Half Board Plus - Is it really worth it?

[Rua]

I know this topic has been done quite a bit on here, but I just wanted to get an up to date opinion on whether or not getting Half Board Plus vouchers are worth the money.

I've been looking at the various restaurants throughout DLP online, and the menus. Myself, hubby and kids are quite happy with buffet style food, and the odd fast food night.

I was told yesterday by the travel agent that it's €31 for adults and €13 per child per night. For our stay it would cost €357 for the whole trip.

Does it really help you to save money? Is it possible to eat cheaper than that there, but still get relatively "real" food, ie: not McDonalds every single night?

 

[tennisfan]

They are not the good value they used to be. They are ideal if you want to budget your meals before you go & have them paid for but you could eat in the buffets reasonably as long as its not the likes of Inventions. If any of your children are under 3 buffet meals are free for them.

Word of warning I actually found table service meals only a little bit dearer then Counter service last year, so this year I will try to avoid them just to get better value for money.

 

[DLPdaft]

To make the most out of half board plus you really need to use them at buffet restaurants which are on the half board plus plan, so in that sense they are restrictive.

Another way of looking at is this - put the money you would have used for the half board plan on a pre-pay travelcard, and use that to pay for your meals at DLP. This way you are not restricted to where you can eat, and if you feel like having something lighter than a full buffet for dinner on a couple of nights, you're not wasting a half board voucher .

 

[Ms Poppins]

Word of warning I actually found table service meals only a little bit dearer then Counter service last year, so this year I will try to avoid them just to get better value for money.

I agree. I've been pricing up some options too and Cowboy Cookout, which is classed as counter service is equal, if not more, than many table service restaurants. You're just paying for the characters in there I think.

To make the most out of half board plus you really need to use them at buffet restaurants which are on the half board plus plan, so in that sense they are restrictive.

Another way of looking at is this - put the money you would have used for the half board plan on a pre-pay travelcard, and use that to pay for your meals at DLP. This way you are not restricted to where you can eat, and if you feel like having something lighter than a full buffet for dinner on a couple of nights, you're not wasting a half board voucher .

That's a good idea Unless you're going to eat a starter, main and dessert with each meal - or spend ages at the buffet, you won't get your full money's worth. I agree that it's peace of mind as far as budgeting goes, but with Elaine's idea you may save a ton and have some euros left over for some other things

 

[deepblue]

We went with the free dining offer in 2010 so two vouchers per day. The wonderful thing about it was not having to worry about what to eat. Normally we're scanning the menu for the cheapest dish and trying to keep a running total in our heads. From this point of view I'd be very tempted to get HB vouchers again as it really took the stress out of dining and we enjoyed it much more.

However, they can be too restrictive depending on which restaurants you would otherwise choose. And they are not necessarily cheaper as detailed by pp's. We have an AP, a shareholders card and some birthday discounts to use so they are definitely not worthwhile for us this time. I really like the prepay card idea.

 

[Rua]

To make the most out of half board plus you really need to use them at buffet restaurants which are on the half board plus plan, so in that sense they are restrictive.

Another way of looking at is this - put the money you would have used for the half board plan on a pre-pay travelcard, and use that to pay for your meals at DLP. This way you are not restricted to where you can eat, and if you feel like having something lighter than a full buffet for dinner on a couple of nights, you're not wasting a half board voucher .

This is what's got me a bit confused though. I looked at the menu for the Hunters Grill, and the the buffet is €28 for an adult. Once you buy a drink, it brings the price up to €31.80, which is only saving you 80 cents through use of the voucher. While the 80 cent is better in my pocket than theirs, I'm just wondering if it's worth the restriction.

For instance, if I wanted to use a voucher in one of the Table Service restaurants on the list of HB Plus places to eat, do they restrict you to a particular menu or set of items to choose from?

 

[DLPdaft]

yes, at table service restaurants its a set restricted menu for using your half board vouchers as full payment.

 

[donna307]

I think you're better off without them if you have a shareholders discount or if you have fussy eaters with you. However, it's nice not to have to budget for meals once you go. It really depends on where you are planning to ear as others have mentioned above.

Why don't you have a look at some of the menu's on the DLRP Magic site to get an idea of whats available and at what price (bearing in mind the prices will have gone up slightly now and the menus will be slightly different too) Weigh it up against the price of the vouchers. Thats what I did and worked out I was better off without but I will miss not having the stress of budgeting.

 

[HFJohnson]

We used them on our last holiday and while it was nice to have everything paid for in advance we won't be using them again. You only make a saving if you stick to restaurants within the relevant category but we ended up eating in restaurants in all the categories (Agrabah Cafe, Cafe Mickey and Inventions) so didn't get the full benefit.

I've got a shareholders card now which will hopefully work better as we'll get 15% off wherever we eat (apart from counter service places)

 

[Rua]

The plan is for us to have our brekkie, pack a few snacks for the day, and then just use the HB Plus vouchers (if we get them) for our dinner.

The restaurants I have my eye on to go to during our four night stay are:

Hunters Grill, The Blue Lagoon, Cafe Mickey, and Annettes Cafe (I know it's lame, but I really like 50s american diner food! lol!)

Would the vouchers be worth it for these restaurants?

Any restaurant recommendations?

 

[DLPdaft]

yes, they are all fine restaurants to eat in . But I don't think its worth getting HB plus vouchers for them - for 2 reasons.

Annettes is on the standard HB plan, so you'd be losing money using your vouchers there.

And Cafe Mickey is a set 3-course menu for the half board plus voucher, but you can do it a lot cheaper as the portions are pretty big in Cafe Mickey. We just share some pizzas etc there (they are easily big enough for 2) and the character interaction is exactly the same regardless of what you've ordered to eat there.

Also, Blue Lagoon may not be open for dinner (often the park restaurants are only open for dinner rather than lunch if the main park is open until 8pm or later).

 

[Rua]

Thanks, that's really good to know. I may just give the HB vouchers a miss then.

 

[tennisfan]

Your best bet is to have a look at the menus online & see what you would eat & price it up. That way you will know if its worth it or not.