Dining Plan

[haleofafamily]

Does Disneyland have a dining plan? I'm trying to understand the meal plan and am finding it confusing.

 

[mom2rtk]

They do (or did?) but it was nothing like the WDW version and was hard to come out ahead.

 

[figment_jii]

DLR does not have a dining plan that is anything like WDW's dining plan (if that's your frame of reference). Instead, you can pre-purchase dining vouchers which are good for select locations. They do have some cash value and you can use the voucher at other locations for that cash value (think something like a gift card). As mom2rtk said, it's very hard to come out ahead when using the DLR dining plan unless you get it a good deal and only eat the most expensive locations. Most folks do not recommend getting the DLR dining package.

I couldn't find it on the Disneyland.com website anymore, so it's possible that they are not currently offering the dining plan with vacation packages.

 

[haleofafamily]

Thanks for the replies! What is the voucher for character meals and why is there a premium options?

 

[figment_jii]

When available, there are two different levels of vouchers: the character meal vouchers and the premium vouchers. The character meal vouchers are good at Minnie & Friends Breakfast at the Plaza Inn, Surf's Up at PCH Grill (breakfast), and Storytellers Character Breakfast. The premium vouchers are good at Ariel's Grotto Princess Dining Celebration (breakfast and lunch) and Goofy's Kitchen (all times). I don't know the price values, but the character meal voucher has a lower "cash" value than the premium voucher. It's not a gift card, so if you take it somewhere and the meal costs less than the voucher's "cash" value, you don't get any change (so make sure if you go elsewhere, go somewhere that costs at least the "cash" value of the voucher).

 

[haleofafamily]

Can I make a normal dining reservation for character meals or any restaurant?

 

[figment_jii]

Yes. You do not need a dining plan or a reservation at one of the on-site hotels to make a dining reservation. You can either call Disneyland Dining or make the reservation online:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/#/reservations-accepted/

(Unlike WDW, there is no benefit to staying onsite in terms of dining reservations. Anyone can make reservations starting 60-days in advance. You can only make then one-day at a time (i.e., there is no 180+10 feature at DLR). The online system rolls somewhere between midnight and 6:00 am PT, but it's not really pressing because you can almost always get prime dining reservation fairly close to the date of your trip. Dining reservations at DLR are much easier to get than at WDW. If you search the site on the 60-day mark and things show as not being available, it probably means the reservations weren't loaded into the system, rather than being fully booked.)

 

[wdwfan22]

don't waste your time trying to figure out the dining plan, no matter how you work it, you can't make it work for any savings.

 

[LoriLovesDisneyland]

They do not offer a dining plan any longer at DLR, just the character meal vouchers which can be used like cash at most locations in the park or at the hotels. For example if you do not wish to do character dining but like the idea of pre-paying for some of your meals, buy the character meal vouchers. They are each worth either $33 or $45 for an adult voucher. The lower price is for a non-premium voucher. If you go to a counter or table service restaurant and the total is $50, use 1 $45 voucher and pay the rest OOP. You cannot save money with these vouchers, but you can pay ahead of time and have some money for any meals you wish to have (they are not good for WOC or Fantasimic dining packages). Hope this made sense.