[ad_1]
Walt Disney World has launched trip packages for subsequent 12 months, revealing 2026 Disney Dining Plan worth will increase & decreases. Unsurprising given meals inflation and WDW traits, prices have modified. This covers how pricing has gone up & down for youths and adults on the varied tiers of DDP, plus our commentary.
Let’s begin with extra unsurprising information, which is that solely the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) and normal or common Disney Dining Plan (DDP) are at the moment out there for 2026 Walt Disney World trip packages. The Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (DxDDP) and Disney Dining Plan Plus (DDP+) are nonetheless unavailable.
We wouldn’t essentially rule out these returning, as Walt Disney World is simply now within the strategy of bringing again Airport Luggage Transfer after a 5+ 12 months hiatus. But 2026 would be the third 12 months of the Disney Dining Plans being again, and the unique explanations for the continuing suspension of the DxDDP and DDP+ now not maintain water. On the opposite hand, Walt Disney World is taking a look at a tricky 12 months on the horizon, so discovering artistic “new” methods to spice up visitor spending will undoubtedly happen.
Then there’s the greatest change with the 2026 Disney Dining Plan, which is that Kids Eat FREE All Year in 2026 at Walt Disney World! Throughout all of 2026, friends staying at one among Walt Disney World’s greater than 25 on-site Disney-owned resort resorts will get a FREE Disney Dining Plan for his or her youngsters (ages 3 to 9 on the time of journey) when buying a Disney Dining Plan as a part of their package deal for the opposite members of their occasion (ages 10 and up on the time of journey).
The Free Disney Dining Plan included on this particular supply is dependent upon the Disney Dining Plan the adults within the occasion buy. The Disney Dining Plan is included for youths ages 3-9 when buying a daily Disney Dining Plan for friends ages 10 and older within the occasion. The Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan is included for youths ages 3-9 when buying a Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan for Guests ages 10 and older within the occasion.
The variety of packages out there for this supply is restricted. Everyone in the identical room have to be on the identical package deal. Child should keep in room with grownup. In different phrases, everybody will get the identical tier of DDP, free and paid, and you may’t craft a package deal in order that it’s one room full of children (all getting Free Dining) and one other filled with adults (who choose in opposition to shopping for the DDP).
The Kids Free Dining Plan at Walt Disney World deal may be mixed with different choose particular gives, which means you should still be eligible to benefit from different offers launched later for 2026. General public reductions have but to be launched for any 2026 journey dates–and doubtless gained’t till round October of this 12 months–so we’ve but to see what “other select special offers” are eligible. Our guess is usually room-only reductions transformed to trip packages.
As at all times, Walt Disney World has not launched official pricing for the 2026 Quick Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) or the common 2026 Disney Dining Plan (DDP), so we’ve reverse-engineered the pricing by choosing an October 2026 journey date for one evening at All Star Sports, and carried out the mathematics ourselves to take away the prices of the required park tickets.
Not publishing costs of the Disney Dining Plan upfront is a approach of obfuscating prices and avoiding sticker shock on particular person package deal elements. Walt Disney World should’ve decided {that a} package deal whole rising by a pair thousand further {dollars} was preferable to displaying a day by day eating price for no matter cause.
This 12 months, although, the largest sticker shock comes from including tickets. If you possibly can abdomen an All-Star Sports room leaping from $157 per evening to over $900 per evening when including tickets (and that’s only for one grownup and one little one!), the pretty modest improve to $1,000 in all probability isn’t going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s again.
Regardless, the rationale that Walt Disney World hides the costs of the Disney Dining Plan is to keep away from conversations of price, and to permit them to quietly elevate the worth of the DDP in the beginning of the fiscal 12 months or institute seasonal surcharges (neither have occurred in ages). The excellent news right here is that the bumps in 2026 Disney Dining Plan costs are pretty gentle.
Based upon our theoretical October 2026 Walt Disney World journey dates, per evening pricing for the DDPs is as follows:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $60.47 per grownup and $0 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): $98.59 per grownup and $0 per little one
These costs all embrace tax, however friends should pay for ideas or gratuity out of pocket. Children 3-9 should order from the children menus; beneath age 3 eat free from an grownup’s plate.
For reference, listed here are 2025 Disney Dining Plan costs:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $59.14 per grownup and $24.71 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): $97.79 per grownup and $30.56 per little one
For those that don’t need to do the mathematics, listed here are the will increase for 2026:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: +$1.33 per grownup and -$24.71 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): +$0.80 per grownup and -$30.56 per little one
Obviously, the destructive numbers for youths are what’s most eye-catching right here. More on these and the modest will increase for adults within the commentary.
2024 Disney Dining Plan costs have been as follows:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $57.01 per grownup and $23.83 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): $94.28 per grownup and $29.69 per little one
2020 Disney Dining Plan costs have been as follows:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $55 per grownup and $26 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): $78.01 per grownup and $30.51 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan Plus: $94.61 per grownup and $35 per little one
- Deluxe Disney Dining Plan: $119 per grownup and $47.50 per little one.
…and 2019 Disney Dining Plan costs:
- Quick Service Disney Dining Plan: $52.50 per grownup and $23.78 per little one
- Disney Dining Plan (normal): $75.49 per grownup and $27.98 per little one
- Deluxe Disney Dining Plan: $116.25 per grownup and $43.49 per little one.
Here’s what every tier of the 2026 Disney Dining Plan gives:
Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan:
- 2 Quick-Service Meals Per Night of Stay
- 1 Snack or Nonalcoholic Beverage Per Night of Stay
- 1 Resort-Refillable Mug Per Trip
Regular Disney Dining Plan:
- 1 Quick-Service Meal Per Night of Stay
- 1 Table-Service Meal Per Night of Stay
- 1 Snack or Nonalcoholic Beverage Per Night of Stay
- 1 Resort-Refillable Mug Per Trip
Our Commentary
This is an apples-to-apples comparability to the 2026 Disney Dining Plan, as nothing has modified within the plan particulars or credit score entitlements between the 2 years. However, that’s not true as in comparison with prior years. Starting with 2024, Walt Disney World diminished the variety of snack credit on the Disney Dining Plans from 2 to 1 per evening.
When analyzing the costs, the large factor that stands out is that the QSDDP for youths dropped in worth from ~$25 to $0 and the DDP fell from ~$31 to $0. This is clearly the headline information, however we’re considerably reluctant to dub this a pure worth lower. After all, we don’t check with the present $99/evening All Star Sports supply as a worth lower–it’s a reduction. The sticker worth nonetheless exists, simply not for choose dates.
To make sure, the children eat free particular supply is unbelievable information for households with youngsters on this vary, particularly a number of. But there shall be situations the place it’s attainable (or required) to purchase a youngsters’ DDP for ‘other select special offers,’ and I’d hazard a guess these costs shall be larger in 2026. We simply don’t have visibility into that but, since reductions for 2026 haven’t but been launched. We’re nonetheless very bullish on this supply, however it’s however one thing to think about while you see the inevitable clickbait headlines about ~$30 worth decreases to the Disney Dining Plan.
Generally talking, our perspective is that youngsters consuming free all 12 months lengthy in 2026 is a good particular supply. This is very true since this deal shall be stackable with (not less than some) different reductions. In all probability, it’ll be bookable with room-only reductions when these are transformed to a package deal. At least proper now, it doesn’t look like there’s a significant “catch” to this supply. Whether that continues to be correct is outcome-determinative in our final evaluation of this ‘kids eat free’ supply.
If there’s a particular supply that requires paying for the DDP for youths, it’ll need to be an much more aggressive one as a way to bridge the hole between the mixed financial savings of the room and DDP deal. Finally, it’s unbelievable to see that grownup costs actually didn’t go up that a lot to offset the decrease (free) youngsters pricing.
Even with out the ‘kids eat free’ angle, the worth will increase for adults might’ve been quite a bit worse. Although inflation has decelerated within the final 12 months, we nonetheless haven’t had deflation…and hopefully gained’t given what that may imply for the broader economic system. You’re little question properly conscious of this, as not less than half of you see it firsthand whereas grocery buying, and the one half both hear concerning the excessive worth of meals or see it for yourselves on receipts. This isn’t any large secret and nobody has been immune.
According to the USDA, meals costs have been 2.6 % larger year-over-year from final February to this February. The food-at-home (grocery retailer or grocery store meals purchases) CPI elevated 1.9 %; food-away-from-home (restaurant purchases) CPI was 3.7 % larger year-over-year.
Throughout the following 12 months, general meals costs are anticipated to rise barely quicker than the historic common fee of development. In 2025, costs for all meals are predicted to extend 3.2 %, with a prediction interval of 1.3 to five.1 %. Food-at-home costs are predicted to extend 2.7 %, with a prediction interval of -0.1 to five.7 %. Food-away-from-home costs are predicted to extend 3.7 %, with a prediction interval of two.6 to 4.9 %.
In different phrases, the worth will increase for the 2026 Disney Dining Plan are beneath the backward-looking 3.7% fee of inflation for eating places, in addition to the forward-looking 3.7% for the 12 months to return. That’s the extra related statistic because it accounts for labor and different enter prices at eating places, that are clearly totally different from grocery shops.
As at all times, you’ll need to do the mathematics to find out whether or not the 2026 Disney Dining Plan is true in your occasion. Just take into account that you’ll want to attend till October 2025 to do this math for those who’re visiting in early 2026. Although Walt Disney World adjusts restaurant costs all year long, the beginning of the brand new fiscal 12 months is when across-the-board will increase usually happen. It’s been mid-October every of the previous few years.
Given the aforementioned meals inflation, it’s a foregone conclusion that Walt Disney World will elevate restaurant menu costs not less than as soon as earlier than subsequent 12 months begins. So doing the mathematics on the 2026 Disney Dining Plan vs. paying out of pocket proper now could be pointless, since you don’t know what menu costs shall be subsequent 12 months. By distinction, the DDP worth is already locked in–and the rise to grownup costs is properly beneath the degrees of meals inflation.
The math is hard for us as a celebration of two adults with no youngsters over age 3 at the moment…however one over 3 as of October 2026. (How do they develop up so quick?!) We additionally like to do character eating, and had been in a race in opposition to the clock to knock out as lots of these meals this 12 months to keep away from paying for 3 subsequent 12 months. But we’re additionally Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members, and at this level, it’s unclear the Kids Eat Free particular supply will prolong to us (on the contrary, early indicators are that it’s going to not).
If we have been simply informal vacationers buying a package deal, the Disney Dining Plan would completely make sense for us. Those are phrases I haven’t written in a number of years, because the earlier dealbreaker for us was/is booze–we by no means order alcohol anymore, and that has been just about essential to bridge the hole. The calculus goes to vary for us in late 2026 as soon as our daughter turns 3, however not earlier than then.
Those are our distinctive circumstances and yours might differ. Similarly, for those who’re a solo guardian with triplets who’re 9 years outdated, you’re going to make out like a fats cat with the 2026 Disney Dining Plan because of the children eat free angle (and solely paying for one grownup). At the opposite finish of the spectrum, an older couple doing primarily Signature Restaurants shouldn’t even think about the DDP. We can inform you with out breaking down the numbers that it gained’t work out for you.
If you need to learn extra about commonest circumstances when the DDP does or doesn’t make sense, see When You Should Buy & Skip the Disney Dining Plan! That’s a protracted learn, however it offers a breakdown of various demographics that probably will–and won’t–profit from shopping for the DDP. The backside line is that for folks with youngsters (ages 3-9), the Disney Dining Plan out of the blue makes extra sense in 2026. For nearly everybody else, in all probability not.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about resorts on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To get monetary savings on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets publish. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips publish takes a singular take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the perfect place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every part it’s good to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your tackle the 2026 Disney Dining Plan pricing will increase & decreases? Do you employ the DDP for consuming at Walt Disney World? What benefit or disadvantages do you assume it gives? Would you be pleased with worth decreases and the removing of alcohol, or does booze add numerous worth to the DDP for you? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation of the Disney Dining Plan? Any questions we may help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!