Disney World to Bring Back Dining Plan

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 8, 2023

 

There’s HUGE news out of Disney World today! The long-absent and greatly missed Disney Dining Plan will be returning in 2024, but you won’t have to wait quite that long to put those packages on your vacation itinerary. The plans begin going on sale May 31 for trips next year. The return of the Dining Plan is just one of five updates shared by Disney for park guests, including changes to the park reservation system.

Disney dining plans will be an add-on option for guests staying at Disney Resort hotels with packages after January 9, 2024. If you’ve never used the Dining Plans before, essentially, the Dining Plans are a way of pre-paying for your meals during your stay.  For some guests, it’s a money saver, while for others it is simply a matter of convenience, knowing that your trip, including food, is paid for before you step on property. The plans give you a set number of prepaid meals and snacks to enjoy during your stay. (Perhaps you’ve noticed the little DDP logo on menu boards at dining locations throughout the park, with the DDP tag indicating that those options are included in the Dining Plan.)  Two of the Dining Packages will be returning: the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan, and the Disney Dining Plan, which includes more sit-down restaurant options. 

     

As for the other announcements:

 

Among the most hated of the COVID-era changes was the “theme park reservation requirement,” and Disney has announced that they will be removing that requirement for date-based tickets. Beginning with park visits on January 9, 2024, theme park reservations will no longer be required for date-based tickets. There are still a few exceptions to the rule (such as non-dated tickets) for which you will still need to make park reservations, and you can check out those exceptions on Disney’s website.

For Annual Passholders, following on the heels of the current policy of not needing a park reservation after 2 p.m. (unless it’s Magic Kingdom on a weekend, when you still need a reservation), Disney will be expanding to “Good-to-go days” for Annual Passholders and cast members in 2024.  While this sounds like it might be confusing things a bit at this point, Disney promises there will be more details released on “Good-to-go days” shortly. The basic premise is this: Disney plans to offer select days on which Annual Passholders and Disney cast members can visit Walt Disney World theme parks without needing a park reservation. According to Disney Parks Blog, “Good-to-go days” may vary by park.  (Like we said, this may be muddying the waters just when we thought we were making progress…we’ll wait and see… sounds like we’ll still be checking the blasted calendars! God bless the cast members who will be manning the tapstyles as we all try to make sure we’ve followed the plan.)

 

In addition, Early Theme Park Entry for Disney Resort hotel guests will continue through 2024 each day for all four theme parks. Disney Deluxe Resorts and Deluxe Villas will continue to be able to take advantage of extended evening hours on select dates at select parks through 2024.

 

And last, but not by any means the least, Disney shared that they are working on simplifying the Disney Genie+ experience, including figuring out the logistics of allowing guests to make Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of a park visit. They “look forward to sharing more information at a later date.”  

_______________

 

Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Ten Disney Restaurants Take Home 2021 Foodie Awards from The Orlando Sentinel

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 11, 2021

 

Theme parks are not generally known for their fine cuisine, but Disney has put itself in a category all its own when it comes to dining. In fact, there are Disney guests who travel to Florida just for the restaurants (and the Disney Dining Plan). They schedule vacations around the opening of the newest kitchens.  And we’re not just talking about the much anticipated opening of Gusteau’s!

Disney isn’t the only theme park to be upping its game when it comes to gastronomic delights and food festivals. Universal and Sea World are also riding the chuckwagon when it comes to feeding park-goers.  In fact, “Theme park food” is just one of more than 50 categories for which The Orlando Sentinel dishes up honors during their annual “Foodie Awards.” Disney took home eleven awards for ten of its restaurants this year.

More than 106,000 votes were cast in the 23rd Annual Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards, a 40% increase over previous years’ tallies. 

 

While these awards undoubtedly make the restaurant owners cheer when their venue is celebrated, I’m inclined to believe that this year’s awards might mean just a little bit more to the chefs and proprietors – this was an unprecedented year for these entrepreneurs, who not only were trying to put their best dishes on the table, but were very often struggling just to keep their doors open and their staffs employed during a worldwide pandemic. Many found themselves having to pivot and adapt more than once this year as conditions and regulations changed time and again.

So, our congratulations to the winners of this year’s Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards, with an extra helping of thanks to all the nominees and local restaurants for doing your absolute finest under the most trying of circumstances. Bon appetit!

These are the awards that Disney plated up for 2021, including three awards in Disney Springs; two for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT; and one a piece for Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The final two awards went to Disney resort restaurants.  The entire list of Foodie Awards and categories can be found here.

 

Tiffins (Animal Kingdom):

Winner, Critics’ Choice -  Best Theme Park Restaurant

 

Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie (EPCOT):

Runner Up, Critics’ Choice - Best Theme Park Restaurant

 

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen (Magic Kingdom):

 Runner Up, Critics’ Choice - Best Theme Park Restaurant

 

Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom):

Winner, Readers’ Choice - Best Theme Park Restaurant

 

The Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios):

Runner-up, Readers’ Choice - Best Theme Park Restaurant

 

Raglan Road Irish Pub (Disney Springs):

Winner, Critics’ Choice - Best Irish Restaurant 

Winner, Readers’ Choice - Best Irish Restaurant

 

Boma – Flavors of Africa (Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort):

Winner, Readers’ Choice - Best African Restaurant

 

Wine Bar George (Disney Springs):

Runner-up, Readers’ Choice - Best Wine Bar

 

Victoria & Albert’s (The Grand Floridian):

Winner, Readers’ Choice - Best Splurge

 

Biergarten Restaurant (EPCOT):

Runner-up, Readers’ Choice - Best German Restaurant

 

__________

 

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

Disney World Gets Official Go Ahead to Open, But Disney Has Cancelled Your Dining Plans and More

by Beth Keating

News 

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 29, 2020

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced today (May 29) that Disney World had been granted the official go-ahead from the state to move forward with their re-opening plans. (The Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force had granted their approval on May 27, with additional approval from Mayor Demings, before sending the re-opening plans to the state for their okay.)  Guests can officially begin returning to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11^th, with Epcot and Hollywood Studios following on July 15^th.  SeaWorld was also granted approval to open June 10^th. Universal had previously been granted approval to open June 5^th. 

That’s good news, right? Well, now for the bad news.  

I’m actually afraid to post this part of the article. It seems that, right now, as soon as I write something up, Disney releases another change, and the first article is scrapped … then the second, and the third. I wrote a story last night, and by the time I woke up this morning, the details of Disney’s opening plan had changed yet again.

This particular change, though, had me hyperventilating. I awoke to discover news that my Disney dining reservations were being cancelled.  We had a trip planned for later this year, and I had gone into work late on the morning of my 180 days-out-booking-window so that I could get the reservations that we wanted. By some miracle, I had managed to get each of the reservations that were on our wish list. Some of these tables had alluded us for years, but this time, we got everything we wanted, and in the time zones we wanted. The only thing still hanging was an open spot for Space 220, on the outside shot that it might actually open sometime during our lifetime.  One could only dream.

To people who are used to making hotel reservations nearly a year ahead of time, booking dining reservations 180 days out (yes, you need to decide where to eat six months ahead of your meal!), and arranging Fast Passes 60 days out, changing things on the fly is a little disconcerting.  I will admit to being the crazy Disney mom with the spreadsheets. It doesn’t matter that I have the My Disney Experience app, I still rely on paper printouts, color coded, with confirmation numbers dutifully cataloged. Magic Kingdom is loaded on the page in red; Animal Kingdom is in green; Hollywood Studios is purple… you get the picture.  It’s obsessive, I know.

So, fast forward to today, when my dining reservations went out the window. Although the reservations were currently still showing up on the My Disney Experience app at noon, I’m sure they’re going to disappear at any moment. According to a posting on the Disney Parks website: 

As a result of limited capacity, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all existing dining reservations and experience bookings, including Disney dining plans included in packages. Unfortunately, due to capacity reductions, the following will be cancelled: 

- Dining reservations

- Offerings and experience bookings such as behind-the-scenes tours

- Disney dining plans included in packages

- All FastPass+ selections.

Along with the cancellation of special experiences and dining packages, there are also changes coming to the hours of park operations, likely due to the absence of the nighttime fireworks shows which will not be taking place, as well as the need for extra time for cleaning down the parks under the new cleanliness guidelines. Extra Magic Hours are also temporarily suspended. 

Dining reservations, when they do reopen, will shift to a 60-day booking window to allow guests to make reservations closer to their actual arrival dates, and guests can expect that dining and tour experiences will operate under more limited attendance numbers. New ticket sales are also on pause. These changes are all being made to prepare for a new Park Reservation System that will have guests making reservations ahead of arrival for specific entry to the parks under reduced attendance limitations. Existing ticketholders and APs will be given priority in rebooking before the window opens to new ticket holders. According to Disney, guests who booked Resort hotel reservations with a Free Dining Package for dates between May 28, 2020 and September 26, 2021, will receive an automatic cancellation of their Disney dining plan and are invited to rebook their vacation for a later date with a 35% room discount. New bookings at Resort hotels are also paused while those with existing reservations are doing the rebooking dance. And, as most people are already aware, masks, temperature checks, and distance markers on the ground are already part of the Disney experience. 

While these cancellations are enormously disappointing (we’ve tried to get some of those dining reservations over the course of multiple trips without success, and now they are gone again), I have confidence that Disney will figure out a way to make this right for guests. COVID-19 sent a huge whammy in their direction, too, and they are reacting to moment-by-moment changes just as we all are in our everyday lives.  Information is bound to change yet again as Disney prepares this new Parks Reservation System to come online. Some guests and Annual Pass Holders are already getting emails about procedures to change their reservations. And, of course, this is all contingent on whether or not the country experiences a rebound of COVID-19 cases, which could bring things back to a standstill.

Here are my apologies in advance, but by the time you read this, the information may already be obsolete.  I’ll just leave you with two links at which Disney has been posting their updates.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/

__________

See related...

“Disney Announces Reopening Dates for Walt Disney World”

“News on Theme Park Reopening Plans – Universal Orlando’s Big Step”

See recent...

“Return of My Guilty Pleasure: National Treasure”

“PRESS CLUB C Podcast with Ray Keating – Episode #10: Streaming Fueling the Nerd, Including the Disney Nerd”

“Is “The Wonderful World of Disney” Still Wonderful?”

See notable...

“Leadership Changes at the Walt Disney Company”

“Theme Parks: Pandemic, Disney and the Little Guys”

__________

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.