Priority seating at Universal studios

[Stampax]

Can anyone tell me how much of an advantage staying on site is no having priority seating at universal? We are there peak season (end of July) so wondering if we should book placed or just turn up.

Do they always find space for guests who stay on site, or do they sometimes get too busy that they can’t accommodate you regardless?

[Rescuer]

Book the places you really want.

We were there in Feb and places were either full or saying 2hours + for a table.

Where is it you want to eat?

[mason1]

We’re staying at HRH in August and I’ve booked tables for restaurants we want to go to. Can always cancel if plans change. When we were there at Christmas, we’d booked a table at Hard Rock Cafe, and the walk up wait was over 2 hours.

[curlysue2]

So are we saying no real benefit to staying onsite then regarding booking restaurant seats.
I was hoping we could wait to book till we got there so we can decide on the fly.

[Derbydave4]

You used to get priority seating if staying at HRH RPR and Portafino for some but not all of the restaurants in City Walk but since Covid this is no longer available

[Stampax]

Originally Posted by Derbydave4

You used to get priority seating if staying at HRH RPR and Portafino for some but not all of the restaurants in City Walk but since Covid this is no longer available

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They still list this as a perk on the website…..

[Derbydave4]

As I understand it the priority seating for HRH RPR and Portafino guests stopped during Covid as it was reservation only at the restaurants
I haven’t seen anything in anybodys comments or blogs to indicate it’s been reinstated ( apart from Bubba Gumps with a Landry’s Card)
Most reviews now say if you don’t have a reservation in the evening that restaurants are either not taking walk ups or there are long waits
We will be there next month so will check out if priority seating for hotel guests has returned but maybe other dibbers who have returned or are out there now will confirm as well

[Derbydave4]

Just back from Universal and most restaurants in City Walk you need to book in advance if you want to guarantee a table
Even with reservations we were waiting for up to 30 minutes to be seated
Most were not taking walk ups or had long waiting lists and no mention of priority seating for Universal premium hotel guests
Landry card worked like a dream though in Bubba Gumps went straight to head of the queue and were seated straight away in the VIP area

[Bellasmummy]

We had trouble getting a table in quite a few places in February.

We’ve booked everything we want for this trip just incase.

We’ve stayed a few times at the deluxe resorts in the past and never even knew they offered priority seating. Wasn’t ever an issue as we didn’t have a problem getting tables anywhere without booking. I guess that all changed post covid.

[Derbydave4]

With the exception of Big Fire most of the restaurants appeared to be understaffed (exactly same problems here in UK) so are limiting tables available
Once seated we could see empty tables in the restaurants but walk ups were being told nothing available or return times over an hour
Not sure this will change until the staffing issues are solved but just like Disney keeping park reservations after Covid I can see many restaurants sticking to you being required to book advance in the future to guarantee a table