Could This Be Disney World’s Answer to the Dining Plan for 2022? Here’s What We Know.

We’ve seen a lot of things temporarily disappear in Disney World because of the pandemic.

Things are different in Disney World right now.

The parks are without fireworks, parades, and many other entertainment options, plus FastPass+ has been suspended at this time. One big change that we’ve seen is that Disney’s dining plan hasn’t been available for on-site guests to book since the reopening. The Disney Dining Plan is a way for guests to “pre-pay” for a certain number of meals and snacks depending on the plan they purchased.

Today, Disney released a new offer for UK residents in 2022, and this special deal comes with several notable perks. Those who book the package can get 14-day tickets for the price of 7-day tickets, a $200 Disney gift card, a special gift basket, but most importantly — there’s a big dining credit!

Be Our Guest Restaurant

UK residents who book a 2-week stay at select Disney Resort hotels can get up to $950 in dining credit with this 50th Anniversary package. This credit can be used at more than 250 locations around Walt Disney World. In years past, we’ve seen Disney add a ” free dining plan” offer to these packages, so this seems to be the replacement for that perk.

Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano

However, there are a few key differences between this dining credit and the dining plan. First of all, the dining plan operates on a credit system, where guests get a certain number of credits and can exchange them for meals and snacks. With this new offer, you’ll be able to use the money given to purchase food as a sort of “gift card” that only pays up to a specific amount versus a number of meals.

Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Another important thing to note is that while $950 sounds like a lot of money, it’s not as much per day as you may think. This offer must be booked with a 14-night stay, which comes out to about $67.86 in dining credit per room per night. If you have more than one person in your room, that amount may not get you as much food as a dining plan would. (And not all hotels get the $950 — for some value resorts it’s $500.)

Le Cellier Steakhouse in EPCOT

But, even if it’s not the same as a dining plan, could this be an indication of what’s to come? If Disney can’t bring back the dining plan just yet, this could be a great way to offer guests something special until then. We haven’t seen this perk added to packages for US residents yet, but we’ll definitely be looking out to see if that happens in the future.

©Disney

We know that many guests are missing the convenience of the dining plan currently. Disney hasn’t shared any plans to bring it back, and it’s not available for purchase for 2021 or 2022 packages. 

Narcoossee’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

What do you think? Would you be okay with a dining credit instead of the dining plan? Make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments! And stay tuned to AllEars for more updates on this, and other, Disney World offers.

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Have you ever used the dining plan? Let us know in the comments below!

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13 Replies to “Could This Be Disney World’s Answer to the Dining Plan for 2022? Here’s What We Know.”

  1. The dining plan is one of our favorite parts of a Disney World trip. We would likely not go anymore if it isn’t brought back. The dining plan adds a lot if convenience and make spending a lot of money on meals a little easier psychologically because it’s prepaid, rather than having to pull out the wallet (except for tips). Why bother staying on property if it’s not available?

  2. I’ve booked this package for September 2022 9 nights at the Beach Club so we are given $612 dinning credit plus the $200 which works out at a very good amount however it is only me and a 9 year old so for the two of us will go far, if we were a family of over three it would be used up pretty quick. I do love the way the credit will work tho have more freedom, apps, no dessert (unless you want to of course) no using two credits on signature etc I do want to say that I think it’s great that Disney have even released an offer like this with the way the times are at the min, we were booked in anyway so definitely a huge bonus to get the credit and gift card.

  3. We have booked for 2022. The 950 dollars given per room won’t go far. I hope to be able to add DDP before we go as this will encourage us to stay on site.

  4. I love the Disney meal plan and it’s the only way I afford to stay at Disney resort for two weeks at a time. I was so looking forward to go next year but without a meal plan I simply can’t afford to go. 😞😞😞😞😞

  5. I would love dining credit vs plan. I can dine way I wish ( app as my entree) no required dessert. I might be willing to do this.

  6. Disney corporate is guessing that their guests will tend to be spending more $$$ with the dining credit plan and being on vacation..their mindset is for you to splurge above and beyond, while the dining plan limits the buyer to an established price fixed meal which keeps Disney out of your wallet.

  7. As a UK guest looking to book for 2022 (2020 was cancelled); this really isn’t a great deal. For starters, last week (pre-deal announcement) we almost booked a fairly good package at CBR. Since introduction of the deal, the same package has increased by around £300 ($425). Whats more, that type of room doesn’t come with the dining credit, and so you have to step up to the next level of room – another £200 ($285). You see where this is going..

    .. Then as a moderate resort you don’t quality for the ‘full’ dining credit. Overall, it comes in at around $100 of saving from last week. It’s just smoke and mirrors really.

    Even if we were getting the full $950 dining credit value as a perk (which you can see we’re not), for a family of 4 staying 2 weeks it’s around $16per person per day. That’s probably not covering snacks!

    I have no doubt that Disney will reintroduce DDP as soon as they can. My hunch is that they are waiting until they have things running at full capacity again and it’s looking like no restrictions will be needed in the future. The last thing they’d want to do is to re-introduce it and then have to cancel it again.

    Sadly, whilst things might be looking good now, i fear they will wait until the Autumn before making any decisions so that we can see how things pan out as the weather gets cooler.

    I’d be more than happy with a paid for option (obviously prefer free), as it just gives peace of mind and takes the worry about overspend away. Sure many others feel the same

    Fingers crossed!

  8. I was always a fan of the free dining when we could get it. Last trip (2019) we decided not to go with the free dining, and took a room discount instead. Even with myself and my son eating at a table service restaurant 5 out of the 7 days, we still spent less than we would have if we paid full price and got free dining. We decided that the dining plan didn’t work for us anymore.

    However, I loved the convenience of the dining plan, and that it wasn’t something that I had to budget for during our trip.

    Our first trip (way back in 2008) had free dining when it included appetizers and dessert with every meal. We wasted so much food by not being able to finish our meals, and getting the remainder to go wasn’t happening because we had so many meals to eat. Our last trip with the dining plan, we got the quick service plan and then just booked table service restaurants if we really wanted to go there (like O’hana — yum!).

  9. I truly hope they bring back the dining plan the way it used to be. If this dining credit is added to a regular package as a “freebie” of sorts, any break in cost is appreciated but it should in no way *replace* the dining plan option that you can purchase as an add-on to packages. We’ve tried lots of new restaurants & had new adventures thanks to the dining plan & I hope that opportunity continues in 2022.

  10. I don’t think I understand how this would translate to U.S. resort guests as a perk. With Disney Dining, we’re paying for the plan entirely (unless we book during the limited “free Disney dining plan” periods). Would they give us a dining credit based on where and how long we book? If we wound up just having the option of buying these as dining credits instead, how is that a perk for resort guests when non-resort guests could do the same thing on a Disney gift card? I think people liked the idea with the Disney Dining Plan that you knew what meals were covered and you didn’t have to watch your spending while on vacation, so I can’t imagine this is a route that’s going to find many fans.

    I’m hoping instead it’s a sign they’re looking at Disney dining incentives again so maybe the Plan (maybe revised) is coming back instead.