I personally think the meal plans are too restrictive so won't pay for them, we only have them if they come free. We've just returned from staying at Golden Forest with free half board. The breakfast includes hot items and is plentiful and we managed fine on that with either a late lunch or dinner so full board would be wasted on us. Obviously everyone is different and three meals a day might suit you and your family better. We went back for afternoon snacks every day bar one, it's only a small selection of mini wraps and desserts but if we were having dinner instead of lunch it tided us over until then and the lounge is a very pleasant room to relax in. You are also invited to take drinks the night before to store in your room fridge (the old minibar) so they are nicely chilled ready for the next day.
One major benefit we really liked was that you can use the lounge on your last day so when we came back to claim our cases from left luggage before catching the eurostar home we were able to have a snack and a decent cup of tea. You also have a separate Golden Forest reception which was a godsend for when we arrived and stored/collected our left luggage - the queues were horrendous at reception! And don't forget the fastpasses, you have one per person per day except they can't be used between 1pm-4pm. It was so quiet that we struggled to use them but the GF CMs will stamp them so they can be used the next day.
I think it was well worth the extra ££, we've paid for our eldest DD and her fiance to stay GF on their honeymoon next year and I think they're going to love it too.
