Budget Trip to Universal Studios?

[d0naldduck123]

My BF and I are planning a short 3 night 4 day trip to Universal. We've never been and am not sure where to begin planning. Our skeleton outline is this:
Day 1: Arrive around 2pm by plane
Day 2: Universal Studios
Day 3: IOA
Day 4: Leave

We're on a pretty tight budget, so will probably stay at an off-site but partner hotel.
To save money, I was wondering is the quick service dining plan really worth it? Would we be better off just buying food there instead of the meal plan?

And we were also considering going to a park on the day of arrival and making it into a 3 day trip. If we arrive around 2, would we have enough time to see one park? (The parks close at 8 on the day we're going)

I really want to try to keep the budget below 500 but am not sure if it's possible..

 

[damo]

You can eat more cheaply than the dining plan. Your day of arrival all depends on crowd levels. When are you going?

 

[chmurf]

a 2 days ticket, park to park (required if you want to enjoy all of Harry Potter) will already hit you for $415 (2 adults)

if you don't want the park to park option, then you're at $319 for 2 days, and $340 for a 3 days

out of the $500 tops, this doesn't leave much for accomodation and food.

even on the 2 days 1 park per day ticket, that leaves you with $181 for food and accomodation for each of your 3 nights.
that's $60 per night for food and accomodation.
that's not even close to what a partner hotel will cost. (and you have even less of a budget if you need to pay for transportation between the airport and universal)


if you're going to have the budget explode (which is, IMHO, only going to happen) and to make it worth the money, I'd probably go for one night very cheapish hotel. Then one night at RPR to get express for both days at the parks, in order to do as much as possible, then last night at another cheapish hotel.

but your budget is roughly $800 at that point

 

[d0naldduck123]

You can eat more cheaply than the dining plan. Your day of arrival all depends on crowd levels. When are you going?

I'm going probably the first week of March around the 8th or so

a 2 days ticket, park to park (required if you want to enjoy all of Harry Potter) will already hit you for $415 (2 adults)

if you don't want the park to park option, then you're at $319 for 2 days, and $340 for a 3 days

out of the $500 tops, this doesn't leave much for accomodation and food.

even on the 2 days 1 park per day ticket, that leaves you with $181 for food and accomodation for each of your 3 nights.
that's $60 per night for food and accomodation.
that's not even close to what a partner hotel will cost. (and you have even less of a budget if you need to pay for transportation between the airport and universal)


if you're going to have the budget explode (which is, IMHO, only going to happen) and to make it worth the money, I'd probably go for one night very cheapish hotel. Then one night at RPR to get express for both days at the parks, in order to do as much as possible, then last night at another cheapish hotel.

but your budget is roughly $800 at that point

Oops. I meant our budget was 500-ish per person not total! Sorry for the confusion.

 

[damo]

You are going at a time where crowds should be pretty low. I'd go on the first day too.

 

[nkereina]

I would also get three day tickets since the difference in price between two day and three day is negligible. Worth it, even if only for a few hours.

As far as the dining plan, unlike Disney, you can buy Universal's on the fly when it makes sense for you. So I wouldn't buy it in advance. Last trip, we ate at Three Broomsticks and our total came to a few bucks more than it would have been if we bought the dining plan for that meal, so the cashier charged us for the dining plan which gave us each a snack to use before the end of our trip as well. So, consider your meal prices and buy the dining plan only when it makes sense.

 

[dixonsontour]

Agree with above the dining deal is only usually worth it if you eat a more expensive entree at 3 broomsticks/leaky cauldron. You can buy from the cashier.
For the rest of your food QS or sit down prices in the park are ok. Also there are some decently priced options at citywalk, quick eg panda express/breadbox or sit down. Water is free from the freestyle machines in the parks or you can buy a mug and get $1 soda refills or pay for a freestyle mug daily if you drink a lot of soda.
Have you priced Cabana bay? Depending on your dates it may not be much more than offsite. You get the 1 hour early entry perk and bus transport to the parks so save park car parking fee. Resort does charge if you park there though $12 a night.

 

[kohlby]

Agree that the dining plan can help or hurt you - depending on how you plan to eat. We use it when we plan on doing Three Broomsticks and butterbeer. (And manage to share just two chicken and ribs meals for our family of 5). So, another option for food is to bring some food in and then get an entree to share. We always bring food from home to eat breakfast in our room.