Universal Resort Questions

[jencav5]

I am getting ready to book the HRH for 11/12/05-11/15/05. They seem to have a pretty decent internet rate of $199. I am also looking at buying theme park tickets. They have this deal where you pay $99.95 for 2 days, both parks and get 4 days, plus if you purchase by 9/5/05 you get a coupon book. You only get 1 coupon book per transaction, so you would have to purchase the tickets separately to get more than 1 book. This would work for free if you did the electronic pick-up (rather than mail). Has anyone seen or used one of these coupon books? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to have more than 1, since we'll be there over a 4 day period.

My second question is, since we're staying onsite, will we still want a car? I generally like to be mobile, but it seems that you can walk to the parks here, so I'm wondering if we will just be paying to park the car. This leads to the question of food-is the food at the resorts, parks or citywalk good for kids and adults? We will need to get from the airport to the resort and then back, as well, so if we don't have a car, we will need to hire a service. Any advice, suggestions, "what works for you", etc... would be great! This is actually the last leg of our trip, after WDW & a Disney cruise, just for background! Thanks!

 

[MrsMud]

I can't help you with the coupon book questions, as I have never gotten that. I believe others have posted that the coupons are for restaurants and things other than Citywalk and the Hotels. As far as tickets, if you are only staying at Universal 4 days then the tickets you mentioned are a good deal. If you are staying more than 4 (or have more than 2 kids to buy tickets for), a better deal would probably be the one from RCI. It is $105 per adult and $95 per child, for 7 days!

Do you need a car? Well, I can tell you that my husband and I went for 3 days last May and never once took the car out of the parking lot. Everything is right there within a short and easy walk (this is what made us fall in love with Universal). The Citywalk restaurants are good to excellent and we never had the desire to go elsewhere to eat. On our second trip (with our kids this time), we left the lot once to go to the grocery store and buy a small cooler and some snacks/drinks for the room. Again, we ate all our meals in the parks and at Citywalk. You could definitely eat elsewhere cheaper, so if you choose to go that route, a car would be useful. As far as getting to and from the airport, are you using Disneys ME? If so, I guess you would only need a one way trip back to the airport. Not sure about prices and options for that, as we always rent a car.

BTW, did you know we have a Universal Board here on the Dis? I got tons of valuable information there, and you will get a lot better response to your Universal questions if you post there as well. Good luck, I predict after experiencing Universal's FOTL, you may become converts as we were!

 

[jencav5]

BTW, did you know we have a Universal Board here on the Dis? I got tons of valuable information there, and you will get a lot better response to your Universal questions if you post there as well. Good luck, I predict after experiencing Universal's FOTL, you may become converts as we were!

Thanks for the great info! I actually did realize there was a Universal board after I posted this and I copied it over there!

We're only going to be there for 4 days and I have to pay for 4 adults and 1 kid, even though we are 2 adults and 3 kids, so I think the 4 days for the 2 day price works better. That 7 day price is a great deal, though, but we won't be there that long-only 3 nights.

It sounds like we won't need a car. I don't have our total trip transportation ironed out yet, but, basically, we will need a rental car for our week before the cruise, (probably pick-up from airport), then we will probably get a limo service to take us to the cruise and bring us back from the cruise-to Universal or to get another car. If we don't get another car, then we need the transport back to the airport. I will have to check the cost of the rental vs. the cost of the limo for all that, I guess! Thanks again!

 

[phamton]

Just an FYI, the coupons are good for up to 6 people.

 

[TENIA66]

i recommend buying tickets from ric. you don't have to be a member and you get 7 days for the price of two, you just have to pick up your tickets at customer service at the park.

 

[phamton]

I think you meant RCI. http://www.rcicommunity.com/commerce/universaltickets/ If you order them from RCI and pay for them then you can pick them up at Guest Services at either park.

 

[TENIA66]

yep rci sorry....