Does Universal have any deals that compare to Disney's free dining

robfamily

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
We just got back from Disney today. We stayed 8 nights at a value resort with free dining. My kids are starting to want a break from disney and are into Harry Potter. They want to visit Universal, but I can't seem to find any good deals. It seems to me that Universal will be much more expensive than disney. Our family of 4 just stayed at disney for 8 night (2 day park hopper) for under $2000 including dining. As I start to price Universal, it seems like it will be quite a bit more expensive once transportation to and from airport plus food is included along with park tickets. Is there any discounts that can make Universal affordable? I was under the impression that disney was more expensive than Universal, but with free dining it seems like Universal can't compete in price. I hope that I am wrong and someone can lead me to discounts. We would be traveling in early October.
 
There are awesome deals to be found at Universal. There is no free dining, however.

You can purchase one annual pass for just over $200 and get the annual pass discounts on rooms which can be up to 40%. There is also the stay more save more rate which can be up to 30%. Tickets themselves are cheaper at Universal than WDW.

Transportation only adds about $100 to the cost of your vacation.

You can stay at Cabana Bay for under $100/night with the AP. This year they had a free breakfast deal at Cabana Bay for your dates.
 
Where can you get an annual pass for that? I see a power pass with most of the summer blackout for 240, and an unrestricted annual pass for 335?
 
Where can you get an annual pass for that? I see a power pass with most of the summer blackout for 240, and an unrestricted annual pass for 335?

The power pass is what I meant. Yearly renewal prices are $185, so price averages out around $200.
 


It will be tough to match the price of the free dining package. 5 minutes of research yields - Cabana bay 8 nights in October (Saturday to Sunday) - $850. 3 day park to park (one day is free through Undercover Tourist) - $800. About $100 per day equivalent meals (2 counter service each @ $10 + $5 snack per person each day) - $800 to $900 pending travel days. So, roughly $2,500. For a touch over $100 more total, you can get the 3 park unlimited so you can visit the parks any day or part of day as you wish. So, in all reality, you might be able to save a little on the food (pending the age of your kids, I did 4 adults), share meals, etc. to get the numbers a little closer. I know my family would NEVER make it on 2 counter service meals and a snack at Universal. All of those yummy options...we vacation around our meals!!!!

But, yes, you are gonna spend more in comparison with a value stay, 2 day park tix, and free dining at WDW. If the budget is what the budget is, you can make a cut in the # of days and get there, but that may not be the option you want.
 
You could always stay offsite. The offsite Universal hotels are just as close to the parks as the WDW values are to the parks. You can purchase a package through the Universal website and that will get you early admission.

The biggest difference would be in the price of tickets if you decided to spend more time in the parks. Universal 3 park 14 day ticket is $229 where an 8 day ticket at WDW is $417. That difference in ticket prices would make up for the free dining.
 
Last edited:
Cabana bay did run a promotion this year for October dates for 2 free breakfasts (worth upto $26) a night for reservations made late spring time. Expedia also had the same deal.

Booked way in advance we've paid just under $100 a night inc tax for a room (not suite) at Cabana bay this October and last October. We stay minimum 7 nights though - longer stays are much cheaper nightly rate.
 


Thanks for the info. I was just surprised that Universal is more expensive than disney. Even without the free dining, ticket prices are higher for 1 or 2 days than disney. My kids really want to try Universal, but as far as price goes I can find nothing that compares to our $2000 for 8 nights, 2 day park hopper and 8 days of free dining at disney. I don't know if I can give up our disney free dining deal for universal.
 
Thanks for the info. I was just surprised that Universal is more expensive than disney. Even without the free dining, ticket prices are higher for 1 or 2 days than disney. My kids really want to try Universal, but as far as price goes I can find nothing that compares to our $2000 for 8 nights, 2 day park hopper and 8 days of free dining at disney. I don't know if I can give up our disney free dining deal for universal.
FD is definitely hard to beat! I've priced out USO several times for our family of 5 & always stuck with WDW because it was cheaper. I see people doing US/WDW split trips without APs & can only imagine how expensive that is!! The tickets alone :faint:.

2016-2017 is our family's year of USO. We're upgrading 2 day, 1 day free passes from UT to Power Passes (a very good deal!) & will hit USO at least 2, maybe 3 times depending on the airfare. So we've swapped FD for cheap APs if that makes sense & it'll work out to be around the same price.
 
Thanks for the info. I was just surprised that Universal is more expensive than disney. Even without the free dining, ticket prices are higher for 1 or 2 days than disney. My kids really want to try Universal, but as far as price goes I can find nothing that compares to our $2000 for 8 nights, 2 day park hopper and 8 days of free dining at disney. I don't know if I can give up our disney free dining deal for universal.

A 2 day parkhopper at WDW is $257.73 for adults.

A 2 day parkhopper at Universal is $207.67 for adults and that will actually get you 3 days if you buy it at undercover tourist.
 
We usually do not buy the park hopper. We only got it to get the free dining. From what I have read if kids want to ride hogwarts express you have to have the park to park ticket. Park hopper at disney is not necessary for us. I would really like to go to Universal for 1 day, but it is so much more than disney 1 day. Harry Potter is the biggest reason the kids want universal. Universal also doesn't have free fastpasses either. We take full advantage of the fastpass system at disney. An extra $35 per ticket seems outrageous to us.
 
Last edited:
Well, much like Disney, Universal is becoming a vacation destination in and of itself. So, much like Disney, the longer you stay, the cheaper it becomes. One day tickets to ANY theme park aren't cheap and are rarely discounted. As for express passes, lots of people do the Universal parks without them. We love them over Disney's Fastpass and stay onsite at Universal just because they are included in the deluxe resort stays.
 
We usually do not buy the park hopper. We only got it to get the free dining. From what I have read if kids want to ride hogwarts express you have to have the park to park ticket. Park hopper at disney is not necessary for us. I would really like to go to Universal for 1 day, but it is so much more than disney 1 day. Harry Potter is the biggest reason the kids want universal. Universal also doesn't have free fastpasses either. We take full advantage of the fastpass system at disney. An extra $35 per ticket seems outrageous to us.

Universal really isn't more expensive. It is just your choices that is making it more expensive.

If you stay at Cabana Bay for the 8 days at under $100/night including tax and breakfast, that is $800. If you add in the two park two day tickets, that is about another $800. That leaves you $400. You could also just choose the single park tickets and that will save you even more. You'd miss out on one ride, but that is a cost saving measure you can take. You can't really say that Universal tickets are more expensive unless you are comparing the same ticket.

While you were at WDW, you got two free quick services meals/day. That meant that you still had to pay for one meal/day. If the Cabana Bay offer comes up again, you'll get free breakfast. So to break even with WDW, you'll have to use that $400 to pay for one meal/day. That's $50 for a quick service meal. It should be very close to breaking even depending on what you choose to eat.

You could choose to upgrade by either buying a bundled ticket with express or staying onsite at one of the Deluxe Hotels for one night which would give you two days of express. However, with early admission, you probably won't need express in early October.

Cabana Bay is a far nicer hotel than any of the WDW value hotels with more amenities. So you have to put that into perspective too. Sapphire Bay will also be open by then giving you another choice. You can also stay offsite for much less than $100/night and get the same perks that you would get by staying onsite at a value at WDW.

You can definitely do the vacations for about the same price. It just depends on the choices you make.

You could also purchase power passes for everyone at $240 each and then go again next year which would cut costs for both years and give you a lot more time in the parks and get the annual pass discount on the hotel.
 
Last edited:
Alright OP, we here on the UNI side of things are not known to throw shade like the WDW side, but it is starting to seem like you are trying to make a point vs. asking a real question.

8 nights at CB - 800
2 day bast ticket (hoppers now not improtant) -640

Leaves 560 to compare with Free Dining

Tix are not cheaper at Disney, already shown above.

Not the same parks, not the same experience. And quite frankly (here comes the shade, sorry), I would gladly save two years of vacation money to do one week with Unlimited Express over that bag of garbage known as FP+. That was the game changer for us. Haven't been back since, not going back. My 8 day vacation money is much better spent elsewhere.

And not that it is anyone's business, but what do you do the other 6 days? 8 night stay with 2 day tix? If it is pool time, etc. then the CB pools and lazy river, waterslide, might be the game changer. Only you can decide. Downtown Disney? We love it (and its the only place that gets our WDW money), but City Walk is pretty awesome as well.

Again, this is not designed to be a personal affront to your vacation plans, both parks are doing quite well as of late. Crowds at WDW (especially during Free Dining) are huge, so you are not alone. My first extended vacation to Disney with my kids only happened because of free dining. Your budget is yours and yours alone, and you need to decide where the value needs to be. Knowing that more days is very cheap at both parks, it appears that $2K is the line, so maybe WDW is your best value proposition. Please Enjoy!

My family would have more fun with the above experience at about $2400, so 20% more, or an addtl. 3-4 months of savings, is the better value proposition. Some on these boards can go for an extended amount of time multiple times a year, and that is great for them.

If your kids really want to see HP, and it is worth it, goe for 6 or 7 nights, cap out at the same 2 grand. Will it be better? maybe and maybe not. But, there will be some fun, maybe loads, so try it.

Then, come back and throw shade at me, lol. But, it will be educated shade, and I can deal with that, just not random non-researched statements like you can't believe tix at UNI are more than Disney.
 
Alright OP, we here on the UNI side of things are not known to throw shade like the WDW side, but it is starting to seem like you are trying to make a point vs. asking a real question.

8 nights at CB - 800
2 day bast ticket (hoppers now not improtant) -640

Leaves 560 to compare with Free Dining

Tix are not cheaper at Disney, already shown above.

Not the same parks, not the same experience. And quite frankly (here comes the shade, sorry), I would gladly save two years of vacation money to do one week with Unlimited Express over that bag of garbage known as FP+. That was the game changer for us. Haven't been back since, not going back. My 8 day vacation money is much better spent elsewhere.

And not that it is anyone's business, but what do you do the other 6 days? 8 night stay with 2 day tix? If it is pool time, etc. then the CB pools and lazy river, waterslide, might be the game changer. Only you can decide. Downtown Disney? We love it (and its the only place that gets our WDW money), but City Walk is pretty awesome as well.

Again, this is not designed to be a personal affront to your vacation plans, both parks are doing quite well as of late. Crowds at WDW (especially during Free Dining) are huge, so you are not alone. My first extended vacation to Disney with my kids only happened because of free dining. Your budget is yours and yours alone, and you need to decide where the value needs to be. Knowing that more days is very cheap at both parks, it appears that $2K is the line, so maybe WDW is your best value proposition. Please Enjoy!

My family would have more fun with the above experience at about $2400, so 20% more, or an addtl. 3-4 months of savings, is the better value proposition. Some on these boards can go for an extended amount of time multiple times a year, and that is great for them.

If your kids really want to see HP, and it is worth it, goe for 6 or 7 nights, cap out at the same 2 grand. Will it be better? maybe and maybe not. But, there will be some fun, maybe loads, so try it.

Then, come back and throw shade at me, lol. But, it will be educated shade, and I can deal with that, just not random non-researched statements like you can't believe tix at UNI are more than Disney.

I love it when the DisBoards experts take the rest of us to task for being ordinary mortals with questions. I'm following this thread because I, too, am considering Universal for a few days as DD gets older and begins to enjoy thrill rides. And I, too, have spent a very limited amount of time as of yet educating myself about how things on the Dark Side work compared to WDW. And I, too have been surprised at what seems to be the lack of deals on the Universal website. We also do a value vacay at Disney with free QS dining when its available for our dates so I'm interested, like you, in figuring out how to do Universal on the cheap as well.

So I appreciate all the suggestions and comments, with or without the flogging that comes with them.

Oh, and I don't know what 'shade' is...other than shadows cast by large objects blocking the sun.
 
Problem is, Universal doesn't have the bargain basement onsite hotels like WDW does, so it is hard to compare prices at the two places because you are not comparing apples to apples. If you are a person who only stays at the value hotels at WDW, you'll find comparable accommodations offsite at Universal (Baymont is $67/night including tax and is closer to the parks than any of the values at WDW). The onsite hotels are more comparable to mods and deluxes at WDW. So if you are a person who stays at mods and deluxes at WDW, you'll find Universal to be cheaper and a better value but if you are a person who stays at the Values, you'll find onsite Universal to be slightly more expensive simply because the quality of accommodations is much higher.
 
Last edited:
A couple of years ago my daughter and I did Universal and stayed offsite but had a package that included early admission and a Harry Potter Breakfast. We had 3 day park to park tickets included. We stayed at a Holiday Inn and there was shuttle service or a cheap 5 minute cab ride over to the parks when we wanted to stay later. Price was very reasonable.

I also went with my husband in November for our anniversary. I priced out both Disney and Universal and found everything over at Universal to be better value for my money. We stayed 5 nights at Royal Pacific and purchased a meal plan and 3 day park to park to park tickets and also Blue Man Group Tickets. We also got the Harry Potter Breakfast. Price was only a few $ more than staying at a moderate Disney hotel with no hoppers. Plus we could walk to both parks and City Walk if we wanted to. No waiting for buses. The express pass is amazing.
 
Well, I greatly apologize if I "took someone to task" and by no means am I anywhere near an expert. However, some of the true experts can also be found on this thread, all giving incredible examples as to how you can find deals at Uni.

In fact, since you have followed this thread so closely, you have seen a question followed by many answers, followed by more questions, with more answers, then followed by a thank you. After that, judgment using an incorrect statement about comparative pricing and a vote of approval for free FP+ vs. paid Express Pass. That, not Rob or any other person, is what I feel so adamantly about. There are obviously a huge range of opinions on a limited number of free FP+ that you have to reserve in advance vs. paying for (directly or through onsite hotels) the opportunity to have FOTL and enjoy your day around the park. And that range of opinions have been freely expressed through a multitude of threads here and elsewhere. Put me in the EP camp and Uni's way of handling it, nothing more or less.

Again, I am not trying to be inconsiderate to any person, but it has been clearly represented that OP and others following can, in fact, find a way to experience Universal on a budget. However, there are no true apples to apples comparisons in hotels or packaging. My sister is an employee of WDW and has continued to drink the Disney Kool-Aid without stepping foot on UNI soil, and I still find a way to love her with all my heart. I hope 2022 brings her much happiness...if Disney doesn't hit any construction snags...
 
damo hit the nail on the head....The problem is this..You aren't going to find the Value deals at Universal because there aren't any Value resorts onsite like Disney.The budget-conscious Cabana bay is as close as it gets and Cabana bay doesn't come with express pass.Like or not , there is NO free version of express pass like Disney.I love express and gladly stay deluxe for that privilege. Express pass offers better advantage over Disneys FP as many of us Universal people can attest to.
Universal can be done on a budget, but it may require adjusting your expectations..For example, staying offsite, no express passes etc.
Truthfully, It does NO use to compare what Disney does vs what Universal does.They are BOTH vacation destinations and do things differently and neither of them are cheap if being done for 1-2 days
 
Again, I do appreciate all the advice about saving money. I actually really want to go to Universal as do my kids. We love Harry Potter and thrill rides. My husband is going to be the hard one to convince. He is not a huge Potter fan and can not do thrill rides, but he does like Despicable me and Simpsons. I know I am not comparing apples to apples. Our family is frugal and like to get the most we can with our vacation money. I really, really want to make universal work into our budget, but it does look like it will be considerably more expensive.
As far as food goes, 2 meals are disney are enormous as you can substitute a side or dessert for a drink. So with every large entree we would get two desserts or side and dessert at resorts since meal came with refillable mug. One of the sides would be used as breakfast for morning. We are not big breakfast eaters so a free breakfast would not take the place of one the disney meals. We would still need two more meals. With the dining plan we did not have to buy any food the entire stay and brought home tons of snacks that we had leftover to use for gifts (We arrived late and left early so we had an extra days worth of food).
Even if we do stay at a cheaper off site hotel we will have to rent a car since there is no transportation to and from airport and I am assuming off site transportation to parks wouldn't be very flexible. So for 8 days that would be an extra $240. It seems like everyone has forgotten this added expense that is not needed at disney. We were very happy with the magical express and bus transportation.
We never stay at Moderate or Deluxe hotels because budget is important to us. So staying at a nicer hotel would still add up cost and fancier, nicer hotels are not important to our family.
So here is the best budget I could come up with for Universal that would compare to our disney free dining trip:
8 nights @ $70 per night off site $560
Rental car for 8 nights $240
Park to Park tickets (2 days) $770
Food for 8 nights $560
Parking in parks $40
Total $2170
This however still does not give us any express passes, we would also have to be frugal with food and eat some meals in and not have park snacks, would not have extra hours in the park (emh) and would cost us an extra $170.
I realize that I could possibly get an extra park day using undercover tourist, but it would not save us any money and would add an extra $20 for parking and probably more in food budget since park food would be more expensive.
I would love to have someone pick this apart and find a cheaper way to do Universal. Again I would really love to go to Universal, but since budget is a big consideration it really does seem to be more expensive and come with fewer perks like transportation, hotel theme and hotel entertainment(pool parties/nightly movies) and fun free activities like pin trading and disney quest (2 free admissions), and mini golf (2 free admissions).
We will probably still end up going at some point, but I am just disappointed that there are no great deals like disney's free dining.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top