After a multi-year hiatus, Walt Disney World has brought back the 2025 Free Dining Plan discount for UK residents! This post discusses dates and details of the deal and whether the special offer makes sense to book. Plus what this could mean for future Free Dining deals for U.S. residents.
First, the details of the 2025 Free Disney Dining Plan discount for UK residents. You’re eligible for this promotion if you book a full-price Walt Disney World package for a minimum of 5 nights and a maximum of 21 nights in one of the participating resort hotels and a 7 or 14-Day Magic Ticket on arrival dates between January 7, 2025 and April 5, 2025; April 23, 2025 and October 2, 2025; and/or October 18, 2025 and December 17, 2025.
As part of this offer, you can also take advantage of Walt Disney World’s 14-Day Magic Ticket for the price of a 7-Day Magic Ticket, which includes Memory Maker and is available exclusively to UK and Ireland residents. This special offer is now available and must be booked by November 7, 2024.
Book the 2025 Free Dining promo by July 2, 2024 to save £300 per booking on flight-inclusive packages when you book direct with Disney or save £200 per booking on Walt Disney World resort hotel & ticket vacation packages. In reading the fine print, it looks like those amounts are in euro for guests from Ireland (€200 for packages without flights; €300 with flights), and it also appears that guests booking after the July early bird window still receive a £100 or €100 per booking discount.
One wrinkle as compared to the U.S. version of Free Dining is that for this promo, guests staying at Value Resorts will receive free one free quick-service meal as opposed to the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan. This is not a new development for the UK version of Free Dining–this was how it worked in 2018-2020, too.
Consistent with other versions of Free Dining, Moderate Resort guests receive the Quick Service Dining Plan. Deluxe and Villa Resorts receive the standard Disney Dining Plan. There are actually a lot of room exclusions, with the most notable being Little Mermaid Rooms at Art of Animation. In addition to that, 2025 Free Dining is available (and is not available) at the following:
Value Resorts
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney Art of Animation Resort (except Little Mermaid Standard Rooms)
Moderate Resorts
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort (except for Standard Room and Water View Rooms)
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter (except Pool View Rooms)
Deluxe Resorts
- Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge (except Savannah View Room Club Level, 1&2 Bedroom Suites Club Level, Royal Assante Presidential Suite)
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (except Water View Room Club Level, Resort View Room Club Level, 1 Bedroom Suite Club Level, Ambassador Vice Presidential Suite Club Level, Honeymoon Room Club Level, Theme Park View Room Club Level)
- Disney’s Grand Floridian and Spa (except Resort View Room Club Level, 2 Bedroom Suites Sugarloaf Key Club Level, 2 Bedroom Grand Suite Club Level, 1&2 Bedroom Suites, Main Building Club Level, Disney Suite Main Building Club Level, 1&2 Bedroom Suites Outer Building Club Level, 1 Bedroom Suite Sugarloaf Key Club Level, Theme Park View Room Main Building Club Level, 1 Bedroom Victorian Suite Main Building Club Level, Deluxe Room Main Building Club Level)
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (except Resort Room Club Level and Deluxe Club Level Room)
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort (except Garden Rooms Club Level & Water Rooms Club Level and Resort View Rooms Club Level, 1&2 Bedroom Suites Club Level, Newport Presidential Suite Club Level)
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (except Water View Room Club Level, Turret Suite Club Level, Resort View Room Club Level, 2 Bedroom Suite Club Level, Commodore Vice Presidential Suite Club Level)
- Disney’s Boardwalk Inn (except Resort View Club Level)
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort (except Garden Wing Resort View Room, Main Tower Theme Park View Room, Garden Wing King Room, Theme Park View 1 Bedroom Suite, Garden Wing 1 Bedroom Suite Club Level, Theme Park View Presidential Suite Club Level)
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa (except 3 Bedroom Treehouse, 3 Bedroom Grand Villas and 3 Bedroom Grand Preferred Villas)
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort (except 2 Bedroom Lakeside Villas and 2 Bedroom Theme Park View Villas)
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village (except 3 Bedroom Grand Villa – Savannah View)
- Villas at Grand Floridian Spa and Resort (except 2 Bedroom Villas Standard, 2 Bedroom Villas Lakeside View and 3 Bedroom Grand Villa Lakeside View)
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (except 2 Bedroom Cabin and 3 Bedroom Grand Villa)
- Disney’s Riviera Resort (except Tower Studio and 3 Bedroom Grand Villa)
You can read more about the details, exclusions, and terms of the offer on Disneypackages.co.uk.
None of the room category exclusions are all that surprising. This is typical of recent Walt Disney World promos, with multi-bedroom suites and Club Level frequently not being eligible for discounts. In the case of Free Dining, I’m not sure why you’d want to book Club Level in the first place–so no real loss there.
Aside from a slight shift in the blockout period, which varies every year and is based upon the weeks around Easter, the 2025 Free Dining promo for United Kingdom residents is pretty similar to offers from previous years. The biggest changes from what I can tell as compared to 2020 (the last time the promo was offered) are that the booking window is longer (November 2024 vs. July 2019) and so is the travel window (last arrival date of December 17, 2025 versus October 3, 2020).
Due to the last arrival date being around Christmas, there’s also a blockout for a couple of weeks around Fall Break that didn’t exist with the 2020 promo, since it just flat-out ended then. Setting aside the across-the-board price increases (which apply to everything and thus are not unique to this special offer), it thus appears to me that 2025 Free Dining is better, or at least more encompassing, than the 2020 special offer.
None of these things should be much of a surprise. Walt Disney World has been pulling from the 2019 discount playbook, and so too does this 2025 Free Dining offer. The company has also been getting more aggressive with deals in the last year-plus, and this follows suit as a discount that (for many guests) will be much better than the last couple years of UK offers.
As for the blockout dates, it’s been a while since Walt Disney World offered Free Dining to U.S. residents for the month of October, so excluding Fall Break makes sense. That and the April blockout should provide a pretty good idea that occupancy is anticipated to be high for those weeks. I’m slightly surprised there aren’t similar blockouts around Presidents’ Day or Thanksgiving, but otherwise, all of this checks out.
It’s not a surprise since it’s been happening with recent discounts, but it is interesting to see ongoing special offer exclusions for Club Level. I remember a time not too long ago (2015-2019) when free upgrades to Club Level weren’t all that uncommon since those pricey rooms were harder to fill. Now, they can be downright difficult to book sometimes–even at full price. This suggests to me there’s still a version of pent-up demand occurring, especially among guests willing to “make it rain” on vacation.
I wouldn’t bet one way or the other as to whether Free Dining is offered to U.S. the general public in 2025 quite yet. I’d say it’s a near-certainty that Free Dining will be offered, but it could once again be confined to Disney+ subscribers or Disney Visa Cardholders. If I wanted Free Dining, I’d probably sign up for that credit card or plan on subscribing to the streaming service for a couple of months. The latter is a pretty low barrier to entry.
What I would not expect is U.S. Free Dining arrival dates to be this expansive. It has been common for the UK to start Free Dining on January 1, but that has never been a sign that United States residents will get the same travel dates for our version of the special offer. It’ll probably once again be late summer to December, so really, the end date and the exclusion of Fall Break are much more instructive.
Where this really bodes well is from the perspective of a 2025 Free Dining Bounceback offer being released later this summer or in early fall. There hasn’t been one of those since 2019, but it seems primed for return. In just about every other conceivable way, Walt Disney World is pulling from the 2019 discount playbook. To the best of my knowledge, the lone lingering exceptions to that are Tables in Wonderland and the Free Dining Bounceback. And the only reason the latter hasn’t been offered is because the time when it’s traditionally offered has not yet arrived!
Every year when this UK deal is released, we inevitably see Disney fans from the United States perturbed that we don’t receive as good of an offer. Basically, it boils down to something we always stress on this blog when discussing discounts: Disney never offers promotions out of corporate benevolence. Discounts exist to incentivize people to fill hotel rooms. As we’ve said many times before, Walt Disney World is a hotel business that also operates some theme parks.
Disney does more to attract “holidaymakers” from the United Kingdom for a few different reasons. First, that long flight over the Atlantic means UK visitors need a greater incentive to head to Florida instead of, say, Disneyland Paris. Once in Orlando, Walt Disney World needs to work harder for those longer stays, as vacation home rentals are incredibly popular for holidaymakers taking long trips. (Likewise, Disney doesn’t want to lose on-site guests to Universal Orlando–especially in 2025, with Epic Universe opening.)
Finally, UK guests are generally some of Disney’s biggest whales. (I mean that in the flattering way–it has nothing to do with how those Disney Dining Plan credits are used!) These UK guests come for two or more weeks–hence the 14-day ticket–and drop a lot of money on Walt Disney World vacations. If they’re staying that long, they are also less likely to spend all of those Dining Plan credits or spend every waking hour in the parks. In essence, they are less costly guests in terms of utilization.
As we’ve noted in the past, these longer trips are in large part due to Europeans having double the number of paid vacation days per year than Americans. So much for the dangers of ever-increasing leisure, Mr. Steinbeck! Of course, it’s only fair to point out that the United States has considerably higher average wages than almost everywhere in the world, behind only Luxembourg and Iceland–and way above the UK or Ireland.
If lengthy vacations were commonplace in the United States, you can bet Walt Disney World would try to attract domestic guests with comparable promotions. If wages were lower in the United States, you can also bet that Walt Disney World would be forced to charge lower prices.
Before you reply in the comments that you do visit Walt Disney World for vacations of that duration or earn less money–you’re a fan who just read all the way to the end of a blog post about a promotion that is not applicable to you. They’ve already got you.
The average length of stay for guests from the United Kingdom is significantly longer than the 5-day average for Americans, so Walt Disney World does what it can to entice these guests to come to Walt Disney World. It’s a pretty straightforward business practice of catering to desired demographics.
All of this is precisely why targeted discounting exists in the first place. It’s also why Florida residents and Annual Passholders get better discounts–because Disney needs to do more to entice them to buy park tickets or book hotels. It’s also why Walt Disney World doesn’t do more for Disney Vacation Club members and has moved to AP tiers that don’t encourage non-locals to buy Annual Passes. Once again, they’ve already got you.
Moreover, it’s always odd to me that Disney fans are upset about promos to international visitors when these guests are a boon to the U.S. economy. In fact, if you’re a Floridian, you might consider personally thanking UK visitors for being a large contributor to the local economy…and your lack of state income taxes. 😉
That’s about it in terms of the 2025 Free Disney Dining Plan discount guests from the United Kingdom or Ireland. If you’re among the 5.1% of this blog’s visitors who can take advantage of this deal, hopefully this info is useful. Deals for the United Kingdom are not exactly our wheelhouse, so if you’re a UK resident who can offer any insight into how this offer stacks up to other promotions targeted at your region, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about the 2025 Free Dining discount for guests from the United Kingdom and Ireland? Wish we got offers like this in the United States, or do you prefer getting the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan at the Value Resorts? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
