Disney World Dining Overview

The range of dining options at Disney World is absolutely fantastic! There is everything available from grab and go locations, Starbucks, counter service, sit down dining, and signature dining. Something for every taste and budget.

11 Reasons Why I Don’t Recommend the Disney Dining Plan

Unfortunately, while Disney offers great discounts on resort rooms and park tickets, they offer no discounts at all on dining!

Fear not though, there are some military and other discounts available on Disney property which you'll find below.

Shades of Green Dining

Shades of Green is the military owned and operated hotel on WDW property. It is one of the worldwide Armed Forces Recreation Centers.

You'll find a good variety of restaurants at Shades of Green, they have a full service Italian restaurant, a Buffet Restaurant, a Sports Pub and several grab and go locations including a Starbucks.

Shades is a U.S. Military installation so there is no sales tax on meals, or anything else.

Shades of Green’s New Garden Gallery Breakfast Meal Plans

Shades of Green Dining Overview Page

Shades of Green's Restaurants:

• Mangino's Bistro - Italian, Lunch and Dinner
• Garden Gallery - Buffet Breakfast and Dinner
• Evergreen's - Sports Pub
• Java Cafe - Starbucks, Ice cream, Lobby Bar
• Express Cafe - Breakfast Items and Sandwiches all day till 2030
• On the Greens - By the Magnolia Pool Hot Dogs, Hamburgers

Disney World Military Discounts on Dining

As mentioned above Walt Disney World does not offer military discounts on food.

But there are several non-Disney locations at Walt Disney World's Disney Springs that do offer military discounts.

There are Restaurants, Entertainment, and Merchandise locations which honor our military community with anywhere from 10% to 25% off of your bill! See the Full List Here

Disneyland Military Discounts on Dining

As mentioned above Disney does not offer military discounts on food.

But there are several non-Disney locations at Disneylands's Downtown Disney that do offer military discounts.

With discounts from 10% to 20% off of your bill! See the Full List Here

Non-Military Discounts on Disney World Dining

Other Dining Discounts

Discounts of up to 20% are available for other membership programs at select Walt DIsney World Locations

• Walt Disney World Pass Holders
• Disney Visa Card Holders
• Tables in Wonderland Discount Card

Walt Disney World Annual and FL Seasonal Passholders have the added benefit of receiving Disney World dining discounts at many WDW restaurants. See the list on the Disney Food Blog.

Tables in Wonderland is a Walt Disney World discount dining program open to Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club members, and Florida Residents. The membership provides a 20% discount on food and beverages (including alcohol) at many restaurants and lounges in Walt Disney World parks and hotels. See the list of restaurants offering Tables in Wonderland discount at Dining at Disney.

The Disney Dining Plan

The Disney Dining plan is offered to Disney Resort Guests (not Shades of Green or off-site guests) who can add this option on to their room reservation.

The Disney Dining Plan essentially allows you to pre-pay for your meals while at Disney. There are several different levels of the plan from the basic to the Cadillac version.

Disney occasionally offers "Free Dining" usually in the fall. The Free Dining Plan offer requires you to pay full price for the room (no military discounts) and there is a minimum full price ticket buy required (usually 1 or 2 day tickets). Deciding if this offer is better that the Disney Armed Forces Salute room and ticket offer requires some calculation.

For some great information on the Disney Dining Plan from some of my friends see:

Your First Visit - The Walt Disney World Instruction Manual

The Disney Tourist Blog

Other Resources

Dining and Food articles are not a big focus here at MDT (though I do love to eat at Disney!), Military discounts take up most of our time.

But there are some very great sites on the internet which are dedicated to Disney Food only!

Check out these sites:

Dining at Disney

The Disney Food Blog

The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is my favorite Walt Disney World experience!

My family has been going to the Epcot Food and Wine as often as we were able since 2003. While stationed in Ohio it was every other year, but since we've been stationed in Florida we've hit it every year.

During the Food and Wine Festival all of the permanent countries around Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon as well as many other countries set up outdoor booths around the lagoon.

The booths feature sample sized portions of food and wines/beers from their country for prices of $2-$7.

It's fun to slowly walk around trying the different food and drink taking time to "stop and smell the roses". Instead of rushing around from attraction to attraction worrying about fastpasses we just slow it down and take in all the little details of Epcot's World Showcase.

See some pictures of the offerings from some prior F&W Fests:

Food-and-Wine-Pictures 2009

Food-and-Wine-Pictures 2007