Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
around $7 each. Eat two and add a $3 popsicle and the use of the refillable mug, and you've
covered the day's cost.
While technically possible to eke out a savings of a dollar or two per day, those savings
evaporate whenever you eat breakfast, when prices are usually lower and dessert isn't in-
cluded, or whenever someone is forced to order something they ordinarily wouldn't. It also
makes it difficult to schedule a table service meal or character buffet since they aren't in-
cluded on the Plan. You can pay cash for such meals, but if doing so pushes you to using a
credit for breakfast—or worse, ending your vacation with unused credits—the Quick Ser-
vice plan will cost you money.
The “Regular” Dining Plan
The “Regular” Dining Plan—often known simply as the Disney Dining Plan—includes per
person, per night:
• One quick service meal
• One table service meal
• One snack
In addition, each guest receives a refillable mug for the duration of the stay. At press
time, after-tax pricing is:
• $60.64 per night for those ten and older
• $19.23 per night for kids ages three to nine
Child pricing is advantageous with a cost just $3.20 more than the Quick Service Plan.
With several character buffets priced over $20, it's relatively easy for kids to come out ten
dollars or more ahead each day they dine at such a venue. For those older than 9, the price
of $20/per day more than the Quick Service is harder to justify. There are meals where you
do well—Akershus for dinner, after tax, is around $50. A day for family members older
than 9 with a typical counter service lunch, a snack, and Akershus for dinner will cost less
under the Dining Plan than cash. Dinner at Crystal Palace approaches this cost, as does
Chef Mickey's.
Outside of buffets, it's difficult to find restaurants with average entrée and dessert prices
high enough to cover the cost of the Plan. Let's assume you're spending the day at Hol-
lywood Studios and select 50's Prime Time Café for dinner. You select the second most
expensive entrée, the $24 pork chop, in addition to the most expensive dessert (Traditional
Warm Apple Crisp a la Mode for $7.49) and order a $5 milkshake as your beverage. With
tax, the meal comes out to $38.87. That puts you $21.17 away from covering the cost of the
Dining Plan with just a quick service meal and snack to go. At the costliest quick service,
Fairfax Fare, the most expensive quick service meal you could put together is $24 with tax.
That's about $5 higher than average. Even so, add a $4 Mickey Ice Cream Bar as a snack
after going out of your way to order the most expensive items at the park. If you had simply
ordered the fried chicken instead of the pork chop at 50's Prime Time, and the turkey leg
instead of the chicken platter at Fairfax Fare, you would come out $2 behind the cost of
one day on the Dining Plan.
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