The Disney free food deal that fans claim saves THOUSANDS – but our experts see if it’s really worth it

FREE food and drink for an entire two-week stay at Walt Disney World sounds like a dream.

Fans of the – which comes as a free add-on to guests staying in Disney hotels – claim it knocks thousands off the price of a Florida holiday – but is it really that much of a money saver?

Walt Disney World is a dream holiday, but for UK families it doesn’t come cheap. The Disney Dining Plan can be a real game changer, depending on where you stay. Helen Wright has been to Disney more than 50 times and thinks the Disney Dining Plan can work well for many people during their visit Meals at Disney are colourful – but are they good value on a package?

I’m a Disney expert who’s been to Florida more than 50 times and know the Disney Dining Plan can save families a lot of money – but it only works for SOME holidaymakers, depending on your eating habits.

Here, I delve into what exactly the Disney Dining Plan is and which types of traveller it works best for…

First of all – the basics. The Disney Dining Plan is a complimentary package at in Florida that includes food and drink throughout the theme park during your stay.

To get the deal at no additional cost, guests need to book a hotel stay at Walt Disney World, along with a 14-.

The deal is only available to book for a short time and is for guests staying a minimum of five nights at a Disney-branded hotel, on selected arrival dates between January 7 and December 19, 2026, which includes summer holidays.

The booking window to get this deal for next year ends on November 5, 2025, meaning if you want to book a holiday to Walt Disney World next year, the time to do it is now.

As well as potentially saving money, it can also make the holiday itself less stressful, as you don’t have to worry as much about your spending budget while you’re.

However, to get the free food deal, you do need to stay at a Disney hotel at Walt Disney World. These hotels offer lots of perks, such as Early Park Access each morning and free transport to the Disney theme parks, BUT they are usually more expensive to stay in than other Orlando hotels.

Across the park, 26 hotel resorts (ranging from budget to pricey) are participating in the Disney Dining & Drinks deal including Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

As a direct comparison, five nights at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort in January 2026 will cost £738, compared with a stay in a Villa at the Sheraton Vistana, a non-Disney hotel, which is £421 for the same dates.

The Sheraton is located at Lake Buena Vista, five minutes from Walt Disney World, but is not a Disney hotel, meaning guests don’t receive the exclusive Disney perks or access to the Dining Plan.

The Disney Dining Deal also includes more luxury hotels, such as Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort.

However, a room at one of these hotels will set you back £2,400 for five days.

If you are planning to stay in a Walt Disney World hotel anyway, booking when the free Dining Dining Plan is available to add to your reservation is a no-brainer.

However, some Brits are not convinced the deal actually saves you money as you’re already paying a premium to stay with Disney, versus another hotel or villa nearby.

It really depends on your holiday plans while you’re in Orlando and how much you plan to spend on food and drink.

Obviously, Walt Disney World is a big focus for UK families heading to Orlando, but some spread their time across other resorts such as , Legoland, and local attractions such as Gatorland and Boggy Creek Airboats.

Since the Disney Dining Plan only includes restaurants and fast food at Walt Disney World (including its hotels and entertainment complex, ), it means it’s only value for money when you’re at the Disney resort itself.

However, for families who are planning a dedicated Disney trip and want to stay in the ‘’, the dining plan is fantastic value.

How much food do you actually get?

The packages cover more than 170 food and drink locations within the Walt Disney World Resort, but certain restaurants and snack bars only serve guests staying at the posher hotels.

So if you’re at a ‘value hotel’, you get the ‘Quick-Service Meal‘ options.

The three different Free Disney Dining & Drinks plans are a Quick-Service Meal per day, a Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan, or a Disney Dining Plan, depending on how expensive the Disney hotel is that you’re staying at.

Disney snacks like the iconic Dole Whip are included in the Quick Service Dining Plan

With four theme parks, two water parks, Disney Springs and all its hotels, a lot of UK families do find themselves spending the majority of their time at Disney – and that’s when .

It also means you can eat at Disney restaurants and try some of the fun without stressing over the prices while on your holiday.

For first timers, the plan can be complicated. So we’ve broken down the deals below, that show you what type of plan you really get when staying value, moderate and deluxe hotels:

The Cheapest Disney Dining package is the Quick Service Meal Plan

If you’re staying at a, which is the budget option like Disney’s All Star Movies Resort – you’ll get one quick-service meal each, per day with a soft drink.

This is the equivalent of a turkey burger, chips and a cola at Woody’s Lunch Box in Toy Story Land.

For anyone visiting the park and not staying at a Disney hotel, utilising the free credits, this would cost £12 per person (£48).

The Medium-Priced package is called the Quick Service Dining Plan

With the slightly more expensive hotels, like Disney’s Port Orleans Resort, you have access to the , which means more food and snacks to consume during your stay.

With this package, you get two fast food meals each day.

Along with your lunch at Woody’s, this could be dinner at Polite Pig in Disney Springs, which is on the . This is decent value, as you can get ribs with cornbread, ‘slaw and chips, (usual price when not on the plan, £17pp).

You also get a drink with each meal and an extra snack during the day, like a Mickey Bar ice cream (usual price £4.50).

As regular visitors to Walt Disney World, if my family uses the then we’ll usually go with this option as it’s the best value for money if you can afford the ‘moderate level’ hotel rate.

Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort start at £270 per night.

BaseLine Tap House bar at Hollywood Studios is rumoured to have the best Mickey Pretzels – and if you get them for free, they taste even better! One of the special Halloween snacks at Magic Kingdom Park

The most expensive package is called the Disney Dining Plan

If you stay at the fancy hotels like Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort (from £4,500 for five days) and Spa, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (from £2,403 for five days), you get even more free food with the package.

With this tier of the plan, you can book a table-service restaurant for free every day – and this includes at restaurants such as The Crystal Palace and Story Book Dining at Artist Point.

If Character Dining is a priority for your family, it’s definitely worth looking into the Deluxe plan as sit-down meals like pp or more.

If we have a planned, not leaving the resort much to visit other tourist attractions in Orlando, booking with the offer does work out better value for money. For us, planning where to eat is part of the fun.

My kids like it because when they ask for those pricey Mickey-shaped snacks (like the elaborate donuts and iced cookies that cost around £8.50 each), I actually say ‘yes!’

However, if you are planning a more varied holiday in Orlando, you may find it doesn’t work out cheaper to book the Disney Dining Plan.

Carrie and family go DIY when dining at Disney World because they prioritise the rides and attractions over sit-down dining

‘We prioritise rides over dining, so we never eat enough at the parks to justify the cost’

UK Disney blogger Carrie Bradley from visitingorlandowithkids.com visits Florida every year with her family, but they rarely sign up for the Disney dining package…

Carrie says her family never book with the plan as they find it cheaper to stay outside of Walt Disney World and pay-as-you-go for food and drink.

She said: “As a family, at least once a year and have tried lots of different ways to eat, drink, enjoy it and save money.

“We have used the on a few occasions and at first, we loved it.

“It’s great to have a variety of choices and places to choose from, it’s fun picking out snacks each day.

“But, after a while we found we rarely finished our meals each day and had loads of credits left over.

“At the end of the holiday, we would find ourselves running around and spending the extra credits on snacks that we didn’t really need and probably would not have bought otherwise.

“And then we had to

“We realised that it was highly likely we might not have spent the money we’d ‘saved’ anyway.

“A lot of people don’t know that without the plan you can still stay at a more affordable Disney Partner hotel and enjoy the other benefits like free parking, Disney transportation, the ability to book restaurants 60 days in advance and .

“There is a range of non-Disney hotels that are still on the Walt Disney World property that offer similar perks, such as the and Hilton at Bonnet Creek.

“When it comes to meals, these hotels all let you make advance dining reservations, just like at a Disney resort, but are often much cheaper per night.

“They won’t be included in the dining plan, of course, but often we’ll stay and just pay for food in the parks as we would on any normal day.

“It’s even more cost-effective to stay outside Disney in a budget hotel or a villa in the .

“This also means that when we go to , which we always like to do, we aren’t paying ‘twice’ for food and drink for three of the days.

“I’m not against the and I have spoken to so many families who love it.

“The Deluxe plan with the full table service each day is excellent value if you can afford the rates, especially if you want to do a Character dine.”

Once, Carrie found rates at the ‘deluxe’ for less than a ‘moderate’ hotel with the dining plan included, so that was an exceptional deal.

“It only happened that one time and could have been a fluke, but always worth checking!” she said.

But her family find dining at a sit-down restaurant every day is excessive.

Carrie said: “Sitting and ordering from a waiter can be time-consuming and I wouldn’t know where to start with the admin of booking a different table service restaurant every day of our trip.

“A lot of kids, ours included, aren’t interested in sitting at the dinner table for extended periods either. We like to be out during our days.

“Remember, you have already paid for your park tickets aside from the plan, so to get real value for money, it’s better to spend more time and shows.

“Pay-as-you-go dining gives you a bit more spontaneity. We love the Disney parks, so I want to maximise the time I have there as much as I can.

The T Rex Restaurant is a good option if you want to eat at Disney World but do not have the Disney Dining Plan Visitors from the UK can take full advantage of the Disney Dining Plan, which can be booked until the 5th November 2025 for selected dates next year.

“Also, for many Brits being the USA, are often generous. My kids can easily share a meal between them and still have some left. It’s always so much food. Sometimes my husband, Nick, and I share too!

“In the , we tend to eat less as well. For us, it ended up being both a waste of money and food most days”.

Plus, Carrie says there are still a few tricks to save money on food and drink when you’re not on the Disney Dining Plan.

She said: “I carry snacks in my bag – what mum doesn’t? I usually pick them up from to save spending on pricier snacks in the park.

“Although, we always make room for a Mickey Bar or a while at Magic Kingdom – we wouldn’t be true Disney fans if we didn’t.

“As a family, we drink more water than fizzy drinks, so we have refillable cups and just top them up for free from the ice cold drinks machine at .

“If you don’t want to stick to water, carry a Robinson’s squash mini pack with you and add a boost of fruity flavour to your free water”.

You also have the option to eat outside the park too – grabbing a or an even more budget option, making sandwiches for lunch at your hotel or villa with supplies from Publix or Walmart.

She said: “For a nice dinner out, we often go to or Olive Garden at the Florida Mall.

“The bill comes in at much less than a sit-down Disney restaurant, even when you factor in an Uber to get there and back if you haven’t rented a car.

“Staying at Disney means you can use their free transport when at the resort, so we when we stay there”.

Carrie also has another top tip for anyone heading to Florida.

She said: “Sign up in advance for a Landrys Select Club Card . It costs $25, but then you get $25 off your first restaurant bill.

“The card also gets you priority reservations and you can build credits every time you use it.

“The exciting thing is, you can also use this card at Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom Park inside Walt Disney World and The Rainforest Cafe and T Rex Restaurant at . All on the Disney resort!

“It was my birthday when we visited and having the card even got us an extra $25 off to celebrate – bonus!

“Foodies will definitely find the Disney Dining Plan good value, especially if you order the most expensive thing you can get every time, like the entrees at Teppan Edo at Epcot that have large portions of .

“For us, bringing our own snacks and eating at quick-dine counters like Woody’s Round Up and Cosmic Rays always works out cheaper than getting the plan.

“And, we get to enjoy more rides each day!”