Hello!
Ok I have done A LOT of research on this (we are on a budget for our trip in December) and I have found that the cheapest way to do it is to book it seperate with either an Entertainment card ( buy the book for either your area or the Orlando area at
www.entertainment.com ) or to use AAA, Fan Club discount (corporate program you might be able to join through work) or other discount on the room portion. If you can't get any discounts at all, then it is actually easier to book it through their vacation website or by phone. Their prices are acually close if not the same as a non-discounted room and tickets etc. The disadvantage to this is that you have to pay for the whole thing upfront. If you just want to pay the rack rate for an onsite room, it is easiest to either call Universal (1-888-322-5541) and book it or call Loews hotels to book it. If you call Loews be sure to sign up for their Loews First program. It is free and you can get a complimentary room upgrade if it is available, and a special welcome basket/gift like milk and cookies, fruit basket etc. You can read all about it and get phone numbers from their website
www.loewshotels.com. You can also book a room only reservation there at rack rate.
Either way, when booking a room only reservation, you will have to pay a one nights deposit with tax. We used the Entertainment card (we won't buy the book until right before we go-all you have to do is tell them you have the card and they will book it, they don't ask for the number or anything, you just have to make sure you have it when you check in)and we got a pool view rate of $109 at Royal Pacific. With tax we had to pay $120.99. I sent them a check, but you can just give them your credit card number if you prefer.
As far as passes go, they are priced the same everywhere, with a few discounts that are minimal from Entertainment book, or AAA. Right now they have annual passes that are $99 which is a great deal. Go to
www.universalorlando.com and click on tickets and all of your options would come up. I think they also have a 2 day pass with the third day free right now, but I believe it is the same price as the annual or close to it.
I have booked many Disney trips and you are right, it is alot cheaper to do it seperate there. For us, it was also cheaper to do it seperate at Universal, but really only if you will be using some sort of discount for the rooms. If you arent worried about that and convienence is most important, then like I said, booking the whole thing through Universal vacations really isn't a bad option. In our case, booking with the entertainment rate, we saved about $275 on the room. There are only a certain number of rooms set aside for these rates so you might want to just call and see if it is available for the dates you want.
Feel free to email me with any specific questions-like I said, I have done TONS of research!
carriebull@msn.com
