Getting the Most Out of a Disney Dining Plan Snack Credit, According to planDisney
planDisney's video series opens with the question the panel gets asked constantly: what is the best use of a snack credit on a Disney Dining Plan? Panelists Greg and Mandy took the question to EPCOT and turned it into a snack challenge across Morocco, France and The American Adventure, with several items that eat like a full meal.
The best use of a Disney Dining Plan snack credit is the question planDisney panelists field most often, and the answer is not a churro. Greg and Mandy took it to EPCOT for the first entry in the panel's video series and turned it into a competition to see who could stretch the credits further, working through World Showcase pavilion by pavilion.
Key Details
- Where: EPCOT, mostly across World Showcase
- The plans: the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan and the Disney Dining Plan
- Snack allowance: one snack per person per night of stay, for everyone ages 3 and up on the reservation
- Rollover: unused snacks carry day to day and expire at midnight on check-out day
- Best value picks: Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie in France, Regal Eagle Smokehouse in The American Adventure, and the counter in Morocco
- Series: Ask planDisney, presented by State Farm
How the snack allowance actually works
There are two dining plans, and both include a set number of prepaid meals and snacks. Each person ages 3 and up on the reservation receives one snack per night of stay, whether the booking is a Disney Quick Service Dining Plan or the full Disney Dining Plan. A four-night Disney Resort hotel package therefore gives every family member four snacks.
The part that shapes strategy is the rollover. Unused snacks carry from day to day and do not expire until midnight on check-out day, so there is no penalty for saving them all for one afternoon in World Showcase. That flexibility is what makes the snack credit the most abusable line on the plan.
Turning a snack credit into a meal
Mandy's approach is to spend snack credits where the portion is a meal. Her pick is Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, the quick service bakery in the France pavilion, where a ham and cheese croissant covers breakfast, a pissaladiere covers lunch and an eclair or another pastry covers dessert. All three come off the snack list.
Greg's contribution is the barbecue fries at Regal Eagle Smokehouse in The American Adventure, a portion large enough that he spent part of the video trying to recruit help finishing it. Specialty coffee is the other overlooked entry: any size qualifies, which makes the largest drink on the menu the correct order.
The Morocco pavilion holds the savory options
Greg spent most of the challenge refusing to leave the back of the Morocco pavilion, which turns out to carry three separate qualifying snacks: a marinated olive mixture with fresh vegetables, roasted chickpeas and seasoned mixed nuts. For guests looking for something lighter than a funnel cake, that counter is the most useful stop in World Showcase, and it is easy to walk past.
What this means for guests
The snack credit rewards guests who plan around portion size rather than sugar. World Showcase concentrates the best value because the pavilion quick service counters serve savory items at snack pricing, and the rollover rule means a family can bank credits for a single festival-style afternoon. More answers from the panel are at planDisney.com. Panelists are compensated for their participation on planDisney.