Details for the 2016 Disney Dining Plans have been announced and changes went into effect for ALL plans as of May 31, 2015.
Take a look at the 2016 Disney Dining Plans
Let’s take a quick look at Magic Your Way Packages and then delve into the changes to the Disney Dining Plans.
Magic Your Way Package Plus Dining
To take advantage of the Disney Dining Plan (DDP), you’ll need to book a Walt Disney World vacation package and then add on the DDP. Many guests find this to be a convenient way to budget for participating Disney World restaurants. In addition to staying at a Walt Disney World resort, you’ll also need to select Magic Your Way Base Admission tickets for everyone in your traveling party. Opt for 1-10 days — whatever works for your vacation!
Changes to Current Disney Dining Plan Entitlements
As mentioned above, some changes went into effect on May 31st.
For Table Service Entitlements:
- You can now share your table service entitlements! Yep, you may now “pay” with an unlimited number of available table service credits at one seating. So, if you want to treat your non-Disney Dining Plan friends to dinner, you may request to do so. Just tell your server.
- Did someone say dessert? Well, sometimes, guests actually want to make substitutions, and now they can. When available at the restaurant, you can now substitute your dessert for a fruit plate, side salad, or cup of soup. Guests can not substitute appetizers for desserts.
Indulge in a cup of Mickey Noodle Soup for your snack credit
For Quick Service Entitlements:
- As long as it’s done in the same transaction, you may now substitute any dessert or non-alcoholic beverage for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.
- Want more snacks? During the same transaction, you may substitute a quick service meal for up to three DDP-eligible snacks.
For Snack Entitlements:
- The price of snacks no longer determines participation of that snack in the Disney Dining Plan. Items now considered snacks include any soup, ice cream novelties, two scoops or less of hand-scooped ice cream (yep, sundaes too!) but no souvenir containers, any menu item listed as a side, and any single-serving, non-alcoholic beverages (no souvenir cups) at quick service locations.
- Rather purchase breakfast with your snack credits? Go ahead! Guests can now utilize a single snack credit for cereal, French toast sticks, grits, oatmeal (or quinoa), or hard-boiled eggs. You may also use a snack credit for a side of bacon, sausage, potatoes, or eggs.
Plain Caramel Apples are now available for a snack credit
Take a look at a few more updates that we want to share with you…
Overall 2016 Disney Dining Plan Changes
The following has been added to all plans:
- During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, guests may substitute a non-alcoholic beverage and/or dessert for any eligible snack at the location.
Substitutions are allowed in 2016
2016 Premium and Platinum Disney Dining Plan Changes
Here’s an update:
- Seasonal tours (Gardens of the World and Disney’s Yuletide Fantasy) are not mentioned. In addition, Richard Petty Driving Experience will close in late summer 2015 and thus will no longer be offered.
- Category 1 seating is only included at the 8:30pm Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue show.
- Pedal boats and sailboats are no longer mentioned under watercraft rentals.
- Archery is now offered for ages 7 and up (last year it was 6 and older).
- In-room childcare is now offered on the premium plan in addition to the platinum.
- The Backstage Magic Tour is no longer offered.
Read more about the Premium Dining Plan here and the Platinum Plan here!
NEW 2016 Disney Dining Plan Restaurants
New to the list in-progress is Creature Comforts (the new Starbucks location) and Harambe Market inside Disney’s Animal kingdom.
Enjoy new restaurants on the Dining Plan
Remember, many Disney World restaurants (especially those owned by outside companies) do not re-register with the Dining Plan until the end of the year.
More Updates to Come
“Why isn’t Restaurant X listed on the plan?!???!?!?”
While some restaurants are already listed on the plans, it’ll take some time before all eateries are finalized. (Usually restaurants not owned by Disney wait until the last minute to re-up their status in the Dining Plan.) For instance, you’ll notice the absence of many Downtown Disney and Epcot restaurants. These (and others) will likely be added throughout the remaining 2015 months and will be in place by January 2016.
Our recommendation is to book your Advance Dining Reservations for 2016 based on the 2015 Disney Dining Plan Restaurant list. If, for some reason, a restaurant that you’ve booked does not continue on the Dining Plan in 2016, you can then make other plans.
2016 Disney Dining Plan Costs
Remember, you must add a Disney Dining Plan to a Magic Your Way Vacation Package.
Basic DDP:
$61.84 per night per adult ages 10 and up
$20.96 per night per children ages 3-9
Quick Service DDP:
$42.84 per night ages 10 and up
$17.47 per night age 3 to 9
Deluxe DDP:
$111.73 per night ages 10 and up
$32.56 per night ages 3 to 9
Premium DDP:
$208.08/adult per day ages 10 and up
$152.60/child per day ages 3 to 9
Platinum DDP:
$260.10 per adult per day ages 10 and up
$201.65 per child per day ages 3 to 9
Prices include tax and are subject to change.
Stay tuned for more Disney Dining Plan information as it is released. Please understand that this is all subject to change.
What do you think about the changes to the Disney Dining Plan? Are you more apt to purchase the Disney Dining Plan now… or not? Be heard in the comments below!
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Where did the information come from that appetizers are no longer included on the Deluxe Dining Plan?
The 2016 brochure shows that appetizers are included at table service restaurants:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw_nextgen/CoreCatalog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2016deluxeDining.pdf
Each meal from a Table-Service location includes one (1) single-serving:
For Breakfast
•
Entrée
•
Non-Alcoholic Beverage
– or –
•
One (1) Full Buffet**
For Lunch/Dinner
•
Appetizer
•
Entrée
•
Dessert
•
Non-Alcoholic Beverage
– or –
•
One (1) Full Buffet**
**If available, buffet excludes Specialty Beverages that are sold separately.
So I heard the no appetizer thing was a typo… Is it actually happening? I kind of really like appetizers so…
Why can’t we have appetizers??????
App. OR Desserts some people don’t want a dessert with every meal.
Just looked at the 2016 Disney Deluxe Dining Plan brochure and it shows the appetizer still included for Table Service and Signature Service.
I enjoyed the deluxe plan for the fact we are not desert eaters it had a very small price increase but you lost all apps no longer worth it at all. So now I will eat kid quick service meals and one nice dinner. That’s a loss for them of at least 1 grand on a short trip 2xs a year and 3 grand when I go with my larger group. I tend to have many spreadsheets to compare the costs even if oop was cheeper we would say it is ok for the ease now it will never work out less. Another item from www I can be nostalgic abouT.
Actually I looked on the website this morning and it still had appetizers listed in the deluxe brochure
A child can now have an adult entree in the deluxe plan? That alone makes me want to get it since my almost-five year old can out-eat me and doesn’t ever like kid options. Also, I’m loving the option to switch desert for different items. My son would rather eat fruit than cake, and my hubby would rather have a salad. I’ll keep the cake. 😉
2016 DDP information is confusing. I got the 4 different DDPs from https://disneyworld.disney.go.com, yet the description on this page mentions 5 plans. The basic DDP is not mentioned on the https://disneyworld.disney.go.com site. I also am seeing no difference in the Deluxe, Premium & Platinum plans. They all say 3 meals, 2 snacks & refill.
There should be the choice for appetizer OR dessert if one is to be eliminated.
AC, Brian, Wayne, and Joe — We’ve confirmed that appetizers are still included on the deluxe plan for Table Service Lunch and Dinner, according to the brochures, and we have updated the post and our pages to reflect that. Thanks!
@Dan : In terms of food there is literally no difference between the Deluxe, Premium and Platinum Dining Plans. 😉
The difference comes from the additional services and options included with the 2 more expensive plans. The Deluxe doesn’t offer extra services, much like the normal and quick service plans. The Premium and Platinum plans include things like water-vehicle rentals, tours, that sort of thing. 🙂
Dan, Disney offers the Quick Service Dining Plan, the Disney Dining Plan (the one we have called the Basic), the Deluxe Dining Plan, the Premium Dining Plan, and the Platinum Dining Plan. We have confirmed that the Deluxe Dining Plan still offers an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink for lunch and dinner at table service restaurants. Hope this helps!
The amount of misinformation Disney has been responsible for re: DxDDP changes is truly disappointing. I sent an email to guest communications when the initial brochure came out expressing dissatisfaction with the change and received a voicemail clearly telling me there would be no more appetizers. The very next day they updated the brochure to add back appetizers. So, it has been difficult to know what to believe. Thanks for confirming the appetizers are back! I hope the right hand and left hand start communicating within Disney to keep this from happening again.
If this is the 2016 Disney meal plan how come it start may 31, 2015. Does that mean that my sept 2015 vacation. Will have those changes
I keep hearing that these changes have taken place as of May 31st. My upcoming trip is in October and I have the 2015 Dining Plan. So am I limited to the 2015 Dining Plan rules or do I now get to use these new changes for my upcoming trip? I’m particularly interested in the exchanging Quick Service for 3 snacks and the swapping out dessert item for something else (side, soup, etc.) I’ve actually planned where I will be going based on these new rules… like getting 3 “snacks” at Starring Rolls or Kringla Bakery and save items from those places for breakfasts. 🙂
“As long as it’s done in the same transaction, you may now substitute any dessert or non-alcoholic beverage for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.”
Am I reading this right, we can swap for more snack credits? This is fantastic!
I am SO GLAD that we can swap desserts for soup/salad/fruit now! I remember being so stuffed all the time on previous trips, and so sick of the dessert-at-every-meal requirement.
I had abd surgery and know cannot eat large portions of food. I basically can share meals with everyone. Are we allowed to go to any snack counter and get 3 snacks for 1 QS credit?
As long as it’s done in the same transaction, you may now substitute any dessert or non-alcoholic beverage for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.
– For a credit, or for an actual snack (or is it both)?
Want more snacks? During the same transaction, you may substitute a quick service meal for up to three DDP-eligible snacks.
– Again, is that for the snacks, or for the credits?
We were at WDW from May 31, 2015 to June 5, 2015 and these changes were never mentioned or advertised at all. I only new about them because of your blog.
My biggest disappointment was that they stopped giving the photo packages at the character dining. Even at Cinderella’s Royal Table they just added the photo to the magic band instead of an actual hard copy of the photo.
We went to Disney in June and had the quick service dining plan. My 2 children who were 9 and under were able to order an adult meal at every location we ate. Also we ended up with 2 meal credits and were able to exchange those for 3 snack credits each. The dining plan was initially a little intimidating for us but the cast members were so helpful and explained everything, that’s how we found out about the ability to use meal credits for 3 snack credits. I am in the process of planning next summers’ trip and the DDP is a must for us! I also noticed a lot of things didn’t specify it was a snack credit but when I asked about it I was told it was. (The funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom menu price $5.99, was a snack credit) To use 3 snack credits for 1 meal credit you just inform the cast member that’s what you’d like to do and they will do it.
Martyn — You may substitute the actual snacks, foods, or drinks, not credits. You can get a dessert or non-alcoholic beverage instead of a snack, and use your snack credit to do that. Regarding the Quick Service meal credit, you can use your quick service meal credit to get three snacks, not three snack credits.
Could I redeem a quick service credit at a food and wine festival booth for three items that qualify for snacks on those menus or does it have to be done at a place that would normally take a quick service credit to exchange for the snacks?
Also everyone talking about swapping Quick Service credits for Snacks, remember it is poor value if you paid for the DDP. Three snacks is around $15, a quick service meal including drink and dessert is $16-$22. Plus each quick service credit cost you around $18.
I was wondering about using some of your meal credits for people not on the dining plan. We are going with other people who will not have a dining plan so I wanted to know if I can share credits with them.
Just marking my place here – also intrigued to know whether we can buy 3 F&W items at the same kiosk for a single QS credit during our October trip!
Yay! I cannot tell you how many times I emailed Disney about giving us the option to switch out dessert for a simple healthy salad. I think if enough people take the time to express their opinions it eventually pays off. Thank you, Disney! Can’t wait to see you again!
I’ve been looking into this extensively for 2016. I am happy to be able to swap out desserts for something like a salad. In our family of 4 my husband and I always get a salad and we’ve always shared 2 desserts as a family because it’s just too much food! That said, we also love the restaurants at Disney that happen to include desserts as part of the meal (Boma, Garden Grille, Biergarten) so it’s a moot point in that respect. I did read though on the Disney site pdf dining brochure that for quick service counter meals you can swap out the dessert for a snack but only in the same transaction. If that is the case what that would mean for us is being able to skip the dessert (we never order dessert with lunch, too much food when walking around in hot weather) and buy a bottled water to take with us after we leave. That works out perfectly.
If you are purchasing the “Basic Dining Plan”, do your research. At an average cost of $62.00 per adult per day it is very easy to select restaurants that you would like to eat at, but check out there menus online first. Many of the restaurants in the list, if you add up the total cost for each meal ( 1 table, 1 quick-service and 1 snack ), do not even come close to the $62.00 per day purchase price. Most of the quick-service options are very comparable in price total; averaging approx. $16.00 per meal Where they get you is on the table service meals. If your total cost per person at a table service restaurant is not at least $40.00, look for a different option. That brings your per person total to $56.00; still leaving you a snack at an approx. cost of $5 – $6 which justifies the meal plan. Example: The Plaza Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom; using the most expensive item on the menu your total cost for 1 meal with tax would be approx. $32.00. That leaves $30.00 for a quick-service meal and snack. Since the average quick service is $16.00 and a snack $6.00, that leaves you $8.00 that was not spent for that day. If you do that on every day of your stay it really adds up.
I can’t even tell you the hours I spent picking out table service restaurants on my last visit to justify the cost of the meal plan.
For anyone that has never used the Dining Plan before, get a list of the restaurants you would like for your table service options and the days and times you wish to dine there. Many of them fill up quickly (especially the character dining), so make your reservations as soon as possible to get your preferred day and seating time. Disney allows you to make reservations 180 days prior to your arrival. I highly recommend do that.
When it all comes down to it, you are paying for convenience. I like paying for everything (room, food, tickets) before going. That way the only money I need is for shopping and tips. Even the tips I manage before I go. I figure $40.00 per person per sit down meal, then take 15% of that and put in an envelope. That way when I go to a dinner, I just take the envelope out and put it on the table. So when you decide on taking the dining plan, decide whether saving a few dollars a day, or the convenience of having everything paid for before you go is what fits your plans
Just as a heads up ,I have just come back from a trip to Disney world on the dining plan. i have to say I tried to substitute dessert for another item at two different locations and was not able to do so. At Be Our Guest for dinner they said sorry no, but said later this year it should be possible. At Flame Tree barbecue they looked at me like I had three heads and even the manager had not heard of the ability to swap dessert for a side.
So are snacks wide-open now? Like a turkey leg or nutella waffle?
You cannot swap dessert for snack credit at Quick Service. You can swap dessert for an eligible snack at that location instead I.e cup of soup etc. I wish it was as you stated but it’s not.
Mike — Not quite THAT wide open.
Mike — No; you’ll still want to pay attention to whether the snack you’re interested in has the DDP logo beside it on the menu, and when in doubt, ask a Cast Member.
Since you have to buy the plan for everybody in your room that would include our 11 year old daughter who still will probably eat off the kids menu and many restaurants. Are we allowed to pay for her but use the dining plan for us and then end up using her meals for two credit meals for us?
So, I know this has been discussed multiple times, but just to clarify… If we are at Be Our Guest or Crystal Palace and we don’t want dessert, we can exchange that dessert for an additional snack credit or two since neither of us want or need dessert? Would they get added to our magic bands or how would that work?
Jennifer — We haven’t heard of any options to exchange just one course (dessert, for instance) for a snack credit that could be used at a later time. Guidelines for the plan have only indicated that 1) as long as it’s done in the same transaction, you may now substitute any dessert or non-alcoholic beverage for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit; and 2) during the same transaction, you may substitute a quick service meal for up to three DDP-eligible snacks. Hope this helps!
I am planning our first ever trip to Disney World, we are staying at the Yacht Club, have Park Hoppers, have scheduled fast passes etc.. However, the biggest dilemma seems to be whether or not to go with a dining plan??? Its seems very confusing, you have a certain amount of credit to use per plan with rules attached to that. If it was all inclusive and meaning gratuities as well like thy offer on Disney cruiseLIne. then I say GREAT! But I hear different stories from guests and employees how this al works,… Some restaurants take-up two table service credits, leaving you less for your trip unless you dine elsewhere that requires one or eat at more quick service restaurants. . Appetizers and gratuities are not included, a glass of wine not included with dinner,.
Being that we would have to pay out of pocket anyway for the things the dining plans does not cover, its just easier and less of headache rather to figure it all, to just pay out of pocket and not worry or stress about all these credits , what it does and does not cover, etc If it was set up like an all inclusive resort where everything is covered incl gratuities, two adult drinks, then GREAT…. Nothing to think about except having a great time!
I hear way to often about people saving receipts, figuring out if the dining plan is worth it or not. Did we use all our snack credits? quick service? but don’t have enough table service credits ? Prefer appetizers over dessert or want both at certain meals??? So much to figure out its a distraction. I just prefer to simplify all this and pay out of pocket for exactly what we eat and not eat, even if it works out to be a bit more its worth the time and energy we save by not having to worry about it or figure it out. You will have to pay out of pocket anyway for some things so whats the big savings? both time and money wise? I say no dining plan for us. Just too complicated….
Is it our imagination, or did a TON of sit down restaurants drop off of the list for the Deluxe plan?
Question, AJ…. In the past, we were able at different times (some years/trips easier than others) to break QS into the 3 snacks, but it sounds like now that’s the official option. I read elsewhere that when you do that, all three of those snack credits have to be used in one transaction. Is that correct? And if so, does that mean you have to use them immediately in that transaction where you’re breaking them down? Or can they be used freely and on future days like regular snack credits? I’d love to know, as we’re planning for an upcoming trip in March. Love some of these changes, esp. substitution of a side salad/soup with a meal. So great! Thanks for the info.
They certainly did. According to the latest list were are now only 3 participating restaurants in EPCOT; Rose and Crown, Biergarten and Coral Reef. The situation at Disney Springs is even worse. Disney must have done something to cause this wholesale desertion. If I had booked at Coronado Springs I’d be particularly peeved as there seem to be no DDP restaurants were at all!
Derek — Disney restaurants frequently wait until the very last minute each year — or even early into the new year — to confirm their participation in the Disney Dining Plan. Don’t give up hope! Keep checking back with us. We will update our DDP pages with confirmed participating restaurants very soon!
Brooke, thank you. I will keep checking back and hope that things change drastically before our next trip!
I can understand some of the independents holding back until the last minute but what has surprised me is the Maya Grill and other resort restaurants disappearing from the list. You’d think they’d be under Disney’s control.
I suspect that the problem is the ever increasing numbers in the parks. In peak season I suspect these restaurants just do not NEED the dining plan to fill their tables. They still need the DP off peak but I guess you’re either in or out for a year, and restaurants have to look at the benefit across a whole year before deciding to continue. I also suspect that there is a lot of negotiation with Disney each year about the flat rate paid for each meal.
Whatever, its a rather worrying development. There are those of us who will not come at all without the wonderful range of restaurants there used to be on the dining plan so let’s hope Disney keep that in mind!
Have been speaking today to a very knowledgeable sounding lady on dining reservations. She said she knows of no restaurants that have dropped out for 2016 and it is (as suggested earlier in this thread) only a matter of updating the Disney website. She said she advises everybody who calls to use the 2015 list.
As a professional website designer though I have to say “badly done Disney”. Putting incorrect or out if date data on an extensively used website is very, very bad practice. An explanation was all that was required!
Derek — I’m so glad that you were able to get the updated information! Best of luck with your plans! 🙂
For those fretting about restaurants that have dropped off, I just checked the disney quick service PDF and there are a lot more restaurants listed than were previously. For instance, in disney springs, WP Express and Earl of Sandwich have been added.
2016 DDP entitlements now published. All the old EPCOT and Disney Springs eateries are back on again plus a few more. So all is right with the world….!
Derek — Hooray! We are so glad that you have the information you need now to plan! 😀
Cat — Thanks for letting everyone know! We saw the lists were updated yesterday (thank goodness!) 🙂
My question is about using meals for others.
My large family of 20 will be in a wdw resort this summer. We are booked in two rooms of 10 each.
Given the new rule about using meals for others, could one of our rooms (with 8 adults/ 2 kids) get the deluxe plan and the other room (9 adults/1 kid) get no dinning plan and the two rooms share the credits?
I realize that those with out a meal plan would need to be with someone from the room that has the plan in order to do this. Assume that’s not an issue.
The deluxe meal plan room would have:
10people x 3 meals of any type per day, so 30 meal credits
and
10 people x 2 snacks per day, so 20 snacks.
That means our entire party of 20 could do a table service meal together per day using 2/3 of the daily meal credits.
As for the rest of the day, half of us (10) would survive on the remaining two snack credits and the other half (10) would use up the remaining 10 meals for the day at a quick service.
We could alternate each day between who gets the leftover meals and who gets the two snacks.
Or we could even get more creative….
On the deluxe plan can’t we just skip the differentiation between kids and adults? If kids can now get adult meals and if you can now use credits for other people then my young kid could order and adult meal that his older cousin ends up eating right? This way we could use all our deluxe meal credits for adults and the 3 little kids can munch off plates.
Also at a deluxe table meal can’t some people just order a drink (that we pay for out of pocket) and not use up any meal credits while sharing food with others. We could probably feed all 20 of us with 12 table credits, especially given that that this includes 12 appetizers, 12 entrees and 12 deserts! We could bank 8 more meals that way.
In our case, for a 5 day stay, buying the deluxe dinning plan for one room with the intention of sharing is $840 cheeper the buying a regular dinning plan for two rooms.
We techincally lose out on 10 quick service meals/day if we choose to share a deluxe plan BUT if we can stretch some of our table service meals so that we us less then 20 meal credits to feed our party (as detailed above) . We could benefit even more.
Thoughts? Am I missing something?