The Disney Dining Plan is BACK, but if you’re going to use it, you need to be smart about it.

Purchasing a Disney Dining Plan as part of a Disney World vacation package is essentially a way to pre-pay for your meals and snacks. When you buy a plan, you get a certain number of meal and snack credits (the number and type of credits depends on which plan you purchase), which you can use throughout your trip. You can use those snack credits to get lots of tasty eats around Disney World, but WATCH OUT: Some eats that count as snacks are actually a huge WASTE of a snack credit!

Here’s a quick overview of the different kinds of Disney World Dining Plans and what you get with each one:

Quick Service Dining Plan

Inclusions Per Person in the travel party (ages 3 and up), Per Night: This plan includes counter service (i.e., fast food) meals and snacks at most quick service dining locations in the Walt Disney World Resort.

• Two quick service meals (entrée or combo meal at lunch and dinner and a beverage)
• One snack/nonalcoholic drink
• One Resort Refillable Resort drink mug per person, per package

This Plan costs $57.01 per adult (ages 10 and up), per night and $23.83 per child (ages 3 to 9), per night.

Standard Disney Dining Plan

Inclusions —  Each person on the meal plan will receive credits for the following, per night:

• One table service entrée, dessert (lunch and dinner only), OR full buffet
• One quick service meal, including entrée + beverage OR combo meal
• One snack/nonalcoholic drink
• One resort refillable drink mug per person, per package

This Plan costs $94.28 per adult (ages 10 and up), per night and $29.69 per child (ages 3 to 9), per night.

Most restaurants inside the Disney World parks accept the Dining Plan meal credits as payment, though note that not ALL of them do. Check out our full list of qualifying restaurants below!

View ALL the restaurants that participate in the Disney World Dining Plan here!

But what can you get with those snack credits? To find out, look for the Disney Dining Plan symbol on restaurant and snack kiosk menus. It’ll look like this:

Here’s a look at that symbol on a menu placard at Main Street Confectionery in Magic Kingdom.

Here’s the thing: Not all snacks are created equal, and you can definitely WASTE those snack credits if you’re not careful! These are some of the WORST uses for your Dining Plan snack credits:

A Bag of Lays Potato Chips

You can use your snack credit to buy a bag of Lays Potato Chips…or you can buy a family-sized bag from Walmart for under $4. This one’s a double-whammy: The snack is too cheap to make it a good deal with the credit AND it’s something you can get at home, so don’t waste your credits or your money on it in Disney World!

If you just can’t live without your Lays Potato Chips, we’d recommend putting in a grocery delivery order and having the chips sent to your hotel room. Then, you can bring them with you into the parks to save money and credits.

A Single Piece of Fruit

This one is a bad idea for the same reason that the Lays Chips were a bad idea. Really? You’re going to use your credit on a banana that costs $0.25 at Walmart?

Get your fruit delivered to your hotel from Walmart or Kroger, or you could even bring it with you from home. Save those snack credits for more interesting, pricey items!

A Cup of Plastic Cheese or Side of Gravy

To be honest, we’re not even sure why this is an option. Who’s spending an entire credit on just a side of gravy?

The plastic cheese…that we can understand. Just get us a straw because we could drink that stuff plain.

But still, it only costs a dollar to buy either of these on their own, so we’d recommend saving those snack credits.

A Popcorn Bucket Refill

If you buy a popcorn bucket in Disney World, you can get refills throughout your trip for just $2.25 each time!

Because it’s so cheap, we recommend using your snack credits on the pricier items and just paying for the popcorn out of pocket.

Starbucks Cake Pops

We’re bringing back the Lays Potato Chips argument here: Starbucks Cake Pops are cheap and you can get them at home, so don’t spend your money and credits on them in Disney World!

They cost just $2.99 at Disney World, so if you really want to get one, it’s not too much out of pocket.

Small Drinks at Starbucks

Please don’t use your snack credits to get small drinks at Starbucks in Disney World. Why? Because ALL Starbucks drink sizes cost one snack credit, so you could be getting a Grande, Venti, or even Trenta size instead for the same “cost”!

If you don’t want a lot of your drink immediately, you can still get the bigger size and then save the rest for later.

Bottled Water and Soda

Bottled water and soda are pretty expensive in Disney World, so you might be tempted to use a Dining Plan snack credit to get them. But we have a better idea!

Get free water cups from quick service restaurants and then get a soda with your meal instead of buying it bottled.

Each quick service and table service Dining Plan meal credit gets you a drink along with your entrée, so it doesn’t cost any extra to grab that soda.

Plain Bakery Items

There are several places in Disney World where you can get a plain chocolate chip cookie or brownie, and they’re usually around $3 or $4. The treats usually aren’t super special, and since they’re so cheap, we think it’s a waste of a snack credit to spend on those.

Instead, check out some of these much BETTER uses of Dining Plan snack credits to truly make the most of your credits.

MUCH BETTER Uses of a Disney Dining Plan Snack Credit

OK, so now you know what NOT to do. Let’s check out a few of the BEST items you can get with a snack credit! We’re talking most delicious, best bang-for-your-buck eats that only cost one snack credit with the Dining Plan:

• Funnel Cake at Epic Eats or Sleepy Hollow ($8.29 at Sleepy Hollow/$8.49 at Epic Eats)
• Pepper Jack Pretzel ($8.25)
• Rapunzel Sundae at Storybook Treats ($8.29)
• Brownie Sundae at Auntie Gravity’s ($8.29)
• Cream Cheese Pretzel at Lunching Pad ($7.79)
• The Plaza Ice Cream Sundae at Plaza Ice Cream Parlor ($8.79)
• Kyryll Pork Rinds at Ronto Roasters ($7.49)
• Tenoo Swirl Crunchies Cereal at Milk Stand ($9.99)
• Blue and Green Milk at Milk Stand ($8.99)
• Mickey Pretzel ($8.25)
• Large Drinks at Starbucks

Now you’re all set to really make the BEST use of those snack credits. Make sure to check out these posts before your trip to help you plan out your credits even more:

• Best Value Quick Service Restaurants for the Disney Dining Plan
• Best Value Snacks for the Disney Dining Plan
• Best Value Table Service Restaurants for the Disney Dining Plan
• 2 Disney World Restaurants We’d NEVER Use the Dining Plan For

Stay tuned to DFB for more of the latest Disney food news!

Click here for a list of participating Dining Plan restaurants in Disney World.

Are you going to use a Dining Plan on your next Disney World trip? Let us know in the comments!