul, including new prices? Or will it look familiar with just a few modifications? There’s a lot that’s still unknown. We’ll be on the lookout for updates or any news regarding the Disney Dining Plan, so stay tuned to DFB for more!

Click here to see why Disney World’s latest price increases might be a clue about the future of the Disney Dining Plan!

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Did you use the Disney Dining Plan on your vacation when it was available? Let us know in the comments!

The post When the Disney Dining Plan Comes Back, Will It Be A Better Deal Than Before? first appeared on the disney food blog.