Budget Universal over xmas- any ideas?

[shellyfive]

Hi everyone
Was looking into going to universal over the holidays this year.....anyone know the best way to get a good bang for your buck over there.....never been there before, and all 7 of us would go.....is it better to stay in one of their hotels for the line perk thing or not??? Anyone been there over x-mas??
Any help would be appreciated......

 

[rstamm]

Hi everyone
Was looking into going to universal over the holidays this year.....anyone know the best way to get a good bang for your buck over there.....never been there before, and all 7 of us would go.....is it better to stay in one of their hotels for the line perk thing or not??? Anyone been there over x-mas??
Any help would be appreciated......

Just went this past Christmas, it will be full so I would recommend booking one night at their cheapest hotel, if you have AAA with tax it would be around $230.

The hotel would be comparable to a deluxe at Disney.

If you book one night you get unlimited front of the line for 2 days, the lines without FOTL are about 60 minutes and up so it is worth it, you will only wait a few minutes and can ride a ton of rides.

They just raised their ticket prices, it was $99 for 7 days now a two day pass for both parks is $135.

You can check out the Universal board they have a lot of good info there.

 

[indimom]

We didn't have an issue with the crowds during the 21th -24th. It did get steadily more crowded as the week wore on, but we thought it was fine. We stayed off-site for these four days, then stayed at the Royal Pacific for two nights and enjoyed the FOTL perk for our last three days. Loved it! The hotel was beautiful also. We got lucky with warm weather and really enjoyed the pool area (although the water shooters were cold water, the pool was just right). If you can swing it, I'd try to stay in one of their hotels since I expect they will be busier this year with the opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Just a word of caution: if you stay in one of their hotels and get a lanyard for your key card, have them punch a hole in it and clip it on your lanyard. Our niece lost her card within an hour of being in the park on our first morning with this perk. We had to go back to the hotel to get a new card, make sure they charging priveledges were cancelled on the lost card, etc. They told us this happens a LOT and suggested punching the hole and clipping them securely rather than using the plastic protectors to hold the cards.

 

[Evi]

we will be doing the same for dec 2010. I didn't plan on staying on there property I planned to just extend our trip by two night at disney without park tickets or meal plan... but now you have me questioning if I should stay at universal. Its just this year we go to AKL lol don't want to make my stay there shorter lol but I'll look into the pricing and the free front of line thingy that maybe the only reason I'd do it since I'm going with two young girls.

 

[tinlizzy]

We went to Universal this last March and stayed at Portofino Bay. The head of the line that your room card entitles you to makes the parks so easy and fast!

We only had 2 days before we left on a cruise and we did everything in 2 days (caveat, we had two 18 year old boys who are fast -lol). Not sure how full the parks are in December but even an hour in line over and over is grueling IMO.

Budget wise (I am very cheap) - I paid more for the hotel room but felt I got more of my money's worth from the parks.

 

[Planogirl]

Staying onsite is amazing! The Loew's hotels are lovely and you can walk to everything.

I would watch for good deals. There are some decent places just outside the Universal gates too but you lose the FOL of course.

 

[indimom]

Staying onsite is amazing! The Loew's hotels are lovely and you can walk to everything.

I would watch for good deals. There are some decent places just outside the Universal gates too but you lose the FOL of course.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that we stayed at the Doubletree at the entrance to Universal during the first half of our trip. We got a nice rate ($69/night) that included a full breakfast.The room had a fridge so we had sandwiches at lunchtime. It was a 15-20 minute walk to the parks which saved on parking, and the room was very nice. Just thought I'd add this since you did ask for budget suggestions and the Lowe's hotels are not "budget" options.
There were also plenty of restuarants and a WalMart nearby if you wanted to eat inexpensively, but you would need a car.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I encourage you to come over to the Universal threads -- a ton of information and very friendly on the "Darkside"!

Maria