Disney Dining Plan Changes!

Just this past Sunday, Walt Disney World implemented several changes to their Disney Dining Plan. These updates were not announced publicly but are a great benefit to their guests.

Snacks - First let's talk about the new changes to DDP snack credits. Disney Dining Plan snack credits usually covered most items under $5 at various carts, quick service counters, and stores. Now Disney considers any single serving size item a snack. How does that differ from the current plan, you ask? See the bullet points below:

• Originally, you could order a pretzel or funnel cake with no extras. Now snack credits have a slightly higher value in that you may receive toppings or dip with your snack. Like a Mickey pretzel with cheese, or a funnel cake with fruit topping. That's a sweet bonus!

Images courtesy of My Sweet Creations and the Disney Food Blog

• Any non-alcoholic beverage at any location, souvenir containers not allowed.
• All hand scooped ice creams and sundaes may be up to two scoops and include toppings.
• Soups and side items served at Quick Service locations my now be purchased with a snack credit.
• During breakfast at Quick Service restaurants you may use a snack credit for any side item offered with an entree. You can now grab bacon, eggs, french toast sticks, biscuits and gravy and more for one snack credit each!

Quick Service - The DDP Quick Service plan entitlements allow for any entree, side, drink, and dessert or a combo meal with drink at any Disney Quick Service location. Here is what is changing:

• Children may now order an adult meal when dining at a Quick Service restaurant. This is great news! We have been ordering like this for years in an effort to stretch our credits further by having our kids split an adult size portion. There never was a true distinction between kid and adult credits and it was rarely enforced. Now Disney is officially allowing it. Read my previous Disney Dining Plan post for how to maximize this new policy.
• Desserts and drinks may be substituted for any eligible snack. So if you are tired of eating that delicious chocolate cake for the fifth day in a row, you may order a side of french fries or soup instead.

Triple Chocolate Cake - mmm, courtesy of the Disney Food Blog

• Does you family always have Quick Service entitlements leftover at the end of your trip? And do you try and stuff your faces right before you check out to use them all up? Well now you may exchange a Quick Service credit for three snack entitlements in the same transaction. So finally, you can spend your extra Quick Service credits to grab Mickey rice crispy treats or Minne's bake shop cookies for the trip home instead of wasting several meals.

Table Service - There have been a few changes to the Table Service entitlement policies as well.

• Guests on the DDP are no longer limited to the number of credits used for a single meal. Originally you could only use Table Service credits for your family that was listed on your reservation. Now you may bring your friends and use your Table Service entitlements for their meals too! This will work out great if you are traveling with a group not using the DDP but will eat together often.
• Desserts can be substituted for a side salad, a cup of soup, or a fruit plate. If you are sick of sweets (I never am at WDW), you can order something else and pass on the sugar. Make sure you let your server know so this may be accommodated. Also, appetizers are still not allowed as a substitution. Check out my other DDP post to see one exception to this rule!
• If you have the Disney Deluxe, Premium, or Platinum Dining Plan, children are no longer restricted to ordering from the kids menu. This only applies to the higher level plans and not the Standard Disney Dining plan (the on often included with Free Dining offers).

Overall these changes seem to be very positive for Disney guests. My family has been using the Disney Dining Plan for many years and I see us applying the new policies to our next vacation at WDW. This seems like a good step forward for Disney after several years of DDP restrictions and price hikes. I feel that future visitors may now get better use of there Disney Dining Plan.

If you liked this post I encourage you to read my original DDP post, I'm a Disney Dining Plan Expert, for additional information about getting the most out of your DDP.

Dining Favorites Series: Epcot Quick Service

Epcot has the most diverse restaurant choices both for quick service and table service of any Disney World theme park. Because of the World Showcase you have the chance to experience an international assortment of foods and spirits. One great aspect of many of the Epcot counter service restaurants is they sell small items that are easy to stroll and munch on. Another plus is that they all serve beer, wine, or cocktails based on the country they represent. So be sure to pair an Oktoberfest beer with your bratwurst in Germany!

Yorkshire County Fish Shop (United Kingdom) - This place is a must visit every trip for me. They serve fish and chips (fries) English style. Grab a basket and head in the UK to listen to British Revolution in the rose garden.
Drink pairing: Bass Ale

from waymarking.com

la Cantina de San Angel (Mexico) - Fresh Mexican food on the World Showcase Lagoon. Tacos or Nachos? One of the hardest choices you'll make all day. Also, churros for dessert, super yum! TIP: Try one of the Paletas instead of the churritos you're in for a frozen treat!
Drink Pairing: Dos Equis Lager

from easywdw.com

Boulangerie Patisserie (France) - Who doesn't love French pasteries? This restaurant has a huge assortment of pasteries, tarts, quiches, sandwiches, and desserts. Everything is made fresh daily. Boulangerie Patisserie was recently expanded and has added a large seating area. TIP: This counter service option is open for breakfast at 9 am. Walk through the world showcase before it opens and enjoy a chocolate croissant in Paris!
Drink Pairing: Cappuccino

Tangierine Cafe (Morocco) - Take your appetite to Morocco and try the flavors of Northern Africa. They serve many unique dishes here that you won't find anywhere else. If you are open to trying new things go for a Shawarma platter.
Drink Pairing: Tangierine Cocktail

Liberty Inn (America) - Can you think of a better place to have an All-American meal than at the Liberty Inn? This restaurant may be for you if you're tired of touring the world. Burgers, barbecue and apple pie, it doesn't get any better than that!
Drink Pairing: Sam Adams Lager

from allergyfreemouse.com 

Sunshine Seasons (Future World) - Located within the Land pavilion this counter service restaurant offers several stations for dining options. You can pick from the grill, bakery, soup/salad, sandwiches, or Asian noodles. You will be able to find something for everyone here, even your most picky eaters. TIP: Some of the food served at Sunshine Seasons was actually grown or harvested in the Land greenhouses. Ask your chef for details.

Sommerfest (Germany) - Buy yourself a traditional bratwurst and a pretzel from a person wearing lederhosen in this German restaurant. Here is another must visit location for me. The sell souvenir beer steins too.
Drink Pairing: Altenmunster Oktoberfest or a shot of Jagermeister if your feeling it.



A perfect meal at Epcot - from tripadvisor

Electric Umbrella (Future World) - This Future World location is a typical burger and nugget restaurant similar to Cosmic Ray's at Magic Kingdom.

Lotus Blossum Cafe (China) - This restaurant is way better than your local Chinese takeout joint. Order the orange chicken and wander around this beautiful pavilion.
Drink Pairing: Tsing Tao beer

Katsuru Grill (Japan) - This recently remodeled restaurant serves traditional Japanese fare. The sushi is amazing and the teriyaki combo meals are huge. Eat outside on the patio overlooking a wonderful Japanese garden for a great break from the crowds.
Drink Pairing: hot Saki

A great ambiance ouside at Katsuru Grill - from disneyparks

There are many more kiosks and walk up eateries at Epcot that were not covered in this post. I encourage you to review the menus before your visit and try some new and wonderful flavors at this park. I will caution you to limit the number of drink parings so you don't have too much fun strolling around the World Showcase!

Dining Favorites Series: Magic Kingdom Quick Service

Continuing on our Dining Favorites series, today we will cover Magic Kingdom Counter Service restaurants. There are numerous Counter Service locations and carts throughout the Magic Kingdom and we will focus on places were you can eat a full meal and use a Disney Dining Plan credit. Let's get started with our favorites.

Pecos Bill's - courtesy of disneyworldlive.com

Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Cafe - This is our favorite location to visit while at MK. There is a generous selection of options from hamburgers to taco salads plus the unlimited fixin's bar! The bar has all the toppings you may need for a burger or taco salad including my favorite topping, hot cheese. You may pump all the cheese you need for dipping fries or coating your taco salad. If you're hungry or looking to share, pick the taco salad. It is huge plus you can load it up with lots of extras. Be aware that this restaurant gets very crowded during peak lunch and dinner hours, you may want to eat early or late to make sure you find a seat. Bonus tip: Pecos Bill has collected numerous artifacts from his fellow American folklore heroes. Look around the restaurant for Paul Bunyan's ax or a coonskin cap from Daniel Boone.

Be Our Guest entrance - courtesy of wdwmagic.com

Be Our Guest - You may have noticed we mentioned Be Our Guest in our table service dining post. That wasn't a mistake, Disney recently introduced a new concept in dining. This restaurant is counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. You order your food normally, via kiosk or cast member, then make your way to a table. A few minutes later a server will wheel your food to your table. Be Our Guest incorporates very unique meal choices in a world of burgers and chicken tenders. Adults may choose seared tuna salad, braised pork, quinoa salad, and more. Kids might have a hard time here, there is a lack of nuggets and mac and cheese. But get them to try the Mickey meatloaf, grilled mahi, or pasta with marinara. Be Our Guest probably has the best desserts of any counter service location. This restaurant is very popular and may have a wait of 30 minutes or more. However the atmosphere and details inside the restaurant will transport you to Beast's castle.

The Hall of Armor as you enter the Be Our Guest
restaurant - courtesy of insidethemagic.net

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe - Cosmic Ray's is another large and popular counter service location. It offers many choices for diners such as roast chicken, ribs, sandwiches, and burgers. You will also find a fixin's bar similar to the one at Pecos Bill's. Be sure to sit down near Sonny Eclipse for some live entertainment.

Hit a home run at Casey's Corner - courtesy of dwtickets.com

Casey's Corner - Located on the corner of Main Street, here you will find a turn of the century hot dog stand. Casey's offers several gourmet hot dogs as well as corn dog nuggets. You won't find much more here except a grand stand seating area which shows classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. Bottom line: good hot dogs, great location.

Columbia Harbour House - This establishment specializes in fried fish, shrimp, and chicken nuggets, but you will find healthier options too. The batter here is similar to the fish'n'chips you can find in the UK in Epcot. Bonus tip: head upstairs to eat in the Fantasyland/Liberty Square overpass for a great view. Here you'll be able to watch people pass between the lands as they walk underneath you.

Honorable Mentions -

• Diamond Horseshoe Saloon - Only open during peak times but has a great atmosphere inside this old western dinner theater. It used to present the Diamond Horseshoe Review, a classic Disney show. Be sure to order the BBQ turkey sandwich and enjoy the player piano.
• Gaston's Tavern - If you like the turkey legs at MK, you must try the pork shank at this eatery. Also, try a hot gooey cinnamon roll and wash it down with a Lefou's Brew.
• Sleepy Hollow Refreshments - Mickey Mouse waffles, enough said. Also, chicken and waffle sandwiches, funnel cakes, and hand dipped ice cream sandwiches.
• Sunshine Tree Terrace - Grab a citrus swirl for a throwback to an original MK treat circa 1971.

Roasted pork shank - courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

There are several more counter service dining locations at the Magic Kingdom. I encourage you to review the menus and find a place suitable for you and your family. Overall you can't go wrong at this park, there are many options for everyone. The real problem is having room to try them all!

Do you have any favorite restaurants or meals? Let us know in the comments section below. Coming up in our next post we'll take a culinary tour around the world as we look at the table service restaurants of Epcot.

I'm a Disney Dining Plan Expert

We have used the Disney Dining Plan on every visit to Walt Disney World since 2006. That's a total of 7 vacations of stuffing my face with really great food. Now, the cost of the Dining Plan has increased annually since 2006 but I still believe it holds value, especially when it's free! (See previous post Free Dining) In this post you'll learn my tips for how to use the Dining plan most effectively.

First a quick disclaimer: The Dining Plan isn't for everyone, please do lots of research to determine if it's a good idea for your family. There are many sites who cover that. For the purposes of this post I'm assuming you are committed to the Dining Plan and looking to maximize your eats.

Disney offers three levels of the Dining Plan - Quick Service, Standard, and Deluxe. I recommend the Standard plan. The deluxe is too much food and time required to sit down and eat, while the quick service is only fast food. You can learn more about the plans here. The Standard Disney Dining Plan includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal, and 1 snack per person per night, plus a refillable resort mug. In this post I will only cover the Standard plan.

How it Works
When you check in to your resort you receive your Key to the Kingdom Card (Now a Magic Band). This card is used for your room key, park ticket, meal credits, and to charge to your room anywhere on property. Below is one of my old cards from a previous vacation. When ready to use a meal credit (Quick Service - QS or Snack Credit -SC) tell the cast member behind the counter before you order. When eating at a Table Service (TS) restaurant your waiter/waitress will usually ask if you have a dining plan. If not be sure to let them know when they greet you. After each purchase or meal your receipt will show the remaining credit balance for the type of credit used.

My KtW card from 2008, the current cards look a little different.

The Snack
Each person in your party receives one snack credit per person per night. This may not seem like it's enough, but I promise you'll struggle to use them up by the end of your visit. You can use snack credits anywhere on WDW property including many places at Downtown Disney. Snacks available on the Dining Plan usually includes most items around $5.00 and below. You can find an unofficial list at this LINK. Our favorite snacks are anything from an ice cream cart, funnel cakes at Magic Kingdom's Sleepy Hollow, pretzels in Epcot's Germany (paired with an Oktoberfest beer), and Minnie's Bake Shop giant cookies found at most resort food courts. If it's your last day and you have too many credits to use, I recommend buying the cookies or rice krispy treats to take home with you because they travel well (if you don't eat them up on the way to the airport). Disney clearly marks all snacks using the logo below on menus and price tags.

Quick Service
Over the past several years Disney has continuously updated their Quick Service offerings to include healthier food and a broader selection. This is a huge improvement over the countless burger and chicken nugget spots around the Parks. Also, you will never go hungry at a QS location if you choose right. Each QS credit includes a drink, entree, side, and dessert. The portions are very large and easily split among 2 adults in many cases.  For example: at Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom you can get a 1/2 BBQ Chicken with baked beans and coleslaw, plus a drink, and a dessert (key lime mousse for me). That is a ton of food!

Courtesy of Kingdom Hopping

Be Their Guest exclusive tip right here: So here is how you really extend your Dining Plan. Assume your a family of 4 with two adults and two children under 10. The Quick Service credits don't discriminate between child and adult. So you can order your kids an adult meal if they choose. And even better you can split 2 meals between the party of 4 and be able to eat two QS meals in one day. Plus if you plan a TS dinner, you will have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 4 snacks to make it throughout the day. Like I said, you will not go hungry on the dining plan.

Table Service
One of my favorite moments of each day is sitting down to eat a great meal in the Parks or Resorts. Now some of you may cringe at eating in a Theme Park or at wasting your Park time sitting down but I highly recommend it and here's why.

1. Disney restaurants have great food!
2. Taking a break, especially if you have kids, is a must.
3. The restaurants are air conditioned.
4. Disney Cast Members provide great service.

The Table Service credits include a drink, entree, and dessert. Some restaurants have specialty shakes or smoothies that may be included as your drink, be sure to ask your server if you see something you want to try. Any children (under 10) on your plan must order from the kids menu. They will have something your child will eat and include a coloring sheet and crayons. We typically bring a couple toys to entertain our kids because the wait may be a bit long (usually less than 15 minutes depending on the crowds).

Disney will allow you to make reservations up to 180 days out. I highly recommend making reservations soon after you book your trip. You can always change them or make more if needed. We like to mix up our table service meals between breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In a 7 night trip we will have 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners. Character meals are a great way for your children to get time with your favorite pals. We like to book Character breakfasts very early inside a park or at a Magic Kingdom resort. If you book your meal before the Park opens you are allowed in to walk to your breakfast reservation. You have the chance for some great photo ops with no one around. Also, if your kids aren't early risers, one look and Mickey walking to their table will really perk them up! On days we plan to leave the park early we usually book a lunch in the Park since its a good way to rest and cool off without returning to your room. On full park days we will leave and let everyone rest/nap in the room at midday. Afterwards, we will grab an early dinner at a resort restaurant before heading back to the Park.

Courtesy of mouseforless.com

Lastly, remember tips are not included in the Dining Plan. You will need to budget accordingly for your trip. I usually estimate $15-20 per meal for a family of 4. 

Signature Dining

Several Disney restaurants are considered Signature Dining locations. At a signature dining restaurant you will find high quality food, beautiful decor, very prompt service, and they are kid friendly. Sounds great, what's the catch? A Signature Dining establishment uses 2 table service credits per person. That may sound like to big hit but I'll pass on a tip that should allow you to eat at least one time during your stay. The dining plan allots credits per night you stay. For example, your trip consists of 8 days and 7 nights, but don't immediately assume 7 table service meals. Usually on your travels days you will arrive in the late afternoon the first day and leave by noon on your last. Cramming in a sit down meal in a short window is hard to do, so here is what I recommend. Skip a table service meal the first and last days and combine that credit with another during a full day of your vacation. Then you can experience fine dining without the out of pocket costs (though I would gladly pay out of pocket at many Signature Dining locations).

Another Be Their Guest exclusive tip: Many Signature Dining locations offer a cheese sampler plate as an appetizer, but you may be able to get that instead of a dessert. Ask your server about this if you like cheese.

My hope in writing this post is for you to maximize your dining plan (whether free or paid). Visit the blog soon to see where I recommend using your dining credits and what are my favorite entrees. Thanks for reading!

Disney Free Dining Offer

Disney released their FREE DINING offer today. This is one of the best discounts available. There is a limited arrival window of September 2 through the 25th. You will receive a free Quick Service or Standard Dining plan with a non-discounted stay at a Disney Resort.

We highly recommend the Disney Dining plan. We have traveled with the dining plan every visit since 2006. I will give more details in a future post. So book today since availability is limited and this is a very popular discount. More information in the link below.

Disney World Free Dining