Why the Disney Dining Plan is a TERRIBLE Deal

When Disney announced the return of the Dining Plan for 2024, I asked the question “Is it worth it?” At the time, I didn’t know because pricing had not been announced. However, now that we know how much the Disney Dining Plan will cost, I finally had a chance to run the numbers to see if it was actually a good deal.

After doing the math, I have come to the following conclusion:

The Disney Dining Plan is a TERRIBLE deal for most people

If you really work at it, you might break even. But you are unlikely to come out ahead under normal circumstances. You are much better off paying for meals as you go from a financial standpoint.

What is the Dining Plan?

In my previous article on this topic, I went in depth into the Disney Dining Plan, so I will just give a quick overview here.

There are actually two different dining plans: the Quick Service Dining Plan and the Disney Dining Plan.

If you purchase the Quick Service Dining Plan, you get the following meals per day.

• Two Quick Service meals consisting of one entree and one beverage (including beer, wine, or cocktail if over 21)
• One Snack (think ice cream, pretzel, etc)
• A mug that you can refill with soft drinks at your Disney resort

If you step up to the Disney Dining Plan, you essentially are swapping out one Quick Service meal for one Table Service meal. You get the following per day:

• One Table Service meal consisting of one entree, one dessert, and one beverage (again this can be alcoholic drink if over 21)
• One Quick Service meal
• One Snack
• A refillable mug

Dining Plan Cost Breakdown

Disney has announced the cost of each dining plan:

• The Quick Service Dining Plan is $57.01 per day (including tax)
• The Disney Dining Plan is $94.28 per day (including tax but excluding tip)

Let’s take a look at how that breaks down per meal.

First, let’s assume that a typical snack is around $5.99 plus tax, or $6.38 with tax. With that out of the way, that means that you are paying $25.32 for.a Quick Service meal with the dining plan, based upon the fact that the Quick Service Dining Plan costs $57.01 ($25.32 times 2 quick service credits + $6.38 for one snack credit = $57.01)

Now that we know the cost of a Quick Service meal, we can determine that the cost of a Table Service meal with the dining plan is $62.58 ($62.58 for one table service credit + $25.32 for one quick service credit + $6.38 for one snack credit = $94.28)

Note that I am simplifying things by not considering the value of your refillable mug. The actual cost for the mug under the Dining Plan is hard to determine accurately since the a la carte cost is the same regardless of the length of your stay. I could do that calculation, but it is likely to be very small compared to the cost of the other elements of the dining plan.

Here is a quick summary:

Why is this important? This tells you how much you are pre-paying for each meal. If the out of pocket cost of your meal is greater than these numbers, then you have come out ahead. Great job! If the out of pocket cost of your meal is less than these numbers, then it would have been cheaper to just pay for the meal with cash. Boo!

Cost of Typical Meals

Let’s take a look at the out of pocket cost of typical meals that you might purchase around the Parks. First let’s start with Quick Service meals.

Quick Service Meal Cost

First, I looked at Quick Service meals at the Magic Kingdom. Because the Magic Kingdom doesn’t sell alcohol at Quick Service locations, the cost of Quick Service meal here never exceeded the $25.32 break even threshold. The most expensive meal I could find was at Columbia Harbor House:

Lobster Roll ($16.99) + Lemonade Slush ($5.99) = $24.47 with tax

In other words, there are no Quick Service meals at the MK that I could find where you would break even, let alone come out ahead.

I then moved to Epcot, where you CAN get alcoholic beverages. I figured that this might increase the out of pocket cost of a Quick Service meal to the point where you would come out ahead with the Dining Plan. Sure enough, that appeared to be the case. Here are some example quick service meal combinations that were good values when using the meal plan:

Connections Eatery: French Bistro Burger ($13.79) + Mango Mai Tai ($14.50) = $30.13 with tax

Real Eagle: Pork Ribs ($16.29) + Tennessee Lemonade ($15.50) = $33.85 with tax

However, in both examples, I am pairing the most expensive entree with the most expensive drink. If I were to “only” get a $10.50 beer at Connections Eatery, your total is now $25.87 – barely breaking even.

You see a similar effect if you purchase a lower priced entree. For instance, if at Regal Eagle you get the Power Greens with Chicken ($11.79) and a beer ($10.50), you are at $23.74 with tax – below the break even mark.

If you aren’t a drinker, either because you are under 21 or you just don’t care to imbibe, you are pretty much guaranteed to not break even.

The same pattern exists across all Quick Service locations. If you order expensive entrees with alcohol, you might break even or come out ahead. However, if you order a moderately priced item and/or don’t drink, then you are going to have a hard time coming out ahead.

Table Service Dining Cost

Next, I looked at Table Service restaurants. As a reminder, you need to order a meal that costs $62.58 out of pocket in order to break even. Here are a couple of examples that I found where you could come out ahead.

Tony’s Town Square: Butcher’s Steak ($36) + Tiramisu ($9) + Little Italy Cocktail ($16.50) = $65.50 with tax

If you order all of the most expensive entree, dessert, and cocktail, you can come out ahead at Tony’s, but only by a little. However, if you were to substitute the steak for the $30 chicken parm, you are no longer breaking even.

I found a similar situation at Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios

Charred Strip Steak ($36) + Cannoli Trio ($10) + Magical Star Cocktail ($17.50) = $67.62 with tax

Again, you can come out ahead if you get all of the expensive options. However, once you start swapping out items for less expensive choices, you no longer break even. Likewise, if you replace your cocktail with a soft drink, you are guaranteed to come out behind.

At many restaurants, there is no combination where you can come out ahead. Here is the most expensive meal that you can construct at the Rose and Crown.

Fish and Chips ($26) + Sticky Toffee Pudding ($9) + Magical Star Cocktail ($17.50) = $55.91 with tax

The conclusion I came to is that there are select restaurants where if you ordered the most expensive items, you can come out ahead. However, there were also many restaurants where you could never come out ahead, regardless of what you order.

What About Character Meals?

This is an area where you might come out ahead. Most character meals only cost 1 Table Service credit. The only exceptions which cost 2 credits are Cinderella’s Royal Table, Akershus, and Storybook Dining and Artists Point. That means that you can come out ahead at the following one credit character meals:

• Chef’s Mickeys (lunch and dinner) $66.03 with tax
• Tusker House (lunch and dinner) $62.84 with tax
• Hollywood and Vine (lunch and dinner) $62.84 with tax

All three exceed the break even threshold, although the last two only clear the bar by a few cents.

What About Signature Dining?

Many restaurants are classified as “Signature Dining”, meaning that it takes TWO Table Service credits in order to dining there on the Dining Plan. Restaurants in this category include places like Le Cellier, Hollywood Brown Derby, Tiffins, etc. – basically all of the really nice places to eat.

Because you are using two credits, that means that your meal needs to cost $125.16 to break even ($62.58 times two). Unfortunately, there is no combination of entrees, desserts, and drinks that allow you to even get close to breaking even. Here are two examples:

Le Cellier: Filet ($62) + Creme Brûlée ($13) + Wine ($15) = $95.85 with tax

Cinderella’s Royal Table: $79 per person = $84.14 with tax

As you can see, neither of these options come even close to breaking even!

If there is only one thing you take away from this article, you should NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER use two Dining Plan credits for signature dining.

Summary

Based upon the numbers, the only way you have a fighting chance of making the Dining Plan worthwhile is if you:

• Only eat the most expensive items on the menu, including the most expensive alcoholic drinks, AND
• Eat at the most expensive one credit character meals (Chef Mickey’s, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine)

Unfortunately, most people’s normal eating patterns don’t meet this profile. Most people don’t want to drink alcohol with every meal. Most people don’t want to order the steak or lobster with every meal. For the vast majority who aren’t going to commit to this dining style, you are not going to come out ahead financially with the Dining Plan. You are better off just paying the cash prices and eating what you want!

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