Friends and family alike are always asking me questions about the Disney Dining Plan. Is it a good value? Can I eat anywhere I want? Can I eat anything I want? But the question that keeps coming up again and again is the question about how much people need to budget for the third meal that is not included in the quick service or regular Disney Dining Plan.
And my answer to that really should be – you aren’t going to starve.
In addition to credits to cover you for two meals, you also get a snack credit for each night of your package on either of those plans. When I tell them “snack”, most people think an ice cream bar or a box of popcorn, but when I tell you what your other snack options are, you’ll understand the not starving thing.
If you’d like to save your meal credits for lunch or dinner, check out some of the amazing breakfast options that count as a snack. You’ll find muffins, pastries, scones and coffee cake on the list of snacks you can use to enjoy breakfast. You might also opt for a mixed fruit cup, a whole piece of fruit, a hefty cinnamon roll (you could share this between two people!), or a yogurt.
Maybe breakfast has to be your biggest meal of the day, so you’d like to use one of your meal credits to get yourself a nice platter of breakfast foods somewhere. Save those snack credits for lunch instead – or even a light dinner. If you’ve eaten a big breakfast, you might be satisfied with an egg roll or some sushi, both options you can use snack credits for. If you’d like something a bit more filling, you’ll find one snack credit buys you a good sized serving of chili cheese fries. Be Our Guest has delicious and filling crocks of potato leek or French onion soup as snack offerings.
You might split your snack credits with friends, and make a meal out of the lobster bisque and a whole baguette – each one snack credit – available at the recently opened Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie at EPCOT’s France pavilion. A nice breakfast is half an oatmeal and half of a yogurt and fruit parfait – a whole one of each is available at Animal Kingdom for one snack credit each, and can be shared with a friend.
You’ll find carrots and celery with dip, trail mix, and nachos and cheese – all of which are offered in pretty generous serving sizes that will tide you over until your next meal. I haven’t met many people who regret sacrificing snack credits for food that is more like a meal.
And don’t forget – you can grab a dessert with your meal that can be boxed up and eaten later – as a snack!
