New enhancements to the Disney Dining Plan aim to add more flexibility

Jun 01, 2015 in "Disney Dining Plan"

Posted: Monday June 1, 2015 8:44am EDT by WDWMAGIC Staff

Beginning May 31 2015, Disney has introduced a number of enhancements to the Disney Dining Plan with the aim of increasing the flexibility and usability of the popular inclusive meal plan.

The changes apply to most Disney operated locations throughout Walt Disney World, and include an expanded range of snack offerings, more flexible substitutions, and changes to the way adult and child entitlements can be used.

Here is a run-down of the changes and how you can use them.

Snacks

The snack entitlement has been updated to now include:

All items that are marked on the menu as snack eligible, including those that cost more than $5.
All single serve non-alcoholic beverages not served in a souvenir container.
All ice cream novelties.
All hand-scooped ice cream not served in a souvenir container.
All quick service menu side dishes.
Fresh popped popcorn (pre-bagged popcorn is not available as a snack item).
At breakfast, the following are considered snacks:
Cereal with milk (including Create Your Own)
French toast sticks
Oatmeal or quinoa (including Create Your Own)
Grits
Side of bacon
Side of sausage
Side of eggs
Side of potatoes
Biscuits and gravy
Hard-boiled eggs

Table Service Restaurants

There is no longer a restriction on the number of entitlements that can be used at a meal. Eg. A group of 2 guests on the Disney Dining Plan could use 1 additional entitlement for a guest in that party - making a total of 3 entitlements used for the group of 3 diners.
If using the Deluxe, Premium and Platinum Plans, child meal entitlements can be used to choose adult entrees.
At some locations, a dessert may be substituted for a side salad, soup or fruit plate if available.

Quick Service Restaurants

A dessert or beverage from the Quick Service Meal entitlement can be substituted for any snack item on the menu within the same order.
A Quick Service Meal can be substituted for 3 snack eligible items within the same order.
At Quick Service locations, child meal entitlements can be used for an adult meal.

Discuss on the Forums

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MickeyMomVSep 03, 2015

We have done this on most every trip. It has just depended on the cast member if we swapped the QS credit for 2 or 3 snacks, some are more generous than others. No matter how we do things we always end up with 1 set of QS credits, we have no idea how it happens!

Jon81ukAug 28, 2015

The main thing that has changed is the wording on the brochure on how to use quick service credits has been updated to confirm you can swap a dessert or beverage for a snack, within the same transaction https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw_nextgen/CoreCatalog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2015Dining.pdf This is good news if you want onion rings or soup instead of dessert. It should also confim that any slushy type drink is a drink as they are usually also a snack. Someone has spotted that the brochure no longer states you can't spend credits on those who don't have the plan. But it doesn't state you can either. The 1 QS for 3 snacks isn't confirmed but that has been working for a while even before these changes were "announced" so I think it is safe to assume that will continue.

englanddgAug 28, 2015

Flipping out credits for 3 snacks is confirmed. I did it last trip (like...two days ago).

BaldyAug 28, 2015

Any official word on this yet (I just emailed Disney today about my trip next year and was told that you could not share with people not on the DDP) : "Table Service Restaurants [LIST] [*]There is no longer a restriction on the number of entitlements that can be used at a meal. E.g. A group of 2 guests on the Disney Dining Plan could use 1 additional entitlement for a guest in that party - making a total of 3 entitlements used for the group of 3 diners." [/LIST]

sxeensweetJun 23, 2015

Deluxe includes 3 dining credits for TS/QS interchangeably per day, and 2 snacks per day. The regular plan is strictly 1 TS, 1 QS, and 1 snack per day. :)

skibum123Jun 23, 2015

What's the difference b/w the normal dining plan and deluxe dining plan if apps are no longer included on the deluxe plan?

sxeensweetJun 23, 2015

The chocolate cake is not at that many places actually and where they do have it there is other choices like carrot cake etc available. There is a lot of other different deserts at the QS locations. I have not had chocolate cake more than a few times over our last 6 trips that we always have a dining plan. Lots more options if you dine at a variety of QS places. We have had carrot cake (cosmic rays/pecos bills), brownie (caseys&EOS), strawberry cheesecake (electric umbrella), chocolate mousse (pizzafari/restaurantaurus), apple pie (liberty inn @ Epcot), chocolate cake, various cupcakes (BOG, The MarA, Captain cooks and various other locations) strawberry shortcake (sunshine seasons) red velvet whoopie pie, seasonal/blueberry cobbler (Columbia Harbor house), warm peanut butter cake, cheesecake in a glass (pizzafari/restaurantaurus), banana parfait (Fairfax fare), vanilla cake (Fairfax fare), key lime mouse (flame tree), chocolate gelato (cosmic rays/Pinocchio village haus) and more I'm not thinking of etc etc. As you can see all of these have come from quick service places as the desert throughout property. Also I checked to make sure on the current menus if they are currently offered and they are still offered. I and/or DH had quite a few of these just in our last trip for 2 weeks oct/nov. 14. :)

sxeensweetJun 23, 2015

You can get the dole whip or citrus swirl. The only thing you can't Is the Dole whip float. So don't worry you can still use it on your regular dole whip or citrus swirls. :)

MRGEFFJun 20, 2015

Thanks for the new dining changes info. We are using the DDP for the first time in the fall (we saved over $500 on the hotel by changing from BC to SSR plus we got free dining) and your post answered the questions we had.

jackson2005Jun 04, 2015

This is why I think you should be able to trade 2 quick service for one table serve!

Pete256Jun 04, 2015

Yes, we do plan ahead, understand the plan and even look at the menu on line for the dinners - I never really understood why everyone's brain turns to mush when they get there and have to function. In fact, I am not sure how you go to Disney without doing a bunch of planning - dinner reservations, even lunch reservations in some cases, Fast Pass, etc - How do you do all of this and handle all the details then completely crash in comprehending appetizer, entrée & dessert? - or now subbing a soup or salad for the dessert - Disney does a really good job labeling everything and providing the details, etc. Disney, to me is not a fly by the seat of your pants/its fun to be disorganized because we are on vacation type place - You pay ALOT of $$$ to go there and stay on property, and if you are not a fast food/live on sandwiches type person who is willing to pay for a good meal, you have to plan and understand what you are getting into.

dreamfinderJun 04, 2015

Except there are large swaths of people that don't understand how the DDP works, or what is included in their meal. These are often the same people who wait in a QS line, and don't look at the menu til they get to the register. This is why every time you sit down at a TS meal, the CM asks "Are you on the DDP?" because they then take the time to go through and point out what you are able to get with your particular plan, or not able to get. I'd wager about 50% of the time I've been in a QS line behind someone on the DDP, the guest orders 4 entrees, 2 desserts and 3 sodas. The CM then tells them they can select 2 more desserts and another soda. And mom/dad inevitably spends 30-45 seconds trying to decide if Johnny wants the chocolate cake or the carrot cake and what type of soda they want since dad/mom took the kids to claim a table already. If you and your group know the ins and outs of plan, and know exactly what to order and how to do so, that's great. More people on the DDP need to be like you. Most guests however don't have a clue. And the lowering of standards is pretty much accepted across the board. The restaurant gets a certain set amount of money back for each DDP swipe they accept/redeem. So since pretty much all entrees are covered by the DDP, any entree needs to cost the restaurant less to serve than they get for the DDP swipe to allow them to turn a profit. A few years back most restaurants switched to a cheaper lesser quality steak. That is most easily identified lowering of standards, but I'm sure we can dig up some others.

Deranged HermitJun 04, 2015

My family, my brother's family and my parents (12 people total, we always eat dinner together) have been to Disney three times the last two years, all with the free dining plan, and have only had a problem once, at Narcoossee’s. It was definitely frustrating at the time, but it didn't hold up our dinners, it just held us up at the end. Silver lining though, we got to watch the fireworks from our table. A 1 out of 15 ratio ain't bad in my opinion.

DisneyChick123Jun 04, 2015

Me too! Especially the yucky(to my family) chocolate cake that comes with most quick service places. Glad I can change it to another snack option! Works great for my family as we use to just either throw it away or give it to a table beside ours