Deals
At first glance attractions and food in Orlando appeared to cost more than our flight and accommodations. This would not do. Granted our flight and accommodations were one hell of a deal so the bar is incredibly low but with my partner on EI we can’t go crazy. Well, not bugetarily crazy at any rate.
So the initial number crunch came in well over $600 for food and attractions. And when I say food I only include dinner; breakfast, lunch, and snacks are extra. Suffice to say local transportation and souvenirs are not included.
Now I had every intention of hunting down better prices anyways but fair and recovery thereof had made that task fall by the wayside.
So first off it was time to re-evaluate our activities. Upon further reflection it was time to take EPCOT off the list. For one thing it was the most expensive thing weighing in at well over $70 before tax. Secondly large portions of the attraction are going to be closed for renovations when we’re there.
I initially added it to the list for 3 reasons: Craig recommended it, Trip Advisor Forum Local Experts recommended it, and it was the largest attraction and thus ideal for a weekend day destination. All of those are fine reasons however the driving force really should be Mindi and I being excited about seeing or doing something there and that just wasn’t the case.
So that’s $75+ right off the top.
Prior to the initial estimate we had already ruled out Kennedy due to no launches and Medieval Times due to no Jon. It just wouldn’t be the same.
So that leaves Wet ‘N Wild, Universal Studios, Islands Of Adventure, and SeaWorld for attractions. 4 major attractions in what will essentially be 5 and a half days. Some might say we’re not taking sufficient advantage of our time there but I prefer to think of it as having more time for the things we’ll really enjoy. To say nothing of not running ourselves ragged on vacation and budgetary prudence.
So I wanted to save money and being selective was only going to get us half way. But I had also heard horror stories about ticket brokers: timeshare scams, tickets arriving much later than advertised, tickets not showing up at all, companies mysteriously losing track of orders but still making off with the money, and that Travel Universal scam that nearly caught my mom last year.
Florida being a top destination in all age groups seems to make it the subject of numerous scams. Think about it; young kids on their first vacation, families from overseas, the elderly scouting retirement properties and not being very techno-savvy…likely victims all. So I made the decision to deal exclusively with the actual properties themselves and not any kind of third party.
As a result I may have not gotten the absolute cheapest price for everything but the peace of mind is worth it and that by no means rules out the possibility of discounts.
For Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure I saved quite a bit by getting the 2-park one week pass. This was actually cheaper than a single day ticket for each park.
Wet ‘N Wild had a promotion where you get the whole post season for the same price as a day pass. That didn’t save us money but with us staying only 500 meters from the property will probably come in handy.
SeaWorld was a little trickier. It’s initial price was only slightly less than EPCOT and their website seemed to have no discounts of any kind. Normally you can save a least a couple bucks by buying online or well in advance but these guys had nothing. After removing EPCOT it was now the most expensive attraction, this would not do. I couldn’t even find a promo code but I did eventually track something down.
If you go in through the US but out-of-state resident section you could save $11 with a special promotion, you just have to know where to find it. So not only did I get a discount where it seemed impossible but it also came with a second day free option and a coupon for fudge, which Mindi likes.
Score one more for the good guys.
At the beginning of this exercise we were looking at about $380 per person just for attractions, now it’s more like $230.
So all that managed to bring the price down by about $150 as well as make all of our passes valid for longer.
As Peter Griffin said, “it’s win freaking win“.
