Disney has three meal plans that you can choose from to add to your trip as long as you staying on Disney property. They are the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan, the Disney Dining Plan and the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. Depending on what you like to eat and how much you like to eat, there is a meal plan for you.
The Quick-Service Dining Plan gives you two quick-service meals and 2 snacks per person per night plus one refillable drink mug per person. The mugs are refillable at your Disney Resort hotel. At a quick service location, you wait in line, order what you would like to eat, pay for it (or tap your band if you are on a meal plan), then take your food a table of your choosing. You do not have to give a gratuity at quick-service locations. The only quick-service location where this doesn’t apply is Be Our Guest Restaurant for breakfast and lunch. Dinner at Be Our Guest is two table serve credits. At Be Our Guest, you will have a waiter who will bring your meal to your table and you can leave a gratuity. With the Quick-Service Dining Plan, character meals and signature dining are not included. The Quick-Service Dining Plan is good if you like to eat and run or don’t want to wait to be served.
The Disney Dining Plan gives you one quick-service meal, one table service meal and two snacks credits per person per night plus one refillable drink mug per person. A Table Serve meal is a sit down meal. When you get to the restaurant, you need to check in, and wait to be seated. You are given a menu and a waiter will come to take your order. The waiter will bring the food to your table. The only exceptions are buffets, where you will get your food, but you will still have to wait to be seated and you will have a waiter. With this plan, you can go to character meals and signature dining, you just have to watch your credits if you pick a place that takes two credits. Most signature dining meals take two table serve credits and so does Cinderella’s Royal Table which is a character meal.
The Disney Deluxe Dining Plan gives you three meals and two snacks per person per night plus one refillable drink mug per person. With this plan, you choose what type of meal you want to eat. You could go to all Table service restaurants, all Quick-service restaurants or you could go to some quick-service and some table service restaurants. You can also go to character meals and signature dining. It is up to you how you would like to use your credits. If you like going to signature dining meals or you like to eat a lot, this plan is good for you. I have tried the deluxe dining plan and it is too much food for me. All meals come with beverages and if you are over 21, you can request an alcoholic beverage with your meal. You can keep track of your meal credits by looking at the bottom of your receipts. It will tell you how many of that meal or snack you have left.
A snack is most food that is $5 or less, there is a snack sign to let you know if what you are looking at qualifies as a snack. For example, a dole whip and a dole whip float is a snack, a warm cinnamon roll from Gaston’s Tavern is considered a snack and an ice cream cookie sandwich is a snack. If you reach the end of your vacation and you have not eaten all of your meals or snacks, you can get snacks to take home. Each meal, whether it is a quick-service meal or a table service meal equal three snack credits. Some snacks you can take home are breath mints, nuts, candy, Mickey shaped Rice Krispies, lollipops, chocolates, etc. Get the snacks before you leave and you will have a tasty souvenir when you get home.
I think it is worth it to get a meal plan. I like the Disney Dining Plan because I like sit down meals and the deluxe was too much food for me. My favorite part of getting a dining plan is when you get your receipt and everything is zeroed out. If you are not sure which plan to choose, you can look up the menus for each restaurant to see what might be a good fit for you. I am sure you can find a plan to fit your appetite and budget.