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Free dining is back at Walt Disney World

Posted by ThemeParkMom on April 1, 2009 | No Comments

Walt Disney World photo / Diana Zalucky

Now is the best time of year to book a vacation package at Walt Disney World. If you book travel in late summer/early fall, you can get the Disney Dining Package for free with a 5-night/6-day stay and theme park ticket purchase.

If you’ve never used the Disney Dining Plan, I believe it’s one of the best deals going for families. Each member of the family gets one quick-service meal, one snack and one table-service meal each day of the stay. While that’s not “three square meals” a day, we have always found this to be plenty of food. And the plan is flexible enough to allow for variations in your schedule from day to day.

The quick-service meal can be eaten at almost any of the counter service restaurants in the parks or resorts, including the food courts at the value resorts. And the table service meal can be had at a wide selection of sit-down restaurants and buffets.

My two favorite things about the Disney Dining Plan:

1. The table-service meal credit can be used at most character meals at the parks and resorts. The character dining options are one of the best things a vacation at Walt Disney World has to offer so be sure to go to at least one, even if you don’t have little children.

2. You can opt to use two table-service credits for a signature dining experience, such as the Brown Derby inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Citricos at the Grand Floridian.

You have to book your Disney free dining vacation by June 21, and travel between Aug. 16 and Oct. 3 to take advantage of this money-saving Disney deal. You can find all the details and restrictions at waltdisneyworld.com.

But wait! Don’t stop reading yet! Because this free Disney Dining Plan offer is so popular, reservations for many of the character meals and table-service restaurants will fill up extremely fast. You need to make Advance Dining Reservations if you’re planning to go to Walt Disney World during this time. For advice on how to do that, ask the Walt Disney World Mom’s Panel.  These expert moms have answered hundreds of questions about the Disney Dining Plan, and you can ask them any questions you still have after reading the site.