Disney dining plan is one of the most popular add on features for guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (WDW). Disney dining can be added to any resort package for the length of stay and comes in four different packages to fit the different needs of families and travelers. Need information on the differences in each package? You can find a more detailed post here.
Once you have purchased your plan now what? What do I need to do? The first thing is make dining reservations or if you have a trusty travel agent they will happily make them for you. WDW opens dining reservations 180 days before travel and it’s important that you book before you go. I recommend that clients make decisions about 2 weeks before that 180 day window opens. It’s important that you have lots of options and are flexible with where you will be dining and at what times you will be dining while making these reservations.
Once you have all your reservations in place they will be listed for you in your My Disney Experience account which you can view online or on your Disney World smartphone app.
If you are staying on property and receive a Magic Band or have your reservations linked to a purchased Magic Band then all of your dining reservations will automatically be saved to your Magic Band. Your dining plans are also saved under the My Plans section in your My Disney Experience App.
Your dining plan is issued to you in the form of credits. Depending upon what dining plan you have purchase you will receive a certain number of credits per person, per nights stayed (nights not days). For example, if you purchased the Disney Dining Plan (the most popular plan) you would receive 1 quick serve, 1 table serve, and 2 snack credits per night stayed. The credits come to you all at one time when you check in and remain active until midnight the day you check out. Credits can be checked for availability on you Disney World app, at the bottom of your receipt after purchasing snacks or meals or by going to the guest relations or check in at any park or resort.
Once you are at a restaurant, quick serve, or snack location simply tell the cast member you would like to use your dining plan-they will often ask if you’re on the dining plan-, scan you Magic Band or phone, enter you pin and that’s it! Easy peasy!
What if you have credits left over? Leave no credits behind! Table and quick serve credits can be traded in for 3 snack credits. You can also trade in a table for a quick-so in other words you can trade down but not up. The last day of travel stop into your resort gift shop or the bakery in Magic Kingdom and use up your credits on snacks you can take home including, nuts, rice krispy treats, candy, cookies, etc…
Need help planning your Magical trip? You can message me at Callie@Fairygodmothertravel.com or find me on Facebook at Callie at Wanderkeep Travel. As always my services are complimentary!