Newbie, need help planning

[Shefour70]

hello! I've only ever done one day trips to Universal and sad to say not very many at that. To be honest I always assumed it was expensive compared to that other park. I don't know where to go to start planning. My husband is retired military. I don't know if that would help with a discount. Would four days be long enough? Do they offer packages like Disney with a down payment and pay off so many days before your trip? Seems to be a lot less planning ahead of time than Disney. How does reservations for restaurants work? Thanks for any and all help!

 

[johde]

I can't help with all your questions but I can help with some of them. Universal offers packages but unless you're going for something special, it's normally cheaper to get everything separately. In general, reservations for restaurants are 60 days ahead of time. But in general, unless you're going at an extremely busy time a few days out are plenty. Depending on the restaurant, reservation online are handled through Nextable.com although some may still use opentable.com . The universal website is starting to do reservations for many of the restaurants (powered by nextable).

 

[RMulieri]

Packages are rarely the way to go and offer no real advantage or savings most of the time.I book my resort thru Loews. com and I get my tickets thru undercover tourist. Unless you are going at an incredibly busy time or are set on specific dining times, ressies aren't necessary really..We made a few ahead of time and then changed them ALL the day of with no issue either.We also had no problems with walking up to restaurants.We do a week stay with 4 full park days .it gives us plenty of time to leisurely tour, re-ride favorites and plenty of time to sleep in and hang out by the pool .If you are pressed for time, at least allow 1 day per park.After vacationing at Uni only the last 3 years, we have no real burning desire to go to "the other park" .Universal has been great and relaxing and reminds me of what Disney used to be like before all the insane planning required to enjoy it.We will do Disney again when Star Wars land is completed though

 

[ladeedeb]

Military Salute deal is 3 days for price of 1 park to park. $147. But, you can only get at some ITT offices and at Shades of Green. Cabana Bay has Military deals for 20-30% off or something like that, but you have to call some number for it. Try looking up Steve's military tips or calling your local ITT office.

 

[snoopboop]

Regarding paying... I know that the Loews hotels charge for one night up front and you pay the balance when you check in. That's if you book directly with Loews and not through a Universal package.

I *personally* find five or six nights to be the perfect length for a stay. (Then again, if funds were unlimited, I'd love to make it even longer.....) My upcoming vacation is only going to be four nights and I'm bummed that it's going to be so short. Then again, I don't ever get tired of going back to the parks to ride the rides and see the sights.

In the past we used OpenTable to make reservations (most often the day of), but it seems that Uni's restaurants have switched to another service. Except for Mythos, we've never had issues with just walking up and being seated within a relatively short amount of time. If you are staying onsite, many restaurants will give you priority seating, so you can get seated more quickly than the offsite guests.

 

[snoopboop]

I can't help with all your questions but I can help with some of them. Universal offers packages but unless you're going for something special, it's normally cheaper to get everything separately. In general, reservations for restaurants are 60 days ahead of time. But in general, unless you're going at an extremely busy time a few days out are plenty. Depending on the restaurant, reservation online are handled through Nextable.com although some may still use opentable.com . The universal website is starting to do reservations for many of the restaurants (powered by nextable).

Ugh - yes - I'd forgotten that it was NexTable. Now, instead of having an app that can house all of our reservations, we have to visit the Uni website and find the pages of all of the individual restaurants to make reservations. NOT very user-friendly. Boo.

 

[Grumpy92]

* Four days is plenty of time and it will give you some down time as well. If you are going during the holidays and I have noticed some weekends do tend to be the busier. Don't do a package they tend to charge more then they are worth.
* Stay at a Universal hotel. We really enjoy Cabana Bay, they have nice suites which offer more room for the same price as you would pay at a Disney Value resort. They do offer some great discounts.
The other resorts do give you an express pass for the attractions. EPs are kind of like FPs but no specific time and not available for all rides. We went in Sept and did not miss the express benefit even in the HP sections. https://www.universalorlando.com/Hotels/Onsite-Hotel-Rates-and-Offers.aspx?flres=no
* Tickets do offer a Military discount. http://www.universal-parks-military-discounts.com/military-discounted-tickets/
We like getting APs as it offers discounts on hotels, merchandise and some restaurants. Only one member of your family would need it to get the discounts.
* No need for restaurant reservations unless you are going to one the Emeril restaurants. We just walk in. Such a nice change from WDW.

Take a breath. The good news is that Universal requires far less planning and reservations then WDW, totally reduces my stress level.

 

[macraven]

You pay the balance when you check out if you do not put room charging on when checking in

I had the option when I checked in on Saturday

 

[snoopboop]

You pay the balance when you check out if you do not put room charging on when checking in

I had the option when I checked in on Saturday

Ooh! I wonder if that's new!? I've always had to pay the balance at check-in, even without allowing room charging. Or maybe they just thought I looked shifty.