You’ll discover some incredible restaurants to add to your itinerary while planning your vacation to the three Universal Orlando theme parks in Florida.
If you want to make it super convenient for your family (and your pocketbook), then I would highly recommend adding one of Universal Orlando’s Dining Plans to your vacation package.
Why do people usually add the dining plan?
Whether you are looking to save money, pay for your vacation all upfront, or make dining as hassle-free as possible while visiting the theme parks – there’s a dining plan for your vacation!
So what do the dining plans include?
QUICK SERVICE DINING PLAN
- One quick service meal, consisting of an entrée and a non-alcoholic beverage
- One snack
- One non-alcoholic beverage
Is there a savings?
During a recent trip to Universal Orlando, here’s what my dining costs were for one person:
- Lunch at Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley (a must-do for all of you Harry Potter fans!), the fish and chips $15.99 and a Gillywater $5.50.
- A frozen Butterbeer for a snack $7.99.
- And another beverage later in the day $3.29.
- Daily total: $30.77.
The Quick Service Dining Plan cost was $25.55 – so YES! There was almost a 20% savings by adding the Dining Plan onto my package.
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO FULL-SERVICE DINING PLAN
- One Full Service Meal, consisting of entrée, Dining Plan dessert, & non-alcoholic beverage
- One quick service meal, consisting of an entrée platter and a non-alcoholic beverage
- One snack
- One non-alcoholic beverage
There’s Tons of Flexibility with the Universal Orlando Dining Plans
- You can add the dining plan for select members of your family. So if Junior is super-picky and won’t eat a full meal, don’t get the dining plan for him.
- You can purchase the dining plan for just one, some, or all of your theme park days. You don’t have to purchase the quick service dining plan for every day/night of your stay. If you only plan on visiting the parks for 3 days, just purchase the plan for 3 days.
- You can mix and match plans in your vacation package. Only eating one nice table service meal during your stay? Add the Universal Table Service Dining Plan for 1 day and the Quick Service Dining Plan for the other days you are in the parks.
- You can add on a Coca-Cola Freestyle Souvenir cup to the Quick Service Dining Plan. This gives you a souvenir cup that you can refill at any Coca-Cola Freestyle machine in the parks. This is really nice on a hot Florida day!
Coca-Cola Freestyle Souvenir Cup
To purchase the quick service dining plan with the souvenir cup, it is $31.94 per day for an adult and $24.32 per day for children aged 3-9. So for just over $6.00 a day, you can enjoy unlimited Coca-Cola drinks! There are about 10 machines in each of the two main Universal parks, so you won’t have to travel far to enjoy a cold drink.
Here are a few more things to know when using the Universal Orlando dining plan:
- Butterbeer is considered a snack, not a beverage.
- If you purchase the Coca-Cola Freestyle cup, you will get your cup at any quick service restaurant that has a freestyle machine. Theme park admission is required to use the dining plan in Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay.
- Your dining plan beverage mug will not work at your resort, your resort beverage mug will not work in the parks.
- While there are several restaurants and kiosks at CityWalk that take the dining plan, the dining plans are not valid at dining locations at any of the Universal Studios Resort restaurants. (ask for the full list of participating restaurants)
- Your credits roll over if you don’t use them all each day. For example, if you don’t get a snack on day 1, you can use that credit any other time during your stay.
- You will pick up your quick service dining card with your E-Travel docs at your Universal Orlando Resort, at the Dining Reservation Cart located in both theme parks or at Universal CityWalk, or at the Guest Services desk at Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.
So if you want to limit the money you spend out of pocket while you’re in the parks, try one of the Universal Orlando dining plans on your next visit to Universal. It’s a great value!
And don’t forget that Coca-Cola Freestyle Cup too!
