By Dawn Henthorn
Florida Travel Expert, about.com
[post_ads_2]Perhaps you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to take that Florida theme park vacation this year, but are wondering just how you’re going to afford those tickets. The good news is that theme park tickets, at least at Disney World, have not had a price hike in nearly a year. The bad news is that they are still expensive enough to put a huge dent in your vacation budget.
I’ve resolved to take a closer look at how I
can make our theme park visits more affordable this year. Here’s how I
plan to do it:
I will buy discount theme park tickets before I leave home. Just
about all the theme parks offer discounts for advance online admission
purchases. Additionally, many also offer special seasonal prices and
deals throughout the year. For instance, save an additional $15 off LEGOLAND Florida
advance admission tickets by specifying which date you plan to attend.
If you bought annual passes for SeaWorld Orlando today, you would find
an amazing buy-one-get-one free deal online.
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If you plan on spending more than one day in
the area, consider multi-day tickets that also offer a discount. Do read
the details carefully. You may find that tickets purchased online must
be used within a certain period of time or contain block-out dates.
I will limit add-on purchases at theme parks. While
theme park ticket prices have held steady for nearly a year, the parks
have all been busy adding services that “add on” to the general price of
admission tickets. These add-ons range from meal deals to front of the line passes, like Universal Orlando’s Express Pass.
These are easy decisions for me. The meal deals offer too much food for
the light eaters in our family, so that's the easy one to pass up. If
we plan our theme park visit during less crowded times of the year, that
could eliminate the need to purchase front of the line passes.
I will carry my own camera and take my own pictures.[post_ads_2]Most theme parks now offer photo services. Busch Gardens and SeaWorld have rolled out PhotoKey and Disney’s PhotoPass
has been around for years. While it is more convenient not to lug
around a camera and you don’t have to ask a complete stranger to take a
picture of your family together, the pictures are quite expensive and
it’s hard to resist purchasing them all. None of us leave home without
our phones these days and since they now take amazingly sharp pictures
there is no camera to lug around.
I will provide my own necessities and extras.
Whether it is bringing along a refillable water bottle, snacks or a
stroller for the grandchild, I will bring it along and not pay for
anything I can provide myself. This should go for those needing a
wheelchair as well. If you don’t like the taste of tap water, buy
bottled water elsewhere (preferably by the case) and bring it along.
Anything is cheaper than the usual $2.50 a bottle that is typical of
theme park pricing.
And, finally…
I will explore vacation options that don’t include the theme parks. There
is a big beautiful Florida located beyond the theme parks. Plan your
next vacation without the theme parks and enjoy Florida’s great beaches
or go camping in Florida’s award-winning state parks. Even if you feel
you must go to Disney World... forget the theme parks
because there are wonderful experiences awaiting you at your onsite
Disney resort hotel – unique pools, game rooms, carriage rides,
character dining and more.
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