Pull up a chair, grab a snack, and get cozy. We’re about to go over every single change that the 2024 Disney Dining Plan has seen since its return. If you didn’t know, the Disney Dining Plan has officially RETURNED, and guests can once again dole out dining credits instead of dollar bills at most Disney restaurants.Â
Now that the Dining Plan is back, you probably have a few questions. We did, too! Luckily, we did a TON of research and made a list of all the changes you need to know about in 2024.Â
The Disney Dining Plan is a vacation add-on for Disney World Resort guests. You can pre-pay for your meals by purchasing a plan that includes a certain number of dining credits, and the number of credits depends on the type of plan you select and the number of days of the trip. Then, you can use those dining credits at select snack, Quick Service, and Table Service locations.
Keep in mind that the Disney Dining Plan is only available to those with Resort Packages, meaning you must stay at a Disney Resort AND have park tickets linked to your stay to purchase the Dining Plan.
CHANGE #1: Dining Plan Availability
There were four tiers available before the Dining Plan was temporarily suspended: Quick Service Disney Dining Plan, Basic Disney Dining Plan, Disney Dining Plan Plus, and the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan.
Today, Disney is only offering two Dining Plan options — the Quick Service Dining Plan and the Standard Disney Dining Plan. With the Quick Service Dining Plan, each person in your party over 3 years old gets:
- 2 Quick-Service Meals
- Quick-Service Meals include one Quick-Service Meal, including Entrée OR Combo meal with a Non-alcoholic Beverage
- 1 Snacks or Non-Alcoholic Drinks
- 1 Resort-Refillable Mug
With the Standard Disney Dining Plan, each person in your party over 3 years old gets:
- One Table Service Meal
- For breakfast, this includes an entree and non-alcoholic beverage OR one full buffet.
- For lunch/dinner this includes full buffet, or entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage. Children 3-9 can also have an appetizer at lunch/dinner
- One Quick-Service MealÂ
- Quick-Service Meals include one Quick-Service Meal, including Entrée OR Combo meal with a Non-alcoholic Beverage
- One Snacks or Non-alcoholic Drinks
- One Resort-Refillable Drink Mug (per person)
Could Disney add more Dining Plan options in the future? Maybe! We’ll have to wait and see. But for now, you’ve only got two options.
Click here to learn more about the Disney Dining Plans
CHANGE #2: Price Increase
The Disney Dining Plan is back with a price increase, unsurprisingly. The per-night price for the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan is $57.01 per adult and $23.83 per child. The Standard Disney Dining Plan is $94.28 per adult and $26.69 per child.
In 2020, the  Standard Disney Dining Plan was $78 per adult and $30.50 per child. Additionally, the Quick Service Dining Plan was priced at $55 per adult and $26 per child.
If you did the math, that translates to a $16.28 price increase on the Standard Disney Dining Plan for adults. The Quick Service Dining Plan price for adults increased by $2.01 as well. The good news is that the price decreased on the kids’ plans.
Click here to learn more about the pricingÂ
CHANGE #3: Table Service Dining Credits at Bars/Lounges
Bars and lounges are now included in the list of participating restaurants! Note that you will have to use your table service credits if you want to grab a bite to eat from one of Disney’s participating restaurants.
Make sure you read the menu carefully to ensure you’re not wasting a table service credit on a super small portion of food. Oh, and keep in mind that not all bars and lounges serve dessert, so you may be missing out if you’re not careful.
Click here to see the complete list of participating restaurants with the Disney Dining Plan
CHANGE #4: Snack Credit Rules
Back in the day, guests could make a few alterations to the dining credit system. For example, if you wanted to snack around the park instead of sitting down for a quick service meal, under the old system, you could convert one quick service meal credit to three snack credits. In 2024, this is not allowed.
Disney states that guests are required to use their snack credits and meal credits exclusively on those types of meals. Your meals cannot be swapped or exchanged for snacks, and on the other hand, multiple snacks can’t be merged into one meal.Â
The Disney Dining Plan Is CHANGING Its Snack Credit Rules
CHANGE #5: 2-Credit Restaurants
Some restaurants and dining experiences cost a little extra — even with the Dining Plan. Things like dinner shows, signature restaurants, and select character meals cost TWO table service credits per meal.
While Be Our Guest Restaurant and Cinderella’s Royal Table were part of the list in the past, more locations have been added to the list.Â
Now, the following character dining experiences all count for two table service credits:
- Cinderella’s Royal Table
- Be Our Guest — Dinner
- Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall — Lunch and Dinner only
- Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White
Currently, all the other character meals on property remain one-credit restaurants.
Additionally, you can spend two Quick Service meals on a Pizza Pickup meal. Pizza Pickup is available at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.
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!
Don’t forget — we have a FULL breakdown of all the ins and outs of the Disney Dining Plan available HERE, so check it out and do your research before your visit. In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.
Best Quick Service Restaurants for the Disney Dining Plan in 2024
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Are you planning to use the Disney Dining Plan? Let us know in the comments!
What about if you have 5 sit down full service restaurant credits but only want to sit down at a full service restaurant 3 times. Do you just lose the extra 2 credits, since it sounds like downgrading to a QS is no longer allowed?
What about tip and tax? Is that included in the $94.28 per adult for the table service plan?
Hi Gerald! Tax is included in the dining plan, but gratuities are not except at dinner shows and Cinderella’s Royal Table.
That is good to know. It used to be included when I last used it years ago.