Park Tickets
- Park tickets can be expensive. I always want to make sure I get the most out of my park tickets. As I tend to go for 3 weeks I feel I get the most bang for my buck. I buy the Disney 5 day park hopper(excluding Disney Water Parks). There are 4 main Disney Theme Parks and they take a full day to navigate maybe even more depending on the queues. This is why I go for the park hopper option as it allows you to jump between parks in 1 day using the internal transportation system. Now the 5 day ticket is 5 consecutive days there is an option to have "no expiration" which means its not consecutive and its any 5 days within a 12 month period. This is extra and a good buy if your budget allows it. I hit up 2 parks on the first 2 days, have a late morning on the third and maybe do half a park after lunch(depending when you go some are open 9am-12am with fireworks at the end) then the remaining parks the last 2 days using the hopper to jump around and see what I missed. It is exhausting doing a park a day so be ready to go to bed as soon as you get home.
- As for Universal I but the Flex ticket plus. This allows you into 6 parks unlimited over 14 consecutive days. The parks are Universal Studios Island of Adventure, Universal Studios, Wet N Wild, Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. If you choose a hotel near Wet N Wild both Universal parks are within a 20 minute walk, Wet n Wild is right at your doorstep, Sea World and Aquatica is at the other end of International Drive with ample Public transport to and from the park. Busch Gardens is about an hour away in Tampa Bay. If you chose the Flex Ticket this includes free Transport to and from the Park via a motor coach. This is a great service. They leave from 2 locations on International drive everyday and there is plenty of room for everyone. They even play a movie on the coach while travelling. So between the 5 day park hopper for Disney and the 14 day flex ticket out of a 3 week holiday there is still some free days for shopping, rest and to visit the other attractions around the locale. Even on a 2 week holiday I would still purchase the same tickets as they are worth it value wise.
- Also, while planning, taken into consideration is the additional attractions that you want to visit in Orlando. NASA is only an hours drive away with many tour companies offering mix and match excursions however this does require a full day. Apart from the 3 outlets found at different locations along International drive there is also the Florida Mall about 40 minutes away. This is easily accessable by public transport and holds all the major brands. Some of the attractions along I Drive include Fun spot, Flea Market, Fun Zone, Wonder Works, Ripleys Believe it or not, Guiness Book of World Records and Pirates Cove to mention a few. All these attractions require approx half a day and are reasonably priced.
- The cheapest place I have found to buy the Disney park tickets is the actual Disney website http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets-passes. You can pick them up then when you arrive at the first park under "Guest Services". The flex ticket is pretty much a standard price wherever you buy it from. Best thing to do is buy it from your travel agent if thats who you booked the trip with or shop around other travel agents as a lot who sell holidays to Orlando will sell the tickets.