Tips about Disney Dining Plan

A note for Disney Visa Card holders: We used our Disney Dream Reward Dollars to pay for the tips that are no longer included in the Disney Dining Plan. Saved us a bunch. - Joe Napierkowski

If you are using a different dining plan other than the basic one, let your servers know! On more than one occasion they would ring us up and come back saying we had no more credits left. We had to reiterate to them which plan we were using -- they don't always check on your room key. I know it gets busy and I hated having to send them back to do it again. - Kristen M.

We used snack credits on the dining plan for cinnamon rolls at the Main Street Bakery for breakfast one morning -- delicious! I was glad I had read that tip on your website before we went or I would not have even thought of using the snack credit like that. - pdonenfeld

If you have leftover snack credits (assuming you're on the meal plan) you can use those to buy the 4- or 5-packs of suckers in the gift shops. They are between $3.50 and $4.00 a package and count as one credit. We used some of our credits on the last day and bought these packs so my son could take a sucker back to all the kids in his class. They loved it! - Angela from NC

Just returned from the World and wanted to let your readers know to be careful with the Dining Plan. The plan includes an 18% gratuity, but if you order any alcoholic beverages, the separate check that you get ALSO includes an 18% tip. Also, we joined my in-laws for breakfast one morning, sit down. They used their dining sit-down credits, but we decided to save ours for dinner, so we were going to pay cash. Well, because we were dining with a party that used their dining plan, our bill ALSO had an 18% tip added on. Unfortunately, it took us a few days into the trip to realize we had been overtipping on the alcohol tabs, and we almost overtipped on the breakfast. We figured out why the waitstaff was SO very thankful to us at pay-up time! - Heather

Editor's Note: Starting in January 2008, the gratuity is no longer included in the basic Disney Dining Plan.

I have a tip related to the dining plan. This is my first time using the plan, and I found a fun way to keep track of all my reservations. I printed out a wallet-sized picture of the signs from the restaurants, and glued each one to a 3x5 notecard. Next to the picture, I wrote the time and confirmation number. This is a fun and easy way to keep track of all those great meals you're going to have! - Jason Copen

We found out during our visit (8/26 – 9/3) that snack credits could also be used for the "trail mix" types of snacks (in hotel gift shops and park candy shops) even though they were often over the $4.00 "limit" (some were $4.25 - $4.50). These are great for in-room and trip-home munching! - Connie Leonick

If you have any snack credits left on your Disney Dining Plan at the end of your stay, a good way to use them is to go to your resort gift shop. They usually stock boxes of cookies from "Minnie's Bake Shop." You can get any box of her cookies as long as they are under four dollars. They have many choices and the cookies are delicious. We had seven credits left and bought seven boxes of these cookies. We felt they were so nice we gave them out as souvenirs to our friends at home. - YensidRocks

My family and I were on the dining plan during our trip and we found that some days we had so much food for lunch that we didn't need the extra snack in the afternoon. However, we were spending $4.00 per day to buy milk in the morning at our resort (two pint-sized bottles). We didn't find out until our fourth day that we could have used the snack coupons for milk. We would get them the night before and put them in our ice chest for the next morning. Most places give you the pint-sized bottles, which was enough for our family of five because my husband only drinks coffee. All of the places we got the milk from had white or chocolate and some even had strawberry milk. We found this to be the best use of some of our snack coupons. - Angela B.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Disney has been updating its menus to make it easier to identify which items are eligible for the "snack" option of the Magic Your Way Dining Plan. Look for the purple and white DP rectangle designating eligible items.

1. We planned to eat at a Swan and Dolphin restaurant for dinner and were surprised at the $9 parking fee. However, a couple of the restaurants will validate the ticket so parking was free. So be sure to get your ticket validated.

2. Think about whether adding the Dining Plan to your package is really right for you. Yes, it's a great deal. However, we found for the table service restaurants where the two of us could get two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts, that that was really too much food for us. Had we not been on the Dining Plan we probably would have only ordered one appetizer and two entrees (and maybe a dessert). We may have saved money and we certainly would have saved calories.

3. The Dining Plan is still very confusing. I would recommend you always ask the Cast Member at the register what counts and what doesn't. At the Pepper Market in Coronado Springs, a bakery item didn't count as "Dessert," but other places it did. The cast members will also sometimes help you -- like the dinner at Pepper Market where we had three entrees and a fruit bowl (which doesn't count on the dining plan), but no desserts. The cast member said she would ring up my fruit bowl as three cookies instead so we didn't have to pay for that. - Michele Buchecker

Disney's Hollywood Studios - You are now allowed to use the Magic Your Way Dining Plan to purchase the Fantasmic Dining Package. - Heather Stevens

EDITOR'S NOTE: We've confirmed that as of September 2, 2005 this is true. Hollywood & Vine and Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano both count as one Table Service meal for the Dining Plan, while the Brown Derby counts as a Signature experience, or two Table Service meals. When you call to make a reservation, your credit card number will be taken but the charge won't be put through (unless you are a no-show, or do not cancel at least 48 hours before your dining date). You will pay with your Magic Your Way Dining Plan when you dine, just as you would for any meal.

http://allears.net/din/fantdin1.htm

My sister and I just returned from a magical vacation at the World. We had the dining plan and (with some planning) used our counter service dessert for our breakfast the next day. (The counter service meal includes entree, drink and dessert.) For example, we ate at the food court in the Land. I had a sandwich and got a wonderful blueberry muffin from the bakery as my dessert -- what a great breakfast! Another day, we went to the bakery at the Boardwalk for a counter service lunch and got a panini and a terrific apple strudel as my dessert -- again, a wonderful breakfast. With the "leftover" snack options, we were able to buy prepackaged "goodies" to take home. This worked out great! Diana Knight

A tip in a previous newsletter mentioned the problem of switching hotels while on the dining plan. It is true that your MagicBand will not work (for dining only) until after midnight on the day you check out of one hotel into the next (therefore you cannot charge a meal on the dining plan with your MagicBand all your next day). But guest services will write down the numbers that you need to give at the restaurants so that they can be manually entered and you do not have to pay or charge them on your credit card and be reimbursed. After midnight, when your dining plan becomes activated on your MagicBand, the dining credits are just automatically calculated and deducted. This was how it was handled for us in October when we moved from the Cabins at Fort Wilderness to the BoardWalk. It went very smoothly. - K.G.

When at all financially possible, consider booking the Magic Your Way Plus Dining Plan. Yes, it's a little more than you would normally spend -- but what a great way to experience Disney Dining, without having to pay attention to the prices. I am normally a burger queen (due to the fact that it's the cheapest thing on the menu), but with the Silver Plan we were able to do a character breakfast every morning, as well as really experience the dinnertime restaurants. You can really get your money's worth by using your wishes for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue or the Spirit of Aloha dinner show at the Polynesian (these are $50 per adult). Since each Magical Wish includes an appetizer, main course, dessert, and drink (or milkshake), we only ate two meals a day -- our character breakfast, and an early dinner. It was great! - Jessica Clemmons

We just returned from Disney World (not our first time). We discovered if you are on the dining plan and do not stay at one hotel for your entire stay, you REALLY need to plan. We stayed Saturday night at hotel #1 and knew enough to use all our meals before checking into hotel #2 on Sunday morning. What we DIDN'T know, is that our second dining plan wouldn't work with our MagicBands until after midnight on Sunday. We had to charge our meals and then have the hotel take the meals off our bill. They were willing to do so, but you should keep your receipts to make it easier on all. My advice is that if you use the dining plan, stay in the same hotel for your entire visit. (Disney cast members we spoke to are aware of this problem, but have not yet found a solution.) - David Bowman