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On July 2, Universal Orlando let travel agents know that is suspending the sales of any table service and quick service dining plans indefinitely. The following includes suggestions on how to manage food costs at Universal without a dining plan.
First of all, congratulations on deciding to visit Universal Studios Orlando. You are going to have a magical time! As someone who is obsessed with Disney, I was a little worried I wouldn’t feel the same way about Universal when I first visited. Boy was I wrong. Regardless of age, there is something for everyone at Universal Studios.
Read More: Planning a Universal Studios Vacation? Start Here!
Whenever we visit Walt Disney World, my family always purchases the Disney Dining Plan. I have done the math repeatedly and can see that we actually save money that way. Besides, I like that having the dining plan feels more like an all-inclusive vacation.
Even when Universal Orlando dining plans were available, they were NOT the same as those found down the street at Walt Disney World. Here’s what you need to know about Universal dining now that dining plans sales have been “suspended indefinitely.”
How Did the Universal Full Service Dining Plan Work?
Editor’s Note: The following information applied to Universal Dining Plans that were sold before July, 2021. Any prices mentioned were accurate for Universal Dining Plans sold in 2018.
First of all, the Universal Full Service Dining Plan is exclusively available for pre-purchase with a Universal Orlando vacation package or at the Universal Ticket Center for on-site resort guests only. This is the only dining plan that offers both full service and quick service restaurants, as well as snacks.
The Universal Full Service Dining Plan offers guests one (1) full service meal, one (1) quick service meal, one (1) snack, and one (1) non-alcoholic beverage, per day.
The Full Service meal includes an entree, a dessert, and a non-alcoholic beverage. The quick service meal includes an entree platter and a non-alcoholic beverage. Each guest will receive their own dining card.
Important Details – Full Service Plan
- Reservations are highly recommended for full service restaurants. You can secure dining reservations online, or by calling (407) 224-FOOD, up to thirty (30) days in advance.
- The credits on the Universal Dining Plan (full service) expire at the end of your stay (or within 14 days).
- Gratuity is not included in the price of the dining plan.
- Theme Park admission is required for dining in Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and Universal’s Volcano Bay.
Universal Quick Service Dining Plan
The Universal Quick Service Dining Plan is available for all guests, regardless of where you are staying. You can purchase the Quick Service Dining Plan anytime throughout your visit by visiting one of the kiosks located at the front gates of the parks. The Quick Service Dining Plan offers guests one (1) quick service meal, one (1) snack, and one (1) non-alcoholic beverage, per day. The cost is $25.55 for adults (ages 10 and up), and $17.03 for children (ages 3-9), per day.* Y’all, that’s pretty cheap for a theme park if you ask me.
If you were to pay for these items out of pocket you would most likely exceed the $25.55 price tag. Let’s price it out just to be certain. Say you have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and order the Fish & Chips ($13.99) along with a bottle of water ($2.75). Now, for your snack later in the day you order a frozen Butterbeer which is around $7.50 with tax. At the end of the day you order a Powerade for $3.29. Your daily total comes to $27.53 which is $1.98 more than the price you paid for your Quick Service Dining Plan.
More Flexibility with Quick Service Dining
The best part of the Universal Quick Service Dining Plan is that the credits don’t expire. You can carry your credits over from one day to the next. In addition, if you can keep up with the voucher, you can actually use them on your next Universal vacation. Another great perk is that you don’t have to purchase the plan for every day of your trip. Say you want to spend three days in the parks and two days relaxing by the pool. You can choose to purchase only three days of the dining plan. Even better, if you want to purchase the plan for the kids and not for the adults, you have that option. Universal allows you to be very flexible with their Quick Service Dining Plan.
Coca-Cola Freestyle Souvenir Cup
If you’ve ever researched the Universal Dining Plan before, you’ve probably heard about the Coca-Cola freestyle souvenir cup. What exactly is it and do you need it? Let’s review the details. You can purchase the freestyle cup for $11.99 (per day), or you can add it to the Quick Service Dining Plan for an additional $6.00. The cup can be reactivated for an additional $5.99 per day. There are approximately six (6) freestanding self-serve soda fountains in each park that can only be activated by the RFID computer chip on the base of the freestyle cup. In an effort to eliminate sharing, there is a 10 minute waiting period between refills.
Purchasing the Coca-Cola freestyle souvenir cup so that multiple people can share is not a good idea. Toting around the large cup all day can be cumbersome. If you carry a backpack through the parks you should be fine. Make sure you bring the cup with you to the parks each day you intend to use it. If you’re anything like me and suffer from motion sickness you’ll be thankful to have access to unlimited soda throughout the day to help settle your stomach.
Universal Dining Plan Snack Credits
Each of the two dining plans comes with one (1) snack per day. What is a snack on the Universal Dining Plan? Let’s review. You can find snacks located in various food carts and quick service locations throughout the parks. Some examples of snack credits include churros, ice cream, popcorn, pretzels, funnel cake, and my personal favorite – frozen Butterbeer! The key to saving money on the Universal Dining Plan is to maximize your credits by purchasing the more expensive items covered. For example, it is always better to use your snack credit to buy a $7 Butterbeer rather than spending $2.99 on a churro. The rule of thumb is to try and purchase snack credits that cost $5 or more to truly maximize the benefits of the Universal Dining Plan.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Curious exactly what is considered a snack? TouringPlans.com has a great tool on their Universal Orlando Menu page that allows you to search “UDP-eligible snacks only.”
Locations NOT Included in Dining Plans
My main complaint with the Universal Dining Plan is that NONE of the restaurants located in their on-site resort hotels are included. This includes full service and quick service dining locations, as well as dinner shows. If you plan on dining at your resort often, maybe the Universal Dining Plan isn’t the best option for you. Another negative to the plan, NONE of the Character Dining experiences are included in the Universal Dining Plan.
There are quite a few Universal CityWalk restaurants that do not participate in the Universal Dining Plan, including: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Emeril’s Orlando, Hard Rock Cafe Orlando, and The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen.
Serge says
Did Universal say untill the passes can be used, now they don’t sell them anymore? I still have about 10, but will be back in february 2022.
Richard Dencklau says
My family of four just visited Universal for four days. I would not recommend getting the dining plan. There are a few reasons why especially if you are there for more than a few days. First, if you have children with the child’s dining plan it is very limited at every location. In most cases there are only 2 options for them. For example at the Simpsons dining area you my child could even get a burger. Second, you can not mobile order using the dining plan. We did most of our waiting for the week in lines for food and not rides. Third, the snacks are very limited. When they list pretzel, churro, popcorn, drinks, and ETC, the ETC really means not much else. When you are there for 4 days there is only so many pretzels you can eat. Fourth, the dining plan can not be used on any extras, for example we got a cabana at Volcano bay but the designated waiter for our Cabana could not take our dining plan order. We had to go order ourselves and take our own food back to our cabana. It was still nice to have our own place to eat and hang but the dining plan sort of took away from that. Finally, one thing that was not made clear is when you add the Freestyle cup to the dining plan it does make the Freestyle cup cheaper but you do lose a snack per day and a drink for your quick service meal. So in the end its not saving anything.
Halo says
Great helpful site! I’ve read that you purchased gift cards as another option for dining. Does that mean you can use the gift for dining anywhere in the park?
Amy says
Question on the snacks…when i go to look on the site, many quick service places pop up. But their menus dont specify what snacks qualify as “snacks”, they just have the UN next to it. Im looking at the crossiant place now…the milkshake…is that considered a snack?
VKO says
Yes, a milkshake is considered a snack. But slushies are included in the freestyle drinks.
Jess says
DO the kids meals include their drink and or deserts?
Ty
Yuri says
This was very helpful! We are staying at the Hard Rock in about a week but could not find any information about the dining plan that we could buy at the resort. Thanks for sharing this!