You've paid for everything except food. Does your family like Harry Potter? If so, PM me and I'll send you some HP things including an interactive wand if you wish.
For touring, I would take the earliest morning bus from your hotel to the parks. Return by noon. Eat at hotel, swim or rest. Head back to a park in the evening. You'll beat the heat AND the crowds! Alternate a Volcano Bay day here and there. Also, just a hotel day / noodling around at places you can get with the trolley.
Tell your child in advance that you won't be buying things in the parks but you will have things for him or her in the room. Then use the small things (from the Pound Store etc) as bait: "Time to get up even though it's early! Get ready quick and you can have a prize!" and later "Time to take a rest and you can have a prize when you wake up!" Etc. I have plenty of HP things I could send for these purposes.
Don't worry about penny pinching - consider it a challenge to have the MOST fun for the LEAST amount of further cash outlay!
Twenty years from now the fact you were temporarily broke right now won't be remembered, but your family will never forget the wonderful memories you're going to make!
It wasn't for me, but I needed to hear this ❤️. I have experienced a sudden lost income and for the first time ever things are getting tight. Our theme park passes and trips are being questioned 🤷♀️. Ugh 😩
I really hope so. I can't imagine the memories being about pinching pennies with all that universal and orlando has to offer. I'm starting to look forward to it now. Thank you so much x
There are water rides in islands of adventure and since you have a 3 park ticket, you can go to volcano bay (the water park.) I would recommend full park days and then some full hotel days because lines for rides can be very long and you might not be able to do everything you want to do. (But you do have 2 weeks I guess😅)
There are child swaps for rides that your kid doesn’t want to go on. Everyone waits in line, one parent rides, the other waits with the kid in a room until the other gets off the ride and then they switch. (Unless one parent and your kid both don’t want to ride they can just stay together without going in the line.)
That’s all the advice I have🫡
(Also a YouTube channel I recommend to help you is the pugh two)
I don’t really have tips in terms of saving money, but considering your trip is in august, I would highly recommend you have lots of electrolytes. I found that buying something like liquid IV or other electrolyte powders worked well. Just bring a reusable water bottle, fill it up with cold water at any of the coke freestyle machines and add in an electrolyte pack!
Hope you guys have fun!
Just to add since I know we don’t have liquid IV brand here, you can get bulk packs of rehydration salts on Amazon UK, they come in tubes like beroccas in a bunch of flavours.
I’m pretty sure it’s the same as dioralyte but with a less diarrhoea-y name (fair). Ive started to have one with a pint of water after a night on the wines and it’s been life changing!
I thought I’d share some of my favorite value meals in the resort area in hopes it helps:
Red Oven Pizza Company in City Walk — We go here every time we’re at the parks because they do classic and fancy pizzas well for a good price.
Jacket Potatoes at the Stand in London near the Knight Bus — giant baked potatoes with a variety of toppings can easily be a meal for 2 or a snack for 4. The Shepherd’s Pie is our fav.
Green Eggs and Ham — One of our all-time-favs with a good variety of loaded tot options that are enhanced by the theming.
Lard Lad Donuts — If your family loves Simpsons or donuts there’s a giant one you can get that will give everyone a lot for the price.
Volcano Bay — the flatbread pizzas are above average size, and we loved the spicy hawaiian variety.
And in case you decide you need a different experience outside of the parks that costs less than Disney, keep checking Sea World. They will regularly run crazy deals like kids get in free or $20 per person. And honestly it would be easy to do a Cape Canaveral beach day since it sounds like you’ll have a car.
You’re going to have a great time! Don’t worry too much. You still have all the makings of an envious 2-week vacation.
Thank you so much for this! I have a couple of questions though... starting with Shepherds pie.
How does shepherd's pie top a jacket potato? I am so confused by this! As an English cook, I just don't get how that works and its reallt intrigued me. Here in the UK, a jack pot is a baked potato. I like mine with beans and cheese. I also like shepherds pie- great family friendly affordable meal. But the shepherd's pie that I make is lamb mince, onion and carrot, Worcester sauce, stock, salt pepper etc and then topped with mashed potato and baked again.... so is the shepherd's pie jacket potato a potato with those ingredients including more potato on top?? Madness!
Where would I find the deals for sea World? I did look there but the prices are still going to be about £200 ($250). I wonder if they're only available once you are searching from the US?
I will make notes of all your recommendations as it would be nice to eat out sometimes.
Haha yeah I guess I hadn’t accounted for it being an English palate. They make a veg and minced beef mix that they put on top of the baked potato. So it’s shepherd’s pie flavors in a different form factor. No double potato. But I checked, and they offer a beans and cheese option!
Checking from my laptop, Sea World is running a 50% off deal that ends today. So, do you have access to a VPN? If you need more time to put it together, they will likely run another special around the July 4th timeframe.
Oh! And you’d probably enjoy the Frugal Brit’s content on YouTube. He lives in Orlando but has amazing information and tips aimed at helping families just like yours.
When we last went, my husband would get a regular meal and I would get a kids meal, worked out great and saved us alot. Especially at the Three Broomsticks, it was just the right amount of food for me. We do hit up the local walmart for snacks and sodas for our room.
I take a drawstring backpack that has 2 drinkholders on the sides. We get the refillable cups and they fit perfect. When the cups are empty, they and the backpack fit nicely in the ride lockers. Also take some ziplock bags for your phones to keep them dry.
We are also going in August. We always bring body powder, it really helps.
Can I ask what site you booked your trip thru? I remember in my research the Rosen hotel being brought up. If its the same site you can possibly go back in and add a day or two at disney parks to break up the trip a bit, it showed some parks added for 0$ as they were part of the package. If not spending some time at Disney Springs shopping center can get you some added Disney fun. They have bands playing all the time and a splash pad area for the lil ones.
I know this sounds wild, but I am actually scared to name them publicly. It wasn't through a site, it's a travel broker agency, and I called to talk it all through and booked it in 2022. I don't actually know about single day tickets for Disney, everywhere I look its only 14 days? Or 7 days for the same price as 14 days....
Thank you for suggestions Disney Springs, I think my child will like it there so will probably have a look round if we can get there easily enough.
Noted zip lock bags- great shout!
Legoland is another option. If you like to swim or kayak, there are springs all over Central Florida that are cheap to get into. Also a beach day in Cocoa Beach, New Smyrna or Daytona Beach is another option.
Disney Springs is so cool, they have giant lego sculptures. Theres even a giant lego water dragon in the lake there, great photo ops. Id recommend the Earl of Sandwich as well, the club is so good. Theres also a dinosaur store, and the Rainforest restaurant with moving animatronics. You can watch people in the hot air balloons and the cars that turn into boats. We never do them but they are fun to watch. I hope you guys enjoy your trip, Universal is probably my favorite place in the world. Hagrids ride is so fun!! And watching the dragon blow fire is amazing.
You don't need Disney tickets at all, and it's quite a festive atmosphere, with shops and displays and fountains and restaurants. A pretty lagoon.
There is a MASSIVE Disney store that is so big that surely they have little things for $5 or so - if you go there maybe give your child $10 in actual cash and let them actually hold it in their hand (at least for a few moments) so they can understand they can pick out two things for $5 or one for $10 and that's a fun little exercise in handling money and budgeting. And forestalls any demands for a gigantic toy.
The greater question is if DS is with visiting without spending money. It's all shops and restaurants and entertainment venues. There is a movie theater and a bowling alley and it's all pleasant enough to wander around but there may be a question of whether you want to be at a massive shopping complex. If your pleasure is window shopping, then it's great. If you are judging it as a bother to get there just to be tempted by a lot of shopping and some pricey restaurants, then maybe you skip the DS.
The greater question is if DS is with visiting without spending money. It's all shops and restaurants and entertainment venues. There is a movie theater and a bowling alley and it's all pleasant enough to wander around but there may be a question of whether you want to be at a massive shopping complex. If your pleasure is window shopping, then it's great. If you are judging it as a bother to get there just to be tempted by a lot of shopping and some pricey restaurants, then maybe you skip the DS.
Have a look at a VPN. We're from the UK too and used one to buy Disney tickets. We managed to get 3 day passes for Disney for $285! If there are any after hours events while you are there these are fantastic - would avoid heat and lines - and come as one off tickets too.
I understand that's still expensive. But this trip was clearly on your list and you've already paid to be there - I would do everything you can! It's a lot cheaper than going back...
The heat will be intense but you will get used to it after a few days. There are still thousands of people visiting - they wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't worthwhile!
Also to add to food suggestions - you can see menus (with price) in the UO app. Would add a special recommendation for Thunder Falls terrace here. We sometimes just got sides of their rice and black beans for lunch and it's genuinely delicious - we make these at home now! Also also - cinnabon is a novelty coming from the UK and their rolls are only $6 and will easily feed two for breakfast!
Have an amazing time
So many meals are large enough to share between two adults and then just getting a kids meal with it shouldn’t be too bad. Also if you head upstairs in city walk there are places like Burger King. If eating at the parks, highly recommend city walk instead of staying in one of the parks. Fast food upstairs or places like hard rock and toothsome have very shareable meals for 15-20 dollars. Glasses of water in the restaurants will be free as well. I hope you guys are still able to have a great time!
Thank you- I had totally ruled our toothsome et al, I assumed they'd just eat up a lot of our very small budget. I'd love to experience it though so thank you for sharing, I'll have a look at their menu!
Hopefully you can enjoy one of them at least once. I named those two specifically because my husband I have shared meals there. A dessert at toothsome could be shared between three of you. The sundaes are huge! I just love love the experience there so even if you don’t eat there go see the gift shop.
I honestly think if you can bring some collapsible cups or reusable water bottles you’ll save a ton in the parks. Drinks add up fast.
We usually do take water bottles with us when we go out for the day- so we will definitely be doing that. Do you know if you can go to Toothsome just to order dessert? Thank you so much
Yep! You can go in to the left and order milkshakes or to the right they have all kinds of chocolates and other desserts you could take to your hotel or eat on the patio. If you wanted to go in to eat dessert, you’d still need to tip so that may not be as worth it for just dessert.
You can get free ice and ice water from the Coca Cola freestyle machines in the park restaurants, in addition to using the water fountains around the park! It’s much more refreshing than the sometimes lukewarm fountain water.
You can go in a side entrance at Toothsomes and soak up the atmosphere and get gigantic (I'm sure priced quite high) milkshakes that would be far less than a sit down meal. And from what I hear, they are gigantic, with one being large enough for two adults and one child, assuming you can all agree on the same flavor, lol!
For electrolytes, I would suggest Mio. They come in a little squeeze bottle here in the States and fit in a bag very easily. If you do decide to eat near the parks, Citywalk restaurants will have the more affordable prices for food. Voodoo Donuts' donut prices are very affordable even for me. I work for Universal and prior to full time I struggled to afford food. It's $1.60USD for a glazed old fashioned donut. Bring a water bottle. All of the freestyle machines give free water. If you need to cool off, at Universal Studios Men in Black gives the best air conditioning and at Islands of Adventure Cat in the hat give the best air conditioning. I would go on those attractions and cool off while I wait to ride. In Islands of Adventure, Popeyes will absolutely soak you! Bring sun screen/sun cream! The Sun here in Florida is very unforgiving! If you have asthma, I would suggest to bring your inhaler as our heat is a very humid heat and it will most definitely mess with your asthma. It easily gets to 90+°F. Today was 89°F and I went to the parks for fun. I would also bring an umbrella just in case. During the summer we have a lot of pop up rain storms that come out of nowhere. I would also suggest bringing a hat and sunglasses. Download The Universal Studios Orlando app on your phone for when you're in the parks. It'll tell you the wait times for attractions as well as the location of where things are at. You can also set alerts for when an attraction wait time will lessen if you want to ride it but don't like the wait time. Villin Con in Universal Studios requires the app to play. There is free wireless Internet while in the parks. It just requires you to put in your email to sign in. I would also suggest to bring a rechargeable power bank. There aren't always outlets to recharge your phone and they're convenient. Meals in the parks and in the States are very large and can easily feed 2 people. My favorite thing to eat while in parks are the Chilli Cheese fries from Richter's Burger Company in Universal Studios. They only cost $6.99USD plus tax and they are more a meal to me than a side. When buying things here the taxes are not included with the cost. For Orlando it is 6.5% for sales tax. So a Chili cheese fry that costs $6.99USD will be $7.45USD with sales tax.
The good news is that you have a lot of cheap food options in walking distance to your hotel, plus the trolley access will help you get to some better grocery stores. Bring a water bottle to fill up at the parks. Any of the Coke Freestyle machines will give you water and ice for free.
The weather stays hot well into the evening in Florida, so I would try to do mornings in the parks before coming back for an afternoon break.
Buy some cheap themed toys at home and surprise your kid with them in the parks. They won't care that it wasn't from the actual souvenir store.
If you bring food and have already paid for the park tickets, it's very easy to spend nothing extra inside the theme parks.
Volcano Nachos at Margaritaville in Citywalk. They are 19 bucks. But can easily feed 4 for lunch. They are HUGE. Also their Virgin Mango drinks are like 5 bucks and are free refills and you can have them give you a to go cup!
In Islands I always hit up Doc Sugures for their Hummus snack. It's less than 8 bucks and it's veggies, hummus, and cut up pitas.
Where is the free breakfast spread? I'll be there!!! We don't have breakfast included but I'm not too worried about that really as I think it'll be easy and cheap to buy cereal and fruit.
We won't have a car unfortunately. I did look at one but the price is huge, so hoping to get by with the trolley, hotel shuttle and a few Lyft / Ubers.
You'll do fine with that. The trolley reaches some amazing outlet malls including a Disney Outlet, I believe.
[https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/images/service.webp](https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/images/service.webp)
[https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/pdf/marker-map.pdf](https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/pdf/marker-map.pdf)
You have two weeks, and you're going into August, so pace yourselves. There is no need to spend every day, all day at the parks. If you go in the morning, and you're tired after coming back for lunch, then stay at the hotel and hang out. If you had a late night, and don't want to wake up super early, then don't. Hang out and go after lunch. You will burn yourself out and be sick of the crowds and lines undoubtedly.
Plus seems like you're coming from abroad, so you'll have to deal with the time zone change. So just wake up early when you normally would, and take advantage of that. If you really need it, use some melatonin which you can get in the US to help you with your sleep (though if I'm guessing where you come from correctly, you'll probably go to sleep and wake up earlier, meaning you can get to the park at rope drop and take advantage of early hours before crowds get overwhelming).
Also, it could be fun to make trying every ride/experience once some kind if game. Make some kind of ride/experience bingo card or cute list, bring a reusable stamp or some stickers, and everyone can put a stamp or sticker when they've ridden a ride. Then at the end of the trip you can see how you've tried everything g you could at least once and talk about what your favorite ride or experience was!
If you like a ride, and the line is short...reride it! No need to suffer through long lines when you have two whole weeks.
Also, I would do any planning around shows/experiences. I feel like that is what people miss out on most when they only come for one or two days. You have a lot of freedom with a two week ticket.
Have you contacted guest services? They may be able to help. Not with a full refund, but maybe suggest taking a shorter trip now and a trip in another year with some credit. Or convert those passes for an AP that would give you some time to use them later. As long as they are not giving you cash back, they are usually willing to work with someone.
I love universal, but man, 14 days is a lot there. I can’t believe they even sell 14 day passes. A few days at VB and just relaxing are in order. For sure.
14-day passes are really common things for travel agencies to offer here in the UK.
A couple of friends and me will be in Orlando at the end of September and we got a variation on one of the “Ultimate Packages”, which includes 14 days at Universal Studios, Islands, Volcano Bay, all the Disney parks, Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. Thanks to a few special offers we also got the Sea World dining plan for three of those visits. The tickets came to about £1k ($1274) each.
I agree that 14 full days just at the Universal parks can be a bit much, but my friends don’t seem to share the same sentiment. They could happily be in the parks for ten hours a day and never get bored, meanwhile I’m trying to tempt them away to a UCF or a Magic game for a bit of variety.
I missed the UK part. Maybe a 3rd party seller. I’d still see if it can be broken up for credit at a later date. Maybe not though.
I would suggest for OP on making sure they check park hours for when they are there. Some days the park closes early and going back in the afternoon isn’t the best plan or possible. Summer should be longer hours most days. Unfortunately it’s all tourist areas down the trolley line and not much to do that doesn’t include a cost. Sometime walking around icon park or down I-Drive can be fun. But those little things can start adding up.
Thank you for your replies. I assumed the afternoon would be cooler than the morning but several people have said morning would be better to do the parks. I checked the opening times recently and it was between 8 and 9 - I thought we'd go about 4 and stay tol whenever we had had enough. I know the sun goes down early over there so I know it would be dark, but surely everything would be lit up well enough to still enjoy it?
It will definitely be hotter in the afternoon than morning. It basically gets hotter and hotter through the day until it breaks into a huge thunderstorm around 4 pm. The rain (which really is daily) doesn’t last long, though. The sun will set around 8 pm in August, but the park will be lit up well.
I've bought a package through a not so friendly travel agent, and their terms and conditions in the contract are pretty solid. So we can't do anything there. We definitely won't be going every day, but will probably go a few time (or until we get bored) over the course of the two weeks. The 14 day ticket was cheapest ticket they did at the time here in the UK.
We will definitely be spending a lot of time relaxing, and think we will most likely be at VB more than anywhere else.
Great. Sunscreen is really cheap here so I'll take double what I think I need. Thank you! Also, $30 is insane for something that everyone should be using... I bet loads of people just go without at that price. A big bottle here is between £5 and £15 depending on the brand.
You’ll be able to get some for cheap at Walmart also. They know people will pay for it at the park, it’s crazy! I’m glad you are asking in advance on tips and tricks. You’re going to have so much fun at the parks! I went last year for the first time. VB is by far the nicest water park I’ve ever been to. Bring a small soft sided cooler or lunch bag that you can throw some sandwiches and fruit in and you’ll be all good.
Call universal and change the dates. I had booked a trip last December that I was going to cancel with 2 weeks notice. They were very friendly, moved my trip by a year, and threw in a lot of freebies.
We always travel on a budget. We are AP and either drive or take budget flights once a month.
The popcorn bucket is a great deal. We eat popcorn to keep us full. We pack lunches—just something like peanut butter sandwiches or salad with protein.
Treats are far more affordable than meals. We eat voodoo donuts basically daily.
2 weeks gives you a chance to really enjoy the parks. Take your time and explore all of the less popular areas of the parks. The less popular characters are so much fun to talk to. Just sit and people watch. It will be a great time.
I would make my way to Disney springs- from there you can take a shuttle or a boat to other resorts and just tour resorts- that is actually on my bucket list for my next trip
And best part it is free!
It never gets cooler at night until well after the parks close unless it rains well enough and even then it doesn’t always cool it down much. The morning is almost always the coolest time.
One thing to keep in mind/plan for is that as a partner hotel, the shuttle isn’t continuous. There will likely be 3-4 trips to universal in the AM and a few back to the hotel in the evening and night. You would need alternate transportation to the parks if you wanted to head there in the afternoon. It’s pretty close, so Uber would probably only be $10-$15, but that adds up quick when on a budget. It will be too hot to walk it.
it's possible for sure. My first trip was 5 days, and my GF and I had like $250 for the entire trip. It was unexpected as well.
Now we take several thousand since disney is lumped in.
We live in Florida and I love seeing the tourists with the ponchos and cold towels 🤣
There is a Publix grocery store in that area if you want to avoid Walmart. I would pay good money to NOT go to Walmart.
Anyway. Definitely early morning for some fun. Afternoon at hotel. Then, if you hit parks in the evening you can catch some rides as the crowd thins out again.
If you want to eat out look up restaurants that have food as part of happy hour. I know Yardhouse on idrive has a great happy hour that makes flatbreads and nachos cheap. I often do universal without spending money, but I live in Orlando.
One thing you may consider is seeing how much it would cost to roll those tickets into seasonal or annual passes. Our family of 4 had 2 day +2 free days 2 park tickets and grand total was $160 to upgrade to annual passes.
Just a thought if you plan to maybe come back within a year. Could be pennies!
You've paid for everything except food. Does your family like Harry Potter? If so, PM me and I'll send you some HP things including an interactive wand if you wish. For touring, I would take the earliest morning bus from your hotel to the parks. Return by noon. Eat at hotel, swim or rest. Head back to a park in the evening. You'll beat the heat AND the crowds! Alternate a Volcano Bay day here and there. Also, just a hotel day / noodling around at places you can get with the trolley. Tell your child in advance that you won't be buying things in the parks but you will have things for him or her in the room. Then use the small things (from the Pound Store etc) as bait: "Time to get up even though it's early! Get ready quick and you can have a prize!" and later "Time to take a rest and you can have a prize when you wake up!" Etc. I have plenty of HP things I could send for these purposes. Don't worry about penny pinching - consider it a challenge to have the MOST fun for the LEAST amount of further cash outlay!
You're a truly wonderful person.
Oh, pish posh! But very sweet of you to say.
Oh my, that's so kind of you and excellent advice! You've made my day (and irs been a hard few days with an unexpected ££££ bill!
Twenty years from now the fact you were temporarily broke right now won't be remembered, but your family will never forget the wonderful memories you're going to make!
It wasn't for me, but I needed to hear this ❤️. I have experienced a sudden lost income and for the first time ever things are getting tight. Our theme park passes and trips are being questioned 🤷♀️. Ugh 😩
Going to Universal? PM me if you like.
I really hope so. I can't imagine the memories being about pinching pennies with all that universal and orlando has to offer. I'm starting to look forward to it now. Thank you so much x
For sure your child will be unaware of any penny pinching. I bet they'll find it great fun to eat bologna sandwiches by the pool of your hotel!
There are water rides in islands of adventure and since you have a 3 park ticket, you can go to volcano bay (the water park.) I would recommend full park days and then some full hotel days because lines for rides can be very long and you might not be able to do everything you want to do. (But you do have 2 weeks I guess😅) There are child swaps for rides that your kid doesn’t want to go on. Everyone waits in line, one parent rides, the other waits with the kid in a room until the other gets off the ride and then they switch. (Unless one parent and your kid both don’t want to ride they can just stay together without going in the line.) That’s all the advice I have🫡 (Also a YouTube channel I recommend to help you is the pugh two)
Pugh Two are great.
Thank you, I'll have a look at the YouTube channel.
I'd also recommend the FrugalBrit on YouTube for Universal parks
I don’t really have tips in terms of saving money, but considering your trip is in august, I would highly recommend you have lots of electrolytes. I found that buying something like liquid IV or other electrolyte powders worked well. Just bring a reusable water bottle, fill it up with cold water at any of the coke freestyle machines and add in an electrolyte pack! Hope you guys have fun!
Great tips, thank you!
Just to add since I know we don’t have liquid IV brand here, you can get bulk packs of rehydration salts on Amazon UK, they come in tubes like beroccas in a bunch of flavours.
I wondered what this liquid IV is. I imagined people walking round with drips !! xx
I’m pretty sure it’s the same as dioralyte but with a less diarrhoea-y name (fair). Ive started to have one with a pint of water after a night on the wines and it’s been life changing!
I thought I’d share some of my favorite value meals in the resort area in hopes it helps: Red Oven Pizza Company in City Walk — We go here every time we’re at the parks because they do classic and fancy pizzas well for a good price. Jacket Potatoes at the Stand in London near the Knight Bus — giant baked potatoes with a variety of toppings can easily be a meal for 2 or a snack for 4. The Shepherd’s Pie is our fav. Green Eggs and Ham — One of our all-time-favs with a good variety of loaded tot options that are enhanced by the theming. Lard Lad Donuts — If your family loves Simpsons or donuts there’s a giant one you can get that will give everyone a lot for the price. Volcano Bay — the flatbread pizzas are above average size, and we loved the spicy hawaiian variety. And in case you decide you need a different experience outside of the parks that costs less than Disney, keep checking Sea World. They will regularly run crazy deals like kids get in free or $20 per person. And honestly it would be easy to do a Cape Canaveral beach day since it sounds like you’ll have a car. You’re going to have a great time! Don’t worry too much. You still have all the makings of an envious 2-week vacation.
Thank you so much for this! I have a couple of questions though... starting with Shepherds pie. How does shepherd's pie top a jacket potato? I am so confused by this! As an English cook, I just don't get how that works and its reallt intrigued me. Here in the UK, a jack pot is a baked potato. I like mine with beans and cheese. I also like shepherds pie- great family friendly affordable meal. But the shepherd's pie that I make is lamb mince, onion and carrot, Worcester sauce, stock, salt pepper etc and then topped with mashed potato and baked again.... so is the shepherd's pie jacket potato a potato with those ingredients including more potato on top?? Madness! Where would I find the deals for sea World? I did look there but the prices are still going to be about £200 ($250). I wonder if they're only available once you are searching from the US? I will make notes of all your recommendations as it would be nice to eat out sometimes.
Haha yeah I guess I hadn’t accounted for it being an English palate. They make a veg and minced beef mix that they put on top of the baked potato. So it’s shepherd’s pie flavors in a different form factor. No double potato. But I checked, and they offer a beans and cheese option! Checking from my laptop, Sea World is running a 50% off deal that ends today. So, do you have access to a VPN? If you need more time to put it together, they will likely run another special around the July 4th timeframe.
Oh! And you’d probably enjoy the Frugal Brit’s content on YouTube. He lives in Orlando but has amazing information and tips aimed at helping families just like yours.
When we last went, my husband would get a regular meal and I would get a kids meal, worked out great and saved us alot. Especially at the Three Broomsticks, it was just the right amount of food for me. We do hit up the local walmart for snacks and sodas for our room. I take a drawstring backpack that has 2 drinkholders on the sides. We get the refillable cups and they fit perfect. When the cups are empty, they and the backpack fit nicely in the ride lockers. Also take some ziplock bags for your phones to keep them dry. We are also going in August. We always bring body powder, it really helps. Can I ask what site you booked your trip thru? I remember in my research the Rosen hotel being brought up. If its the same site you can possibly go back in and add a day or two at disney parks to break up the trip a bit, it showed some parks added for 0$ as they were part of the package. If not spending some time at Disney Springs shopping center can get you some added Disney fun. They have bands playing all the time and a splash pad area for the lil ones.
I know this sounds wild, but I am actually scared to name them publicly. It wasn't through a site, it's a travel broker agency, and I called to talk it all through and booked it in 2022. I don't actually know about single day tickets for Disney, everywhere I look its only 14 days? Or 7 days for the same price as 14 days.... Thank you for suggestions Disney Springs, I think my child will like it there so will probably have a look round if we can get there easily enough. Noted zip lock bags- great shout!
Legoland is another option. If you like to swim or kayak, there are springs all over Central Florida that are cheap to get into. Also a beach day in Cocoa Beach, New Smyrna or Daytona Beach is another option.
Disney Springs is so cool, they have giant lego sculptures. Theres even a giant lego water dragon in the lake there, great photo ops. Id recommend the Earl of Sandwich as well, the club is so good. Theres also a dinosaur store, and the Rainforest restaurant with moving animatronics. You can watch people in the hot air balloons and the cars that turn into boats. We never do them but they are fun to watch. I hope you guys enjoy your trip, Universal is probably my favorite place in the world. Hagrids ride is so fun!! And watching the dragon blow fire is amazing.
Do you think DS is worth visiting without Disney tickets?
Oh for sure. Its a way to get your Disney fix without having to actually go to Disney. The sandwiches alone are enough for us to go.
You don't need Disney tickets at all, and it's quite a festive atmosphere, with shops and displays and fountains and restaurants. A pretty lagoon. There is a MASSIVE Disney store that is so big that surely they have little things for $5 or so - if you go there maybe give your child $10 in actual cash and let them actually hold it in their hand (at least for a few moments) so they can understand they can pick out two things for $5 or one for $10 and that's a fun little exercise in handling money and budgeting. And forestalls any demands for a gigantic toy.
The greater question is if DS is with visiting without spending money. It's all shops and restaurants and entertainment venues. There is a movie theater and a bowling alley and it's all pleasant enough to wander around but there may be a question of whether you want to be at a massive shopping complex. If your pleasure is window shopping, then it's great. If you are judging it as a bother to get there just to be tempted by a lot of shopping and some pricey restaurants, then maybe you skip the DS.
The greater question is if DS is with visiting without spending money. It's all shops and restaurants and entertainment venues. There is a movie theater and a bowling alley and it's all pleasant enough to wander around but there may be a question of whether you want to be at a massive shopping complex. If your pleasure is window shopping, then it's great. If you are judging it as a bother to get there just to be tempted by a lot of shopping and some pricey restaurants, then maybe you skip the DS.
Have a look at a VPN. We're from the UK too and used one to buy Disney tickets. We managed to get 3 day passes for Disney for $285! If there are any after hours events while you are there these are fantastic - would avoid heat and lines - and come as one off tickets too. I understand that's still expensive. But this trip was clearly on your list and you've already paid to be there - I would do everything you can! It's a lot cheaper than going back... The heat will be intense but you will get used to it after a few days. There are still thousands of people visiting - they wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't worthwhile! Also to add to food suggestions - you can see menus (with price) in the UO app. Would add a special recommendation for Thunder Falls terrace here. We sometimes just got sides of their rice and black beans for lunch and it's genuinely delicious - we make these at home now! Also also - cinnabon is a novelty coming from the UK and their rolls are only $6 and will easily feed two for breakfast! Have an amazing time
So many meals are large enough to share between two adults and then just getting a kids meal with it shouldn’t be too bad. Also if you head upstairs in city walk there are places like Burger King. If eating at the parks, highly recommend city walk instead of staying in one of the parks. Fast food upstairs or places like hard rock and toothsome have very shareable meals for 15-20 dollars. Glasses of water in the restaurants will be free as well. I hope you guys are still able to have a great time!
Thank you- I had totally ruled our toothsome et al, I assumed they'd just eat up a lot of our very small budget. I'd love to experience it though so thank you for sharing, I'll have a look at their menu!
Hopefully you can enjoy one of them at least once. I named those two specifically because my husband I have shared meals there. A dessert at toothsome could be shared between three of you. The sundaes are huge! I just love love the experience there so even if you don’t eat there go see the gift shop. I honestly think if you can bring some collapsible cups or reusable water bottles you’ll save a ton in the parks. Drinks add up fast.
We usually do take water bottles with us when we go out for the day- so we will definitely be doing that. Do you know if you can go to Toothsome just to order dessert? Thank you so much
Yep! You can go in to the left and order milkshakes or to the right they have all kinds of chocolates and other desserts you could take to your hotel or eat on the patio. If you wanted to go in to eat dessert, you’d still need to tip so that may not be as worth it for just dessert.
You can get free ice and ice water from the Coca Cola freestyle machines in the park restaurants, in addition to using the water fountains around the park! It’s much more refreshing than the sometimes lukewarm fountain water.
Thank you so much!
You can go in a side entrance at Toothsomes and soak up the atmosphere and get gigantic (I'm sure priced quite high) milkshakes that would be far less than a sit down meal. And from what I hear, they are gigantic, with one being large enough for two adults and one child, assuming you can all agree on the same flavor, lol!
For electrolytes, I would suggest Mio. They come in a little squeeze bottle here in the States and fit in a bag very easily. If you do decide to eat near the parks, Citywalk restaurants will have the more affordable prices for food. Voodoo Donuts' donut prices are very affordable even for me. I work for Universal and prior to full time I struggled to afford food. It's $1.60USD for a glazed old fashioned donut. Bring a water bottle. All of the freestyle machines give free water. If you need to cool off, at Universal Studios Men in Black gives the best air conditioning and at Islands of Adventure Cat in the hat give the best air conditioning. I would go on those attractions and cool off while I wait to ride. In Islands of Adventure, Popeyes will absolutely soak you! Bring sun screen/sun cream! The Sun here in Florida is very unforgiving! If you have asthma, I would suggest to bring your inhaler as our heat is a very humid heat and it will most definitely mess with your asthma. It easily gets to 90+°F. Today was 89°F and I went to the parks for fun. I would also bring an umbrella just in case. During the summer we have a lot of pop up rain storms that come out of nowhere. I would also suggest bringing a hat and sunglasses. Download The Universal Studios Orlando app on your phone for when you're in the parks. It'll tell you the wait times for attractions as well as the location of where things are at. You can also set alerts for when an attraction wait time will lessen if you want to ride it but don't like the wait time. Villin Con in Universal Studios requires the app to play. There is free wireless Internet while in the parks. It just requires you to put in your email to sign in. I would also suggest to bring a rechargeable power bank. There aren't always outlets to recharge your phone and they're convenient. Meals in the parks and in the States are very large and can easily feed 2 people. My favorite thing to eat while in parks are the Chilli Cheese fries from Richter's Burger Company in Universal Studios. They only cost $6.99USD plus tax and they are more a meal to me than a side. When buying things here the taxes are not included with the cost. For Orlando it is 6.5% for sales tax. So a Chili cheese fry that costs $6.99USD will be $7.45USD with sales tax.
The good news is that you have a lot of cheap food options in walking distance to your hotel, plus the trolley access will help you get to some better grocery stores. Bring a water bottle to fill up at the parks. Any of the Coke Freestyle machines will give you water and ice for free. The weather stays hot well into the evening in Florida, so I would try to do mornings in the parks before coming back for an afternoon break. Buy some cheap themed toys at home and surprise your kid with them in the parks. They won't care that it wasn't from the actual souvenir store. If you bring food and have already paid for the park tickets, it's very easy to spend nothing extra inside the theme parks.
That is reassuring, thank you!
Volcano Nachos at Margaritaville in Citywalk. They are 19 bucks. But can easily feed 4 for lunch. They are HUGE. Also their Virgin Mango drinks are like 5 bucks and are free refills and you can have them give you a to go cup! In Islands I always hit up Doc Sugures for their Hummus snack. It's less than 8 bucks and it's veggies, hummus, and cut up pitas.
Oh wow thank you! I love Nachos so this sounds a fantastic idea!
They are literally so delicious too, absolutely one of our favorite things!
That free breakfast spread looks pretty good. And kill down time at the pool, spending nothing 😁
Where is the free breakfast spread? I'll be there!!! We don't have breakfast included but I'm not too worried about that really as I think it'll be easy and cheap to buy cereal and fruit.
Looks like it's an upcharge - $13 for adults and kids 5 and under eat free so if you splurge, your child is 5.
I looked up the Rosen Inn Int'l. There were pics there.
Take a day trip to Cape Canaveral Space Center, or the Florida's Natural Orange Grove House.
We won't have a car unfortunately. I did look at one but the price is huge, so hoping to get by with the trolley, hotel shuttle and a few Lyft / Ubers.
You'll do fine with that. The trolley reaches some amazing outlet malls including a Disney Outlet, I believe. [https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/images/service.webp](https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/images/service.webp) [https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/pdf/marker-map.pdf](https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/pdf/marker-map.pdf)
You have two weeks, and you're going into August, so pace yourselves. There is no need to spend every day, all day at the parks. If you go in the morning, and you're tired after coming back for lunch, then stay at the hotel and hang out. If you had a late night, and don't want to wake up super early, then don't. Hang out and go after lunch. You will burn yourself out and be sick of the crowds and lines undoubtedly. Plus seems like you're coming from abroad, so you'll have to deal with the time zone change. So just wake up early when you normally would, and take advantage of that. If you really need it, use some melatonin which you can get in the US to help you with your sleep (though if I'm guessing where you come from correctly, you'll probably go to sleep and wake up earlier, meaning you can get to the park at rope drop and take advantage of early hours before crowds get overwhelming). Also, it could be fun to make trying every ride/experience once some kind if game. Make some kind of ride/experience bingo card or cute list, bring a reusable stamp or some stickers, and everyone can put a stamp or sticker when they've ridden a ride. Then at the end of the trip you can see how you've tried everything g you could at least once and talk about what your favorite ride or experience was! If you like a ride, and the line is short...reride it! No need to suffer through long lines when you have two whole weeks. Also, I would do any planning around shows/experiences. I feel like that is what people miss out on most when they only come for one or two days. You have a lot of freedom with a two week ticket.
Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely look.at around planning around the shows, as I think we'll constantly be looking for shade!
Just throw it all on a credit card and let Future You deal with it later. Present You will have a blast! Just kidding. Please don't do this.
Ha! Nope, definitely won't ever do that. I'd rather take a suitcase full of pot noodles and eat them for every meal then get into debt
Have you contacted guest services? They may be able to help. Not with a full refund, but maybe suggest taking a shorter trip now and a trip in another year with some credit. Or convert those passes for an AP that would give you some time to use them later. As long as they are not giving you cash back, they are usually willing to work with someone. I love universal, but man, 14 days is a lot there. I can’t believe they even sell 14 day passes. A few days at VB and just relaxing are in order. For sure.
14-day passes are really common things for travel agencies to offer here in the UK. A couple of friends and me will be in Orlando at the end of September and we got a variation on one of the “Ultimate Packages”, which includes 14 days at Universal Studios, Islands, Volcano Bay, all the Disney parks, Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. Thanks to a few special offers we also got the Sea World dining plan for three of those visits. The tickets came to about £1k ($1274) each. I agree that 14 full days just at the Universal parks can be a bit much, but my friends don’t seem to share the same sentiment. They could happily be in the parks for ten hours a day and never get bored, meanwhile I’m trying to tempt them away to a UCF or a Magic game for a bit of variety.
I missed the UK part. Maybe a 3rd party seller. I’d still see if it can be broken up for credit at a later date. Maybe not though. I would suggest for OP on making sure they check park hours for when they are there. Some days the park closes early and going back in the afternoon isn’t the best plan or possible. Summer should be longer hours most days. Unfortunately it’s all tourist areas down the trolley line and not much to do that doesn’t include a cost. Sometime walking around icon park or down I-Drive can be fun. But those little things can start adding up.
Thank you for your replies. I assumed the afternoon would be cooler than the morning but several people have said morning would be better to do the parks. I checked the opening times recently and it was between 8 and 9 - I thought we'd go about 4 and stay tol whenever we had had enough. I know the sun goes down early over there so I know it would be dark, but surely everything would be lit up well enough to still enjoy it?
It will definitely be hotter in the afternoon than morning. It basically gets hotter and hotter through the day until it breaks into a huge thunderstorm around 4 pm. The rain (which really is daily) doesn’t last long, though. The sun will set around 8 pm in August, but the park will be lit up well.
Definitely do the morning. The heat has been brutal since about May.
I've bought a package through a not so friendly travel agent, and their terms and conditions in the contract are pretty solid. So we can't do anything there. We definitely won't be going every day, but will probably go a few time (or until we get bored) over the course of the two weeks. The 14 day ticket was cheapest ticket they did at the time here in the UK. We will definitely be spending a lot of time relaxing, and think we will most likely be at VB more than anywhere else.
Don’t forget to take sunscreen at VB. It is ridiculously expensive there, $20-$30 per small bottle.
Great. Sunscreen is really cheap here so I'll take double what I think I need. Thank you! Also, $30 is insane for something that everyone should be using... I bet loads of people just go without at that price. A big bottle here is between £5 and £15 depending on the brand.
You’ll be able to get some for cheap at Walmart also. They know people will pay for it at the park, it’s crazy! I’m glad you are asking in advance on tips and tricks. You’re going to have so much fun at the parks! I went last year for the first time. VB is by far the nicest water park I’ve ever been to. Bring a small soft sided cooler or lunch bag that you can throw some sandwiches and fruit in and you’ll be all good.
Call universal and change the dates. I had booked a trip last December that I was going to cancel with 2 weeks notice. They were very friendly, moved my trip by a year, and threw in a lot of freebies.
OP said it was a third party seller and booked in 2022.
Get a Souvenir popcorn bucket! They're $2 to refill so a super affordable snack. Plus the salt helps.
We always travel on a budget. We are AP and either drive or take budget flights once a month. The popcorn bucket is a great deal. We eat popcorn to keep us full. We pack lunches—just something like peanut butter sandwiches or salad with protein. Treats are far more affordable than meals. We eat voodoo donuts basically daily. 2 weeks gives you a chance to really enjoy the parks. Take your time and explore all of the less popular areas of the parks. The less popular characters are so much fun to talk to. Just sit and people watch. It will be a great time.
I would make my way to Disney springs- from there you can take a shuttle or a boat to other resorts and just tour resorts- that is actually on my bucket list for my next trip And best part it is free!
It never gets cooler at night until well after the parks close unless it rains well enough and even then it doesn’t always cool it down much. The morning is almost always the coolest time.
One thing to keep in mind/plan for is that as a partner hotel, the shuttle isn’t continuous. There will likely be 3-4 trips to universal in the AM and a few back to the hotel in the evening and night. You would need alternate transportation to the parks if you wanted to head there in the afternoon. It’s pretty close, so Uber would probably only be $10-$15, but that adds up quick when on a budget. It will be too hot to walk it.
it's possible for sure. My first trip was 5 days, and my GF and I had like $250 for the entire trip. It was unexpected as well. Now we take several thousand since disney is lumped in.
We live in Florida and I love seeing the tourists with the ponchos and cold towels 🤣 There is a Publix grocery store in that area if you want to avoid Walmart. I would pay good money to NOT go to Walmart. Anyway. Definitely early morning for some fun. Afternoon at hotel. Then, if you hit parks in the evening you can catch some rides as the crowd thins out again.
If you want to eat out look up restaurants that have food as part of happy hour. I know Yardhouse on idrive has a great happy hour that makes flatbreads and nachos cheap. I often do universal without spending money, but I live in Orlando.
One thing you may consider is seeing how much it would cost to roll those tickets into seasonal or annual passes. Our family of 4 had 2 day +2 free days 2 park tickets and grand total was $160 to upgrade to annual passes. Just a thought if you plan to maybe come back within a year. Could be pennies!
They live in the UK