Meal Deal Debacle
Universal Orlando: What is the best option for meal deal beverages?
I am going to be attending Universal Studios Orlando for the first time in a couple of weeks with my fiance. We're going to be staying for 4 days, and we've already purchased the meal deal for each of these days, costing up to $200. I suppose I didn't read well enough, because now I see that beverages aren't included. I'm rather upset, but looking for advice.
Does Universal Studios offer water? I've seen the refillable drink option, but that would be an extra $9 per person per day (if you follow the rules). Should we just bring drinks in personally? What would be the least expensive option to this mess I've created for myself...? I've only just now seen that tickets are non-refundable.
From April C
Posted December 18, 2011 at 9:23 PM
You can get cups of water for free with your meals. It'll keep you hydrated anyway. Just get a couple cups because it's not going to be the normal size cup you'd get with a soft drink.
From steve lee
Posted December 19, 2011 at 10:05 PM
They probably won't allow you to bring anything other than water into the park. But you should certainly bring bottled water in with you and refill at water fountains throughout the day. Yeah, it feels a little low-brow to refill a water bottle, but it's better than paying three bucks a pop or asking for a water cup at a counter service restaurant.
From Amy Smith
Posted December 19, 2011 at 10:49 PM
Don't buy the meal deal refill cups, but you might want to buy the regular souvenir cups. They're something like $8 each (although many times throughout the year they run a buy 2 get the 1 free deal) but the first drink is free with it and then every refill after that will be $0.99 - your whole stay. These cups are refillable as long as you keep them - I've got a Men in Black one that is 8 years old that I use when I go to the parks!
It might seem like a lot on the first day, but every day after that it will be much cheaper AND you can get FREE water refills in those larger souvenir cups as opposed to the tiny water cups they give you otherwise. Also you can refill them anywhere in the park and not just at the three restaurants you can eat at with the meal deal.
Hey everybody, thanks so much for the advice. The meal deal option was a really good idea actually because we could get the same food as everyone else, and save some money here and there. We bought a meal deal cup, which I think was $9. We were supposed to use it for only one day. However, how they expect you to buy a new bottle every day I never understood... We just used the same bottle every day as discreetly as possible.
It was a great trip and I'm excited to go back in the future!
From Amy Damon
Posted March 2, 2012 at 10:25 AM
I also want to thank MacKenzie for the question and all of the responses. It was helpful.
This discussion has been archived, and is not accepting additional responses.
