Change of plans.....

[draybook]

Ok, so the original plan was to stay at on off-site hotel over by Wet N Wild and buy 3 day park-to-park tickets for the four of us(2 adults 2 juniors). Well, thanks to the keen and watchful eye of the Mrs., we saw an advertisement for a 4 day stay and eat package. So, for a simple $80 more we will have 2 days of free dining and one day of early entry. Not too shabby at all.

 

[danpam1024]

What hotel? Sounds like a great deal!

 

[flynnibus]

Just be sure to set your expectations right... Dining Plan is not the same as it is at Disney.

 

[danpam1024]

from the looks of it, the "new" Dining Plan is very similar to Disney. The all-you-can-eat is totally not worth the $.

 

[luv]

Uni is pushing their new dining thing. I really hope we don't end up with a bunch of people making reservations a week (or more) out. And I hope all the CityWalk restaurants don't start increasing prices to make the dining plans look like a great deal.

Eating at Uni has always been such a pleasure.

 

[danpam1024]

Uni is pushing their new dining thing. I really hope we don't end up with a bunch of people making reservations a week (or more) out. And I hope all the CityWalk restaurants don't start increasing prices to make the dining plans look like a great deal.

Eating at Uni has always been such a pleasure.

It was inevitable- I'm surprised it took this long! Hope the quality doesn't take a dive- fingers crossed.

 

[RyenDeckard]

Ok, so the original plan was to stay at on off-site hotel over by Wet N Wild and buy 3 day park-to-park tickets for the four of us(2 adults 2 juniors). Well, thanks to the keen and watchful eye of the Mrs., we saw an advertisement for a 4 day stay and eat package. So, for a simple $80 more we will have 2 days of free dining and one day of early entry. Not too shabby at all.

If you're staying on a Universal on site hotel, that 80$ extra is easily worth the price.

Otherwise, you're still getting an alright deal, but not incredible. The Dining plan is simply OK, but the early access is pretty great. The hotels on I-Drive are fine if you just want a hotel to sleep at and do couple things, but they're not really amazing.

 

[englanddg]

If you're staying on a Universal on site hotel, that 80$ extra is easily worth the price.

Otherwise, you're still getting an alright deal, but not incredible. The Dining plan is simply OK, but the early access is pretty great. The hotels on I-Drive are fine if you just want a hotel to sleep at and do couple things, but they're not really amazing.

The Express Pass included is worth far more than the Dining Plan!

 

[RyenDeckard]

The Express Pass included is worth far more than the Dining Plan!

I completely forgot about the express pass! Yes, that alone is worth the extra 80$ if you are staying on site!

 

[draybook]

It's not on site, it's over there by Wet N Wild. The food alone is worth it for us. Well, that's also considering that we upgraded from base tickets to park 2 park.

 

[englanddg]

It's not on site, it's over there by Wet N Wild. The food alone is worth it for us. Well, that's also considering that we upgraded from base tickets to park 2 park.

Then it's not a Universal Hotel (which are run by Leows)...

Sounds like you are in a partner resort?

 

[draybook]

Then it's not a Universal Hotel (which are run by Leows)...

Sounds like you are in a partner resort?

Yeah, some place over by Wet N Wild.

 

[englanddg]

Yeah, some place over by Wet N Wild.

If it's not one of the three Uni hotels, then the DP is a nice addon...but not worth it.

 

[flynnibus]

If it's not one of the three Uni hotels, then the DP is a nice addon...but not worth it.

Remember - dp is their new offering... Not the same as the meal plan of old

 

[englanddg]

Remember - dp is their new offering... Not the same as the meal plan of old

Oh, yeah, I did forget...I still wouldn't call most of the restaurants there (outside of Mythos) worth a visit though.

 

[draybook]

Worth it for us, since the $80 upgrade price was to switch the base tickets to p2p tickets. Plus, even staying off-site at a cheap hotel + buying tickets would have cost the same. So, might as well get free food and early arrival thrown in there.

 

[englanddg]

Worth it for us, since the $80 upgrade price was to switch the base tickets to p2p tickets. Plus, even staying off-site at a cheap hotel + buying tickets would have cost the same. So, might as well get free food and early arrival thrown in there.

Absolutely!

 

[draybook]

Next time my wife has demanded that we actually stay on site, which is cool with me.

 

[englanddg]

Next time my wife has demanded that we actually stay on site, which is cool with me.

It's ok. I stayed at Royal Pacific.

The room was nice. High cost (the Uni 4 day 3 night stay was nearly as much as my following 10 days at Pop), but great facilities. The ability to walk to the parks was fun for me, but with an 8 year old in tow it wasn't the best benefit.

The water taxi's were down many times, and there's no way to tell if they are running or not until you get to the stop (unless you see one on the river). To be fair, it rained a LOT during my trip last year, so that was why.

The best benefit, though, was the unlimited express pass. We were walking onto rides and able to do many of them back to back (we did MIB something like 5 or 6 times in a row, and I felt bad, actually, because we would pass the same family over and over again in the standby lines).

Worth doing? Yep. Worth the price? Debatable...