The Disney Dining Plan is BACK and that means you’ve got some important decisions to make!
If you’re using the Dining Plan on your 2024 Disney World trip, then you’ve probably already started figuring out exactly where you’re going to use those credits. And if you haven’t, well, this is a great place to start!
What is the Disney Dining Plan?
Whether you’re enjoying the food court at your Resort, a snack from a kiosk in the Parks, or a Signature meal in Disney Springs, there’s no shortage of tasty things to eat and drink. And to help guests plan ahead — and possibly save some money in the process — Disney offers the Disney Dining Plan.
The Disney Dining Plan is only available to those with Resort Packages. This means you have to be staying at a Disney Resort, and you must have park tickets linked to your stay.
Each of the Dining Plans offers different credits per person, per night. Because of this, they also vary in cost, with the Standard Dining Plan being the most expensive. Here’s a look at that breakdown:
Quick Service Disney Dining Plan Credits (per person, per night):Â
- 2 Quick Service Meals
- 1 Snack
The cost for the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan for 2024 is $57.01 per adult, per day, and $23.83 per child (ages 3 to 9), per day. When the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan was last available in 2020, the cost was $55.00 per adult, per night, and $26.00 per child, per night.
Standard Disney Dining Plan Credits (per person, per night):
- 1 Table Service Meal
- 1 Quick Service Meal
- 1 Snack
The cost for the Standard Disney Dining Plan for 2024 is $94.28 per adult, per night (ages 10 and up), and $29.69 per child, per night (ages 3 to 9). When the Standard Disney Dining Plan was last available in 2020, the cost was $78.01 per adult, per night, and $30.51 per child, per night.
Now that we’ve got that all sorted out, let’s figure out which table service restaurants are the BEST for the Disney Dining Plan in 2024 based on value.
Best Table Service Restaurants for the Dining Plan
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom isn’t known for having out-of-this-world table service restaurants, but when it comes to getting a good bang for your buck — The Crystal Palace is where you want to look. More popular restaurants like Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table cost two dining plan credits, while Crystal Palace only needs one.
We recommend hitting Crystal Palace up at breakfast, in particular, both because of the excellent value with the all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet — and the Winnie the Pooh & Friends Character Breakfast!
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Animal Kingdom
Another great character meal option is at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Here, you’ll get to meet Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey in their best safari outfits.
Since this is a buffet, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from — including Disney favorites and rare, more adventurous eats. Breakfast will run you $45 per adult and $29 per kiddo.
Tusker House Character Breakfast
EPCOT
Garden Grill is one of our favorite restaurants in all of Disney World — and for good reason. This hidden gem features a character meal with Chip, Dale, Farmer Mickey, and Pluto. We especially love how much face time you get with the characters here.
This is another all-you-care-to-enjoy meal, which makes it a good value from the start. The meal is served family style and breakfast features items like cinnamon breakfast loaf, scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, Mickey waffles, seasonal fruit, cheesy potato casserole, and grilled flank steak with ranchero sauce. Breakfast is $42 per adult and $27 per child.
Lunch and Dinner costs $55 per adult and $36 per child. You can expect a garden salad, barbecue-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, seasonal veggies, southern-style spoon bread, grilled beef with chimichurri, and berry shortcake.
Chip and Dale Harvest Feast at The Garden Grill
If Garden Grill doesn’t strike your fancy, another great EPCOT table service option for the dining plan is La Hacienda de San Angel. While this isn’t a buffet or all-you-can-eat spot, it is still an excellent value. The dining plan will save you from spending $54 for Carne Asada at La Hacienda, while Braised Short Rib costs $48.
Drinks at this restaurant are also on the pricier side, with some standard cocktails running ya anywhere from $23 to $28. But, with the dining plan, you can get these expensive eats at a better price.
La Hacienda de San Angel
Disney World Hotels
One of the best new character meals at Disney World can be found at Riviera Resort’s Topolino’s Terrace. We recommend this meal for breakfast only, because the restaurant doesn’t serve lunch — and costs two credits at dinner!
You can meet Minnie, Mickey, Donald, and Daisy dressed in different art-themed outfits, and y’all — this breakfast is GOOD. It’s a prix-fixe menu and is $45 for adults and $29 for children. Choose from options like avocado toast, sour cream waffles, and wood-fired butcher’s steak. Kids can choose from Mickey waffle dippers, fruit and yogurt, and scrambled eggs.
Of course, we have to talk about ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Breakfast is stellar, but dinner here actually gives you the best value on the dining plan. Dinner is $59 per adult and $38 per child and features family-style Polynesian-inspired eats.
Dinner includes a mixed greens salad, signature ‘Ohana bread, honey coriander chicken wings, pork dumplings tossed in a chili-garlic sauce, the ‘Ohana dinner skillet that includes the famous noodles, and bread pudding.
'Ohana Dinner
Boma at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is another stellar option — for both breakfast and dinner. But, to maximize your dining plan credit, we recommend dining at dinner. The Boma dinner buffet costs $54 per adult and $32 per child.
Some of our favorite eats are pita with hummus and coriander, butternut squash soup, zebra domes, and more. We also love the fact that there is an open kitchen — meaning you get to watch the chefs do their thing!
Boma Flavors of Africa Dinner - Jambo House
Disney Springs
Homecomin’ in Disney Springs is a restaurant that we just keep coming back to time and time again — and chances are, you’ll want to do the same. If you want to maximize your credits, we recommend grabbing the signature sampler for $24 or the barbecue-glazed pork chop for $37.
And, wash it all down with one of their $16 cocktails. Bruch is absolutely incredible at this spot as well, so if you can snag a reservation during that time we highly recommend it!
Homecomin': Florida Kitchen and Shine Bar
If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!
Stay tuned to AllEars for more tips for your 2024 Disney World vacation!
EVERYTHING You Need To Know About the Dining Planin Disney World
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We went in 2022 without the dining plan & it was stressful. I did not feel the freedom of ordering what I wanted from the menu like with the dining plan. With 4 adults we took turns paying for sit down dinners. I will be booking dining plan for our trip in 2025, it just makes it less stressful to prepay & just leave a cash tip. I am so glad they brought it back
No. The cost is way too high for the quality of food. I know the last time we put everything on our cards and it was much more affordable. We also like the freedom of eating when we wanted after making our reservations with what was available. If it was not available at the time they opened reservations we planned on eating at Disney Springs that night. So for a family of four it would cost over $300 a day to eat with tax and tips on the plan. If special meals like the Princess Table require two dinners that will add up to a little less than $2000 for 5 day visit. Add on to that a stay in a moderate on-site hotel at $300 a night and tickets costing $500 a day per family of four you are close to $7000 for a five day experience in way overcrowded parks where the kids are disappointed because they did not get to ride their favorite ride.