Universal vs Disney dining costs

[maxsmom]

Can anyone give me an idea of how these properties compare? Does one place tend to run higher than the other? We basically only know Disney. Trying to get an idea if we’d notice a difference in our budget. Thanks

 

[Monykalyn]

We didn't eat much in the parks at Universal but at Citywalk restaurants it seemed entrees were maybe $2-3 dollars less. Not much but does make a difference when feeding five

 

[schumigirl]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...do-including-menus-updated-regularly.2681315/

This is a fabulous sticky that has menu`s from every restaurant in the parks, hotels and Citywalk.

 

[Disxuni]

If you want a quick answer, the answer is on average Universal is a little less than WDW.

When it comes to the more higher end dining, Universal is far more reasonable. Still expensive, but still less. The top you might pay for a dinner at Universal (the very top, which this is rare) is up to around $50 from my research. Where as on Disney property, the top is way beyond that from what I've seen and also experienced myself.

 

[gotomu212]

We’ve always found UO cheaper than Disney. The UO dining plan has never saved us money though when I’ve compared somkeep that in mind.

The one thing that I do like about UO over Disney that affects cost is that we don’t have to plan meals far out at UO. We typically decide day of what we feel like eating and use priority seating or make a reservation that morning. With ADRs we found some days we weren’t in the mood for a big meal, but well it’s booked so we went anyway. At UO we only pay for big meals when we want to.

 

[maxsmom]

We’ve always found UO cheaper than Disney. The UO dining plan has never saved us money though when I’ve compared somkeep that in mind.

The one thing that I do like about UO over Disney that affects cost is that we don’t have to plan meals far out at UO. We typically decide day of what we feel like eating and use priority seating or make a reservation that morning. With ADRs we found some days we weren’t in the mood for a big meal, but well it’s booked so we went anyway. At UO we only pay for big meals when we want to.

What time of year do you typically go? We were wondering if priority seating worked during the busy times or if we needed to make reservations. We are looking at this July. Thanks!

 

[DreamIsaWish]

I felt like counter service was a bit more expensive at Universal. The kids meals were definitely more and weren't offered at all restaurants, and even with the higher cost didn't include a drink. Pretty comparable overall, but we had a harder time finding food we liked at Universal. The Simpsons food court was pretty bad. But the fish & chips in Harry Potter lands was quite good.

 

[Disxuni]

I felt like counter service was a bit more expensive at Universal. The kids meals were definitely more and weren't offered at all restaurants, and even with the higher cost didn't include a drink. Pretty comparable overall, but we had a harder time finding food we liked at Universal. The Simpsons food court was pretty bad. But the fish & chips in Harry Potter lands was quite good.

I do have to say that most of the time the kids meals seem reasonable in size and do technically come with two sides (grapes, apples, carrots, sometimes you can substitute for fries), as well as usually milk, juice, or a little bottle of water. So, if you're an adult wanting to be satisfied, but not stuffed, it can be a good option. I've done it a few times. Pretty good to get all that when you might spend at most $7 and some change, usually it's less.

As for the entree, sometimes it's a small portion (such as if you get a child sized corn dog), but if you get for example the chicken nuggets, which are more like chicken tenders, only cut in half (that's the best way I can describe the size) and you're getting four instead of the adult portion which is five. It's still definitely enough.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

I do have to say that most of the time the kids meals seem reasonable in size and do technically come with two sides (grapes, apples, carrots, sometimes you can substitute for fries), as well as usually milk, juice, or a little bottle of water. So, if you're an adult wanting to be satisfied, but not stuffed, it can be a good option. I've done it a few times. Pretty good to get all that when you might spend at most $7 and some change, usually it's less.

As for the entree, sometimes it's a small portion (such as if you get a child sized corn dog), but if you get for example the chicken nuggets, which are more like chicken tenders, only cut in half (that's the best way I can describe the size) and you're getting four instead of the adult portion which is five. It's still definitely enough.

I agree that the portion is fine for a smaller eating adult (I did that for myself, especially the kids' fisn & chips). But at Disney you get a drink. At Universal you don't. At least I didn't see a drink offered anywhere at Universal for a kids meal, and we just came home today so it's super fresh in my mind. Disney, yep you get the milk, juice or water. If it's at Universal, then we somehow missed all the locations with kids' drinks.

 

[Monykalyn]

I agree that the portion is fine for a smaller eating adult (I did that for myself, especially the kids' fisn & chips). But at Disney you get a drink. At Universal you don't. At least I didn't see a drink offered anywhere at Universal for a kids meal, and we just came home today so it's super fresh in my mind. Disney, yep you get the milk, juice or water. If it's at Universal, then we somehow missed all the locations with kids' drinks.

At Universal you can buy the coke freestyle cup and get refills all day and there's several places that have freestyle machines or will refill the cup at the parks

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We found TS to be noticably less expensive at Uni but part of that is that we've never done a character meal at Uni. We do way too many at WDW. QS seems comparable in price. We do find it annoying that some places don't have kids meals or have them but they aren't on the menu in the app or up on the big screens, there is just a little sign on the counter (yes I'm looking at you Simpsons food court - giant pain in the butt that you are).

 

[DreamIsaWish]

We do find it annoying that some places don't have kids meals or have them but they aren't on the menu in the app or up on the big screens, there is just a little sign on the counter (yes I'm looking at you Simpsons food court - giant pain in the butt that you are).

Ah, maybe that's where our problem was. Didn't look hard enough for the kids' meals (it shouldn't be a game of hide-and-seek to order food, should it?). We surrendered and brought PBJ and applesauce for one meal for the kids since we weren't finding good options for them. I guess more was there if we were more persistent.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

At Universal you can buy the coke freestyle cup and get refills all day and there's several places that have freestyle machines or will refill the cup at the parks

We did have a lot of Icees some days in the refillable mug. But I was hoping for milk with a kids' meal for the kids once in a while. Of course, the kids weren't complaining about Icee instead of milk!

 

[gotomu212]

What time of year do you typically go? We were wondering if priority seating worked during the busy times or if we needed to make reservations. We are looking at this July. Thanks!

Priority seating has always worked at various times throughout the year. However we do avoid going to Citywalk right at park close since everyone streams out at the same time.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We did have a lot of Icees some days in the refillable mug. But I was hoping for milk with a kids' meal for the kids once in a while. Of course, the kids weren't complaining about Icee instead of milk!

I'm trying to picture that: "But mom, I wanted milk, not this stupid Icee!!!" Maybe in some alternate universe.

 

[Alicefan]

I find Universal to be a lot cheaper as far as table service goes. When I eat at Finnegans or Mythos I always catch myself saying, "this is priced more like a TGI Fridays or something" and it's a welcome relief after a week in the Disney parks where you feel like they take advantage of you at every turn. I'll take $15-25 over $25-40 any day! Finnegans is good food too! I love being able to sit down and take a load off at least once a day in the parks. It just feels so much better to me than the counter service places. I don't know why but it doesn't ever feel as relaxing or refreshing as a table service place even though you're sitting down at both. lol Wonder why that is?

 

[Cuchman]

In my experience, counter service is very close in price though I give a slight advantage to UO on value. There are a few options on either side of the fence to save money (for example, we often get kids meals at Disney counter service to save money - which we've not done at Universal But Universal has the GREAT family meal at Three Broomsticks which used to be $50 (now $60) and would feed my family of five with good quality food to spare.)

On balance, I'd say for the price the food we usually get at Universal is a bit better.

Table service is definitely a little cheaper at Universal - and you can continue spending more and more depending on how high your budget goes at Disney - they have several more premium options.

Universal has several table service options that can rival the counter service on price if you are frugal (sandwiches instead of entrees at Mythos or shared volcano nachos at Margaritaville are good examples) - so that can make table service more of an option on a budget.

 

[keishashadow]

$$$

Agree U’s food pricing tends to be lower for us vs WDW both CS & TS

Quality

CS (especially the chicken & ribs) nod goes to U

TS WDW (if you choose wisely )

 

[robl45]

Was just researching this. Usually we would do the dining plan at Disney and not going to do a dining plan at universal. Looking at some of the places, a steak is 40+ dollars. Its maybe 32 to 35 at Disney so in some ways I think its more pricey.

As for the freestyle cups, we get the cups at Disney, but they are pretty useless since you can't use them at the parks. These freestyle cups you can use at the parks it seems and can get Icee's?

 

[WorldNoFace]

Can anyone give me an idea of how these properties compare? Does one place tend to run higher than the other? We basically only know Disney. Trying to get an idea if we’d notice a difference in our budget. Thanks

We're used to Disney too but went to Universal in May for the first time in about 15 years. We only did counter service but omg, the prices made Disney look like the Red Cross. OBSCENE prices for not a whole lot of food. We ate at Comic Strip Cafe on Islands side, but when browsing around, we found all the prices to be in the same range pretty much