How do you plan dining at Universal?

[m&pForever]

Is there anywhere to get info on how to plan dining?
We will be staying at the HRH at the end of december and have no idea how to go about planning to eat.

Is there a 90 or 180 day out rule like Disney.

Ive heard of Character meals..are they at the hotels or parks? how do reserve them?

Any info or links you can give me is appreciated :)

[goofy!]

That is the beauty of Universal Dining - no planning needed.

You can pretty much eat when you want where you want without having to have 180 day out reservations. You are never tied to something you thought sounded good six months ago.

In the morning, stop at the dining cart in City Walk and make your reservations for that evening.

And when you are staying on site, most of the time that is not even necessary. Your hotel key is not only FOTL for the rides, it also puts you at the front of the waiting list at most of the restaurants.

I have never made a reservation and we have never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table, except for once at Margaritaville when we had a large party and was not eligible for FOTL.

Do check on the restaurant FOTL policies because some of them do have restrictions.

The only restaurant you really need advance reservations with are the two Emerils restaurants and those can be done by www.opentable.com.

There is a great Spiderman breakfast at Confiscos in Islands of Adventure. I can't remember the dining reservation number, but the Hard Rock can get it for you or there will be somebody here shortly to provide it.

The hotel restaurants also have some characters during some of the meals.

[m&pForever]

Thanks for the quick reply...thats great news!
We are a family of six...
I wonder if we'll have any difficulty at restaurants with crowds because we will be checking in 12-30 until jan 3.

The spidey breakfast is something I know they will want to do.

[francie57]

If you are staying on-site, there will information in your room that gives you a telephone number to call in the morning and you can put your name in for priority seating for that night at the restaurants. Your room key doesn't work all the time - weekends and holidays are excluded. Just check the info in the room.

[m&pForever]

Since I'll be there for New Years eve and NYs Day, Should I book something before we get there or is checking in the morning still good?

[macraven]

Since I'll be there for New Years eve and NYs Day, Should I book something before we get there or is checking in the morning still good?

if you plan to celebrate new years eve at city walk and since you have a party of 6 people, i would make a ressie for dinner prior to the date you are arriving.

for the other dates, you can get a ressie the day of without a problem.

universal will not be crowded the first week of january.
you will be able to go anywhere for lunch or dinner then.

[patster734]

On Saturday evening, October 11, our party of 4 had about a 45 minute wait for Margaritaville with our HRH room key, which was better than the 75 minute wait the regular guests were being quoted.

[Tink_Kel]

If you are planning on eating at Margaritaville (My favorite! :banana: ), I'd definitely make ressies. You can call them directly 30 days out. Me & DF went there the 3rd of July, had ressies, and basicly just walked in. The guy in front of us, with FOTL with a room key, was told up to 1 1/2 hour wait!

[m&pForever]

if you plan to celebrate new years eve at city walk and since you have a party of 6 people, i would make a ressie for dinner prior to the date you are arriving.

for the other dates, you can get a ressie the day of without a problem.

universal will not be crowded the first week of january.
you will be able to go anywhere for lunch or dinner then.

Thats great to hear, thanks! our kids are young and we won't be out late so i was thinking of the park or hotel restaurants.
Im so glad i decided to end our vacation here instead of at Disney. Wife adn I are so excited...the kids won't find out until we leave disney to go home and instead go to universal.

[patster734]

If you are planning on eating at Margaritaville (My favorite! :banana: ), I'd definitely make ressies. You can call them directly 30 days out. Me & DF went there the 3rd of July, had ressies, and basicly just walked in. The guy in front of us, with FOTL with a room key, was told up to 1 1/2 hour wait!

How far in advance did you make your reservation? That morning or several days prior?

[Buzz's Buddy]

How far in advance did you make your reservation? That morning or several days prior?

And is there 1 dining number to call or do you call the restaurant directly? We'll be at PBH from 12/29 to 1/2 and would like to make a reservation at Mamma Della's on New Year's Eve.

[goofy!]

And is there 1 dining number to call or do you call the restaurant directly? We'll be at PBH from 12/29 to 1/2 and would like to make a reservation at Mamma Della's on New Year's Eve.
You can make Mama Della's reservations at: (407) 503-DINE

[MAKmom]

Since I'll be there for New Years eve and NYs Day, Should I book something before we get there or is checking in the morning still good?


We will be there for New Years too. I'm making reservations for all 4 days. It has been about 5 years since we have been to US but we loved the Latin Restaurant.