Walt Disney World Resorts have so much to offer guests that sometimes it can be just plain overwhelming. You’ve picked your hotel and you know when you’re going so let’s talk about food.

WDW offers three separate dining plans which can be added to your stay.To add dining plan or not…..

Quick Service Dining Plan-this offers guests a refillable resort mug, 2 quick service-similar to fast food- meals a day and 1 snack daily.

Deluxe Dining Plan-this offers guests a refillable resort mug, 1 quick service meal a day,1 table service meal a day and 1 snack a day.

Premium Dining Plan-this offers guests a refillable mug, 1 table service meal for breakfast lunch and dinner and 2 snacks a day.

Important things to know about meals plans.

1.They are ONLY offered to guests who stay at WDW Resorts.

2.1 Quick serve meal can be redeemed for three snacks instead-at the same location. For example-if you were in the French Bakery in Epcot and wanted three snacks you could use one quick serve meal to pay for them.

3. 1 Table serve meal can be used as 1 quick serve meal. (You probably don’t want to do this but you can.)

4.ALL members of your party-aside from those 3 and under-must get the meal plan. It’s all or nothing if you choose to add this option to your reservation.

5.Your meal plan credits are only for the nights stayed-so 6 nights 7 days visit equals 6 days worth of meals. BUT you can use meal credits and snack credits as you wish-6 snacks in one day-done-no meals one day-fine.

6. Your meal credits are stored on your magic bands-the server only needs to have you enter in your pin to use. Make sure you tell your server at sit down restaurants you specifically want to use your meal plan or they will charge it to your room. You can check to see that you have been charged accordingly on the bottom of your receipt at the restaurants. Your receipt will tell you how many credits you have remaining.

7. Tips are not included.

8.Alcohol is not included.

I’m a pretty avid meal plan user. Vacationing to me is not having to worry about the cost of what I’m eating and having the meal plan allows me to order a full meal, what ever I want on the menu and not feel like I have to eat every last bite. I also really enjoy that at table service meals I can pick a dessert. I probably wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t on the plan. I have been to WDW without the meal plan but having the meal plan allows be to eat at a wider variety of restaurants since I’m not worried about cost. Also if you love character meals but hate the character meal prices then having a meal plan that includes table service allows you to book a ton of character meals and save money. It’s so much easier to take pictures with Mickey and get his autograph while sitting at your table then waiting in hot lines and wasting park time.

You need to price out the meal plans to see if they are a good fit for your family. If you’re doing Disney on a tight budget the dining plans may not be for you-or they may be. Plan prices change every year but you can simply tell the difference by using the Disney site to plan and see how much it adds to the total of your specific package. I priced out a quick weekend trip for 2 days and was shocked that by adding up the average of what two people would eat during the day at the park I honestly only saved ten dollars per person in not getting a meal plan. That’s the cost of 2 snacks.

The food at WDW is definitely part of the fun. Have fun eating! I am always happy to help-shoot me a message in the comments or on my facebook page if you need help.