New to Universal

[Alt0009]

Every November, for my youngest daughter's (5) birthday, we travel to Disney. It also serves a double purpose, as my step-daughter (14) lives in Orlando. She comes and spends the week with us on site. This year, we are changing things up and have decided to venture out to the other parts of Orlando. We are planning Universal and Sea World, but I have NO IDEA where to start. Do we stay on site? Are the vacation packages worth it? Dining plans? Also, my 14 year old already has annual passes to Universal, so that changes how I do packages and such......any help/advice for this Disney convert would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

 

[mesaboy2]

Every November, for my youngest daughter's (5) birthday, we travel to Disney. It also serves a double purpose, as my step-daughter (14) lives in Orlando. She comes and spends the week with us on site. This year, we are changing things up and have decided to venture out to the other parts of Orlando. We are planning Universal and Sea World, but I have NO IDEA where to start. Do we stay on site? Are the vacation packages worth it? Dining plans? Also, my 14 year old already has annual passes to Universal, so that changes how I do packages and such......any help/advice for this Disney convert would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

I recommend you start with the first post in the FAQ thread and take it from there. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1353733

 

[Marquibiri]

Welcome to the darkside!

If your daughter has the annual pass, then you should stay onsite. You get huge discounts for onsite hotels.
Using her annual pass, she will be able to purchase single day park tickets for 10% discount and 15% for multi day tickets for your your entire party..
Being a Florida resident also allows her to get discounts on passes, as another option.

A lot of useful information can be obtained from the boards and from the Universal website.

http://www.universalorlando.com/

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[AJA]

Do you want to stay onsite? You may want to get a Premier pass for one of the adults so you can get the discount at the onsite hotels, food discounts as well as souvenirs. I believe with one pass you could purchase tickets at the gate for the rest of your party for a % off as well.

I would not do the dining plan, it's quick service and just not worth it IMO. City Walk has so many amazing restaurants, and REALLY good food too. You do not want to be tied to just the theme park quick service places.

We haven't seen the value for ourselves in any of the packages. The annual pass discounts were much better.

You can reserve your hotel now with the APH promotion code and then purchase your annual pass when you get to the parks. -not sure when you are going in November, but it looks like the AP price is around $180 for weekdays (a few dollars more for weekends) at the Royal Pacific. If you'll be staying 7 nights there is also the Stay More Save More rate it's usually about the same as the AP. Universal hotels are really worth the price, they are amazing. The free express pass will spoil you for other parks.

I bet your older SD would enjoy pool hopping between the resorts too. The pools are gorgeous and very fun.

 

[Metro West]

Using her annual pass, she will be able to purchase single day park tickets for 10% discount and 15% for multi day tickets for your your entire party..

Being a Florida resident also allows her to get discounts on passes, as another option.

Remember...passholders can use their discount on tickets for anyone but FL residents can only use their discount for other FL residents. This may or may not be the case here.

 

[DCTooTall]

Ya know... It really will depend on what you are looking at for the Universal stay.

November in general is a pretty slow time (Obviously, it's more crowded during the Thanksgiving period), so you may be able to get away without needing the express passes that staying onsite would give you.

You also didn't mention your party size. Is it just the 3 of you? Dad joining? anyone else? That could impact the viability of staying onsite.

The next question is what type of AP does the Step Daughter have? There are 3 levels of AP.... The Power Pass (pretty much, just admission only), The Preferred (Hotel and merch discounts), and the Premier (Better discounts and some other perks). If she has the Preferred or Premier pass, You can use her AP for a hotel discount as well as discounts on your tickets. If you don't want to stay onsite, you also could use her preferred or Premier pass for free parking.


One thing you will want to definitely keep in mind when looking at Universal: It's not Disney. By that I mean it is not a park and vacation experience that requires the same level of preplanning and micromanaging your trip. It's 'dining plan' is also very simplistic. For $XX you get unlimited meals that day from select CS locations. for an extra charge, you also can get a souvenir cup with free refills. In Practice, It's only going to be worthwhile if you (or someone in your party, since it's a per person deal, not an all-or-nothing like the DDP) think you can eat 2 or more meals while at the park that day....Keeping in mind that due to park hours that time of year you are probably going to do so between the hours of 11am-5pm. Otherwise, it's cheaper to usually just pay out of pocket at the CS location for lunch (especially with the Preferred or Premier AP food discount).

 

[macraven]

Welcome to the darkside!

If your daughter has the annual pass, then you should stay onsite.
Marquibiri

to book a room at the hotels, one must be 21.
if you decide to stay onsite, be sure to have the room in the adult's name.


i know if one in the party has the preferred or premier ap, the room can be booked at the ap rate if available.

call and talk to reservations to make sure you still qualify booking at the ap rate with the sdaughtes ap.

there were a few threads some years past where families had issues booking w/ the child having the ap.

i have no idea if this would be a problem but call and find out.

rules change over time and what was valid back then, might not be an issue now.


ticket purchases w/ap rate won't be a problem.

 

[*LittleMermaid*]

Welcome to the darkside!


Being a Florida resident also allows her to get discounts on passes, as another option.

Marquibiri

Florida resident discounts apply if you have a Florida ID.. The OP and her family would have to be Florida residents as well, in order to enjoy the FL resident discounted tickets.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't know about the passes but I would say that staying onsite is very worth it. The resorts are great and you get a lot of extras.