10 Money Savings Tips For Universal Studios Florida

Who else is excited that summer is finally here!? I don’t know about you but I love getting to spend the summer with my daughter and take her on new adventures. This year we took a trip down to Orlando to check out Universal Studios Florida for the first time. We had a blast and it is a vacation I will never forget! It’s also one it’s going to take my wallet a long time to forget, ha! But I did learn some tips and tricks along the way so I thought I would share them with you! I’m all about spreading money saving knowledge! Keep reading to check out my money saving tips!

Here are 10 Money Saving Tips for Universal Studios Florida:

1. Stay Off Property! Unlike other theme parks in the area, I don’t see the real value of staying on property other than being granted an express pass for staying. (More on those later). We stayed at a hotel that was about a 2 minute drive away for $100 less A NIGHT. That is some serious money saving when we were there for a week. 

2. Purchase your tickets online in advance! This is an easy way to save $20 per person. Ticket prices at the gate are $20 more than if you buy online. Not only will you save money, you will save time. (*Side tip about the tickets, spring for the park-to-park tickets. This is the only way you can ride the Hogwarts Express!) 

3. Bring your own drinks! This is a tip I learned after we got home unfortunately. All you need is 1 water bottle at the beginning of the day and you can refill it at the water fountain. It will save you TONS because trust me, the Florida heat is unforgiving and you will be thirsty. The drinks in the photo above were over $10 for 2 of them. 

4. Skip the Express Pass! Now this is kind of a personal preference. To upgrade our express passes it was going to be over $200 PER DAY. That just wasn’t something I was personally willing to pay, and I’m glad I didn’t. The only rides we waited for more than an hour was Minion Mayhem and Harry Potter. All the other rides were 30 minutes or less. And this was during spring break so the park was pretty crowded. Maybe the lines get worse in the summer, but for us, the wait for rides was very reasonable. 

5. Limit your Souvenir purchases!  Like most theme parks there is a gift shop at the end of every ride, and giving into impulse buys can get expensive, especially if you have kids with you. What we did was research the park before we got there and had my daughter pick out what rides gift shops she wanted to visit. We agreed to let her have 1 thing from each park (1 from Universal, 1 from Islands of Adventure, and 1 from Harry Potter world) which worked great because we knew what to expect. (Side tip- the wand shop is AWESOME and if you get picked to have the wand choose you it is truly magical.)

6. Skip the Booze! Universal Studios has stations to buy booze pretty much all over the park. It’s super expensive, and when the sun is beating down on you after you just rode a coaster that makes even a sober person a little sick, you are going to wish you never got that beer. Trust me. 

7. Splurge for the Preferred parking!  Now I know this tip might confuse you because this post is about saving money and preferred parking is obviously more money right? Well yes this is true, regular parking is $17 and preferred is $25 BUT there is a HUGE difference when it comes to how long your walk will be. So in the long run sometimes your sanity>the price. 

8. Spend more time at the park! Like most theme parks the longer you are at the park the more money you will save. For example, a 1 day adult ticket is currently $147, but if you buy a 3 day ticket, it’s only $68 per day. So have fun longer and save some money while doing it!

9. Consider a Dining Plan! If you are planning to spend the whole day from start to finish at the park, I highly recommend the dining plan. It will save you some cash and the hassle of figuring out how much everything would cost. 

10. Take a Break! This tip is for those of you that are staying either on property or close to the park. A break in the middle of the day will not only save you money (you could eat lunch back at the hotel, not need as many drinks, etc) but it will also save you from the theme park grumps. You wouldn’t believe how much better you will feel after a meal and a dip in the pool.

Do you have any Universal Studios Florida money saving tips?  Don’t forget to follow me on facebook, pinterest and instagram for more travel fun!

Before you go check out my fun things to do in Pensacola Florida or why Rome is the go to destination for couples.  Make sure you also see Fun things to do in Perdido Key, Florida and How to Do Rome On the Cheap, and How to go green on vacation and keep your eco friendly ways.