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!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Juls — Wow! You have thought of everything! 😀 And because your question is extremely detailed, we went to our resident Disney Dining with Families and DDP expert, Erin Foster, for the answer. In a nutshell, these are some things she wanted you to consider:
While what you are proposing does seem do-able, it also seems like a lot of work for one (or a few) people.
Also, much of what you propose will not work in any of the resort’s restaurants that solely feature buffets or family style meals. Everyone under the age of 3 who is seated with your party has to pay, and sharing isn’t permitted (again, for anyone over the age of 3). That means the group couldn’t go to buffets or family style meals together, and most character meals are buffets or family style meals.
Are you confident that you will have buy-in from everyone for the plan? Will the right combination of people be able to (or want to) dine with each other at the right times to make your plan work?
Getting Advance Dining Reservations can be tricky. If you can’t get the reservations you want, will this impact the group’s enjoyment of the entire trip?
Using the DDP with this much restriction could impact your flexibility to change plans for things that pop up (illness, can’t make it to an ADR, etc.).
Unless you’re planning to bring your own, you may find that you’ll have extra out of pocket expenses for snacks and drinks that you’re not expecting.
Finally, have you considered what the cost analysis could be if you purchased the Quick Service Dining Plan for everyone, rather than the Standard Dining Plan? Is that an option?
Good luck with your plans! We wish you the best as you determine the way forward for your family!
Wow!!! You guys are awesome. Thanks Brooke and Erin for taking the time on my question!
I’m still confused about the family style/ buffet problem. If we are at such a meal, and pay for everyone who is eating, why does it matter how we pay? Our party has 17 adults, 3 kids (ages 3-9) and no one under 3.
Our plan: o Hana the first day – pay for all using table credits from the room that is on the reg dinning plan. That’s 17 adult credits and 3 child for our party.
Day two Is Garden Grill. For this meal we actually will run out of child credits because only one of our three 3-9 yr olds will be on the regular dinning plan. So this meal we use credits for 17 adults meals and 2 kids meals and then pay out of pocket for one kid since we ran out of kid credits.
Day three, our last table meal, is a fantasmic package at mama melrose. These package meals have a set price but you order off the menu. Here we have already used 34 (17x2meals) of our original 45 adult table meals so we only have 11 adult table credits left. We use them all at this meal plus pay out of pocket for the 3 kids meals and the 6 remaining adults.
So for all three table meals everyone is paid for – we just pay out of pocket when table credits are used up.
Between the last two meals we pay for 10 out of pocket table meals (6 adult/4 kid).
And we actually do have buy in for this plan from all twenty of us. We found a simple way to make sure all the quick service meals are dustributed among us. And because we end up paying for 10 table service meals out of pocket, we will even have 10 “extra” quick service meals to use up during the trip.
I’ve called Disney dinning multiple times and they seem to think this plan will work. But after Erin’s response I’m concerned about the buffet/family style meals we are planning for. Any further thoughts Erin?
Our savings will be between $700-800 compared to two standard dinning packages. Of course we will only have three sit down meals instead of five, but we are happy to gain the flexibility on those days since we expect hot, crowded parks in July. One of our quick services will be at a Be Our Guest lunch so we will be together there.
Hmmm…I do need to find out how BOG will charge us for that meal don’t I? That may be a snafu…
Again thank you both for your time! And maybe, if this combo dining plan idea does work for us, it could work for other groups too.
This is a very interesting question Juls and I would really like if someone in the know could answer this.
We are traveling with a party of 12 in July and will be in 3 different studios @ Boardwalk. I get that everyone on the reservation needs to be on the same plan. But if we all sit down for a meal and I use my card and say use the entitlements from here for dinner, what will happen?
I am reading about the large groups making reservations together. Have you taken into consideration how expensive the tip is going to be? Our last trip average $50-60 per table service meal because of our group having more than six people.
Still little confused about using dessert credit to snack credit for the counter service plan.
“you may now substitute any dessert or non-alcoholic beverage for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.”
Are you saying we can now “save” dessert or non-alcoholic beverage credit to use later for snack at another place? How does this exactly work?
My son says it has to be done at the time of the transaction when we buy the deal but when I looked at the menu on the counter service restaurants, I didn’t see “snack” listed. Do all the counter service restaurant have “snack” stands so I can choose “snack” to eat later?
We are going in April for the first time and any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Alice — This sentence refers to using your snack credits to purchase desserts or drinks. It does not refer to saving portions of quickservice meal credits (the dessert portion of your meal credit, for instance.) Under new rules, more things qualify as snacks. Not all counter service spots have snacks per se, but they do all have beverages and desserts, as long as it’s a stand/restaurant/kiosk that’s participating in the Disney Dining Plan. I hope this helps.
Thank you Brooke for clearing it up.
Another question. Since we are going to have extra quick meal plan due to going to Universal couple of days, I was thinking of using quick meal plan for breakfast while we wait for my son to do his Star Wars run.
If we eat breakfast at the resort, and since we’ll have all we can drink cup for staying at the resort, that is not part of the breakfast drink right? So we can substitute drink for snack? Thank you
Here’s a somewhat random question: I only drink Iced Coffee (when I want a coffee). Is this generally available anywhere that serves coffee?
Eric — You won’t find it at the drink stations in the resorts, but both Starbucks and Joffrey’s offer iced coffees, so you’ll definitely be able to get your fix. 🙂
if I have dining plan reservations and someone in the group wants to just order a drink and salad, can that be paid for separately?
Nancy — Yes. You’ll just want to let your server know the particulars — how many people on the check are using the Dining Plan, and who they are.
We have 4 day military salute park hopper tickets. We are staying at Saratoga Springs Resort, are those tickets sufficient to purchase dining plan?
Are there certain participating stand/restaurant/kiosks in which you can substitute 1 quick service credit for 3 items designated as snacks? This would be great for my daughter who is vegan!
We will be going to Disney World in May 2016. We purchased the Deluxe Dining Plan. Will my kids under 10 be able to eat adult meals with this plan? They have in the past when we have gone, but I don’t know if anything has changed. I am confused because on the Disney site it says if a kids menu is present they must order from the kids menu, but then on blogs I have seen that with the deluxe plan all meals are adult meals. Any advise would be appreciated, as I would want to change the age of my kids to 10 and pay the difference if they cant eat adult meals. Thanks!
My wife and I have the regular DDP. We like to have an early lunch (we don’t eat breakfast) but often don’t feel like eating a dessert at that time of day. Is it possible to have the restaurant hold our dessert and come back to enjoy it later in the day? Thanks- you do a great job.
I have a question regarding this statement.
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.
This means since I usually don’t want dessert during lunch and carry my own water bottle with me so does that mean I can substitute the drink and dessert when I go to purchase my lunch for two snack credits? Also will this also be the case from Sept to Nov during the food and wine festival. It just seems too good to be true!
Jessica — When you substitute meals credits for snack credits, it must be an “all or nothing” transaction. If I’m understanding your question correctly, it sounds like you’d like to get the entree portion of the quick service meal, but then “exchange” the drink and dessert that comes as part of the quick service meal entitlement for snack credits. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it works that way. Either you exchange the quick service meal credit for three snacks in the same transaction (something that you should be able to do at the Food and Wine Festival) or you can use snack credits for any dessert or n/a beverage. But you can’t exchange portions of credits for another type of credit. I hope that makes sense.
Hi Jessica,
I’m staying at the Caribbean beach resort and I have been able to do exactly what you want to do. Also, you can grab an entree from one place and snacks from another (provided you don’t have to pay at the first place ). I think the best way to maximize the quick service meal is at the resort. Also, I’ve been able to exchange side dishes eg bacon for fruit. Overall I’ve been impressed and happy with flexibility of the substitutions.
Hope this helps.
Wondering if anyone knows: With the Quick Servicing Dining Plan, can I substitute both the dessert and the drink for two sides?
On the 2016 quick service meal plans, what is considered a dessert for kids. Do they get the same options as adults?
It’s my first time going to Disney so I am researching a lot of Q&A questions I am yet to find an answer to my question. In 2016 the DDP slightly changed. I will be doing the Quick service Meals during my stay in July. My question is: On the DDP if I order lunch, with a fountain beverage and I choose not to get the dessert, can I get a bottled water or soda in exchange for my dessert? If so, does this work at all locations or mainly in Resort settings? Also lets say I do not get a beverage or dessert and I use my rapid refill cup instead, am I allowed to get two bottles of water/soda. I only ask because if I am getting charged for a meal credit I would prefer saving the bottled beverages to bring to the parks.
Sandie — There’s no official indication that you can substitute an additional drink for a dessert, you can certainly ask!
We just got the free dining quick service plan for Aug. We go ever year and the kids order off the adult menu for quick service. Can they still do this or has it changed for 2016 and kids can only order a kids quick service meal.
I see that it says you can use dining credits for non-disney dining plan friends for a table service meal.. Is this stated anywhere on a disney web site? I called disney dining and they said this is not true. Also called Disney Vacation Club and they told me the same thing. Has anyone done this and how do you go about it?
The 2016 DDP states you can use an more than one table service credits per night, until the credits are depleted. However it doesn’t mention that you can share the credits with non-DDP. I found many sites that say they have shared the credits by paying for all the meals, however there is no official information. Does anyone know if this is an unwritten rule?
I purchased the quick service plan 3 adults one 4 year old and one 2 year old. Can I substitute the drink and dessert for smoothies and coffee at each meal (If offered as a snack)? Also if I order a kids meal does that include a beverage and dessert? I see a lot of them come with milk, for so am I able to get a dessert too? Thanks
Hi all, we have the quick-service dining plan which was free with our resort booking. We are going for 3 weeks and will spend most of the middle week at the universal parks. Will I lose the meal credits for these days if we pay to eat at universal? I’ve read somewhere that some table service restaurants accept 2x credits from the QSDP, is that still the case of have they scrapped that?
Rebecca — You will not lose those credits. You have a bank of credits to pull from, and you can use them all at once, or spread them out over days — whatever works for you. At present, there are no 2 credit quickservice restaurants, and you cannot use to quickservice credits to eat at a tableservice restaurants. You can, however, use quickservice credits for up to 3 snacks at participating locations. This can be especially handy during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, if you happen to be visiting in the fall when the festival takes place.
Going to Food and Wine. Can I use a quick service for three snacks at the kiosks??