Tickets,Tickets,Tickets!

[tonijo]

Please help,i am so undecided on whether to buy Park Tickets before i go or whilst i am there..we are a family of 4 , 2 adults /2 children 13 and 7 travelling August 25 2011...people have said there are huge discounts for second day entry (consecutive days) for the parks,but other have said this isn't the case!We would like to go to Universal for 2 days,a day at the Waterparks and 3 days at WDW...we would not be park hopping,..can any suggest the best options?Undercover Tourist seems to have the best price for tickets -Waterpark fun and more?
Also any ideas about places to eat..any favourites,advice on portion sizes etc

 

[wayneg]

If you want 2 days at Universal without park hopping you need to buy on their site for online discount(or another discounter) including tax they would be $124.62 or £77.
http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/tickets_2.aspx

For an extra £7 you could buy the 14 days ticket, includes unlimited admission to both parks including hopping for £84pp
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2726040

For Disney Undercover are doing 5 days fro price of 3 Water Park Fun & More (Fun Visits) (3 day) - plus extra 2 days free $ 295.95 or £183
Other way is buy a basic 3 day ticket at $ 239.95 plus a 1 day water park but only slight saving of around $10. Waterparks are just under $50 unless you use a discount site at around $46.

UK options are 5 day Premium at £214 or 14 day Ultimate at £218 which give you unlimited & hopping to everything. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2726040

Hope that helps, never easy buying tickets for a few days, for very little extra you can get 14 days.

 

[dixonsontour]

Best to buy in advance imo.

You can get a one day seaworld ticket and take it to guest services for a second day free within 7 days. Think busch do the same. Not heard of second day free at other parks.

A one day seaworld is $10 cheaper bough online from them rather than at the gate.

 

[Pegasus928]

Also any ideas about places to eat..any favourites,advice on portion sizes etc

What type of food do you like to eat? Do you plan on eating in the parks or will you be trying out I-Drive, City Walk or Downtown Disney? Do you have a budget in mind?
There are many many threads on here regarding peoples favourites, but for as many people thatsay they love a place there are just as many that would say they wouldn't eat there again - it's all so personal.
For my part the places I always make a point of eating at when we go are Texas de Brazil, Bahama Breeze, Earl of Sandwich, NBA, Friendlys, I-Hop and T-Rex. There are always others that we add to the list but these are a must.
Portion sizes vary from place to place with some providing child portions that would satisfy an adult - but the child selections, in my opinion, are nowhere near as varied as you can get in the UK. Most places stick to the old faithfulls such as burger, nuggets, pizza or mac and cheese. This is great for the first couple of days but most kids would get fed up of it after a while. Both my kids tend to order from the adult menu as they are very adventurous with their food.

 

[disneyholic family]

as far as eating goes, i suppose it depends where you're staying and whether you're renting a car..

there are some very good value restaurants in orlando...
but sometimes convenience trumps value....
as in, if we're spending the day in a park, we're not about to leave it in the middle just to get a cheaper meal...

regarding tickets, what Wayne said is very true...
the worst value is buying tickets for just a few days.....
but if that's how many days you'll be in orlando, there's nothing to be done about it..

 

[tonijo]

Thanks everyone...the first part is now sorted...buy here!the next is to work out how long we will be at the Parks..
In respect of food,we are on I drive,and we are adventurous as a family with food,my daughter loves seafood,my son Greek,Italian,Mexican -me well anything...!i assume it is a bit of a grab and go at lunch,but later on it would be nice to relax with a nice meal...if i can possibly drag the children away!

 

[Netty]

Best to buy in advance imo.

You can get a one day seaworld ticket and take it to guest services for a second day free within 7 days. Think busch do the same. Not heard of second day free at other parks.

A one day seaworld is $10 cheaper bough online from them rather than at the gate.

buy a funcard, its valid up until 31st december, so you can go in as many times as you want on holiday and it cost the same as a 1 day admission
offer ends on tuesday for these on the seaworld website

 

[wayneg]

buy a funcard, its valid up until 31st december, so you can go in as many times as you want on holiday and it cost the same as a 1 day admission
offer ends on tuesday for these on the seaworld website

Or one step further and buy Annual passports, not sure if OP is doing Seaworld of Busch but their passports are great value, $109 for 1 park, $160 for both parks. With free parking and discounts can be better value than any other ticket. We have the 2 year, 2 park passports, works out at £40 per park per year.
http://commerce.4adventure.com/eStore/scripts/skins/swf/TicketsPassportBuilder.aspx

 

[juliebro]

Just another thought to throw into the discussion.....

If you intend to go back again another year, it can work out cheaper to buy (for example) 10-day Disney tickets with 'no-expiration'. We bought ours a couple of years ago and use a couple of the park days and water parks on each annual trip.

 

[tonijo]

Thanks everyone..i am liking the sound of juliebro's idea,as i hope this is the start of many future trips,as i can see from this board..Disney is addictive!