Family Trip

[AaronX]

This will be my first time back to Universal in 10 years, and I want to try to stay somewhere nice, but not alot of money. I know that it will take SOME money, but -- I want to have a good time. Any deals that makes things cheaper? or ideas that you can get me to save money?

We are going July 25 - July 29. I hope that you guys can help me! Thanks again!

 

[Beanie]

Hi!
I am no help, since I am new to the Universal Board, but wanted to say hello and welcome you to the DIS!! You are going to have a wonderful time at Universal Studios!!

 

[ajksmom]

Hi! I hope I can at least get you started. I am planning my first US/IOA trip also so I've been "hanging around these boards" for weeks now. I noticed that you are staying for 4 nights and I have seen ads for Stay 4,Play for Free. It gives you 2 length of stay passes along with your 4 nights. Do you have a AAA, Entertainment, or Fan Club Card? You can call Loews and see if there are any discounts available for your dates with these assoc. cards. There is a thread about purchasing tickets with Kraft and one also about purchasing with a mastercard. You can read up on those and decide which works better for your group. We (my family of 5) chose the mastercard deal and after taxes and shipping of the tickets it came out to less than 76.00 per person for tickets that are good for 5 consecutive days. You can also look into Annual Passes(APH) for one or more of your group, they offer discounts with them also. I'm not really familiar with them as I won't be able to be back for years. Hope your planning goes well. Enjoy your trip!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We took advantage of the Mastercard deal for tickets also (we're a family of five, so that was helpful). We also used the Mastercard deal of stay 5 nights, pay for 4. We picked HRH but it was good at any of the on-site hotels. This is our first time at US/IOA, (we're Disney people) so I can't be of much help. But it certainly is exciting going somewhere new. We're doing 5 nights at HRH and then six at GF, so we're getting the best of both worlds.

 

[Planogirl]

Definitely try to stay onsite so that you have Front of the Line access. I would go to the Loewshotels.com website and check for any discounts at the three resorts using the AAA or APH codes. I would also call 1-800-BEASTAR to see about discounts using the Entertainment card. People seem to be finding the best prices at Portofino lately, due to lower demand I would imagine. You can then get an entertainment card if you need it at entertainment.com.

Go to the official Universal Studios website to check out ticket media. They've had a great deal for 5 days days for the price of 2 for a while. The only catch is that you have to use the days consecutively date wise. We only used 3 during our last trip and still came out way ahead. You can also get annual passes and other ticket media if you choose to.

Anyway, welcome and good luck!