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2010 Free Dining for Visa Cardholders

The time is nigh!!!

Disney has announced that Visa cardholders booking a full-price vacation package can get free dining for check-in dates between 8/15 and 10/2, 2010. Here are the details:

You must book three consecutive nights in a Disney hotel and purchase at least a 2-day theme park ticket using your Disney Visa Rewards card.
Guests of value resorts get the quick-service dining plan, while those in moderate, deluxe, and villas get the regular dining plan.
The regular dining can also be upgraded to the deluxe plan for $30 per adult and $10 per child per night, or $40 and $12 for those staying in a value resort.

Learn more about the Disney World Dining Plans on our Disney World Dining Plans reference page.

Top Ten Disney Dining Tips Straight From Disney Fans

By AJ 36 Comments

I put out the call on twitter and facebook for everyone’s best Disney Dining advice (because you guys are the experts!!). A lot of the responses could be combined, conveniently, into what I think is one awesome Top Ten list:

TOP TEN: DINING TIPS FROM THE DISNEY EXPERTS

1. Make Reservations
This piece of advice was mentioned dozens of times: Make Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) no matter what…and make them early! We suggest you plan ahead and make dining reservations for your high priority meals 180 days ahead of your visit to Disney World and 60 days ahead of your visit to Disneyland. (To us, they’re all high priority, so we just make all of our reservations as soon as we can.)

For those wondering if going to the parks during a traditionally slow season negates the need for ADRs, it doesn’t. The popular restaurants are always popular, and Disney’s “slow seasons” are getting shorter and shorter. Making reservations usually costs nothing, and can save you lots of time during your trip. Here’s a primer on how to make reservations for Disney Restaurants.

Of course, if you’re dead set against making advanced reservations, here are a few of our suggested restaurants you can still get into without an ADR.

Milky Way Sundae — Beaches and Cream

2. Do Your Research
Lots of folks suggested that an important part of planning your Disney dining is doing research about the restaurants and dining options available. I couldn’t agree more. Check out restaurant reviews, learn from other Disney fans how they handled Dining planning for their vacations, read trip reports, and sift through the posts here on the Disney Food Blog. The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to create a seamless Dining strategy that will be enjoyable for your whole family.

One great tip: take stock of the types of eaters you’re bringing with you; make sure you know if you need to plan for fussy eaters, specific eating schedules, food allergies or intolerance, or just plan likes and dislikes, then translate that into your research.

We have plenty of dining reviews right here on the Disney Food Blog, of course, but we also have some great reference information on choosing restaurants when you have special diets to consider. Check out our Disney Dining Reference Page or the “food allergies” section below for more.

3. Coordinate Dining with Park Hours and Extra Magic Hours
This is another research tip, and a great way to make your time at the Disney theme parks go much more smoothly. Disney World posts [Read more…]

Guest Review: Cinderella’s Royal Table

By AJ 52 Comments

Thanks to Chip and Co. for this guest review of Cindy’s! As it turned out, his family didn’t love the place; but there are some great insights here as a result. Thanks again, Chip!
Cinderella's Royal Table

On paper, this sounded like a great idea. I mean who wouldn’t want to have dinner inside the castle at Walt Disney World?

“Let’s have dinner in Cinderella’s Castle.”
“That sounds great. It will be so magical!”
“It will cost us 2 dining credits each.”
“Well I am sure it will be really good, then.”

I can still hear the conversation with my wife ringing in my head. [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: January 10, 2010

By AJ 2 Comments

Before I launch into the round-up, here are a few quick reminders about some big food news reported this week:

It’s official that the 2010 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival will take place from October 2-November 14, 2010.
Disney World has announced new Tables in Wonderland dinners, including one that’s being held inside the Great Movie Ride!

Now, off we go to the round-up! Plenty of good Disney food writing this week, including some great news items:

StitchKingdom reports that the Cantina de San Angel refurbishment is underway.

WDWMagic has a photo gallery of the Cantina refurb walls, and also has photos of pizzeria construction in Italy.

WDWNewsToday shares photos of the Crystal Palace refurb and a dry Splash Mountain at Disney World!

Imaginerding has the second of two posts in its Restaurantosaurus Book Update.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets shares photos and info about a 1967 LP titled New Year’s Eve at Disneyland, presented by Pepsi-Cola.

MagicCityMayhem posted a twitpic of the new Give A Day. Get A Disney Day. souvenir popcorn buckets at Disney World. You can find Magic City Mayhem here.

The Disney Blog has new about the eggs at House of Blues Restaurants, including Downtown Disney Orlando.

Everything WDW considers the merits of the Disney Dining Plan.

Main St. Gazette visits WDW’s Cinderella’s Royal Table.

A Walt Disney World Career celebrates dining at 50% of WDW’s table service restaurants. I shall have to go add up my own experiences and see if I’m even close!

Orlando Sentinel’s Daily Disney shares the recipe for Tony’s Town Square’s Tomato Dip with Goat Cheese.

Finally, here’s one I missed a while back (sorry!). Magical Kingdoms Disney Blog shares a review of Free Dining in Disneyland Resort Paris.

Thanks for sharing all of your news, thoughts, and insights about Disney food! Have a great week!