Meal Deal

[dustysky]

The Universal meal deal is SUCH a great bargain and I love that unlike Disney they do not exclude people from using it.
My fear is that SO many people are scamming the system already that they will ditch it.
Anyone know if they are seeing the loss money wise yet from the scammers??
Or is there talk yet of getting rid of it?

 

[Fan2CSkr]

I think its a great deal too but I'm wondering how you know that so many people are abusing it? I guess I'm naive to think that most people are honest and just a few would do something that isnt on the up and up.

 

[dustysky]

I think its a great deal too but I'm wondering how you know that so many people are abusing it? I guess I'm naive to think that most people are honest and just a few would do something that isnt on the up and up.

A friend was there over the weekend and said she saw A LOT of people openly going back in line as many times as it took to get a meal for each of there family members.
I think its a bummer and I hope I can get back soon so we can use the meal deal ( the right way ) before it ends.

 

[NeedaVacation03]

As a family of six, I agree with all the above statements. The cheaper way would be to buy one and keep going back, but then I would have to deal with what that is teaching my kids. The lesson it taught would not be worth the $$$$ it saved. You just can not put a price on the lessons kids learn without parents even realizing it. To me it is just not worth it.

 

[ines248]

Well I will come with a family of 5. I already bought 5, 2 park meal and 5, one park meal. I don`t have to worry if they cancel it because I paid 15.00 twice for the shipping,(I don`t trust computers or machines kiosk) so these are in my hands, I am looking at them, and according to USF I can use them whenever I want. I know that you also can pick these and save shipping fees at the kiosk. So if U fear that people are abusing the system and usf may descontinue it again like last year, maybe U should have at least some in your hand (kiosk pick up ) and have nothing to worry about.
I don`t see an expiration date on back of my meal deal tickets. I called USF and they said they have none.


Here I go with more questions. I also have sipper cups tickets. All day free refill. Are these cups disposable ones or you have to carry them all day long?

 

[mjgruber]

The Universal meal deal is SUCH a great bargain and I love that unlike Disney they do not exclude people from using it.
My fear is that SO many people are scamming the system already that they will ditch it.
Anyone know if they are seeing the loss money wise yet from the scammers??
Or is there talk yet of getting rid of it?

The percentage of abuse is figured into the pricing....if they assumed no abuse the price would be lower..They are not new at this.

 

[matndrew]

I just got back from Universal...Had a blast. My comment on the Meal Deal - Not such a great deal. Unlike Disney where just about all of the restaurants participate, only 3 participate in each park. And here is the real clincher...drinks are not included. Oh yeah it gets even better. The kids meals are a joke. one would think you could at least order something remotely on the regular menu like say chicken nuggets ( a staple food for most children in my opinion). But some of the participating restaurants only offered a choice of (1) mini hot dog with fries (And I do mean mini) (2) mini cheeseburger with fries (the size of a burnt hockey puck) or (3) a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. At Monsters Cafe, the kids could not even get a slice of pizza which is on the regular menu. The only restaurants where my children could get a decent meal was Louies at Universal and Comic Stip Cafe at IOA (they could order pizza here or spaghetti and meatballs).

My suggestions to you folks is order regular meals and split it with you family. You will save money and actually get a pretty good choice and not be stuck feeding your kids something they don't really want. And go ahead and buy the refill Spongebob mugs. At the participating restaurants, they filled these up for free for us. That was the best deal of them all.

 

[phamton]

I just got back from Universal...Had a blast. My comment on the Meal Deal - Not such a great deal. Unlike Disney where just about all of the restaurants participate, only 3 participate in each park. And here is the real clincher...drinks are not included. Oh yeah it gets even better. The kids meals are a joke. one would think you could at least order something remotely on the regular menu like say chicken nuggets ( a staple food for most children in my opinion). But some of the participating restaurants only offered a choice of (1) mini hot dog with fries (And I do mean mini) (2) mini cheeseburger with fries (the size of a burnt hockey puck) or (3) a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. At Monsters Cafe, the kids could not even get a slice of pizza which is on the regular menu. The only restaurants where my children could get a decent meal was Louies at Universal and Comic Stip Cafe at IOA (they could order pizza here or spaghetti and meatballs).

The menu was posted here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=11290276

And go ahead and buy the refill Spongebob mugs. At the participating restaurants, they filled these up for free for us. That was the best deal of them all.

They weren't supposed to give you free refills with your SpongeBob cups. You are supposed to be charged $1.25 plus tax for refills.

 

[ChrisK]

They weren't supposed to give you free refills with your SpongeBob cups. You are supposed to be charged $1.25 plus tax for refills.

They were giving it for me for free as well when I took my daugher through the lines.

 

[MsDisney]

The menu was posted here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=11290276

Is there a menu that you can add for Burger Digs? The day I got the Meal Deal for my son, Burger Digs was also a participant...just figuring this might help people even further to decide whether to go with it or where to eat if they do!


Karen / MsDis

 

[ines248]

I just got back from Universal...Had a blast. My comment on the Meal Deal - Not such a great deal. Unlike Disney where just about all of the restaurants participate, only 3 participate in each park.

Only 3 participate?
How come universal web site says that there are 4 at islands of adventure?

"Islands of Adventure Participating Restaurants

1.Circus McGurkas Café Stoo-pendous™
Sample Menu: Fried Chicken, Spaghetti, Pizza, Chicken Caesar Salad, Burgers and Chicken Sandwiches

2.Comic Strip Cafe®
Sample Menu: Chinese, Italian, New England, Mexican and American Food

3.Captain America Diner®
Sample Menu: Cheeseburgers, Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Fingers, and Crispy Chicken Salads

4.The Burger Digs®
Sample Menu: Burgers, Chicken sandwiches and Chicken Fingers."

 

[A Mickeyfan]

They were giving it for me for free as well when I took my daugher through the lines.

They charged me on Monday.. $1.26... that was showing my AP for the discount without it $1.39....

 

[matndrew]

My point was that after having to pony up $42 for my husband and me two adult armbands and about another $20 (I think) for the kids two armbands, I also had to cough another $12 at the registers for drinks! And these sample menus are only for the adults. The kids are ordering items that are not even as good as a $3 happy meal and in some cases, are stuck having to choose items that are not even listed on the regular menus. If Universal wants this program to be a success, they need to at least offer free drinks. and better choices for a child. IMO, if pizza is listed on the regular menu, then that should be at least offered in a child's portion - not a darn peanut butter and jelly sandwhich (i.e. Monter's cafe where we first tried to eat). If spaghetti and meatballs is offered to an adult, offer a child's size portion (no meatballs at Monster's Cafe). If Chicken tenders are on the regular menu, don't offer children a sad substitute of 4 fried Mac n Cheese nuggets (Mel's). As stated in my earlier post, the only 2 restaurants that we found remotely acceptable for my children to eat on the plan was Louies (US) and Comic Strip Cafe(IOA). Thank goodness our hotel (Portofino Bay) offered a children eat free at their restaurant. And guess what, it was a wonderful selection for the kids to eat. Not PB&J's.

And as far as the free refills on the 2 Spongebob mugs we purchased , I would have gladly paid for refills (like I did outside of the Beetlejuice show and also at the ICEE stand and another time near the MIB ride) but Comic Strip Cafe filled it for free and I definitly took advantage of it.


Having done the Disney dining plan last fall, I can assure you that you are in for a big shock (like I was) if you try to Universal one. It is not even in the same ballpark.

 

[ines248]

To me, it does matter because I have 5, one park meal passes.

With the one park meal passes, I should go to the park with more restaurants (4) and pray that one of them has food that my daughter will like to eat (pasta or pepperoni pizza).

Also more options means more variety and less walk to find them.

Lucky for me they put the 4 restaurants at the place where they have more water rides, and teenagers like my kids when they get wet their stomach expands alot.They get hungry a lot. LOL

I also have 5, 2 park meal passes, but that is because I will be looking at both parks restaurants on my first day there, to see which one has food with better taste.

I can keep looking about advantages, but I don`t want to bore you with this.
In conclusion, to me four means a lot more than 3.

 

[matndrew]

If you daughter is under the age of 9 and using the meal plan, they could have 200 participating eateries with the same sad choices.....Good luck!

 

[ines248]

I sometimes call them teenagers kids.
All my children are teenagers.
My daughter thinks that none food is perfect. She never eats at school. Doing this for 5 years. Afraid of germs, Yes, I know she is weird, but finally she is receiving therapy. She will problaby be taking food samples thru the park. Every food that she taste will have a defect. And I know she will not find food what she likes until she is starving. She will eat pasta. plain. no green, black, orange, or any other color mixed with the pasta, just plain pasta and some cheese. I don`t know what is worse! Me spending 7.00 or 8.00 dollars on food that she will trow away or showing the all day meal wristband to the participant restaurants cashier and tell him/her that my daughter will like to have a sample before deciding what to eat because she is more worse than a picky eater.

But on the other hand my son eats anything and can eat like 4 or 5 times a day, and still have room for dessert. I guess human life has to be balanced. You loose here, you win here.

At the end I know the meal deal will be a good price for my family, but that does not mean that It will be a good deal for another family.

Thanks for saying good luck to me, I am going to need it!


...Hey wait a minute! Nobody has answered my question about the sipper cups! 7.99 free soda refill. Are they disposables?

 

[soccerchick]

We just got back and the meal deal was no deal for us. As stated before the drinks were not included. You basically got an extra side and a dessert for your $. I'd rather have a drink After looking at our options, this didn't work for our family. We usually split two pizzas (boy am I tired of pizza now). DH and I got cheeseburgers at our first meal. Totally inedible. No taste. Yuck. We sat there saying "this has no taste, but we're eating it just because we were so hungry." Just like Disney's dining, it's not for everyone.

 

[Anne34]

A friend was there over the weekend and said she saw A LOT of people openly going back in line as many times as it took to get a meal for each of there family members.
I think its a bummer and I hope I can get back soon so we can use the meal deal ( the right way ) before it ends.

We also saw this happening and couldn't believe the people at the restaurants didn't notice anything. One guy by us went back (with another guy who also had a bracelet) and fed about 12 people in his family!!! It was unbelievable. My husband and I both commented on it since it wasn't too busy the day we were there. Amazing!

 

[dustysky]

We also saw this happening and couldn't believe the people at the restaurants didn't notice anything. One guy by us went back (with another guy who also had a bracelet) and fed about 12 people in his family!!! It was unbelievable. My husband and I both commented on it since it wasn't too busy the day we were there. Amazing!

seeee, I just know this good thing will end for that reason alone.