Orlando theme park tickets

[Jasandjules]

ecsrobin said:

For how many?

2 adults 1 8 year old

[ecsrobin]

Jasandjules said:

ecsrobin said:

For how many?

2 adults 1 8 year old

Seems a good price then. We paid £892pp last Easter for 14 days for universal and Disney through attraction tickets. We spent £220 on parking for 2 weeks and £100 on toll roads.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Looking at American sites is honestly pointless as they don't do ticketing for long stays Americans do a long weekend max if not just 1 or 2 days

The only time it can work is with annual passes but they aren't much use these days either

[Jasandjules]

ecsrobin said:

Seems a good price then. .

Yes I suppose technically, I am just shocked at the idea of the price........ I mean, I could get another holiday for that !!

[jonwm]

We came back a few days ago, booked our tickets through attractiontickets.com

We pad £2652 for 5 of us, 3 classed as adults and 2 kids, that was for 14 days and "memory maker" free, whcih actually was quite good.

I checked last time we went (no kids) in 2009 when it was $2 to the £ and we paid £229!!!! I noticed prices were hugely inflated from last visit.

I dropped on with a nice Jeep Wagoneer Series 3 though, 8 seater from Alamo, I had booked a "Full Size SUV 7 seater"

[Trustmeimadoctor]

I loved the wagoneer

[ecsrobin]

Jasandjules said:

Yes I suppose technically, I am just shocked at the idea of the price........ I mean, I could get another holiday for that !!

Like Myself and others have said if you think you’re shocked at that wait until you start eating and drinking out there!

[x5tuu]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Looking at American sites is honestly pointless as they don't do ticketing for long stays Americans do a long weekend max if not just 1 or 2 days

The only time it can work is with annual passes but they aren't much use these days either

Annual Passes absolutely are - say you want a 14 day ticket for universal (US and IOA) - to buy that in the UK is c.£1000 for 3 people ... Parking at CityWalk is $32/day ($448 / £355) for the 14 days -

The UOAP is $539 per person ... $1617 / £1283 - so already cheaper than the above.

Now factor that its valid for 18mths (currently) - so a return visit would be totally quids in.

Now also factor in 10% (minimum) off all purchases and F&B in the parks and all the city walk venues - that adds up to very good value and better than a 14day ticket!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

$10 a pint and it's a small American one
Easy in a standard ISH restaurant for 2 adults to do over $100 an evening meal

[bakerstreet]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

$10 a pint and it's a small American one
Easy in a standard ISH restaurant for 2 adults to do over $100 an evening meal

Don't forget the tip per pour

I was really quite disappointed with the food when we went. Millers and Longhorn were just bad.

However, my kids loved iHop and the service was excellent. In fact, I would go as far as to say, it was the best we experienced out there. I know its far from fine dining and the place was scruffy, but I really didn't care. The buffets were a surprise hit as well. Kids liked those. Just gave them some freedom.

I refused to sped 20 minutes queueing for a StarBucks in parks. Happily got me a Joffreys at the start and end of each day from a kiosk. Coffee was good and quick service.

[x5tuu]

jonwm said:

We came back a few days ago, booked our tickets through attractiontickets.com

We pad £2652 for 5 of us, 3 classed as adults and 2 kids, that was for 14 days and "memory maker" free, whcih actually was quite good.

I checked last time we went (no kids) in 2009 when it was $2 to the £ and we paid £229!!!! I noticed prices were hugely inflated from last visit.

I dropped on with a nice Jeep Wagoneer Series 3 though, 8 seater from Alamo, I had booked a "Full Size SUV 7 seater"

It hasn't been 2:1 since July '08

2009 it never got about 1.67:1

in 2009 Disney didn't offer 14 day tickets (max was 10) and they were $240/adult ($210/kids) ... I get there are rose tinted specs but come on

[barryrs]

Martyn76 said:

x5tuu said:

I only paid about £1300 for 3 annual passes for universal this year and they’re no blackout and valid for 18mths!

Groupon Orlando often have deals on UO tickets

Not sure where you are looking - if it’s the UK UO site then you’ll only see 7 and 14 day tickets. You need to get onto the US website for day tickets. You’ll need a VPN for this.

Looking now though single day and single park tickets are from $119 per person (date depending) - which is cheaper than the gate price.

Will take a good look at this, looks like a winner!

You can buy them via the universal mobile app.

[jonwm]

x5tuu said:

jonwm said:

We came back a few days ago, booked our tickets through attractiontickets.com

We pad £2652 for 5 of us, 3 classed as adults and 2 kids, that was for 14 days and "memory maker" free, whcih actually was quite good.

I checked last time we went (no kids) in 2009 when it was $2 to the £ and we paid £229!!!! I noticed prices were hugely inflated from last visit.

I dropped on with a nice Jeep Wagoneer Series 3 though, 8 seater from Alamo, I had booked a "Full Size SUV 7 seater"

It hasn't been 2:1 since July '08

2009 it never got about 1.67:1

in 2009 Disney didn't offer 14 day tickets (max was 10) and they were $240/adult ($210/kids) ... I get there are rose tinted specs but come on

I went in 2008 3 times so it may have been then, I remember the exchange rate as I was looking at buying a condo hence the 3 times, I've still got my ticket receipts so will have a look tomorrow and see how tinted they have become

Edit as I had some in the house 10 day in 2009 adult was $292 so not that far out

Edited by jonwm on Thursday 16th May 22:08

[jonwm]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

I loved the wagoneer

Yep awesome car, a bit big but really didnt want to give it back.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Had the expedition this year it was nice but the V6 turbo just isn't as good but it only had 17miles on the clock

[bakerstreet]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Had the expedition this year it was nice but the V6 turbo just isn't as good but it only had 17miles on the clock

We also had a Ford Expedition. Engine was ok, but the 10Sp box was infuriating. Ours a bit pleb spec too, so no front parking sensors. Family next to us were much faster at choosing the better spec'd Expedition!

[carlo996]

ecsrobin said:

Like Myself and others have said if you think you’re shocked at that wait until you start eating and drinking out there!

Yep.

Just returned from business out there and a weekend off. $1500 bill for 4 at a steak house, $60 for a double bourbon, $160 IOA. Although velocicoaster is quite special. Food generally is ste, unless you wa t to go for the steak houses. Overall a massive money trap and a quite unpleasant place.

[carlo996]

barryrs said:

You can buy them via the universal mobile app.

IIRC ‘starting at’ then after tax will likely mean $150+

[ecsrobin]

carlo996 said:

Yep.

Just returned from business out there and a weekend off. $1500 bill for 4 at a steak house, $60 for a double bourbon, $160 IOA. Although velocicoaster is quite special. Food generally is ste, unless you wa t to go for the steak houses. Overall a massive money trap and a quite unpleasant place.

I enjoy it out there but it’s definitely an every 10-20 years kind of place, I know people who used to go annually and I just can’t think why.

For the OP as a guide we spent £4.5k per person for Easter last year.

That’s:
Flights
3 days Loews universal (gets you unlimited fast pass which made it enjoyable)
10 days condo with pool
Chevy suburban
Tolls
Parking
Food at condo
Universal and Disney tickets.
Transport to and from Gatwick
Kennedy space centre tickets

That doesn’t include eating out but I forgot to write that down.

Magic kingdom was the park we went in and left after about an hour it was awful lots of young families in lines of hours for rides that are all from probably when the park opened.

Everyone came away saying universal was the best and even the kids 15/13 said they wouldn’t be interested in going to Disney again. They actually preferred Europa park for thrill rides which you can do a long weekend for a family of 4 for about £1,500.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

ecsrobin said:

carlo996 said:

Yep.

Just returned from business out there and a weekend off. $1500 bill for 4 at a steak house, $60 for a double bourbon, $160 IOA. Although velocicoaster is quite special. Food generally is ste, unless you wa t to go for the steak houses. Overall a massive money trap and a quite unpleasant place.

I enjoy it out there but it’s definitely an every 10-20 years kind of place, I know people who used to go annually and I just can’t think why.

For the OP as a guide we spent £4.5k per person for Easter last year.

That’s:
Flights
3 days Loews universal (gets you unlimited fast pass which made it enjoyable)
10 days condo with pool
Chevy suburban
Tolls
Parking
Food at condo
Universal and Disney tickets.
Transport to and from Gatwick
Kennedy space centre tickets

That doesn’t include eating out but I forgot to write that down.

Magic kingdom was the park we went in and left after about an hour it was awful lots of young families in lines of hours for rides that are all from probably when the park opened.

Everyone came away saying universal was the best and even the kids 15/13 said they wouldn’t be interested in going to Disney again. They actually preferred Europa park for thrill rides which you can do a long weekend for a family of 4 for about £1,500.

different parks for different things, magic kingdom is dated and needs more new rides, tron just isnt enough.

the problem is they are stuck between a rock and a hard place they want to modernize but disney adults wont let them cos memories and nostalgia, "you cant get rid of the tiki room!" YES you can its st, same with tomorrow land race way, peter pan, its a small world, many adventures of Winnie the pooh. imho all need binning. yes im an adult BUT im not a fan of disney by any stretch of the imagination even though we seem to be going basically every year.

my biggest issue on our first trip was epcot, i just didnt get it, did space ship earth first and obviously thats crap, then there was the ellen half hour talk on energy, the spinny space one i cant remember the name of, me and the mrs had a blazing argument as i was just marching around going this is st whats the point. now i really enjoy epcot living with the land, nemo and friends, test track, cosmic rewind is just superb and the frozen one i was very surprised by, id avoided it until i was finally convinced to try it this year cos there was no queue! but the food and drink is the best bit really.

animal kingdom is nice cos animals but other than everest, dinosaur oh and rafiki's planet watch where you can go hug a goat its not great the pandora stuff is just not good imho


holywood studios is great though and my favourite disney park


universal at a quiet time of year is a 2 day park max it does have some decent rides but it has too many video ones imho


sea world has superb rides but at quiet times you can do it all and i mean every ride in less than 4 hours

same with busch geat coasters and iron gwazi imho is the best in florida to date but again quiet times you can walk on front row pretty much everything other than cheeta hunt

the costs are getting even more stupid for all of the parks, the parking charges are insane as you cant have eveyone just using uber instead if they are off park, food costs are getting much worse compounded by the out of hand tipping culture now ie trying to get tips where all they do is pass you something and when you self order at a fast food place!

car costs are also still really up since covid although they are getting better but it seems we have reached a new normal thats about 100% more than 5 years ago

but saying all that we are back again next year after several years of saying we wont be back.

this time though i mean it we wont be back in the states for a few years need to se some other places