The One MAJOR Reason I Refuse to Buy the Disney World Dining Plan

The age-old question when planning a Disney World vacation — should I purchase the Disney Dining Plan?

Cinderella Castle

Ever since the Disney Dining Plan returned in 2024, it has been a hot topic for people traveling to Disney World. You can add this offering to your Disney Resort package, but it may not be worth the cost if you don’t price out your meals and snacks the right way. However, no matter how I slice it, the Disney Dining Plan doesn’t seem to be worth the cost for me personally — here’s why.

For a little breakdown, there are two Disney Dining Plan options for your vacation. First is the Quick Service Dining Plan, which includes the following:

• Two quick service dining credits per person, per day
• One snack credit per person, per day
• One resort refillable mug per person

Restaurantosaurus

If you go with the other option, the Disney Standard Dining Plan, you’ll get the following:

• One quick service dining credit per person, per day
• One table service dining credit per person, per day
• One snack credit per person, per day
• One resort refillable mug per person

Time to dig in!

If you price out the Dining Plans by day for 2025, the Quick Service Dining Plan is priced at $59.14 per person, per night of your stay. The Standard Dining Plan is will cost you $97.70 per person, per night of your stay.

Full spread from our meal at Cinderella’s Royal Table

Those seem like fairly high numbers per day, right? Well, with each meal credit, you get an entree and a drink. So that’s two entrees, two drinks, and a snack per day. To break even or “make” money with the Dining Plan, you’ll usually have to order some of the more expensive options available to you. And for me…that doesn’t really work out.

Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar

Often, the most expensive drink option available for adults is an alcoholic beverage. And me personally? I don’t drink alcohol. So if I purchased the Dining Plan and tried to get my best value just by ordering sodas and other cheaper drinks, I’m likely going to come up short of breaking even.

Drink in Disney World

For example, if I got the Quick Service Dining Plan and went to Magic Kingdom, I could order the following:

• Columbia Harbour House Lobster Roll — $18.99
• Columbia Harbour House Fountain Beverage — $4.79
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe Double Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger — $16.19
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe Fountain Beverage — $4.79
• Sleepy Hollow Mickey Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, Bananas, Berries, and Whipped Cream (snack credit) — $9.49

If you add all those items up, my total only comes up to $54.25 pre-tax. That’s $5 short of the minimum I need to hit to break even, and I was choosing some of the most expensive items available for each credit!

Sleepy Hollow Waffle

But if I were ordering alcoholic beverages instead, those drinks would be more valuable. Of course, you can’t order alcohol at Magic Kingdom quick service spots, so you may still come in a little short there, but you’d likely be able to break even or “make” money at the other four parks or during Magic Kingdom table service meals.

Alcoholic beverages

So, for a non-drinker like me, I’d be doing a lot of math AND I’d have a very limited range of dining options in order to get my money’s worth with the Dining Plan. (You know, ordering the most expensive entree everywhere I go.) That’s why I choose to do my dining out of pocket when I go to Disney World!

For more details about the Dining Plan, check out our video below.

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