Dining Plan

[mas6010]

Has anyone done the dining plan at US/IOA ? Which one did you do ? Is it worth it ? The way that I understand the 1day 1 park is that you can get all you want from the ones that are in the plan, am I reading this correctly ? Thanks, this will be our first trip there for DH, 2DS 7 and 10 and myself.

 

[Metro West]

Has anyone done the dining plan at US/IOA ? Which one did you do ? Is it worth it ? The way that I understand the 1day 1 park is that you can get all you want from the ones that are in the plan, am I reading this correctly ? Thanks, this will be our first trip there for DH, 2DS 7 and 10 and myself.

I've never tried the meal plan but it depends on how much your family eats as to if it's worth it. As far as the restaurants go, I've had good and bad meals at some of them at both parks.

Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.universalorlando.com/tic_meal_deal.html

I'm sure others who have tried it will chime in with their experiences.

 

[jennobrn01]

I am curious about this as well! It appears that the participating restaurants are limited. Is the food good or more of an amusement park type variety? Is it convenient to do the meal plan?

We are dancing around the idea of going to Universal this fall or Jan 09. I'm just starting to peek into all that is available with Universal.

 

[Ileana]

I am curious about this as well! It appears that the participating restaurants are limited. Is the food good or more of an amusement park type variety? Is it convenient to do the meal plan?

We are dancing around the idea of going to Universal this fall or Jan 09. I'm just starting to peek into all that is available with Universal.

The food is your typical theme park variety - chicken fingers, burgers, fries, pizza, etc.

I've never purchased the meal plan myself before - but to me, unless you're going to get at least 2 servings every go around (i.e. family are big eaters)- it's really not worth it to have yourself committed to just those specific restaurants otherwise.

 

[LilMommyBug]

We looked into it but we didnt like having to be stuck with the same restaurants over & over.

 

[palavra]

We were at Universal last June for 5 days. We did the meal plan on the last day just to see what it was like. While the price was good, the food was not so good. Also, unless you are hungry throughout the day, you probably won't be able to justify the cost. We will not do the meal plan again.

 

[disneyfanx3]

I think if you add the meal at city walk then it is worth it. Otherwise for adults you have to eat three meals to breakeven - what I did find out our last day there it is worth it for the kids as the counter service does not offer kids meals unless you do the plan and the meals are about $8.00 each and the meal deal for kids is 9.99 - the food is not bad its your typical counter service food

 

[Miz Diz]

Can you eat breakfast with the meal deal? I bought it for 1 day for our upcoming trip.

 

[Metro West]

Can you eat breakfast with the meal deal? I bought it for 1 day for our upcoming trip.

No...just lunch and an early dinner. For breakfast, I would stop at Cinnabon and get something from there....yummy!

 

[donaldduck352]

Truthley you got too be big eaters to break evan.Eat a big breakfast and that should tied you over till dinner maybe afew snacks during the day.CW has great restuarants and not bad priced.(Latin Quater cuban sandwich YUMMMY).

 

[jennobrn01]

So the Meal Deal does not include breakfast? On the Universal website it says,

"This Meal Deal Ticket is valid for one (1) day of unlimited trips through the food service lines at all participating Meal Deal locations at both Universal Studios Florida® AND Universal's Islands of Adventure®."

Is it that the participating Meal Deal restaurants do not serve breakfast?

According to my calculations the Meal Deal would cost $71.96 +tax per day for our family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids under 6 years). To me that seems like a good deal, but I don't know the cost of Universal food/restaurants. I just recall paying nearly $60 for a breakfast at Disney. Do you think we can eat for less than $70/day in Universal without the Meal Deal?

Thanks for all your input!

 

[ky07]

So the Meal Deal does not include breakfast? On the Universal website it says, Is it that the participating Meal Deal restaurants do not serve breakfast?

According to my calculations the Meal Deal would cost $71.96 +tax per day for our family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids under 6 years). To me that seems like a good deal, but I don't know the cost of Universal food/restaurants. I just recall paying nearly $60 for a breakfast at Disney. Do you think we can eat for less than $70/day in Universal without the Meal Deal?

Thanks for all your input!

All depending on how many times you want to eat in the day cause if you talking breakfast lunch and dinner then you would be hard pressed to get away with $70.00 dollars a day and we are a family of 4 which 2 are boys and big eaters and we can typically spend anywhere from $100.00 to $150.00 a day and that usually includes a good sit down meal at citywalk
so yes you could get away with less than $70.00 for one meal or less at counter service.

 

[Heatmiser]

So the Meal Deal does not include breakfast? On the Universal website it says, Is it that the participating Meal Deal restaurants do not serve breakfast?

According to my calculations the Meal Deal would cost $71.96 +tax per day for our family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids under 6 years). To me that seems like a good deal, but I don't know the cost of Universal food/restaurants. I just recall paying nearly $60 for a breakfast at Disney. Do you think we can eat for less than $70/day in Universal without the Meal Deal?

Thanks for all your input!

I could be wrong but I think the participating restaurants don't open till around 11:00. So that is why they don't have breakfast but I'm sure someone will be able to confirm if that is true or not.

 

[MRS AR]

Does anyone know what the limited selections are for the City Walk restaurants?

 

[macraven]

I could be wrong but I think the participating restaurants don't open till around 11:00. So that is why they don't have breakfast but I'm sure someone will be able to confirm if that is true or not.

you are correct, they open around 11.



there are some places at both parks that i have enjoyed eating the park food.
at international film festival, hope i got that right, which is located near the new simpson ride, is good.

i get the fried chicken dinners there and really like them.
they have different themes of food there. it is counter service.
also the chinese dish is good also there.

the basic meal deal does not include beverages.

at the ioa side, i like the resturant at seussland that is included on the meal deal.
another one with a choice of standard park food.

i eat at most of the places at both parks.
there are a couple i did not like and won't repeat.

i always try the counter service places at least 3 times before i put it on my do not return list.


last year they had a special if you bought the meal deal ticket on line in advance, they had a price that was $5 less than usual.

i keep looking for that deal to come up again.
if it does, i will buy the meal deal.

 

[drinkme]

According to my calculations the Meal Deal would cost $71.96 +tax per day for our family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids under 6 years). To me that seems like a good deal, but I don't know the cost of Universal food/restaurants. I just recall paying nearly $60 for a breakfast at Disney. Do you think we can eat for less than $70/day in Universal without the Meal Deal?

Thanks for all your input!

I'm looking at a first time trip to Universal in June. We are also a family of 4 (kids are 7 & 9). We've done the Dining Plan 4 times at WDW and love it. I'm trying to figure out if the dining plan at Universal would be worth it for us. We usually eat something quick in the mornings in our room anyway, and we HAVE to eat a lunch & dinner. I can't imagine spending less than $70 day for food for us. Is the dining plan that limited? Any nice sit down restaurants (like at WDW)?

Also, since this is our first time, how many days do you think we'll need for US/IOA? I'm thinking 5 days, but not sure if there will be enough for us to do. My children are ride wimps.

We're going to Universal because my dh won't even go to WDW anymore and we've taken the last couple of trips without him. He's agreed to go to Universal (lol).

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I'm looking at a first time trip to Universal in June. We are also a family of 4 (kids are 7 & 9). We've done the Dining Plan 4 times at WDW and love it. I'm trying to figure out if the dining plan at Universal would be worth it for us. We usually eat something quick in the mornings in our room anyway, and we HAVE to eat a lunch & dinner. I can't imagine spending less than $70 day for food for us. Is the dining plan that limited? Any nice sit down restaurants (like at WDW)?

Also, since this is our first time, how many days do you think we'll need for US/IOA? I'm thinking 5 days, but not sure if there will be enough for us to do. My children are ride wimps.

We're going to Universal because my dh won't even go to WDW anymore and we've taken the last couple of trips without him. He's agreed to go to Universal (lol).

The dining plan at Universal is nothing like Disney's. It's not even really a dining plan, hence the low price. It's called the Meal Deal and that's basically what it is. It allows unlimited meals at 4 select counter service restaurants in each park.

When paying for the meal deal, you would need at least 2 meals at each counter service to get your money's worth.

If it's free, consider it as having free unlimited counter service dining at 4 restaurants in each park.