Universal Orlando Resorts

[RDP]

Does anybody know if you still get the Universal Express benefits to Universal Studios and IOA, if you book a Universal Resort and the theme park tickets through a third party? i.e Thomas Cook and Attraction Tickets Direct

 

[tinkerpea]

As long as your staying at a resort that has benefits then it does not matter who you book with,
When you arrive at the resort you take your room key and get a picture card done, so its not to do with how you book.

 

[wilma-bride]

Yes, the Universal express benefits are available to anyone staying at one of the three onsite resorts which qualify (Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel or Portofino Bay) regardless of how you book. We nearly always book through a third party.

 

[RDP]

Thanks, just booked the Portofino Bay, looking for the best ticket prices now!

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks, just booked the Portofino Bay, looking for the best ticket prices now!

How long and when for? Undercover Tourist have 3 days for the price of 2 but tickets have to be used by mid June.

Unless you want a 14-day ticket, we normally buy the tickets from Undercover Tourist.

 

[RDP]

How long and when for? Undercover Tourist have 3 days for the price of 2 but tickets have to be used by mid June.

Unless you want a 14-day ticket, we normally buy the tickets from Undercover Tourist.

We are there for 4 days in August 2014. We plan to take it slowly. Can you recommend any good places to eat?

Edit - We are staying from the 17th - 21st. We dont arrive until late on the 17th and will leave early on the 21st to join the Disney Dream. So in reality we need 3 days of park tickets.

 

[wilma-bride]

We are there for 4 days in August 2014. We plan to take it slowly. Can you recommend any good places to eat?

We like a few places on City Walk - Nascar Café, Margaritaville, NBA City. Also, Mamma Della's at Portofino is supposed to be lovely (we haven't tried it though, just going on what I've read). We are hoping to try Churrascaria at City walk in October (it is an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse and gets great reviews).

For cheap and cheerful quick service, we love Panda Express (also at City Walk).

A 3-day park-to-park (hopping) ticket will set you back $165.95 each and a 3-day base ticket (no hopping) will cost you $147.95 each. Those prices are with Undercover Tourist and include taxes and postage. They are very reliable, we use them a lot. You can get a 14-day ticket for around £120 each but if you are only going to have 3 days there for definite then I wouldn't bother with that.

 

[RDP]

We like a few places on City Walk - Nascar Café, Margaritaville, NBA City. Also, Mamma Della's at Portofino is supposed to be lovely (we haven't tried it though, just going on what I've read). We are hoping to try Churrascaria at City walk in October (it is an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse and gets great reviews).

For cheap and cheerful quick service, we love Panda Express (also at City Walk).

A 3-day park-to-park (hopping) ticket will set you back $165.95 each and a 3-day base ticket (no hopping) will cost you $147.95 each. Those prices are with Undercover Tourist and include taxes and postage. They are very reliable, we use them a lot. You can get a 14-day ticket for around £120 each but if you are only going to have 3 days there for definite then I wouldn't bother with that.

Many thanks, Forgot about the City Walk options for dining. City Walk looks like it has a better variety of food than the Hotel and probably a better option for us.

 

[Kath2003]

Mama Della's at Portofino is fab

 

[DLPDreams]

Loving this thread - thank you!

We are going next August (still to book!), and hoping to do 3 nights at Universal at the beginning of our holiday. Arrive Sun 9th August (hopefully) and check out Wed 12th to head to WDW.

I am thinking the 3 day park ticket will be enough for us too Wilma? I don't know park hours but thinking we won't get a chance to use tickets on the Sunday evening by the time we arrive - more likely to do a quick trip to Citywalk for a bit of quick food then back to room for early start the next day. I'll check out those ticket prices

I am sure people know this, but you need a park hopper to do the new HP attraction 'Hogwarts Express' when it opens. So, if you plan to do this, then don't get a non hopping ticket.

 

[joolz1910]

Jumping on board this thread as we too are planning a couple of nights at Universal next year.

 

[Kath2003]

I would genuinely consider getting the 14 day pass for another £10 because we love Universal - but also because if you wind up with a day or two of torrential rain or something, you could lose most of your ticket (thinking about the number of times I've been in a tropical storm in July/August - I was glad I had more than a couple of days then...!)

 

[tinkerpea]

We're staying at RPR from 17th June till 24th then onto disney SSR for 14 nights I can't wait as we normally only do 2 days at U!!

With the HP Diagon alley meant to be opening that wk I'm dreading the crowds, so I'm pleased we have a wk to do everything plus Express pass!

 

[wilma-bride]

Loving this thread - thank you!

We are going next August (still to book!), and hoping to do 3 nights at Universal at the beginning of our holiday. Arrive Sun 9th August (hopefully) and check out Wed 12th to head to WDW.

I am thinking the 3 day park ticket will be enough for us too Wilma? I don't know park hours but thinking we won't get a chance to use tickets on the Sunday evening by the time we arrive - more likely to do a quick trip to Citywalk for a bit of quick food then back to room for early start the next day. I'll check out those ticket prices

I am sure people know this, but you need a park hopper to do the new HP attraction 'Hogwarts Express' when it opens. So, if you plan to do this, then don't get a non hopping ticket.

I would think the 3-day ticket would be OK for you then. having said that, Universal is the only place we've stayed where we have done a park on our arrival day. DH and I went in August 2010 and decided to head over to Islands of Adventure the day we arrived. Our flight landed at around 3.30 and by 6pm, we were on The Hulk. It was great Unless you have small children or a flight arriving later in the afternoon, it is doable. Having said that, I wouldn't personally pay for an extra day just to do a couple of hours in the evening on arrival day (unless the difference in cost was minimal).

While I do get Kath's point about the 14-day ticket, we always know that we won't go back to Universal once we've moved across to Disney so, for us, when buying tickets for a family of four, the £20 (or more) extra per ticket can mean almost £100 expense that we don't need. Last year, we had just one night at Universal. DH and I actually have APs currently but our friends and kids only had 2-day tickets. We had horrendous rain on our arrival day but, with only 2 days, we knew we just had to crack on and get things done. It wasn't the most enjoyable way to spend our time in the parks but it was quieter and we did get lots done

 

[DLPDreams]

Yes, I can't see us doing much that first night with children. Something quick to eat then bed I should think! But, with time difference I am sure we will be up with the larks, so can hit the parks with early entry

I am presuming you can access Citywalk even if you don't have a valid park card? Presume so, especially if staying at a Universal resort hotel?

I understand about the 14 day ticket too and it did cross my mind but I think we are only having the car the first week, so wouldn't have transport and like others, once we get to Disney we'll concentrate on that. I hadn't planned on visiting the Disney waterparks but after reading someone's TR I think it's a must for us. So, that is something else we'll be fitting into our Disney time.

I think as long as we get Seussical and HP done to our satisfaction, we'll be happy at US/IoA. Anything else is a plus - things like Marvel/Transformers don't appeal to us girlies so we won't bother with those anyway. (The men might have a different viewpoint ).

 

[Minniesgal]

For eats we love Margharitabille and we also take a drive to the Cheesecake Factory at the mall at milena

 

[chmurf]

We ate at Confisco Grill. Nice food (we had the fajitas)
Bubba Gump was busy but nice and yummy
Three Broomsticks (quick service) absolutely impossible to give it a miss. Food was good and the place is great.

Mythos was terrible ... wouldn't advise my worst ennemy to eat there.


we stayed 1 night onsite at Portofino Bay, so took advantage of the unlimited express on our check in and check out days.
we had booked PB as a room only, with a 14 days bonus ticket from attractions direct.
we went to the parks 5 times (2 days with unlimited express through our hotel room booking, and 3 days without the express while we were staying at Disney's)

We won't be doing Universal again without the unlimited express, even though we carefully chose the days through TP. The unlimited express is an amazing value.

 

[RDP]

lots of great tips, thanks all!

 

[DisneyBB]

We just bought 3 day park to park tickets from orlandoattractions.co.uk and it cost us $616 for 4 adults inc postage.