Orlando theme park tickets

[carlo996]

Good point above...the tipping. I noticed gratuity was already added at 15% then you could add another 15 or 18%. It's BS. Also had a 'late night charge' applied in one place at 18%...so bang went any additional.

It's all a bit OTT to be honest.

[phil-sti]

we have just got back, 2 adults 1 child stopping at Universal Dockside.

14 days universal
kennedy space
discovery cove
Orlando Magic play off game

all in with food we spent about 6.5k and had a great time

[barryrs]

carlo996 said:

barryrs said:

You can buy them via the universal mobile app.

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

I paid $120 per day for 3 day tickets (not park to park) including all taxes in October last year via the app.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

so you paid $360 for 3 days so at todays rate thats £284 and 14 days is £339

[ecsrobin]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

so you paid $360 for 3 days so at todays rate thats £284 and 14 days is £339

And includes park to park.

[barryrs]

ecsrobin said:

Trustmeimadoctor said:

so you paid $360 for 3 days so at todays rate thats £284 and 14 days is £339

And includes park to park.

But I only wanted to go for 3 days, so why would l pay £55 per person more?

[Trustmeimadoctor]

thats fine if thats all you want but as when we do it we tend to only go after like 5-6 pm as its quieter we do more "days" as we have a better experience rather than waiting around in the heat of the day but over all do less than 2 full days usually but we also have the flexibilty if we just fancy going for a few hours we can as in the scheme of things it isnt very much

honestly best time to buy tickets is black friday

[x5tuu]

Also worth checking Groupon Orlando too - especially for Universal: https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-universal-orlando...

They often do deals of Buy X days, Get Y days free - their current offer is mainly on a 4 day park ticket (non-park to park) that is a little cheaper

[ecsrobin]

barryrs said:

But I only wanted to go for 3 days, so why would l pay £55 per person more?

That £55 brings the flexibility if people want to leave early because they’re tired, weather stopping rides and so on. But everyone is different.

[barryrs]

Should say I have been 10 times so I tend to be quite specific on what I want to do.

[Jasandjules]

I think we won't bother with Universal, that saves £900, not a lot there we were interested in anyways. So just the all access Disney, Gatorland and Kennedy I think. 14 days so we can do half days in the parks if needs be and opting to go later in the year so it won't be too hot (I hope).

Still going to be a lot, lot more than I thought it would when I suggested it to the wife. Should have kept my mouth shut.

[ecsrobin]

Jasandjules said:

I think we won't bother with Universal, that saves £900, not a lot there we were interested in anyways. So just the all access Disney, Gatorland and Kennedy I think. 14 days so we can do half days in the parks if needs be and opting to go later in the year so it won't be too hot (I hope).

Still going to be a lot, lot more than I thought it would when I suggested it to the wife. Should have kept my mouth shut.

The problem with half days in the park is you then pay twice as much in car parking. For us and the children of the group Universal was the one we would all go back to and Disney we wouldn’t so might be worth watching some videos on YouTube to confirm that you’re happy with Disney. allears.net do some good informative videos that although mainly Disney cover universal.

[barryrs]

I’d say the choice between Disney and Universal is very much dependent upon the age of the kids.

Teenagers will much prefer universal and as mentioned $35 a day parking soon adds up!

[ro250]

phil-sti said:

we have just got back, 2 adults 1 child stopping at Universal Dockside.

14 days universal
kennedy space
discovery cove
Orlando Magic play off game

all in with food we spent about 6.5k and had a great time

That sounds cheap! We did 10 days, staying in Sapphire Falls a couple of years ago and after flights/accom/tickets we were already at your total spend.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

ecsrobin said:

Jasandjules said:

I think we won't bother with Universal, that saves £900, not a lot there we were interested in anyways. So just the all access Disney, Gatorland and Kennedy I think. 14 days so we can do half days in the parks if needs be and opting to go later in the year so it won't be too hot (I hope).

Still going to be a lot, lot more than I thought it would when I suggested it to the wife. Should have kept my mouth shut.

The problem with half days in the park is you then pay twice as much in car parking. For us and the children of the group Universal was the one we would all go back to and Disney we wouldn’t so might be worth watching some videos on YouTube to confirm that you’re happy with Disney. allears.net do some good informative videos that although mainly Disney cover universal.

parking isnt an issue if staying onsite, but yes parking does add up but $35 isnt a huge amount in the scheme of things. full days take it out of even me especially if its hot hence we tend to do later in the day especially at universal. you cant do half days at animal kingdom cos it shuts early but holywood studios is far better at night than during the day time

[phil-sti]

ro250 said:

phil-sti said:

we have just got back, 2 adults 1 child stopping at Universal Dockside.

14 days universal
kennedy space
discovery cove
Orlando Magic play off game

all in with food we spent about 6.5k and had a great time

That sounds cheap! We did 10 days, staying in Sapphire Falls a couple of years ago and after flights/accom/tickets we were already at your total spend.

we only ate out twice, went supermarket and bought loads of beer and snacks for the parks, we got ice creams and then food of pizzas and burgers came to $50 max. the hotel and flights came in at 3k.

Florida can be done cheap quite easily if you want to it's just people don't like adding the price of park tickets.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

phil-sti said:

we only ate out twice, went supermarket and bought loads of beer and snacks for the parks, we got ice creams and then food of pizzas and burgers came to $50 max. the hotel and flights came in at 3k.

Florida can be done cheap quite easily if you want to it's just people don't like adding the price of park tickets.

you did well going to a supermarket and it costing not much! as even Walmart is stupidly expensive compared to here it puts waitrose and booths to shame for cost

[ro250]

phil-sti said:

ro250 said:

phil-sti said:

we have just got back, 2 adults 1 child stopping at Universal Dockside.

14 days universal
kennedy space
discovery cove
Orlando Magic play off game

all in with food we spent about 6.5k and had a great time

That sounds cheap! We did 10 days, staying in Sapphire Falls a couple of years ago and after flights/accom/tickets we were already at your total spend.

we only ate out twice, went supermarket and bought loads of beer and snacks for the parks, we got ice creams and then food of pizzas and burgers came to $50 max. the hotel and flights came in at 3k.

Florida can be done cheap quite easily if you want to it's just people don't like adding the price of park tickets.

You've done well. I think we paid over the odds for the hotel/flights. I also like eating out on holidays but realise that adds sizeable costs for a family of 4 (2 teenagers who are basically eating as adults minus alcohol).

[Jasandjules]

barryrs said:

I’d say the choice between Disney and Universal is very much dependent upon the age of the kids.

Teenagers will much prefer universal and as mentioned $35 a day parking soon adds up!

He is 8. And is desperate for Star Wars. So Disney wins. Doesn't really like waterparks either. And I want Epcot (well and Star Wars obviously)

Will be using Ubers/Lyft/Shuttle from hotel to or from Disney so the 30 bucks will be spent with them either way.. I think it is worth that sunk cost to avoid heat/queues and just getting annoyed in the parks. A half day then a bit of time by the pool etc will break it up a little and hopefully make it more a holiday and less a chore.....

.. Kennedy will book the day to include travel.... Gatorland will be an Uber/Lyft too I expect.

[barryrs]

Jasandjules said:

He is 8. And is desperate for Star Wars. So Disney wins. Doesn't really like waterparks either. And I want Epcot (well and Star Wars obviously)

Will be using Ubers/Lyft/Shuttle from hotel to or from Disney so the 30 bucks will be spent with them either way.. I think it is worth that sunk cost to avoid heat/queues and just getting annoyed in the parks. A half day then a bit of time by the pool etc will break it up a little and hopefully make it more a holiday and less a chore.....

.. Kennedy will book the day to include travel.... Gatorland will be an Uber/Lyft too I expect.

I’d say Disney is the right choice, however, I was personally disappointed with Epcot, so much so the wives got a refund!

I know people that enjoyed it though so it’s very much a personal preference and the end of day fireworks were excellent.

Last time we went we didn’t hire a car for the week as it was coming in at around £600, so spent around £180 on Uber instead.

Ended up hiring one for 24 hours so we could do park run and used it to get back to the airport for £42 iirc (via the Avis app as the insurance is fully covered and no upselling at the desk).