Any experience with the "kids free, eat free" deal

[EPM]

Hi folks,

I'll be heading to Universal staying at the RPR on June 15-18 and signed up for the kids free into the parks with a paid adult ticket purchase and an all you can eat deal for kids age 3-9 within the parks. Has anybody does this and does it seem like a good deal? Are the restaurants ther're allowed to eat in pretty decent? Is breakfast included? How about restaurants at the hotels? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.


Eric

 

[gopherit]

I did the math and still think I'm coming out better with the $99 "buy one adult get a kid ticket free" (which are 2 day passes that have been extended to 3 additional "free" days, making them 5 day passes). I bought 2 of these (meaning, $200 total for two adults and 2 kids for 5 days), and then got an AAA rate ressie for a CLub level room at RPH (263.20 /nt for 3 nts). Therefore, I'm getting up to 5 days of parks (if I wanted that many) for a fam of 4 with 3 nts in a club level room at RPRH for about $1100.

We have the extra dynamic in our crew of a "third adult" (i.e. a kid who is 11). I still have to get one more adult ticket for our trip, and I'm thinking about getting an AP so we can get extra discounts on our food and possibly, closer to August, an AP discount on the room.

I did not see a list of what restaurants they are including in the kids-free plan (it says "selected dining" - unsure what that means.) I'd want to check that out in advance, if I were buying that package.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Hi folks,

I'll be heading to Universal staying at the RPR on June 15-18 and signed up for the kids free into the parks with a paid adult ticket purchase and an all you can eat deal for kids age 3-9 within the parks. Has anybody does this and does it seem like a good deal? Are the restaurants ther're allowed to eat in pretty decent? Is breakfast included? How about restaurants at the hotels? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.


Eric

I believe you're talking about the Universal Meal Deal, which does not include restaurants at the hotels but only selected counter service restaurants within the parks. The restaurants don't open until about 10 or 10:30a.m. but for lunch, so I'm pretty sure they don't serve breakfast. It is a good deal as it's cheap.. but it's not really a deal unless you see yourself eating at these places more than once throughout the day.

Here are some more details..

1-Park Meal Deal Pass

Your Meal Deal pass includes unlimited trips through the food service lines at Louie's Italian Restaurant, Mel's Drive-In and the International Food & Film Festival in Universal Studios Florida OR Circus McGurkus Café Stupendous™, Captain America Diner®, Buger Dig's, and Comic Strip Café® in Universal's Islands of Adventure®. Restrictions apply*.

Islands of Adventure Meal Deal menu items include:

Adult (ages 10 & up) - Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza, variety of Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Fingers, Hamburgers, variety of Salads, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Meatball Sub, Fettuccine Alfredo, Fried Fish & Chips, Sweet & Sour Platter, Beef & Broccoli Platter, and Dragon Combo Platter
Child (ages 9 & under) - Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza with Fries, Macaroni & Cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, Fried chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Spaghetti & Meatballs, and a Mini Hot Dog or Cheeseburgers with Fries

Universal Studios Florida Meal Deal menu items include:
Adult (ages 10 & up) - Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza, Mediterranean Tuna Salad, variety of Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Fingers, Hamburgers, Garden Burger, variety of Salads, Fresh Fruit Plate, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Meatball Sub, Fettuccine Alfredo, Sweet & Sour Platter, Stir Fry Beef & Broccoli Platter, and Szechwan Orange Chicken
Child (ages 9 & under) - Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza with Fries, Macaroni & Cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, Fried chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Spaghetti & Meatballs, and a Mini Hot Dog or Cheeseburgers with Fries

*Restrictions:
This pass must be exchanged for a Meal Deal wristband at any participating restaurant. The wristband must be worn in order to take part in Meal Deal Program
Only valid at Louie's Italian Restaurant, Mel's Drive-In and the International Food & Film Festival Food Court in Universal Studios Florida OR Circus McGurkus Café Stupendous, Captain America Diner, Buger Dig's, and Comic Strip Café in Islands of Adventure
Children ages 9 and under order from the Kid's Menu
Valid for one entrée platter and one dessert per trip through the food service line. Sharing of food is NOT permitted.
Dining available until 30 minutes prior to park closing
Beverages and merchandise not included

 

[Honu2]

hi Eric and Gopherit,
I just booked with the Universal Orlando Vacations this weekend and got a Garden Room at the Portofino for $1277.48 including all taxes. Per my confirmation this included:

3 nights
2 adult and 3 kids "Universal 2-Day 2-Park tickets - Kids & 3 days FREE"
2 kids "Universal Meal Deal 3-Days 2-Parks" (we need to pay for the 3rd child)
5 "CityWalk Party Passes"
5 "Complimentary On-Site Transportation"

It looks like they are giving the 5 days AND the kids eat free together. If we had opted for a Deluxe Room it would have been about $120 more for all 3 nights.

I found an old link regarding the participating restaurants for the "kids eat free". They were for:
Islands Dining @ Royal Pacific, The Kitchen @ Hard Rock, Trattoria del Porto @ Portofino (kids menu lunch & dinner only)
Universal: Louie's Italian Restaurant, Mel's Drive-In, International Food & Film Festival Food Court
IOA: Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendousTM, Captain America Diner®, Comic Strip Cafe®

Hope this helps....
Honu2

 

[gopherit]

Thanks for the info. I went back and re-checked the site - some #s had changed since I booked back in Jan., but nonetheless, for now, it appears that if I did, for example, a 4 night stay in a club level room with the following packages:

$1374 (AAA room discount, buy 5 days for 2 adults, 2 kids tix separately)
$1546 (2 kids eat/play free, 2 adult tix, 5 days of play)
$1467 (2 adults/2 kids tix, 5 days of play)

I'm not really thrilled about the kid meal choices - we aren't big counter service folks.

If I drop back to only 3 nts and look at the stay/play versus buying tix and room separately, I get this (same club level 2 queen room, looking only at 2 adults, 2 kids, 3 nts, up to 5 days on tix):

$1080 (room via AAA discount / 4 tix bought with buy one/get one free deal)

$1312 (2 kids eat/play/stay free, 2 adult tix)

We are only allowing ourselves about 4 days at US/IOA (heading to Disney after that), so looking at the cost diff there, I am just not sure we can get our moolah's worth of counter service food in the kids (that would be roughly $30 per kid per day), especially if we end up going to more sit-down places at night where it isn't honored anyway.

I guess you have to do the math and figure out what works for your group and travel plans. One thing that is interesting to play with - the rate drop moving from 3 nts to 4. The rate per room on the stay/play/eat pkg for the club level room at RPRH was $392.38 per nt for a 3 nt stay, but dropped to $346.56 per nt for a 4 nt stay.

 

[EPM]

Thanks for the input gopherit, nerdboyrockstar, honu2,

You were right about the breakfast, nerd-...you are not allowed a breakfast at the parks because they aren't open early enough for that. You're also not allowed breakfast at the three restaurants at the adjoing hotels, but lunch and dinner are.
My quoted cost for the 3 nights stay, including 2 adult and 2 kids for 5 days and all you can eat for my 2 DS came out to $961.62 (tax included) for a standard at the RPR in June. I should say that's around 50-60 dollars more because my adult brother will be added to the room. He also still has to get a park ticket on his own. Now if I got the same exact room without the free meals, it would come out to $879(tax included). (Thats adding the room fee and 2 adult/2kid tickets of $99 a person). So the difference comes out close to yours, gopherit, that I spend around 30$ a day for both my sons. Will I spend 15$ a day for each kid, splint between lunch and dinner and maybe a snack...I don't know! I guess it depends on how much the meals cost at these places. If anybody knows a ballpark figure for kids meal costs at the parks, could you let me know?
Thanks again gang. Eric

 

[Fan2CSkr]

I guess it depends on how much the meals cost at these places. If anybody knows a ballpark figure for kids meal costs at the parks, could you let me know?

KIds meals range from $5-7.00, depending on where ,they include the meal and a small drink as well as some sort of snack (apple,cookies,chips).

You can see some of the menus at this site. http://www.yourmagicaljourneys.com/Universal/menu.htm

 

[Melanie230]

We went through the Entertainment book. We got a Club Level Room at RPR for 4 nights from March 27-March 31 for $1200 including taxes. We also got the 2 day adult passes with 3 free days and kids go free. So our total for the 4 days in a Club Level Room was $1412.00.

 

[gopherit]

We went through the Entertainment book. We got a Club Level Room at RPR for 4 nights from March 27-March 31 for $1200 including taxes. We also got the 2 day adult passes with 3 free days and kids go free. So our total for the 4 days in a Club Level Room was $1412.00.

Melanie230 - Our ressies are for August, so that would explain why your numbers for a 4 nt in a club level might be different from mine. (Different seasons)

EPM - your numbers are actually better than mine - you show $30 per day BETWEEN 2 kids. My calcs showed $30 per day PER KID. There's just no way I can stuff that much chow in a 6 yr old, LOL! (Especially in the August heat...) Your numbers seem almost doable. However, I think the thing that makes it not feasible for me is not so much the cost as the venues - I know we will be dining as a family at places like NASCAR, NBA, Mythos... if I'm gonna pay for those meals, credits elsewhere aren't going to help me. So a good AP or AAA discount on food does us more good.

The AAA discount four our club level room at RPR is 20%, and I noticed that the AP site claims possible savings "up to 30%". What are the odds of getting a 30% discount in late August? I have been holding out, deciding on the AP pass. If it seems AAA is as good as it gets, and there's not much of a dining perk, and we don't plan to return to US anytime wtihin the 12 mos, I may just opt for a 2 day/2 park pass for myself. Anybody have input on this?

 

[Melanie230]

If yougive me your dates I will gladly check Entertainments price for you. Just to see...I used August 14- August 18 and the ROyal Club room was $280 per night.