Hi,
The Standard HB vouchers cover 4 restaurants in the parks, Annettes Diner in the Village, and the buffets in Cheyenne and Santa Fe hotels. ( You need a car to get to Crocketts Tavern).
The price in the Disney brochure up to 8/11/10 is £20 adult and £9 child. From 9/11/10 it is £22 adult and £9 child ( so expect restaurant prices to go up as well).
The 3 Standard category buffets in the parks( Plaza Gardens,Agrabah Cafe and Restaurant Des Stars)currently cost ?23.70 adult and ?10.90 child without vouchers.The child's price includes a drink and a surprise, but there is no drink included in the adult price.
With the vouchers you get one soft drink or bottle of water per person.It is quite a large bottle of water.
The equivalent in sterling will depend on the exchange rate of course. At the moment, ?23.70 is about £19.36 using a currency conversion site.So slightly under the current £20 adult price, but it includes a drink, which would cost about ?2-?3 depending on what you have.
Standard vouchers are really for the convenience of not having to worry about carrying extra cash or budgeting for your main meal when you are there. The buffets are all you can eat so good value for money, with lots of choices of starters, mains, and desserts, with a section of foods popular with kids.
If the Standard vouchers go up in November by £2, then the prices in Disneyland will probably be going up as well.
If you use Standard vouchers in Silver Spur table restaurant, you are given 2 choices of starter, main and dessert, with bread, and your drinks.
Tea/ coffee/ wine/beer is extra in all the restaurants. A glass of wine is from ?5 depending on which you have.
PLUS vouchers tend to be better, as they currently cost £26 adult £11 child, but you have more choices of restaurants, including some very good table service ones like Walt's and Blue Lagoon ( fine dining) and also a HB Plus menu in Silver Spur with 3 choices of starter, main and dessert( generally more expensive choices than Standard).The adult HB Plus voucher is currently worth ?29,(?12 child) but a 3 course meal in Walt's or Blue Lagoon would cost quite a lot more than this with drinks, maybe around ?50 pp.
You can also use PLUS to cover your meal ( with one drink or water included)in the buffet restaurants in the Moderate hotels around the lake. The New York, Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bay all have slightly different themes to their buffets. I have not tried the Parkside Diner in the New York myself, but the Hunters Grill and Cape Cod in the other two are excellent.
If you use your vouchers in a higher grade restaurant, they take the voucher at face value, like cash, and you do not get your free drink.
My adult son and I used our Plus vouchers in Inventions buffet restaurant ( Disneyland Hotel, Premium category)for lunch, and they deducted ?58.00 from our total bill of ?83.10, so we paid ?25.10 extra.
It is not cost effective to use vouchers in a higher grade restaurant, but it gives you the choice if you wish.Standard vouchers are currently worth ?22 adult and ?10 child.
I hope this helps to explain it a bit.