What is the Disney Dining Plan?

Simply put, the Disney Dining Plan is a pre-paid meal plan. There are several different plans available.  Each plan has some limitations and exclusions you need to think through.  In my opinion, the Disney Dining Plan is worth a little research, particularly since some of the recent offers from Disney World have included "free Dining Plan". To be honest, I found the whole thing overwhelming at first, so let's take things one step at a time. 

Background Information
Disney dining venues can be broken into three different tiers:

• Quick Service/ Counter Service
• Table Service
• Signature Table Service

Quick Service/ Counter Service are eateries where you order at the counter and food is delivered to you on a tray (think McDonald's/ Burger King).  These venues serve the typical amusement park fare like hot dogs, corn dogs, chicken tenders, and burgers. Depending on your location, the fare will vary based on the theme of the restaurant.

Table Service is just what is sounds like.  You are seated at a table and waited upon by a server. There are a number of very good table service restaurants on the Disney properties. These restaurants are going to serve things like roasted chicken, steaks, and other items you would get at a nice restaurant. Again, fare will depend on theme and the specialties of the house.

Signature Table Service are the higher-level service restaurants on the Disney properties.  These are the really nice restaurants. These restaurants will serve things like  beef tenderloin, bacon-wrapped scallops, swordfish, and duck confit.  Again, the theme of the restaurant will influence what is served there.

What plans are available?
Next, let's look at the plans themselves. Details for these plans are available from Disney at this link.

• Quick-Service Dining
• (Basic) Dining
• Deluxe Dining
• Premium Dining
• Platinum Dining

Quick Service Dining provides two quick service meal credits and one snack credit for each night of your stay.
(Basic) Dining provides one table service meal credit, one quick service meal credit, and one snack credit for each night of your stay.
Deluxe Dining provides three table service credits and two snack credits for each night of your stay.
Premium Dining provides one Breakfast, one Lunch, and one Dinner credit and two snacks for each night of you stay. This plan also includes recreation activities like golf, bass fishing, parasailing, and personal watercraft rental.
Platinum Dining provides all the features of the Premium Dining, with the addition of dinner at Victoria and Albert's, unlimited use of the Children's Activities Centers, in-room childcare, tickets to La Nouba, a fireworks cruise, and much more.

Putting it all together
I'm going to focus primarily on the first three plans, as those are the more reasonably priced ones.  They are also similar in the fact that you are dealing with meal credits, not meals. 
Meal and snack credits are all distributed to your account at the beginning of your stay.  They do not have to be used on any particular day, nor for any particular meal. Meal credits for breakfast include entree and non-alcoholic beverage. Meal credits for lunch and dinner include entree, dessert, and a non-alcoholic beverage.  It is important to note that all parties on the same reservation must purchase the same dining plan. The exception to this is children ages three and under, who do not eat enough to require a dining plan.

If you purchase the Quick-Service Dining, then you will only have quick-service meal credits. These will be good at quick-service venues.  If you choose to eat at a table service venue, then you will need to pay for these meals out-of-pocket.
If you purchase (Basic) Dining, then you will have both quick-service and table service meal credits.  Quick-service can only be used at quick-service venues.  Table service credits can be used at quick-service or most table service venues.
If you purchase Deluxe Dining, then you will have table service credits, which can be used at almost any venue.

The limits on table service venues for the Basic and Deluxe Plans are around meals at the Signature Table Service locations.  Meals at these locations will require two table service meal credits per meal. The names and locatons of these restaurants can be found in the Dining Plan brochures (follow the link provided above).

When you move up to the Premier and Platinum Dining, you are actually getting meals. This means that the Signature restaurants do not not require two credits.  On these plans one credit gets you one meal, regardless of venue.  Again, these plans also include extras around recreational activities. The Platinum Dining Plan has an extensive list of additional features.

So which one should I choose?
There is no single perfect plan.  It really depends on how you like to eat when you are on vacation.

I have some friends who don't want to spend their time at a table service restaurant.  They would rather eat quickly and get on to the next ride, so they chose the (Basic) Dining Plan. My husband and I like to take the time away from the hustle and bustle of the parks by sitting down and enjoying a nice meal.  We also like to have a meal or two at the Signature restaurants, so we chose the Deluxe Dining Plan. It really just depends on your preference.

Take some time to consider your traveling party when deciding on a dining plan. I am hopeful that this post has given you some information about how the plans work so that you can make an informed decision about if you would like to include a dining plan on your next visit.