Never been to Universal...have a few questions

[Lizzydoll73]

My family has never been to Universal. We decided to add it to our Disney trip since Universal is offering the buy 2 adult/get 2 kids tix free. We plan on staying onsite so we can get do FOTL. I have seen a few posts where the hotels charge a parking fee. Is that correct? If so, how much do they charge? How much of a deposit do you need on the room? Is it one nights stay like Disney does? My last question is about the character breakfast. How far in advance can you make reservations? Do you need to make reservations or is it not as popular as Disney character breakfasts? Also, can you get a AAA discount at the character breakfast?

Thanks in advance!

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Parking is $7 for self park, probably 2x that to valet.

The deposit is one night plus tax, but sometimes it does not get charged. I have been told that the online booking never takes the deposit, but I have no experience with that.

I went to the character breakfast at Confisco about 3 years ago. It was the week before Christmas. We did not have a reservation, but we were given priority seating because we were staying on site. We had been told the wast would be 30-45 minutes, but when we showed the room key, we were seated in about 5 minutes. I know you can make reservations, however.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Hi, we just returned from the Portofino. Parking is now $10/day, at least there. We did the Character Breakfast at Confisco Grille in IOA. I had a reservation, but the place was nearly empty. Only a hand full of families the entire time we were there. The characters were Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 &2, and Spiderman. The on-site hotels are so-ooo convenient, and FOTL was incredible. We never waited more than 5 minutes.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Hi, we just returned from the Portofino. Parking is now $10/day, at least there.

That's funny! We were at HRH recently and I thought I saw that the rates were more than $7 when we drove in (had a car service so I didn't pay close attention). Then, on the reservation confirmation I received just today from PBH it indicates that self parking is $7! How about that!

 

[Motherfletcher]

I see that all of the resorts show $10 self and $17 valet now on thier new website:http://www.universalorlando.com/ht_index.html