Half Board or not

[Ashtara]

We are booked to do to DLP on 31st May for 4 nights/5 days at Newport Bay with my husband and two children aged 4 & 5.

I am really confused over whether to go half board or not - the travel agent seems to be keen to sell this to me but seen as I would assume they are on commission that is no suprise.

Anyway I have done so much research my head is buzzing.

The plan is to stock up at breakfast so we just eat rolls and snacks for lunch and then have dinner with the kids at 7 just before they go to bed at around 8.30-9.00 so we need it to be a decent meal

My kids are quite fussy eaters so I was going to go for the buffet meals. I know Agrabah Cafe and Plaza Gardens are good and was thinking of doing a couple of meals at the hotels too.

The cost for half board is £302 plus we would have to buy lunch on the Saturday before we head home so I am basically looking for 5 buffets throughout our stay.

Does the half board vouchers cover all buffets?
Does it include drinks or is it just the meal?
Is it worth my while doing the half board or just paying for them all?

Lots of questions I know but this holiday is costing me lots as it is so need to find best deal for food.

Thank you for reading

Premila

 

[sarahb74]

Hi there. Buffets are a good plan - Plaza Gardens (Disneyland Park) and Restaurant des Stars (Studios) are very good. I enjoyed the Agrabah, but rest of my family didnt really like. Bear in mind it is low season (we are there then too!) so the parks shut at 7 and you wont get a meal in the park at that time. We always eat main meals at lunchtime but I think others have said you cant eat at many of the buffet/table service restaurants after 5 when the park closes early. There are some good places in the Village which are open a lot later, although the only buffet I can think of is La Grange which we really enjoyed on our first visit - havent been back since as we eat at lunchtime and dont like leaving the parks! Also the hotels have buffet restaurants - we've only used the Manhattan and Inventions, both of which were very good.

Re the vouchers, most people seem to think its not worth it as you dont save very much unless you eat 3 courses at the most expensive restaurants on your plan. Drinks are included with childrens buffets but not adults if you pay on the day, the vouchers may include an adult drink, I'm not sure.

Have you thought about the shareholders club? You need to buy 20 shares in EuroDisney SCA then fill in a form and get a card which gives you 15% off table and buffet service restaurants, and in the shops. With 4 of you for 5 days you will pretty much cover the costs of the shares in one trip, if you dont then plan on going back to DLP confused3) you can sell them again.

Have a look through the menus on a few of the DLP websites, decide where you think you would eat and then check the prices.

Hope that helps.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi Ashtara,
Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to the DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

The half board meal plans don't save you money at DLP, so unless you desperately want to pay for your meals in advance with your hotel booking, I'd also suggest you look into buying shares - they will pay for themselves in your one visit, as you get a straight 15% discount on all your table or buffet service meals in any of the Disney-run restaurants, plus 15% discount on your shopping for souvenirs/autograph books etc etc (oh and 10% off your purchases at Disney Stores in the UK too).

 

[DLPdaft]

here is one of the shareholder discussion threads -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2399133&highlight=shares

 

[kizzabel]

Hi
I like to be super organised and keep to a tight budget so i always get the vouchers, at worst they can be exchanged at face value towards the total cost of your meals

My 3rd trip is in march and it will be the 2nd with half board (we had one trip with free dining). I find it great for knowing in advance that the big chunk of my meals are paid. I am purchasing shares before my november trip to give shareholders discount a try instead.

It will be low season when you visit so your choices for eveing buffets are La Grange in the village and the ones in the hotels. Annettes have a set menu for half board vouchers which has a good selection. Cafe Mickey do a €30 per adult (unsure kids price??) menu - 3 courses which also has a good selection. The steakhouse in the village was also very nice. The half board vouchers cannot be used in Planet Hollywood, King Ludwigs, McDonalds or the Rainforest Cafe.

I would advise to book meals when/before you arrive as was there that week last year and it was hard to find somewhere to eat a couple of nights.

 

[tinkerbellfans]

We have just come back from Disney this week and its the first time we haven't used the half board vouchers.

I bought the Disney shares and these give you 15% off meals so we saved money compared to the 10% of with vouchers.

There were also a couple of times the kids were just not hungry after a big breakfast and lunch so we used a couple of counter service places instead which cost us 40 euros for 4 people, so we actually saved a lot of money on meals this holiday. I would not buy Half board vouchers again.

Also to spread the cost you could always use a pre loaded card with euros, which is also what we did, then you use that to pay for meals.