ticket advice... again

[stal]

Hi, I am going to Orlando from October 23rd to November 1st. We were orginally going to stay on I Drive, get a hopper pass and only use 2 or 3 days at Disney, and a 4 park flex ticket.

We are now making use of the FTP and staying at the Caribbean Beach resort from October 25th to Novemver 1st. The Disney passes are included, so we don't need to buy them. We are going to stay on I Drive from 23rd to 25th, so only one full day there.

We want to do Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Sea world. We will do one of them when we are staying on international drive. What tickets do you suggest getting? There is the 5 day bonus pass on the Universal website, which is about $95. But we will probably want to use it after the 5 days have ended. We could then get a 1 day sea world pass, but we don't want to be there for a full day or rushing so we don't miss anything. A 4 park Flex ticket would be the best, but we won't be going to Wet n Wild, and its not the cheapest option.

We also want to go to Busch Gardens, but we went there in October 2000, so i don't think much has changed, we are not in Orlando for very long and so it would take a full day out, and we have it will take another day out of our Disney days.

Sorry for going on! What do you think we should do?

thanks

 

[vernon]

If your budget can stretch to it I would look at staying in one of the Universal hotels. It's going to be a little more expensive than an "off site" hotel but the front of the line access will allow you to maximise your time there to get the most out of the two parks.

 

[stal]

hi, unfortunatly because we are staying at a disney hotel, we can't afford to stay at a universal one too.

 

[steve_rob]

Looking at Ticketmania.com (they're probably not the cheapest out there, but they're in my favorites list so it's easy for me to get the info for you!) the price of a two day ticket for USO/IOA was $94 for an adult / $81 child with the possible promise of a third day free if Universal are still doing that offer.

Although that's only $1 less than the price the Universal website offered you for 5 days, the last time I checked, their website asks for a ridiculous amount to post tickets to the UK (I was quoted something like $15 for what is essentially two tiny pieces of paper?!), whereas TicketMania postage was included in the price.

They also do a SW/BG combo ticket for $85 adult / $72 child.

That would be a total of $179 for an adult and $153 for a child, compared to Ticketmania's own pricing on the 5 Park Flex Ticket of $210 / $175 (so you are still saving by doing it this way.)

Hope this helps.

 

[steve_rob]

Just double checked and sure enough, the Universal website wants $17 to post tickets to the UK.

SEVENTEEN DOLLARS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! What, are they sent in a gold plated envelope or something?

Okay, so they also have the option of letting you pick them up at the gate through one of their automated machines, but they still have the affront to charge two dollars for this AND you can only get USO or IOA tickets this way - Flex tickets are by rip off post only.