Is Universal Still Affordable?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 12 бер 2024
- In today's video, we talk about whether or not Universal Studios Orlando is affordable to visit or not. We also talk about our best ways to save money on tickets, hotels, and food when visiting the Universal Orlando Resort. A Universal vacation isn't cheap, but there are ways to make it a little cheaper while still having a fantastic vacation for you and your family. Check it out and let us know what your favorite money saving tip is!
Sign up for our vacation planning checklist here! email.thepughtwo.com/checklist
*If you would like to help support our channel further, here are some ways to do that!*
Make sure you like & comment on this video! Engaging with our videos is the best thing you can do to help us grow our channel!
CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP: Become a channel member today to enjoy exclusive perks like access to the members-only FaceBook page and monthly members-only LIVE streams!
MERCH: You can get everything from a t-shirt & socks to a fanny pack or coffee mug. Check it out! thepughtwo.creator-spring.com/
Linktree: linktr.ee/thepughtwo
PAYPAL: If you enjoy the content and would like to support the channel further, consider donating! www.paypal.com/paypalme/thepu...
SUNGLASSES
Anna's Sunglasses: amzn.to/3VWEnCl
Tyler's Sunglasses: amzn.to/44XSc7K
We not only make videos about Universal Studios Orlando 2024, we also discuss ALL kinds of travel tips & tricks for the Universal Orlando Resort! So if you’re planning a trip to Universal Studios Orlando and are looking for some tips & tricks to help you along the way, check out our Universal Orlando Trip Planning Guide! This playlist is full of Universal Studios travel tips on things like the on-site hotels, express passes, the Universal Dining Plans, & more! PLUS, you’ll want to make sure you subscribe to see our future videos and tips as well!
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO VACATION PLANNING GUIDE: • Universal Studios Trip...
The Pugh Two Shipping Address:
Tyler & Anna
P.O. Box 691931
Orlando, FL 32869-1931
Here are the links to some specific videos in the playlist, too!
EXPRESS PASS VIDEO: • Universal Studios Expr...
ON-SITE HOTELS VIDEO: • Universal Studios On S...
DINING PLAN VIDEO: • The Universal Dining P...
BEST TIME TO VISIT VIDEO: • When To Visit Universa...
AVOIDING THE CROWDS VIDEO: • 5 Tips To Avoid Univer... .
#UniversalStudios #UniversalStudiosOrlando #ThePughTwo
I love you guys! I’m over there from the uk in June. Just watched this and thanks to you guys, I have just had an $822 refund for the week we are staying at Hard Rock… wouldn’t have thought about even looking if there was a change in the price of our stay if I hadn’t seen this video….That’s HUGE! Thank you… and we LOVE your content ❤
That’s amazing! We love hearing that!! We hope you have a wonderful time on your trip!
hi' if you dont mind me asking' who did you book with, thanks
@@martincox3946 so sorry! I only just saw this comment. Originally I booked via expedia as I could get cash back by first going through Quidco. At the time it was the cheapest, even cheaper than direct with universal. When I checked with universal after seeing this video they had dropped their price so I cancelled for free with Expedia and rebooked direct with universal studios 😄
Universal is as premium of an experience as Disney, but it is a much better value. Getting an annual pass is the move. Single day tickets is how you overpay. The hotel is where you don't skimp because staying onsite or at an affiliate will make life easier and you don't risk getting bamboozled into staying at a seedy motel on I-drive that looked good in the pictures. Plus annual passes give you an opportunity to come back. You guy's should do price comparisons between Disney and Universal to show people how much better of a Value Universal is.
Barely a value, but yes slightly cheaper but overall no where near as good of a theme park unless you just like coasters.
Bruh my family and I had preferred annual passes for the past 3 years at universal but those prices shot tf up this year so we didn't get them. We're probably not returning till epic universe opens but who knows what prices will be like then.
If you're doing 4 or more days in the park during a trip, the lowest tier season pass is the best value (during the non blockout dates). Even if this is your one trip to the park for the year.
I have both Disney and Universal Annual Passes, Trust me when you divide the total cost of the AP by the number of parks, Universal cost more. You could say the difference is the express pass after 4pm, but it really doesn't work at all when Universal parks are closing at 6pm, 7pm or 8pm the majority of the year so I always end up at Disney because is open till later plus its just a better overall experience.
Disney has the better parks universal is almost as good in experience. However it seems Disney is rushing to become universal which is quite sad because they truly are great at different things. I don’t think universal is a replacement to Disney or vice versa Disney is based of ideas and stories universal is based on worlds Disney immerses you in presidents or agriculture or the future or countries while universal immerses you in movies which is wonderful as long as they keep the movies they use up to date because ideas are forever movies are for now
Folks.... I am cheap.
We purchased three seasonal passes and one preferred. Our travel dates are in the slower times to enjoy the smaller crowd and benefit from lower room rates. Our trips average about $1200 with food, gas (6.5 hr drive), and hotel.
$694 for a family suite at Cabana Bay in late April for 5 days/ 4 nights.
Our family was pricing a Disney trip but decided to go to universal. We can do multiple trips to universal for the price of one Disney trip.
A trick we like is to search for the hotel using a broad dates range of three to four weeks. We aren't going to stay that long but you can see an itemized room rate per night so you can get the best deals.
And I've seen the Pugh Two in the parks my own eyes.. talked to them too. Soild couple and I always enjoy the videos!
Haha thank you!! And that’s a great tip about the rooms, if you’re flexible about your dates you can save a ton!!
You could also do the exact same thing at Disney Pop century/art of animation.
I’m a Disney annual pass member, I bought the 3 day Florida resident ticket to universal and I was amazed the food was significantly more expensive at universal, also there is SO much more to do at Disney over the 4 parks.
Universal definitely has incredible rides and I was floored by the experience on the simulator/ride in the Harry Potter castle. But in terms of going with friends just to hang out a place like Epcot for instance can’t be beat imo. They hold regular weekend concerts with legitimate bands all year long that are completely free with park admission. Even with the basic annual pass. Coming up soon is “Flock of Seagulls” and “Plain white T’s”.
In order to even go to “Mardi Gras” at universal you have to Go up tiers for the annual pass. Also parking at Disney is free with any annual pass. It’s $32+ with the basic universal pass.
To say one is “better” than the other is foolish as they really are two vastly different experiences. That being said in terms of visiting 15+ times a year, your value is WAY higher at Disney.
This all coming from someone who absolutely hates their overt political stances.
I'll say this about it. Its affordable but expensive. But i must admit yall have saved me hundreds over the time ive watched yall and in turn i have saved many of my friends and coworkers money. So i thank you both. Keep doing yalls thing.
We totally agree! The prices keep going up, but there are still ways to save.
Love your videos! My daughter and I have watched pretty much all of them.
Trips to Universal can still be done for a moderate price. We did a 6 night trip the week after Thanksgiving... saved up and budgeted $4200 for our trip but only ended up spending just under $2,800 everything included(airport parking, uber to & from the airport, tips for housekeeping, etc). This was for two adults and a preteen. We purchased annual passes. This gave us a great passholder room rate at Dockside(under $600 for the stay). The first day we placed a Walmart delivery order for about $65 for cereal, milk, lunch meat, sub buns, chips, fruit, and drinks for the room. Our daughter brought her favorite snacks in her luggage. In the parks we just got one or two things(snacks/meals) at a time and shared so we could all taste lots of things. We didn't wanted for anything. Brought our stainless steel water bottles and mostly drank the free water from the freestyle machines then enjoyed our grocery order drinks back at the hotel later. We did get a few butter beers though! We spent less than half of what we budgeted for food. I bought one souvenir, my husband bought two, and our daughter bought three. Enough for us. We had a great time!
Bonus: crowds were low for the first few days and we didn't wait more than 25 minutes for any ride(no express passes). We may have waited 35-40 minutes for a couple of rides/experiences on our last park day but still not bad.
Since we came in well under our $4,200 budget and since we still have the valid annual passes we booked another trip for our daughter's birthday week in September! Got a great deal on a room at Dockside again... under $700 for 7 nights.
Disclaimer: We have lots of flight points saved up (from before Covid) so we are fortunate that we didn't/don't have to pay for flights for these trips.
Last comment, I promise. Please keep making videos. We thank you and appreciate you. As a happily married man, it is nice for my kid to see your example, besides mom and dad's. It's refreshing, encouraging, and rewarding to see you love and respect for one another on camera. Let nothing stop your love and dedication to one another. Why? Because there are little kids watching you and adoring your love. I truly appreciate you two for being so approachable.
I’m taking a grandson in April (3 days at Disney, 2 at Universal) and it’s costing me around $6000 😵💫. Each of my grandkids gets to choose a one on one vacation with me when they turn 12, and this will be my 3rd time going to Universal. It’s not a cheap vacation for sure, but good memories are made and living in rural SD, it’s a really unique experience! By the way, I came up with this vacation idea when I only had a couple of grandkids…now I’ve got 11 😳!
This is AMAZING!
So like $5000 for Disney and $1000 for universal
Wow! That’s a lot of grandchildren lol. That’s not a cheap trip, but we hope you make some amazing memories!!
What me and my wife usually do is stay at the cheapest hotel which is dockside inn, it usually cost us around $1200 to stay Sunday to Saturday on the first week of December, and we save up around $5000 dollars to spend it on food and souvenirs. We rather have a cheap hotel then a pricey one to have more money to spend on the parks, plus we’re only at the hotel when we sleep and once we wake up we go to the parks till it closes lol.
We feel that!! We never spent time at the resort when we were traveling down and if all you need is a bed, they’re all about the same! lol
Also having visited Florida a number of times, staying off property is such a tiring experience and also the onsite hotels makes having a mid afternoon disco nap so much easier and reduced hours of commuting from off site, apart from maybe the new value hotels on international drive.
Oh my gosh, yes! The convenience is just so worth it!
6:16 me and my family had just ran into y’all when y’all got on the boat and I saw y’all filming that, you two are seriously the nicest people ever! thank you for your content I love it so much!💕
Hotel hopping is a genius move and ive done it cause of yall
Love your videos! Keep it up! Sending greetings from South Texas! 🤠
Thank you so much!! We appreciate you watching!
It was so great meeting you guys while you shot this video!! Great shots, and super informative! Keep it up!
It was so great meeting you, too! We hope you had a wonderful time at the park!
I’ll be there end of April and this video just helped so much! Thank you guys for this, hope to see you there next month!!
Thank you for watching! We hope you have a wonderful time and we hope to see you in the parks, too!
Dr. Seuss Style: You hit the nail right on the head - with so many expenses as Tyler said. Tickets, Hotels, and Food ...oh my! Credit card bills get up sky-high! Who knew, it's true, how low tickets can be...if you open the right tab and there they will be! Orlando informer (I've been 5 times), is a hoot in itself with minimal lines! With so many youtubes you've made of hotels....we can easily select the best ones for ourselves. Food can cost quite a pretty penny - but by splitting meals you can try many! When all else fails - buy some Universal stock ..... glad neither of you burned.... with your spf50 sublock (insta-shoutout)
Haha I love the sunblock shoutout! That was so good 😂 these just get better and better!
Thanks! Your comment really makes me smile! So I'll keep making comments in the Dr Seuss style 😊
You get me going for a second when you were talking about only vacationing at Universal.. LOL
😂😂 we haven’t taken a vacation aside from Universal or Universal Hollywood in a few years lol
Have You been? universal is amazing and I don't even Mind waiting in Line Because they Make their Lines fun and Mostly in the AC
Discovered you guys last year and you are amazing. Your tips have been very good and I will look forward do them once i get back to UNIVERSAL Orlando
Oh my gosh, thank you! You’re so sweet!! We hope you get to visit soon!
I’m so glad I found your channel as universal is somewhere I visit twice a year. Your content as has been amazing and you guys are awesome and always put a smile on my face. You guys are great to watch not just because of the theme park videos but just your personalities! I don’t mind sharing my upcoming trip in May. I’ll be staying at the hard rock for a week with as a family of 4 and our trip came out to $7200. Definitely expensive but worth every bit
Oh my gosh, thank you! You’re so sweet! We hope y’all have a wonderful time on your upcoming trip!
Great video guys! I use all those savings advise as well. Keep the videos coming.
Thank you, Vince!!
Your tips are so helpful! We were just there 2 weeks ago and were able to score an incredible deal by following your tip on checking back every week prior to your trip. Had the best time. Thanks for what y’all do!!!
That’s amazing!! We love hearing our tips have been helpful!
So helpful that we upgraded to annual passes. 😂😂😂 See ya at HHN!!
Same here! Checked Hard Rock a week before and saved over $700! And they were so nice about it ❤
🤣 Annual pass math… Guilty as charged! 🤣
When I first found your channel there was a lot of this type of content, which I loved! I haven’t seen anyone else take the time to really break down finding deals like you guys have. I love all your content, but this is what drew me in a couple of years ago. We have come a couple times a year since 2021 & your videos were a huge help.
Haha it’s too easy to get suckered into annual passes! We really love knowing our tips videos have helped so many people save money and enjoy Universal like we do! But sometimes we like to go and just film us having fun 😂
What an awesome video, I’ve been as pass holder from Ohio for 5 years now. Watching this video will have me doing things differently for now on. The Hotel tips for switching dates or finding it cheaper as the date approaches is gold. Thanks as always.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!!
Started watching cause my fiance and i are planning to go for our Honeymoon. This has definitely helped us plan a decent budget! Thank you so much!
Oh that's so fun! We hope y'all have a wonderful trip and congrats on getting married!
You have given so much hood advice here, I know it will be so helpful to people out there looking to plan trips. One more thing we taken in to consideration when deciding to buy an annual pass is how much more it will help us save with hotel, food and merchandise. We have also fallen into the thought of well we have passes so let’s go to the parks more instead of taking other trips, but that works perfectly for our family.
Thank you so much!! And yes! The hotel discounts and other discounts that come with the higher tier passes can save tons!
My husband and I have so much to learn about navigating Universal, or any theme park, without annual passes. As long-time Disney pass holders, it seems really overwhelming. Honestly, it’s your channel that has made us brave enough to travel outside the Disney bubble lol. Can’t imagine planning our upcoming Universal trip without you guys. Thank you Pugh Two! 💛
You’re so sweet, thank you!! We feel the same way when we try to venture outside of Universal so we get it! Lol
i applaud you guys. this was very useful content even for seasoned universal goers. great video. not that you guys really ever do a bad universal video. would like to see some content like this for disney
Thank you!! We really appreciate it! It’d be interesting to compare Disney and universal to see how they level up.
Guys as usual your tips are amazing great information and just shows usevhow much it costs to come to orlando very expensive but the tips use guys give are Life savers that's whyvwe love use great video guys
Hey Anna! It was nice running into you while we were at Universal. You were shooting your March video and my daughter was super excited to meet a youtuber. We paid roughly $4200 for 5-night stay at Hard Rock Hotel. We booked in August while they were running a 25% off deal. We always plan our visit in between busy seasons to save the most money possible. We spent another $1000 on food and another $1000 in flights. It's pricey but still more affordable than WDW.
It was so great running into you, too! Booking in the off season is a great idea, not only are the hotels cheaper but tickets and flights tend to be, too!
Great video! You really broke it all down in such a simple way to understand. I always have friends and family asking me about cost since I've been going for years and now I can just send them this video 😂
Haha thank you! We hope this video helps them, too!
Hi, I am new. I just wanted to say that you’re doing great with these Universal videos, and I plan to keep up!
Thank you so much! We really appreciate you watching! 🫶🏻
Great advice! Love from TN!
Thanks for watching!
Very helpful tips! Nice job on this video!
Thank you, Jenifer!!
For our 10 days at universal, flights from the UK, hotels, parks, HHN cost us £7000 last September, and we are doing it again this September. It worked out cheaper to get a 14day 3 park pass than to buy the 10 days.
I will say though that using your videos before we booked and how to save money really helped us out so thanks and keep up the great work.
We scheduled most of our holiday around your recommendations ❤
That’s not bad for an HHN trip! HHN gets expensive bc you have those tickets on top of park tickets lol we’re so happy our tips were helpful and we appreciate y’all watching! 🫶🏻
We bought annual passes as we travel down twice a year and it was cheaper plus the hotel, food and merchandise discounts.
Yes! If you’re gonna visit more than once in a year annual passes are so worth it!!
I brought my family of 5 to Florida from the UK and purchased 14 days park to park passes and stayed at Universal Endless Summer Dockside. The whole trip without express passes cost me nearly £12,000 which is around $15,000. Great holiday and will be looking to return around 2026 when I can afford it again 🤣 but for now I’ll keep getting my universal fix from your videos so keep up the great content.
That’s crazy! I’ve never been on a 14 day trip, though, so that’s probably on par for that long lol you’ll have epic to look forward to in 2026, though!!
Always check an annual pass. Before booking hotels will give you instant discounts.
Good stuff! Subscribed.
Thank you!!
Loving these tips !
This will help us big time for our trip in 2025! As always, Thank you guys. Y’all are great!
You’re so sweet, thank you for watching!!
I have to say that my kid and I watch your videos nearly everyday. We love you two and what you do to inform the Pugh Crew! My family and I have used all of your tips to plan our most recent vacay to Orlando and I have to say that OMG!!! My kid and I were hoping, nope, we were praying and fasting that we get to see you and I'll have you know that my kid and wife ran into you. I was so jealous and envious of that cherish and missed experience. My kid was so excited and over the moon when she saw you by the Jaws photo op. She went on and on about how nice you two are and that she was so afraid to approach you and to ask for a Pic. So, on behalf of all hard working penny pinching dads out there, it was truly worth spending upwards of $4800 for my kid to see two of our heroes. We truly love you two and thank God for this channel. I pray that when my kid and I start a youtube channel that we will be just as successful as you. I'm so jealous!!! Geez, I hate that I got stuck in Ricther's waiting on our food. Hopefully next time ill have the pleasure of seeing you and taking a picture with you.
Oh my gosh you’re so sweet! We loved getting to say hello to your wife and daughter! Your wife said you’d be so jealous lol we hope y’all had a wonderful time at the parks, and if you have any questions about getting started on UA-cam send us a message on Instagram! We’re always happy to help!
Luckily, my husband and I were able to book through a friend of ours, who is a travel agent and we had three park days/4 night at hotel in Universal. We went two years in a row. We stayed once at cabana Bay, and then once at the Aventura hotel. The cost of everything other than food was a little over $2000 ,
for both of us. So it was affordable to us.
That’s amazing! That sounds like such a fun trip!
Thanks for the orlando informer recommendation. They were cheaper than my usual undercover ticket go to.
We’re so happy we could help!!
You guys are the perfect mix of professional and fun! Always love watching the videos.
My trip with my Grandma (coming up in May) to Universal is fully booked and paid for. However, we had the benefit of my Grandma's brother being a share holder with Holiday Inn and so he got us FREE rooms at Orange Lake Resort over by Disney. And though it's over a 40 min drive to Universal from Orange Lake it is worth having our lodging completely free!
We are driving down from Michigan so our travel is going to be a bit of a cost.
But other than that we scored our 3 day, Park to Park Tickets with Express Passes AND Early Park Admission for just under $700 a person.
So other than our gas and food expenses we are taking a 4 night, 3 day Universal Vacation for $1,400!! Definitely pays off to know someone who got our lodging for free though and at a really big, nice resort! 😊
Oh my gosh thank you! You’re so sweet! $1400 isn’t bad for a Universal trip at all. We hope y’all have a wonderful time in the parks!!
When I go to universal we usually use the Freedom pass, My parents are veterans, and from what I see, Veterans can get a Annual pass for all 3 parks for a total of $235! We also live in Florida, The hotels we usually choose is Dockside or Surfside, all leads to a great experience for little cost compared to other options. I totally agree staying on location at the resort is the best choice, the early park admission and shuttle access is just unbeatable with its convenience
Great video guys ty for all you do 😀
Thanks for watching!
Obviously its much different for us Florida Residents. Still a cheaper and more valuable experience than basically everything disney has to offer. That said, this doesnt mean Universal is cheap, and its smart to budget efficiently. Its also important to remember that going to theme parks is a luxury expense. Thanks for releasing such helpful videos.
We couldn’t agree more! We’re so glad this video was helpful, though!!
This is a difficult topic because it depends on where you're coming from. We just booked a 7 day trip staying at cabana bay for the end of April and i priced it out in soooo many websites and the only place i was able to find a good value was booking a vacations package through jetblue and getting season passes separately. We came in under 2k for the whole week with flights from NYC and then u add the season passes
That’s amazing! That sounds like a great deal, and we hope y’all have a wonderful vacation!!
You guys are very helpful and give great tips. Everybody has their own way of doing things. As for me when my grandson and I go down there we usually stay off property. Also as far as the food goes. Luckily, my grandson isn’t a big eater. Grab a slice of pizza, a pretzel, maybe some chicken nuggets and fries, a soda and a Powerade here and there and that’s about it. Just got a manage your money is best you can and figure out the best way you can enjoy yourselves. Thanks again for another fantastic video.
We totally agree! You gotta figure out what works for you!
When I see an upload from you all, I run to watch it. Thank you so much for your tips and tricks. My family and I are heading to Universal in July (4 of us) as a graduation/family trip and though we can't wait, the work I put in to find some deals was truly exhausting lol. I started my search in January comparing prices from the Universal site with the Undercover Tourists site as well as Jetblue and Delta. I was on Expedia and Trip advisor too. I finalized everything some weeks ago by taking advantage of the 2 days + 2 days free. I completed the vacation search with Jetblue vacations and coming out of NYC with a 6 day/5 night stay at Endless Summer Dockside 2 bdrm suite, the total is $4018. The tickets were $1533 for all 4 of us considering my children are teens. The next thing is pricing out the food. We went to Universal in 2022 so we already have our favorite spots. Thank you again for trying everything out for our benefit. I wish you both great health. Take care.
We’re so happy to hear our videos were helpful, and it sounds like all your work paid off!! That’s a great deal for all of you. We hope you have a wonderful time on your trip!!
@@ThePughTwothank you very much.
Great tips as always!
Thank you!!
Another factor for getting an annual pass is if they ate running any kind of specials. I got one for just me during our visit because we got a passholder rate for rp plus tue regular discounts and they were doing the bounce back deal at the time so I know it saved us .
Yes! The APs can save money in several places so they can be a really great deal if you take advantage of it!
I live 3 hours away and I bought preferred season pass and pay $60 a month for two and I saved so much money and had a lot of fun. We have gone once/twice a month. I still have 3 months left.
Annual passes are so worth it for locals!!
WTG saving your friends around 1k! That’s why you two are the best!!
Haha thank you!! We’re always happy to help!
We are heading there the first week in October for HHN. We are staying for 4 days, only two days in the parks, one night of HHN, and we also got express unlimited and park to park for our trip. We chose the value resort dockside just because we literally wanted the trip itself to cost as little as we could so we could spend more in the parks and it was right over $2,000 so I’m pretty happy with that.
I love you guys. And I love this video.
You’re too sweet, John! We love y’all too! 🥹
Love the shout out to your Dad and the spreadsheet!😎💲
Haha he called me yesterday when we watched the video 😂🤣
thanks guys, always great information. if I ever run into you guys at the parks, I would totally want a picture and an autograph. lolz
Haha absolutely! If you ever see us in the parks, come say hello!
We have been to Universal multiple times and actually just back today . We always stay on site and take advantage of EPA or we get to the gates around 45 minutes to an hour before they open, and we have never personally found the need for an Express Pass, and we manage to ride basically everything on every trip. This may not be the same for everyone, but doing those 2 things can save tons of money on passes.
So true. Many people don't realize how much getting up early saves your so much time overall. It trickles down.
EPA is a great way to skip lines for some of the biggest attractions! We love using that strategy!
Yes I know I do and I know the prices are sky rocket but I do love the videos of you all and it's such good advice.
Thank you, Julia!
@@ThePughTwo your so welcome
As a annual passholder I say yes
Annual passes are the best!
As a Florida resident who can travel occasional weekends to travel up to Orlando at will it’s totally affordable even to become a Passholder compared to Disney. If someone is a non Florida resident I can’t imagine how tough it is to plan everything and fly over here
Great point. I agree 100% went to universal 15+ times last year
I’m in California 😭
How is more affordable than Disney?
@@MrKelvin2230 Ticket prices are usually average for both let’s say $370-390 for 2 adults on a busy Saturday but annual pass wise universal has cheaper tiers that offer more benefits compared to Disney. You have to go up to the pirate pass for Florida residents to go on the weekends which is $799 more or less per person when the second tier power pass for universal is $374 per person
@@mightyyoshiyt6772 at least you have the other theme parks in California 😂
As a country this is what we voted for.
Boe Jiden 😛
We are coming to Universal Sept 6 for 7 days and we have 2 park tickets for 5 days. We are staying at Sapphire Falls and our chat was $2268 for 2 of us. Disney wanted $4800 for 5 days 4 park hopper tickets. First time to universal and we can't wait. Love your videos. Keep them coming. ❤️
Wow that’s crazy the difference! We hope y’all have a great time on your trip to Universal!!
From the UK for a family of 5, staying at lowes royal Pacific for 16 days 15 nights.with park tickets and flights is $9900 for the 23 April. I can't wait. Very affordable in my view
That’s not bad at all!! Smart time to go too between spring break and summer vacation. Have a great trip!
Compared to Disney, that’s not bad at all.
Wow! That’s not bad for over two weeks!
U.k fam, you're there now! Is it any good?
Thanks for the tips
Thanks for watching!
I spend about € 6.000 for 7 nights in a Disney Value resort, 6 nights in a premier universal hotel, 6 day park to park at Disney, 4 day park to park at universal and 1 day busch gardens tampa. It also includes the flight from Europe and back and the transportation from and to the airport in Orlando. Food and drinks will still add to it. And a cab from disney to universal
That sounds like a great trip!!
Good tip about knowing where to select free days at the park
I was having the same problem with the 2 day discount, thank you!
Happy we could help!!
Your dad sounds like my kind of people.
He’s a good one lol
Great video with great advice
Thank you!!
Hey guys I'm staying at cabana bay next week for a few days reading the comments I was definitely overcharged for my stay so I'm about to use the lower price tip now thanks
We hope it helps! Have a great trip!!
Hi guys, this is Jennifer. I'm in the category of just watching you guys, just for fun. No trip planned. Highlight of last trip was meeting you two that early morning in front of velocicoaster
You’re so sweet, Jennifer! Thank you! We appreciate you watching, and it was so great meeting you, too!
We always come down for a full week. Costs me around 4100 with hotel, annual passes( we have the top one 3 parks) and flight. We used to stay at Cabana Bay this year we staying at Sapphire, Falls, and then I book one of our nights at one of the Premier hotels on a cheap night to get two days of express passes. If you have a large family that’s a great bit of knowledge. Sometimes we stay in the room that night, but sometimes we just do it for the passes. We ordered groceries to keep us filled up on snacks and bottled water when we’re not at the park to cut cost there. The freestyle cup is probably one of the biggest savings when we’re there all day at the park.
That’s a great way to get express for some of your trip! Getting creative with hotel hoping can save so much money, we love it. And yes to the freestyle cups!! We love them lol
Even coming from Canada, we used to get seasons passes and plan a second trip right before they expired. We would get 2 trips out of them almost a year apart. Worked great!
Yes!! Once you have the tickets, it’s so easy to just find a cheap flight and hotel for a quick vacation lol
We spent $5000 for a weekend Orlando informer meetup trip. Flew in Thursday, flew out Sunday. Flew delta, stayed at surfside. Orlando informer tickets for my husband and I, both days, $900. Spent money on food. Didn’t buy too much merchandise.
Delta flights are crazy! We always flew Southwest from Nashville, but delta is a nicer experience for sure lol
Great info! 💚💚💚
Thank you!!
These are great tips. We are very close to booking our very first Universal Orlando trip.
That’s so exciting! We hope y’all have a wonderful time at the parks!
We’re going again in May, 4 adults 1 kid. Two garden view rooms at the Hard Rock, 4 days of park to park tickets is $7600. Factoring in flights and food, well easily break the $10k mark. It’s extremely expensive, but we love the place so it’s valuable to us!
Hard rock is what's costing the most there though. You could cut that pricetag nearly in half by staying at one of the cheaper hotels
We feel that so much!! We hope y’all have a wonderful time on your trip!
@@sarah.weaver we could, but it's worth it to us! Walking back and forth to the parks, free Express, the pool, the overall vibe. We wouldn't get as much enjoyment from our trip ay a different hotel!
Sometimes, strategic stays at a premier resort can pay off. For example, on the friend's trip if the middle two days were at say Royal Pacific, they could get four days of unlimited express passes for the entire family ; which may of been a much better deal than four days at another level of hotel plus buying express passes on top of the tickets for three days. It would involve moving rooms twice, but could potentially save some decent money depending on how much Unlimited Express costs for the whole family.
Yes, absolutely! The premier hotels are almost always the best way to get express passes, unless you’re a solo traveler. They’re not cheap, but so worth it!
We just returned home from a long weekend for Mardi Gras, and spoke with Murph at Chez Alcatraz. He apologizes for accidentally calling Tyler “Ryan”. LOL. Thanks again for telling us about the food cards. And you also get passholder discount!! We used almost 3 of the $120 cards! I keep sayin’ you guys should get commission, especially since they don’t advertise those cards very broadly. Murph told us we were both in the park on Sunday, but I didn’t want to bother you guys. I’m slightly disabled now, and we are in slow motion! Again, thanks for the tip!
Oh my gosh, Matt! You should’ve messaged us, we were just hanging out and would’ve loved to say hello! Tyler didn’t wanna correct him, but we laughed pretty hard when we walked away lol we don’t say our names much, so we get it 😂 we hope y’all had a wonderful trip and please message us next time y’all are in town!! 🫶🏻
Our family of 3 did a week long visit in 2022, premier resort, and our total vacation cost was right around $10k.
That’s crazy!
Dog wtf absolutely no fucking way would I ever spend that much
This will definitely help for my trip in summer. The hotels will probably be busy so I have to book early
We’re so glad it was helpful!! Booking early is always the way to go!
Me and my son. Flying Virgin from UK in August (last 2 weeks) for 14 nights at Coronado plus 1 night at Leows Sapphire Falls and 14 day tickets to universal including 1800$ in vouchers for Disney dining. Total cost: £7000 Which I don't think is bad at all. Especially when flights are £2400 for the both of us.
That’s not bad for two weeks! We hope y’all have a wonderful time on your trip!!
@ThePughTwo Thank you ever so much. We certainly will. All the best guys 👍
Honestly I think Premier hotels in a package is the move. Those express passes and boats to city walk allow you to maximize your time, and take middays breaks more easily so you enjoy every second you’re up in the parks more. I think with those perks it may be easier to take a shorter trip which saves some money. Also if you book early you can create a payment plan for yourself by paying the down payment and then making sure you’re paid off (I think) 45 days before the trip. This way you’re not dishing out such a big chunk of money or accruing interest on a credit card.
We totally agree! We always split up our trips by paying for our annual passes at one time of the year, a deposit for your hotel at another time, then the rest of the hotel after you check out. Spacing it out really helps!
Vacationers' travel bucket lists have definitely been reorganized and places like Greece and Italy are glad for the declining value of the theme parks.
Annual passes are the only way. I live an hour away and go like 3 times a month right now at $50 a month, so it works...but yeah, for non-residents it's absurd. Disney is even crazier. I actually went today and people are dropping like $350 a day for something I pay $40 a month for. When I move I'll maybe visit once every few years, hence why I go so often now, while I live so close.
Love your vids guys
Haha for locals annual passes are the way, for sure!
For the military folks - We take advantage of the military discounts for onsite hotels, always call to ask for this rate. Get the Freedom Pass!!! $240(ish) 3 park pass good for the calendar year with limited blackouts.
The military discounts are amazing!! We love that they offer that!
Unless I know that I'm only going to be in the parks for a short period of time, I always activate one of my drink cups to stay hydrated through the day. A $12 reactivation is cheaper than buying a few bottles of soda, and I get a broader selection of drinks too. A typical day in the parks for my wife and I will run us about $50 if we eat breakfast before heading over. This does not include any merchandise we might pickup. Being local and about 15 minutes away saves a lot of money in regards to having a place to stay.. We have never stayed on property, but would like to at least once....possibly when Epic Universe opens next year.
Yes! The freestyle cups are a HUGE money saver if you drink stuff other than water. We use them almost every time we go to the parks, especially when it’s hot!
Happy anniversary!
Thank you!
This was so helpful
We love hearing that!!
We do the Harry Potter package and upgrade to Royal Pacific. 5 Park days. Park to park passes every day, a breakfast at three broomsticks, a breakfast at Leaky Cauldron, an ice cream flight from Florean Fortescues, a photo shoot at Shutterbuttons, Early park admission, express passes every day and priority seating at restaurants. I think that’s all. For both of us total it was $3,265. And you can put down a deposit and make payments.
Recently compared a vacation for Disney and Universal. Same dates, criteria, etc. Universal was $1500 cheaper. Of course food, shirts, and merch are going to be similar priced when you get in the park, but overall Universal seems to offer a way better value. Also, take a look at what resorts Disney has built lately. They haven't attempted to build any value/affordable resorts and seem to be courting the deep pocket crowds. Universal has made Cabana Bay, Endless Summer, Adventura, etc. Seems like Universal has been attempting to position itself as the more "average family" friendly option. I would agree with that. Now, who knows what will change with Epic Universe, but we can't wait to check it out when it opens!
We’ve only visited Disney as annual passholders living in FL, but it would be interesting to do a video comparing prices between them!
😂😂 Love this video. Universal is NOT cheap but well worth it. With prices going up I was only able to get out to Universal once in 2024. I have a trip booked for December 1 through the 6th as I have never been during Holidays. I have a season pass. The other three people coming with me do not. But one of them is a Florida resident. So we booked the hotel under his Florida residency. We are staying at Lowes Royal Pacific and the hotel alone cost $5300 ( we are staying in a hospitality suite to be fair). The other 3 tickets for 5 days were 395$ a piece. So all in with airfare we are at a total of $7345.67 😮😮. But it will be a blast 💥 😊😊😊😊😊
Haha we agree! The FL resident rates are a great deal, and we’d suggest keeping an eye on the hotel room in case the rates drop a little! We hope y’all have a great time on your trip and enjoy the holidays!!
Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!!
Theme park tickets have become outrageous. Back in 2009, universal fl had a superbowl ad where they were giving away tickets 1 per household. It was minimum 2 days hopper. I got one, my folks got one and my sister got one, saved good money that year.
Haha that’s a great deal!
We go every Feb and this past one was noticeably more expensive. I noticed the food, souvenirs, drinks were a good bit higher. I think I paid $16? for slice of pizza. Did I do that? It’s just everything. In the past, one or two categories of things would increase, this time it was EVERYTHING.
Yeah we agree. The food has definitely jumped up lately!
Ughhh didn't know how good we had it when annual passes were 99 bucks.... the nostalgia is real.
Haha right?? They’re crazy now!
2 weeks at dockside including flights £1400 in sept,buying annual passes ,so about £ 3600 for 2 people from uk ,the passes will get us in all 3 parks everyday while there for the duration 😊 can’t wait 😜
That sounds like a great deal! How amazing!
We went last September for HHN and it wasn’t cheap but it also wasn’t super crazy expensive either. All I can say is, research constantly. I agree that annual passes are the way to go. I live in Indiana and a lot of people say, “why would you get annual pass when you live so far away?” It’s purely because of the savings.
We stayed between September 15-23.
We got 2 rush of fear passes ($384). This got us into HHN every single night of our stay. We didn’t do express for the lines because we had 7 days to just move at whatever paces we wanted.
We stayed at Dockside for 8 night. The best way to get a good price with annual passes is check hotel prices EVERYDAY. I’m serious, I checked every single day and for our 8 nights, I got it for $742.
And then we drive down to Florida so that was just $200 for gas. The rest of the money we saved was all for food and souvenirs, so in total, I believe we spent $3000-$3500.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted people to know, it’s totally possible to go and not break the bank!
We totally agree! Also, being flexible with your dates a few days or even weeks can change the price drastically, too. If you put in the work, you can find cheaper options for sure!
My husband and I have been mathing (we are annual pass holders) and we have come to the conclusion that when it's just 2 adults (d.i.n.k. life 🎉) its better value to buy the express passes vs premier hotel. Add more people, the premium hotel is the better value. Thanks for providing all the info - it's all about managing expectations when it comes to theme parks. 54 days until our next trip and we are just as excited as the first time we went!
It might be these days! That didn’t used to be the case, but the premier hotels have gotten so much more expensive!
Best tip: just move to Orlando so no flight or hotels to worry about😎
Haha yes! It’s the perfect solution!
Also military, DOD employees can get the freedom pass. $200 dollars a person for the entire year. Sams club travel sometimes has good deals on hotels. Just saved $400 for 5 nights at Portofino.
Yes! The freedom pass is a great deal!