The Disney Dining Plans continue to be some of the most popular options to add to your Walt Disney World Resort Vacation.  The ability to prepay for your dining removes stress from your vacation and allows you to easily budget your meal spending well ahead of time.  This article will take you through the 3 most popular Disney Dining Plans and shows you the 2014 pricing for each.

• Two (2) Quick Services Meals
• One (1) Snacks

• Adults (Ages 10+) : $39.64 per day
• Children: (Ages 3-9): $15.75 per day

• One (1) Table Service meal
• One (1) Quick Service meal
• One (1) Snack

• Adults (Ages 10+) : $58.66 per day
• Children: (Ages 3-9): $18.88 per day

• Table Service meals + Appetizer
• Quick Service Meals

• Two (2) Snacks

• Adults (Ages 10+) : $104.94 per day
• Children: (Ages 3-9): $29.51 per day

The Disney Dining Plan can be a great way to make your Disney Dining experience more enjoyable and it can be a way to save money.

What you do NOT want the Disney Dining Plan to be is a way to spend more money than necessary at Disney World.  That is why we have created a list of Disney Dining Plan Restaurants to avoid.

Disney Dining Plan Restaurants To Avoid!
This is a list that looks purely at the financial side of the equation and let's you know which restaurants are not a good use of your Table Service Dining credits.  This does not say that these places do not have great food or are not fun dining experiences.

When you are paying for the Disney Dining Plan an adult costs $41.99 per day.  This entitles you to:

• One Table Service Dining Credit
• One Quick Service Dining Credit
• One Snack

Financially speaking you need to look at what you would spend if you were not using the Disney Dining Plan and just paying for each meal as you go.  There are many ways to value each component of what you receive with the Disney Dining Plan, but a good calculation estimates that of the $41.99 each day, approximately $22 - $23 goes towards the Main Entree (or $28 for a buffet) for your Table Service Credit. 

This is the barometer that we will use to evaluate whether it makes good financial sense to "spend" a Table Service Credit at a particular restaurant.  If the entree is less than $22 - $23 (or $28 for the buffet) then you are actually paying MORE than menu price for that meal by using a Dining Plan credit.  You will be amazed how many restaurants are on this list.

The List Of Restaurants To Avoid (Using The DDP)

• Donald's Safari Breakfast - Tusker House
• Tusker House - Lunch
• Yak & Yeti ( a couple entrees above $22)
• 50's Prime Time Cafe - Lunch & Dinner
• Sci-Fi Dine In Theater - Lunch & Dinner
• Hollywood & Vine Character Breakfast
• Mama Melrose's - Lunch & Dinner
• Biergarten - Lunch
• Chef de France - Lunch
• Le Cellier - Lunch (unless you order the steaks)
• Nine Dragons - Lunch & Dinnner
• Restaurant Marrakesh - Lunch
• Rose & Crown - Lunch & Dinner
• San Angel Inn - Lunch
• Tokyo Dining
• Crystal Palace - Breakfast & Lunch
• Liberty Tree Tavern - Lunch
• Plaza Restaurant
• Tony's Town Square (unless you order steak)
• Boma - Breakfast
• Sanaa - Lunch & Dinner
• Beaches & Cream
• Cape May Cafe - Breakfast
• Kouzzina - Breakfast
• Big River Grille & Brewing Works
• ESPN Club
• Shutters
• The Wave - Lunch
• Maya Grill - Breakfast
• Trail's End Restaurant
• 1900 Park Fare Breakfast
• Grand Floridian Cafe
• Olivia's Cafe
• Kona Cafe - Breakfast & Lunch
• Turf Club Bar & Grill - Lunch
• Whispering Canyon Cafe - Breakfast & Lunch
• Captain's Grille - Breakfast & Lunch
• Raglan Road - Lunch
• Captain Jack's
• Planet Hollywood
• Wolfgang Puck Cafe - Lunch

Some of the almost universal trends are that breakfasts and for the most part lunches are not good uses of your Table Service Credits from a financial point of view.  Many restaurants may have one item on the menu above the $22 threshhold, but if you don't order it then you are better off paying directly. 

Enjoy Your Vacation, But Avoid Overpaying
As you may have noticed there are many wonderful restaurants on the list.  By all means continue to visit them, but keep in mind that they are not a good use of Disney Dining Plan Table Service Credits.

Use the Disney Dining Plan when restaurants that cost more than $22 per entree make up the majority of your personal Dining Plan for your vacation. 

The Disney Dining Plan can still end up saving you a lot of money, but it all depends on how you use your credits.  Use them wisely and have a great vacation!

The Walt Disney World Resort has many great dining locations.  After much research Only WDWorld is choosing the Top 10 Quick Service Dining Restaurants at Disney World for 2010.

With over 40 different Quick Service Dining Locations located in the 4 main theme parks and Downtown Disney, it wasn't easy to pick a Top 10.

When choosing to add one of the Disney Dining Plans to your Disney World Vacation you want to make sure that you get a good deal.  In order to get a good deal, you need to understand how to maximize the value of all of the credits that you are entitled to.

Disney Dining Plan Snack Credits
Today I will give some helpful hints in maximizing the use of the snack credits. Often the snack credits are overlooked in the list of Disney Dining Plan features, but successful use of the snack credits can make the difference between a getting a “good” deal with the Dining Plan to getting a “great” deal.

When you purchase the Disney Dining Plan each person is entitled to one "snack" per night of your stay.  With the Quick Service Dining Plan each person is entitled to two snacks per night of your stay.
Here are two strategies that can be used to make the most of your snack credits:

Strategy 1 – Minimize Food Expenses
Strategy 1 is pretty straight forward. Any time that you were going to purchase a food item OOP (out of pocket) you would see if you could use a Snack Credit for it (like a bottle of water or Diet Coke). This method allows you to avoid over eating and keep your expenses down by using the prepaid credits instead of spending additional money. With this method you are maximizing the value by reducing the total amount of expenditures for food on your trip.

This strategy also prevents piling up unused snack credits.  By using the snack credits throughout your trip you avoid having to buy unwanted items at the end of your trip just to use up the credits.
This strategy also suggests that you look for breakfast items that you can use snack credits towards instead of paying OOP. All in all this can be a very effective use of the snack credits and reduce your total food expense.

Strategy 2 – Maximize Snack Value
While the first strategy is pretty strait forward and just takes the discipline to buy what you would normally buy, but pay with snack credits where ever possible. The second strategy takes some research and planning to accomplish successfully. Here the idea is to absolutely get the maximum value out of each and every snack credit.

To seek out the maximum value look for items on the menu boards at Quick Service Dining Locations, Snack Carts, Bakeries, General Stores in Resorts, and other places that offer food.  Most single serving food items that cost $4.00 and under can be obtained for one snack credit.  Look for the snack symbol on the menu or ask a Disney World Cast Member if the item can be obtained for a snack credit.
Here are some of my favorite “maximum snack” uses for each of the parks:

Animal Kingdom: Dino Bite Snacks in Dinoland: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich – these are 6” + diameter fresh baked cookies with 3 scoops of ice cream smashed in between. This is my ultimate snack credit item!

Magic Kingdom: Aloha Isle – Adventureland: The Famous Dole Whip or the Dole Whip Float. These are both excellent snacks for a hot day and a favorite use of the snack credit. Auntie Gravity’s – Tomorrowland: Fruit Smoothies with non-fat yogurt. Main Street Bakery – Main Street: Numerous desserts and bakery items.

Epcot: Boulangerie Patisserie – France Pavilion: There are a number of Pastry Items in this French bakery that make wonderful dessert and or breakfast items. You can’t go wrong, just make sure that the item you choose has the snack symbol. Also in France you will find the Crepes des Chefs de France where you can get Chocolate or Strawberry Crepes with your snack credit. On the other side of the World Showcase is the Norwegian Bakery: Kringla Bakeri og café- which also has many great fresh baked items that can be obtained with your snack credits.


Hollywood Studios: KRNR – Near Rock-n-Roller Coaster: A variety of smoothies made with non-fat yogurt can be had here. Starring Rolls Cafe - Amazing baked goods including Cupcakes that are out of this world.

Disney Resorts: you will also find that in the General Store section of each resort gift shop there are a number of items price at $4.00 and under that can be obtained with your snack credits.

Summary:
So whether you choose Strategy 1 or 2 or a combination of both, have fun using your snack credits. By getting the most out of your snack credits, you help guarantee that you will get good value out of your Disney Dining Plan purchase. There is no excuse to have a bunch of them left over at the end of your trip. Go out, use them, and enjoy!