Anonymous wrote:We went to Magic Kingdoin three weeks ago on a Sunday and with tax and fees it was $205/adult. Lool at the website - the calendar will tell you.

Laughing at replacing Disney & Universal with Busch Gardens and Jamestown. Delusional

A single day ticket to Magic Kingdom is THE most expensive way to do Disney. No multi day Disney ticket comes close. You get a multiday discount (more discount for more days) and you don't pay the MK premium.

Anonymous wrote:If you possibly can, go at a time of year where it isn't as crowded. (September, May or January) Makes a vast difference in your experience. Like being able to hit 15-20 rides in a day instead of say 5 or 6.

For Disney, do Magic Kingdom, skip Epcot and the others if money is tight. Then, do Universal for a day. Also Aquatica is a great half day activity. Stay off property and rent a car. You don't have to do the whole Disney experience soup to nuts. I grew up in Orlando.

Agree with going in January. Our friends went second week of Jan, the holiday decorations were still up, and everything from hotels, flights, to the passes were cheaper. We went Christmas through first week of January and everything was overpriced. We had to stay 20 min away to save some money on accommodation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just tickets. Basic tickets, without the added additions.

2k a day? 400/pp? Where are you getting THAT?

Park Hoppers alone would be atleast $1200-1400 for a day with 3 adults and 2 kids - add to that Universal being approximately the same. Easily 2,000 a day.

Why spend on the park hopper? There is so much to see in one park for a day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing both Universal and Disney on the trip will drive your ticket costs way up. Both Universal and Disney significantly discount additional days after 2, so if you did Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and another Disney park (water park, or Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios) it will cost you way less than if you do Universal.

How many days, and how old are the kids?

Probably 3-4 days for the parks and maybe 5-6 days total for the trip

6,10,14 are the ages

They are not huge Disney fans, but we want to go for the experience of having gone at least once as a family. DH grew up going yearly as a child.

In that case, go to Southern California, spend one day at Dinseyland, and enjoy the rest of you vacation.

The only thing to do in Orlando is theme parks. If you don't intend to spend your at the parks, there's no point in going.

As someone who grew up in Orlando, there is other stuff to do. Lots of springs, Space Coast is an hour away, etc.

When we went to Disney we spent a day at Disney Springs and also doing resort hopping to see the holiday decorations, the ginger bread house. It was so much fun, and free to do. My kids favorite and most memorable thing was the free cable car ride between 2 of the resorts.

If you are willing to spend up to 2K/day add the park hoppers and lightning lanes

Even with parkhoppers it’s not more than $200/ day at any of the parks OP mentioned. So for 5pp $1000/day max. But I would argue you don’t need hoppers at Disney. Universal maybe if you are only doing one day and/or want to see the train.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just tickets. Basic tickets, without the added additions.

2k a day? 400/pp? Where are you getting THAT?

Park Hoppers alone would be atleast $1200-1400 for a day with 3 adults and 2 kids - add to that Universal being approximately the same. Easily 2,000 a day.

Park Harper Hopper is a rip off. Especially if it’s your first time…spend one full day in each park.

Op here. Curious about it being a rip off compared to the one park per day rates? For shorter stays, would Park Hopper not be better to see or do more in one trip? Or is it the additional fee for Magic Kingdom it seems?

In general, there is enough to do at each park that you can spend the entire day there and still not do everything. Even if you feel "finished" with a park with time left in the day, you can go back to your hotel and spend time in the pool, or go to Disney springs, etc.
It can take a lot of time to go from one park to another too.
For a first trip, I would really recommend one day for each park. Animal Kingdom is the only park that closes early (usually 6 or 7 pm) so you could use that evening to catch up on rest, swim, enjoy a special dinner out, etc.

If you possibly can, go at a time of year where it isn't as crowded. (September, May or January) Makes a vast difference in your experience. Like being able to hit 15-20 rides in a day instead of say 5 or 6.

For Disney, do Magic Kingdom, skip Epcot and the others if money is tight. Then, do Universal for a day. Also Aquatica is a great half day activity. Stay off property and rent a car. You don't have to do the whole Disney experience soup to nuts. I grew up in Orlando.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doing both Universal and Disney on the trip will drive your ticket costs way up. Both Universal and Disney significantly discount additional days after 2, so if you did Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and another Disney park (water park, or Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios) it will cost you way less than if you do Universal.

How many days, and how old are the kids?

Probably 3-4 days for the parks and maybe 5-6 days total for the trip

6,10,14 are the ages

They are not huge Disney fans, but we want to go for the experience of having gone at least once as a family. DH grew up going yearly as a child.

Don’t do it without lightening lanes. It’ll be a total sunk cost

Look at Costco travel packages. I don't know if they do Disney, but we booked our Universal trip through them and were very happy to have everything taken care of in one package: flights, car, hotels, park tickets, and express passes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just tickets. Basic tickets, without the added additions.

2k a day? 400/pp? Where are you getting THAT?

Park Hoppers alone would be atleast $1200-1400 for a day with 3 adults and 2 kids - add to that Universal being approximately the same. Easily 2,000 a day.

Park Harper Hopper is a rip off. Especially if it’s your first time…spend one full day in each park.

Op here. Curious about it being a rip off compared to the one park per day rates? For shorter stays, would Park Hopper not be better to see or do more in one trip? Or is it the additional fee for Magic Kingdom it seems?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just tickets. Basic tickets, without the added additions.

2k a day? 400/pp? Where are you getting THAT?

Park Hoppers alone would be atleast $1200-1400 for a day with 3 adults and 2 kids - add to that Universal being approximately the same. Easily 2,000 a day.

Park Harper Hopper is a rip off. Especially if it’s your first time…spend one full day in each park.

We went to Magic Kingdoin three weeks ago on a Sunday and with tax and fees it was $205/adult. Lool at the website - the calendar will tell you.

Laughing at replacing Disney & Universal with Busch Gardens and Jamestown. Delusional

A tip for universal: you can buy the Express pass inside the park. We went this winter and decided to feel it out first. We ended up not needing the express pass and saved a ton of money

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just tickets. Basic tickets, without the added additions.

2k a day? 400/pp? Where are you getting THAT?

Park Hoppers alone would be atleast $1200-1400 for a day with 3 adults and 2 kids - add to that Universal being approximately the same. Easily 2,000 a day.