The Disney Dining Plan remains one of the most divisive topics among theme park tourists. Reasonable arguments exist for why the plan doesn’t work for everyone, and signing up requires vacationers to pay attention to the modifications Disney performs annually. For my part, I’m a huge fan of the dining plan, pointing out many of the benefits here. This time, I’d like to take an entirely different approach.
One of the accurate criticisms of my prior piece is that it really didn’t suggest ways to eat like a king. That caused me to wonder exactly how I would approach such an endeavor. After a bit of research, I eventually planned an entire 10-day trip to Walt Disney World around a core concept. I would purchase the Deluxe Disney Plan rather than the regular one. Then, I’d eat the most expensive foods on the menu, all the while knowing that I have a relative fixed food cost for the entire vacation.
The goal here is simple. I want to maximize the potential benefits of the Disney Dining Plan in order to get the utmost out of it. Along the way, I wrote down a few notes so that I could pass them along to others. Think of this piece as a guide to hacking the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan to eat like a king.
1. Create a master plan
Image: Disney
Believe it or not, I’ve already stated the most controversial part of this plan. That’s the purchase of the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (xDDP), which isn’t technically the most expensive option for a meal plan. It is, however, the best one for people who don’t intend to go to shows, take balloon rides, or the like. I’m not averse to Cirque du Soleil, quite the contrary, but the higher plans don’t offer the same value for my stated purpose here. Even at a discounted rate, those offers still make the buyer pay for stuff that isn’t food.
The xDDP isn’t like that. You’ll pay a significant sum each day, but if you maximize the plan to its potential, you can enjoy many of the greatest meals of your life. Disney’s recent rules changes have altered the dynamic of a park visit, leading to a discrepancy between regular guests and the park elite. Your goal here is to feel like a patrician for a week, which is how your vacation should work anyway. For a cost of a little over $100 a day, you can pay for all your meals (sans tip) and eat whatever you want every meal. The Deluxe Dining Plan, unlike regular versions, includes an appetizer per guest, which means you’ll enjoy at least a three-course meal as often as you like.
The rules of the xDDP entitle you to three table service meals a day, and this hack encourages you to use them all. It’s the best way to maximize your value. The one caveat here is that we’re going to talk about a ridiculous amount of food. If you’re watching your weight, this may not be for you…although I’d note that research suggests that Walt Disney World guests burn an additional 1,558 calories a day walking through the parks. That’s the equivalent of a 10k run. Assuming you’re active during your trip, your meals shouldn’t come with a side of guilt. Now that I’ve alleviated you of any doubt about the dangers of gluttony on vacation, let’s have some fun!
2. Shopping backwards
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When you shop for a product, you’ve learned over the years that you want to find the best deal. You try to purchase the item you want for the least amount possible. Don’t do that while you’re on the xDDP. To the contrary, your primary goal is to feast on the most expensive meats and cheeses at Walt Disney World. To do that, you have to eschew some of your dining tendencies on vacation. Whether you prefer a soup, a salad, a cheeseburger or an appetizer as a meal, eating such peasant food is the wrong tactic for the purposes of maximizing your dining plan. You want to order the most expensive foods at the costliest restaurants onsite. Generally speaking, if you see anything priced at less than $25, keep looking. The goal here is to purchase a $15 appetizer, $40 entrée, and $10 dessert whenever possible. A pricier meal is better. Otherwise, you’re not maximizing your value.
A couple of caveats exist. Think of the xDDP as providing three meals each day. Disney will reference them as entitlements, though. They’ll count a hot dog and fries at Casey’s Corner the same as a $50 ribeye at their best regarded establishments. It’s up to you avoid that sort of misuse of your plan. In other words, ignore quick service meals in favor of table service fare. That’s going to deliver the best bang for your buck. Everything we’re discussing right now works toward that goal.
Image: Disney
The flip side of the pricing model problem is that Disney specifically designs the program to prevent this sort of behavior. That’s precisely why you’re hacking it. They have identified some of their finest dining experiences as signature meals. They’ll charge two entitlements at such establishments even though the food prices are only moderately higher, if they are at all.
You should remove virtually anything that costs multiple dining credits from your options in all but one instance. If you’re consistently a late starter who skips breakfast, you can add a signature meal occasionally, although it’s preferable to eat the most important meal of the day when you’re on the xDDP. Whatever you decide, remember that you HAVE to use all your entitlements during your trip. Fortunately, ways exist to achieve this even if you wind up with extras. We’ll cover that in the last section of this article.
A final point on the subject of signature meals is the show. You can leverage your xDDP entitlements to a viewing of Disney’s Spirt of Aloha Show, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, or Mickey’s Backyard BBQ. For two entitlements, you can enjoy the proverbial dinner and a show. While I don’t consider multiple entitlements for signature meals a great deal, these classic Disney live performances have stood the test of time. They are a different category and something you should at least consider, especially if you don’t eat breakfast every day. Disney shows generally cost at least $65 per person, which means you aren’t maximizing optimal value, but you aren’t getting ripped off, either.
3. Planning your meals
Image: Disney
I realize that planning a Disney trip is a divisive topic for many guests. Some folks love to maintain spontaneity during a trip. Others are like me. They like to plan out as much as of their trip as possible. To hack the xDDP, at least a modicum of planning will help. I’m not saying that you must plan every meal. You simply need to understand the basics.
The most important one is that some restaurants are more expensive than others. Even before you sit down to open a menu, a couple of basic rules exist. The obvious one is that dinner costs more than lunch which, in turn, is more expensive than breakfast. Also, Disney charges more for character meals. This is an understandable practice since they must train and pay cast members to act like the company’s most famous intellectual properties. Regular meals don’t include those costs. Also, and this is just a fact of capitalism, Disney fans will pay more for meals where Mickey and Minnie come to their tables and greet them. Since you paid for your meals in advance, you might as well add lots of character meals, assuming you enjoy interactions with costumed mascots.
Places to Target/Avoid
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We’ve already ruled out the Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe and Electric Umbrella Restaurant options for this trip. Our aspiration is to enjoy the delectable morsels with the largest price tags at Walt Disney’s World finest restaurants. Several wonderful options exist. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and Chef Mickey’s are two of the most expensive character meals onsite. You’d spend more than $40 per person if you weren’t already on the xDDP.
If character meals aren’t your thing, the most surprising option resides at Magic Kingdom. You probably know that Cinderella’s Royal Table is a signature dining experience, charging two entitlements per meal. The shock is that Be Our Guest, the hardest reservation to acquire at Walt Disney World, isn’t a signature meal. While that can change any year, capitalize on the opportunity while you can.
Eating at Be Our Guest at least once during your trip is a must. Now that it’s open for breakfast, you have three opportunities a day. That brings us to a hidden strategy you can employ with the xDDP. Since you have the entitlement to have breakfast each day, take full advantage of it by planning a meal inside one of the parks. Akershus, Be Our Guest, and Crystal Palace all open well ahead of rope drop. Eat your meal and then exit into the park before it officially opens. You’ll have your pick of rides. And why shouldn’t you? Your xDDP places you among the elite!
What to Do with Extras
Image: Disney
Are you vacationing with family and/or friends? In 2015, Disney finally clarified the rules about all aspects of the dining plan. They codified the gifting of meals. What this means for your purposes is that when you have extra entitlements, you can use them to purchase meals for others. On a recent trip, my wife and I wound up with enough unused meal credits to purchase food for the other guests at our table.
Should you follow this suggestion, you have two options. The first is to give the meal as a gift, asking nothing in return. The second is to request partial/full compensation from your loved ones. Should you choose the latter option, that money will counterbalance the cost of that day’s xDDP. Alternately, what tends to happen is that the beneficiary of the meal offers to pay the tip as a showing of gratitude. This works out well for everyone, including the server, who regularly winds up with a larger-than-normal tip.
Two additional alternatives exist if you’re traveling alone. The first is that you can exchange any remaining entitlements for three snack credits. This strategy affords you the ability to take a part of Walt Disney World home with you. Many of the wrapped snacks stay good for an extended period of time. I once ate a ginormous Disney sucker nine months after I returned from my trip. If you’re not much of a snacker or don’t have any room in your luggage, a superior option is available. You can extend the magic of a Disney trip to a total stranger. Sprinkle a little fairy dust on someone at a neighboring table by offering to pay for their meal. Anecdotally, I’m hearing about a lot of people doing this lately, and it seems like the perfect way to cap off a Disney vacation.
And there you have it. Disney’s recent changes to their dining plans empower you to eat like a king during your next vacation. My philosophy with this hack is simple. Disney is constantly raising prices and adding expensive add-ons. With this one tactic, I can feel a bit better about what I pay them, maybe even cause them to wonder about the profit margin on their various food items. It’s a penny at Fort Knox, relatively speaking, but it’s a fun thing to try to do during at least one Disney visit as a strange form of protest. Plus, it’s a wonderful, liberating feeling to order anything off the menu without feeling a sense of guilt.
