For the last few years, Walt Disney World has offered free dining plans in September to entice visitors during a notoriously slow month. Well, Disney announced yesterday that the Disney Dining Plan will once again be offered free with select vacation packages. If you stay at one of Disney's "value" or "moderate" category resorts—or at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa—between Aug. 24 and Sept. 20, 2008, and you book a 5-night "Magic Your Way" package (at a starting price of about $1,300 for a family of four), then they'll throw in the dining plan for free. The plan ordinarily costs $38 per day per adult.

If you've never done the Disney Dining Plan, I highly recommend it. I've done it on my last two trips, and can't understand how I ever got by without it. The plan entitles each guest to one table-service meal, one counter-service meal, and one snack, per each night of their stay. The plan covers meals at most restaurants and snack stands at Disney's Orlando resorts. Unlike last year, it doesn't include gratuities, but you can still get your money's worth.

For more info, visit disneyworld.com or contact Walt Disney Travel Co. at 407/934-7639 and ask for booking code AYG.