A basic guide to the meal plans (2018)

Important note: The following information is correct as of the 7th November 2018. Disneyland Paris may change this at any point and the blog may be updated to achieve this. If in doubt, double check the Disneyland Paris website. 

I thought that I would start this food blog with a basic explanation of how the meal plans work. This is for many reasons.

1. They work VERY  differently to their American counterparts. 
2. At the time of writing, Disney Holidays have a deal with a free full board meal plan. 
3. I have had experience with the meal plans before.

What is a meal plan?

A meal plan is an option where you can pay for your food in advance and then enjoy eating when you arrive at Disneyland Paris. They are really good because they allow you to budget food in advance so that you can enjoy spending your hard earned euros on nice things like Disney plushies.

So how do the plans work?

You can choose 3 different catering options:

• Breakfast: You can eat breakfast at your hotel every morning and then pay for your lunch and dinner. 
• Half board: You get a breakfast buffet at your hotel every morning and then either lunch or dinner. 
• Full board: You get all 3 meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included. 

The Breakfast plan goes from £8 (Davy Crockett) to £23 (Disneyland Hotel) per night. If you want to eat with the characters for Breakfast, the general rule is that the supplement is more expensive if you are staying at Davy Crockett than the Disneyland Hotel. Check out DLP's little guide for in depth breakfast prices. 

Within Half and Full Board, you have 4 different levels:

1. Hotel:

 You can eat at you hotel's buffet restaurant, HOWEVER you will need to pay for your drink. If you have the full board option, you also get a voucher for a Counter Service  restaurant to use in the theme park.

This costs £34 (Davy Crockett, Cheyenne and Santa Fe) to £80 (Disneyland Hotel) per  person, per night for full board and £25-£60 for half board. It is also important to note that if you are staying in the Disneyland Hotel, your counter service voucher changes to a lunchtime buffet at any of the restaurants that are part of the standard option. 

2. Standard:

You can now choose to either eat at 1 of 3 hotel restaurants (Chuck Wagon Cafe, Crockett's Tavern or La Cantina), 2 resturants in Disneyland Park (Agrabah Cafe or Plaza Gardens), Restaurant De Stars at Walt Disney Studios or The Grange at Billy Bob's Western Saloon at Disney Village.  For any restaurant you visit, you will have a refreshing beverage (soft drink) included in your meal. These can be 5 euro a pop so this can save you some monies alone. 

This meal plan is the best one to use if you are staying in a value hotel (Cheyenne, Santa Fe or Davy Crockett). It allows you the option to eat in your hotel or in the parks and some of these buffets are really good places to visit even if you're not on a meal plan. Agrabah Cafe has some of the most gorgeous decoration and their pistachio shortbread is a must try. 

However, my personal favourite place has to be Plaza Gardens. This buffet restaurant is at the end of Main Street USA and has some REALLY good food. What tips it over the edge, however, is their dessert selection. These desserts are GOOD and worth a good 4-5 plates worth alone. 

Look at this stuff isn't it neat? Picture Description: A counter top covered in leaves. These leaves topped with food and have the chefs in the background. Picture Source: Disneyland Paris.

Price wise you are looking at £27 per adult per night for half board and £42 for full board. 

3. Plus.

Want even more choice? Plus is the plan for you. Not only does it include all of the restaurants in the standard package but you also get some nice little extras. What sort of extras? How's about steak in Frontierland? Ratatouille served at Chef Remy's or mussels at Newport Bay sound? These are all available to you on the plus meal plan. 

With plus you can eat in both of Newport Bay's and Hotel New York's (before January 2019) restaurants and eat at Sequoia Lodge's Buffet Restaurant . Making it a perfect choice if you plan to stay in these hotels. 

In addition, you can access two additional restaurants in Disney Village and Captain Jack's which overlooks the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. 

Cape Cod at Disney's Newport Bay. Picture Description: Chefs serving a variety of different foods on a buffet. Picture Source: Disneyland Paris

Price wise you are looking at £38 per adult per night for half board and £53 for full board.

4. Premium

Want the ultimate Disneyland Paris experience and willing to pay the dollar for it? Then Premium is your meal plan of choice. Firstly, let's get the worse bit out of the way, the pricing. It currently costs £62 per adult per night for half board and £88 for full board. Now I see those eyes water and that bank balance having a heart attack but it can be worth your money if you play it right. 

For example at Bistrot Chef Remy, the Linguine Menu (only available on premium) is 60 euro or about £53. If you chose to stay at the Disneyland Hotel and paid the £23 for Breakfast, then you're looking at £76 per day meaning you saved £14 per day on the half board. 

That's not even the best bit with this meal plan, there is, theoretically, nothing stopping you from having a character meal each day of your trip. You could decide to have breakfast at your hotel and then dinner with the Princesses at Auberge de Cendrillon on one day. Then on day two, you could have dinner at Cafe Mickey and enjoy meeting a different set of characters without having to worry about paying for it. 

Cafe Mickey is a great restaurant for families who want to eat with the Disney Characters. Picture Description: A family of 4 taking a picture with Mickey Mouse. Picture Source: Disneyland Paris

You also get the opportunity to dine in Walt's and you can enjoy 2nd Category seating at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. 

Hints and tips for the dining plans:

So how do you get your monies worth? Easy, by following my simple hints and tips. 

1. If possible, see if you can get the meal plans included in your package. If you are travelling from the 6th January to the 1st April 2019, you can get a free full board package for your family if you place your deposit down before the 28th November. Disney Holidays have quoted £928.88 for 4 adults going 27th-29th March 2019 staying at the Newport Bay Club with ferry crossing. What level you get will vary on your hotel. Davy Crockett, Santa Fe and Cheyenne will recieve a free standard plan.  Sequoina and Newport Bay will get plus and Disneyland Hotel visitors will recieve a free premium dining plan. 
2. If you are on the Plus plan, try and eat at the table service restaurants and your hotel buffet. These are often more expensive than the standard buffets and will therefore allow you to truly get your monies worth. 
3. Make sure you book your must do restaurants. You can do this from 60 days before your planned dining date via phone or online and is super important for things like character dining and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. 
4. Check out the food beforehand. Nobody wants to spend all that money only to find that their tiddlywinks despise the food and just want a McDonald's. Gather the family together before your 60 day marker and do your research. Look at the menus (Disneyland Paris offer in depth menus for all of their table service restaurants), watch YouTube videos (you can do this for EVERY place in Disneyland) and read blogs (apart from mine, DLP is a very good one and one that I use to clarify any information that I'm unsure of) before making your final decisions. 

So there you have it, a guide to the Disneyland Paris meal plans. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will answer them ASAP as possible. 

Until next time, make a wish and lick your lips.

Kelly