I’ve been to Disney World dozens of times. Its dining plan is a great value for families like ours — especially when offered for free.

We’ll definitely plan future Disney trips around promotions with free dining plans.

My family of four has visited Disney World over a dozen times.

We love the attractions, shows, and characters, but we’ve also developed an appreciation for the food — we look forward to indulging in meals on the property more than we do meeting Mickey.

But with Disney ticket costs going up and our kids aging into the “adult” pricing bracket, filling our bellies means emptying our wallets.

Fortunately, Disney brought back its dining plans this year, and I find them to be a great value.

Disney dining plans come in 2 tiers and include multiple meals and beverages

Disney dining plans with table-service meals included come with dessert. 

Disney dining plans were suspended in 2020 but reinstated this January. The returning plans are similar to those of the past, offering visitors a discount if they prepay for meals as part of their resort and parks package.

Guests can choose between the standard dining plan or a quick-service one — the main difference between the two is that the former replaces one quick-service meal with a sit-down one.

At the time of writing, Disney World’s standard dining plans cost about $95 per person per day for those 10 and up. The quick-service plans are about $57.

However, Disney sometimes offers promos that allow its resort guests to get them for free.

Earlier this year, we got free dining plans through a Disney+ subscriber promotion that required us to book at least a four-night resort stay with park tickets during select dates.

My family booked an eight-night, nine-day stay in July at our favorite moderate resort, Port Orleans Riverside, which made us eligible for free quick-service dining plans.

Here’s what this plan provided for each member of my family for every day of our vacation:

• Two quick-service meals, such as a food-court breakfast at the hotel and counter-service lunch or dinner at the parks
• One snack, which includes things like Starbucks drinks, Dole Whips, churros, and ice-cream bars
• One refillable mug to use throughout the stay for unlimited drinks at our hotel
• A beverage with each meal — guests 21 and over can choose wine, beer, or cocktails.

Through this same promotion, guests staying in pricier deluxe hotels could get free standard dining plans.

Since we love sit-down dinners, we paid a fee of about $37 per person per day to upgrade to standard dining plans. This added about $1,200 to the cost of our trip, but it was well worth it as we’d typically spend $200 to $300 a night on sit-down dinners at Disney.

The upgrade also allowed us to stay at our preferred moderate resort while also enjoying the benefits of the deluxe-tier plan.

The dining plans are worth it if you do sit-down dinners every night — or find a great promotion

I’d purchase dining plans again or plan my trips around promotions that let me get them for free.

The paid dining plan is worth it for folks who enjoy Disney’s food as much as its entertainment. It’s an especially phenomenal deal for families like ours who like to have at least one sit-down dinner a day.

In fact, I think we would’ve saved money even if we’d paid for the plans in full — my family usually spends more than $95 per person per day on food and drinks at Disney.

That said, you might struggle to find the savings in the standard dining plans if your family doesn’t usually do sit-down dinners every night of your stay.

Additionally, standard dining plans might not be the best idea for those who don’t want to do extra planning or spend too much time eating.

You’re responsible for actually securing reservations at restaurants for the full-service meal each day. You’ll also need to set aside at least a couple of hours each day for the extended meal.

Although I’d pay for dining plans in full, I do think it’s worth trying to book a Disney vacation based on when you can get them for free.

No such promotions are running at the time of writing, but ones for Disney+ subscribers and Disney Visa cardholders ran in waves earlier this year.

Before the dining plan was suspended, Disney also regularly offered deals that allowed guests to get it for free. Because of that, I’m hopeful Disney will soon announce similar promotions for 2025 — and it’ll probably influence when and how I book my trip.