My First Trip to Disney – Food, Glorious Food!

Disney World is a magical place, but it can be stressful at times. One only has to watch the plethora of videos on the subject or read one of several books that have been published about planning your trip, to realize that there are so many restaurants and activities to choose from. Since most of us aren’t going to be able to enjoy every single dining experience or participate in all offered activities in one visit, it is important to focus on what is important for you and yours.

Dining Plan Or Not? I covered some of this is in my previous blog post about our trip and a large portion of the planning process went into food. Should we purchase the dining plan or try to save a little money and bring snacks, etc. 

Knowing that I wanted the most cost-effective experience without giving up certain luxuries that I envisioned for my Disney trip, we decided to go with the dining plan. I figured if we were going to spend the money to go to Disney World, we may as well go all out especially since we were already saving money on the rooms by getting the military rate.

After watching several videos and reading different articles and blog posts about how to get the most out of the dining plan, the anticipation of trying some of these restaurants at Disney World started to build.  

What Is the Dining Plan? There are three different tiers you can choose from. You can choose to go with quick service/counter meals only. You can opt for the Disney Dining Plan that includes one quick service meal per person per day, one sit down meal per person per day, and two snacks per person per day. The quick service and sit down services also include a choice of beverage. Yes, if you are over 21 this includes alcohol! If you like wine with your meal like I do, this is another added cost that is included in the dining plans. The third option is the deluxe plan. This plan is very similar to the second tier, only you have the option to use all of your meals as sit down meals.

The Disney Dining Plan tier two option is about $75.00 per person per day, and that includes your counter service, sit down service, and two snacks. (If you purchase the correct snacks, you can really come out ahead.) 

They have water stations at several counter service restaurants in the park where you can fill up the cups they offer so why would you waste a snack option on a bottle of water? Guests are also allowed to bring water bottles to the park if they choose. (Another strike against wasting a snack credit for a bottle of water.)

Instead of using your snack option on a bottle of water, get that cheesecake or Mickey Waffle! The Epcot Food and Wine Festival is the perfect place to use your snacks credits. You can’t use them on alcohol, but you CAN use it for the $8 lobster roll, scallops, or cheese and bread. A $4 bottle of water or an $8 snack? Seems like a no-brainer to me!

The Dining Experience: Dining at Sanaa was by far my favorite dining experience of the entire trip! It is located at the Animal Kingdom Resort with a view of the savannah. It was too dark for us to see the animals very well, but it was still a wonderful experience.

Although appetizers aren’t included in the dining plan, we decided to order the Indian Bread Style that came with several flavors of Naan and dipping sauces. It was well worth the extra expense. 

Character Dinners: If you have the dining plan, you can use your dining credits for a character dinner.  There are some character dinners where you have to use two entitlements, but we chose a character dinner that only used one. Tip: Make your reservations ahead of time. We decided on Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.

While the food wasn’t Sanaa quality we got a decent meal. The carmelized brown cheese that was offered during the appetizer buffet portion of dinner was really tasty! I love pretty much all things cheese and dairy so this was a plus for me. 

Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora and Mary Poppins all made their rounds to the tables for photo ops. Aurora came up to the table and asked me to take a photo with her because I was wearing my Disney Villain Maleficent ears. My son won’t admit it, but he was blushing when he got the photos with them. 

By the time we were ready to leave, we saw our server with a long tray of sweet delights with the words “Thank you for your service.” Did I mention that Disney goes above and beyond when it comes to customer service? 

The dining plan worked out for us, and ended up saving us money, but I realize this may not work for everyone’s traveling needs. If you want to experience different character dinners and food options while at Disney World, I recommend the dining plan. I figure why not splurge while on vacation?