As you might remember from our Disney vacation trip reports this summer, I wasn’t too happy with the changes to the Disney dining plan. The exclusion of the gratuity really increased the price of the dining plan — making it less of a bargain. In previous years it was a great deal — and a wonderful way to experience the best of Disney Dining. Now, it’s just a convenient way to prepay for your food and not having to worry about paying for it while on vacation. Most Disney fans will break even with the meal plan vice paying out of pocket while on vacation.
There is, however, an alternative — that will save you money on your food purchases at Disney. It’s called the Disney Dining Experience Discount Card — and it gives guests 20% off most table-service restaurants (and counter-service restaurants) in and around Disney World.
The catch: the card is available only to Florida residents and Annual Passholders. If you are like me, and go to Disney on a regular basis then you know an annual pass is a great bargain. In the past, we have planned two summer vacations by keeping them within a year of each other. That is, for 2009 we might vacation in late July — and then the following summer (2010) plan our vacation for early July — thus giving us two summer vacation all with the same annual pass. This is normally a lot less expensive than purchasing tickets for each vacation.
The cost for the Disney Dining Experience Card is $85 for Florida residents, and Annual Passholders receive a $25 discount – bringing the final cost to only $60.
Only one card is needed for an entire group of up to ten people. If you are going with a family or group, this could save you a lot of money. For instance, if you are traveling with your grandchildren and their parents — only one member in the party needs to have the dining experience card.
There are several other benefits to the card — other than the 20% discount. For instance, resort and theme park parking is included for dining purposes (usually you will have a 3 hour limit which should be more than adequate). Alcoholic and/or specialty drinks ARE also included.
A second membership is available for someone in your household for an additional fee of $25. If you are in a big group and plan to separate a lot during your visit you may want to take advantage of this benefit. While the card is valid for up to 10 people you must have the card on you at the time of use. If your husband is at the hotel with the card and you are at the restaurant with the rest of your group you won’t be able to apply the discount unless hubbie runs over with the card.
The card can be purchased by phone at 407-566-5858 — or may be purchased at guest services.
*this is not a sponsored post — just good information for Disney fans!
