Orlando Theme Park Tickets
Exploring all the theme parks isn’t cheap even with some great deals specifically for the UK market. You can still save a little more money by following my tips below
Disney Tickets
Visiting Disney is never going to be cheap. The current UK exclusive ticket offering is Disney’s ‘Ultimate’ Ticket. Disney simplify their pricing with Ultimate tickets which include almost everything you need.
Universal & Seaworld
Visiting Universal and other parks in the Orlando area is cheaper the more parks you add but only if you are going to be making the most of your time in each of your chosen parks.
Legoland Florida
Legoland’s tickets are more simplified but quite expensive compared to the rest. You can add a ticket to others to create a bespoke package but without much discount.
Calculating Value For Money
Relative Cost Of Visiting Orlando’s Theme Parks
To find the best value you need to figure out the daily cost of each theme park visit. When you break down the cost of each ticket package the most expensive park might surprise you.
Disney is the most expensive in terms of monetary cost as you may have expected. Depending on the date of your visit this can work out as low as £30 per day though which is prety good value for money. If you want to visit every theme park outside of Disney as well, a combo ticket package that includes Universal, Seaworld and Busch Gardens comes in a shade under Disney on a per-day cost making them the best value.
The most expensive park is currently Legoland because they only offer a 3-day park ticket where all other parks are based on 14 days unlimited entry. You are looking, on average, around £45 per day to visit Legoland Florida.
- Walt Disney World Ultimate Ticket 29%
- Universal & Seaworld Parks Combo 27%
- Legoland Florida 44%
Walt Disney World Tickets
Disney World
Ultimate Tickets
Multi Park Entry
Disney tickets are very expensive but they include a set amount of days of admission to 4 world-class theme parks, 2 water parks, a round of golf, a daily admission to either crazy golf course and entry to Wide World Of Sports (on event days) is also included as standard.
Magic Your Way
UK tickets have Memory Maker and Photopass services included. Ride photos, Disney Photopass and dining photos are stored in a digital vault for you to download when you arrive home. The separate cost for Memory Maker is $199 for US tickets.
Park Hopping
All UK tickets allow park hopping as standard. This allows you to start off your day in one park before heading to another (currently only allowed from 2pm). Very handy if you want to spend a day riding attractions in on park before catching the nightly fireworks or evening entertainment in another park.
Free Disney Transport
UK tickets allow unlimited use of the Disney World transportation system for as long as the ticket is valid. This includes monorail, buses, ferries and Disney Skyliner. US-based tickets need to have the park hopper extension to be able to use these.
Universal / Seaworld / Busch Gardens
Universal & Seaworld Parks
Many ticket brokers bundle Universal & Seaworld Parks together into one price. The name can vary but Flexiticket is popular because of a historical product that did exactly this but is sadly no longer available. The more parks you add the cheaper the cost of daily entry becomes.
Ticket packages can encompass up to 6 parks spread between 2 giants of the themed entertainment business, Universal Parks And Resorts & Seaworld Parks And Entertainment. You can opt to take some parks out to make the tickets cheaper but this may affect the perks such as free parking at Seaworld.
There are 6 parks that makeup Universal Orlando Resort and Seaworld Parks & Entertainment in Florida.
Universal Studios Florida
Universal's Islands Of Adventure
Universal's Volcano Bay
Seaworld Adventure Park Orlando
Aquatica by Seaworld
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Universal / Seaworld / Busch Gardens
Universal & Seaworld Parks Ticket Perks
Unbeatable Value
14-days consecutive admission for the price of little more than 3 days on a standard ticket. Throw in free parking at 2 of the 4 main parks and free transport to Busch Gardens, this ticket is hard to beat.
Free Parking
Free parking with UK 3 park tickets for Seaworld, Aquatica & Busch Gardens tickets saves $20/day with this new perk which can add up to a nice saving for repeated visits.
14 Consecutive Days
Don’t worry about how many days you have used and how many you have left. You are issued separate tickets for Universal and Seaworld that have 14 consecutive days admission to your chosen parks.
Busch Gardens Express
Book your space online, quote your ticket number and relax for the short one hour trip west to Tampa Bay. The arrival and departure times vary depending on your date.
US & UK Ticket Differences
Demand Based Pricing
What Is it Exactly?
Traditionally ticket prices have been determined by the length of your stay ranging from 1 to 21 days. Disney has simplified its ticket offerings over recent years now offering durations of 7, 14 or 21 nights. Demand-based pricing brings in another factor to the ticket cost, the time of year you visit based upon demand. Prices can fluctuate by up to $10 per person per day.
Will It Affect Me?
Demand-based pricing only really affects US tickets for now whose price is dependant on the first day of activation. Pre-purchased UK tickets are currently based on the year of travel. You may see a slight bump in price if you visit at peak times compared to off peak but nothing like the difference for US ticketholders.
Warning Signs
If a ticket broker specifically asks for your travel dates they could be US-based operators selling US ticket packages to a UK audience.
Be extra vigilant what is included in the ticket package before you purchase. Seaworld’s Discovery Cove limits visitors so you must specify a date for Discovery Cove tickets.
Save Money On Theme Park Tickets
Cutting The Cost Of Your Tickets
Be Ruthless!
Stop shopping around for cheaper prices because they aren’t going to happen. The biggest impact you can have on the cost is to cut out a park or 2. If you only want to see one or 2
Disney Savings
You may find the odd sale dotted throughout the year such as adults at kids prices which saves a nominal £20ish per adult but the biggest savings for Disney are up to a year in advance. Free Dining is a popular promotion but, for the past couple of years at least, it has finished early November at the latest for the following years tickets.
Ticket Bundles
Ticket brokers like to dress up their offerings with different names and headline savings. In short, they are all selling the same product at roughly the same price. Be wary of value added offers such as shopping/restaurant vouchers or free entry to midway attractions. If they don’t add value for your trip keep looking for the cheapest alternative package.
2023 Disney World Ticket Offer EXPIRED
What Is The Free Dining Credit I hear People Talking About?
Disney has historically held a promotion for early bookings on the following year’s holidays. After a hiatus over COVID, the promotion was opened again in Spring 2022 for 2023 holiday bookings.
Disney Dining Plan (and its current incarnation, Disney Dining Credit) are given away free to people booking resort hotel stays and tickets (in effect a Disney Package). The promotion was withdrawn for 2023 bookings in late September 2022 after running over the summer months.
What you receive with Disney Dining Credit is now dependent on the type of hotel you stay in; Value, Moderate, Luxury or Villas. I have left the headline promotions up so you can make an informed decision as to your 2024 offer when Disney will (hopefully) bring the offer back in Spring 2023 for 2024 bookings.
The 2023 Disney Dining Credit Promotion
Up To $1200 Disney Dining & Merchandise Credit Per Room
14 Days Theme Parks Entry For The Price Of 7
Up To $250 Disney Spending Money Per Booking On Select Hotels
Where To Purchase Your Tickets
Orlando Theme Park Ticket Brokers
All the brokers below have official arrangements with the parks to sell UK ticket packages. You will find many of them offer some sort of COVID guarantee for peace of mind booking but always know what is and isn’t included in that before you purchase.
Attractiontickets.com
Formerly known as Attraction Tickets Direct, these guys are one of the largest UK based ticket brokers providing consistently some of the best value packages you can find.
Florida Tix
A sister site to Attraction Tix specialising in all things Florida based. These guys aren’t always the cheapest but they do receive good feedback.
American Attractions
These guys claim to be the cheapest but always double check. Standard delivery is a disappointing 14 days but you can pay for faster delivery.
Orlando Attractions
These guys are US based but authorised to sell official UK ticket bundles. If you’re short on time they offer local pickup from their office near Disney World.
Orlando Attraction Tickets
Hampshire based agents, now part of US Rent A Car Group. They have a long list of awards and give away a lot of extras if you will make use of them.
Always Read The Small Print
The Fine Print
Always make sure you know the booking conditions of the agent you choose. The rules below are fairly standard practice with all ticket purchases.
Cancellations
Circumstances change, ticket brokers recognise that and they try to be accommodating. Tickets can be cancelled but a charge will be applied, usually a percentage of the total value that increases closer to your departure date . Make sure you are aware of these costs before you book so there are no nasty surprises.
My Disney Experience
Park Pass Reservations, dining reservations and Genie+ are done through the My Disney Experience App or Disney World website. In order to use MDE you have to be in possession of real tickets (or your Disney confirmation number for on-site hotel stays), not vouchers.
Park Pass is an unpopular hangover from COVID measures introduced by Disney. In order to enter a Disney World theme park you MUST also have a Disney Park Pass reservation for your chosen date in addition to your ticket.
Changing Dates
If your plans change and the dates of your trip change accordingly remember that any UK ticket package you purchase are valid for the year you indicate you wish to use them. Make sure you pick the right year before purchasing! As long as your dates move within that year you shouldn’t have to notify anyone. Example: Tickets purchased for 2022 have to have had their first use on or by 31st December 2022.
