Visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando: A guide to getting the most bang for your buck
This was the first time that I had planned anything like this. It was a biggie and I committed to going ALL OUT. We had been stuck home for a year, it was my mini bit’s 10th Birthday, and I knew I wanted to do something big. She had never really been a Disney gal, but when Harry Potter came out…. let me tell you, she was IN! She would watch the entire series over and over again during lockdown, and it quickly became her new fave. We weighed a ton of pros and cons, and decided to make the trip despite travel being iffy.
I knew we would have some family and friends visiting us, so planning was essential! We also wanted to ensure as safe of a trip as possible, especially give then circumstances of the pandemic. Upon heading to the sight, I immediately noticed the COVID-19 Disclosure, basically stating that the parks would be operating under limited capacity and that wearing masks were mandatory. I will discuss some of the additional implemented safety measures in a later part of this series.
Let's begin with the tickets.
With some insider advice, we decided that Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend was the best option. It allows us to book AFTER the crazy holiday rush, which tends to be one of the busiest times for the parks, and also helped our kiddo from missing too much school. Leaving Thursday morning and returning on Monday night gave us 5 full days, so I knew that taking advantage of the package deals was an option. We knew that in order to hit up BOTH of the Harry Potter areas, we were going to need access to both Universal Studios AND Islands of Adventure. In weighing the pros and cons, I discovered our options were as follows….
First Option: à la carte-style
Now, 1 day passes to both of the parks were $109.00 per day, per person. We REALLY did not want to miss riding the Hogwart’s Express while we were there, so at least one of those days would need to be a Park-to-Park Ticket. The price for this was $181.00 per person, per day. Keep in mind that any kiddo 10 years and older is charged as an adult. Also keep in mind that these rates were for out of state residents. Florida residents get further discounts. Based on this concept… we would need 4 days with a single park pass ($1308.00), and 1 day with the 2-park pass ($543.00), coming to a total of $1851.00 for our 5-days of enjoyment. An offsite hotel could be booked for as little as $79.00 a night, or $316.00 for 4 nights. This brings our total for our stay and park entry to $2176.00 BEFORE taxes and fees. I obviously could have cut one or two of the days out to save some more money, but for an easy comparison, we are sticking to 5 days of park time for 3 people.
Second Option: Vacation Package
With a Universal Studios Vacation Package, your hotel and passes are combined for an overall total stay amount. Now, the package deals I was exploring required a 5 day, 4 night commitment, which luckily worked with my travel agenda. In the Vacation package option, there is a place to “build your own package”. I entered our dates and information, and it produced a couple of options. Right away, my eyes went to the onsite, premier hotel deal featuring the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which included a 2-Day Park to Park Pass, plus 3 days free (5 total), upgrades to the Universal Express Unlimited (skip the lines) and early admittance into the parks. The total? The entire package was $2197.66 and that INCLUDED taxes and fees! Whoa – it was basically the same.
Now, there were many other packages available at lower costs as well in the non-premier hotels, but let me tell you, the express pass was worth it’s money in gold over and over! We would see lines 2-3 hours long, but the Universal Express Unlimited, we would find ourselves waiting a maximum of 20 mins, most of the time with little to no wait at all, and as many times as we wanted on each. In addition, we were able to enter the park earlier than general admittance, with really helped us during a time of limited capacity.
Let's talk about food...
Now, although that may not have been a huge money saver, it definitely helped us get WAY more bang for our buck! Here comes the money saving tips! By staying at the onsite hotel, we were able to easily walk to the parks, or take a water taxi. This made it super easy to pack our snacks and drinks for the day (always check the policy for snacks and drinks) and go, take a break mid-day, then head back. Grabbing a quick bite at the parks was not really a thing, and even smaller places had large lines, BUT having our own goodies helped hold us over. The on-site hotel had a WONDERFUL restaurant, and options far less pricey than in-park options. Delivery was always an option as well through DoorDash (click here to get $10 off your first 3 orders) or GrubHub (click here to get $10 off your first order).
Without having to wait or make a reservation or spend tons of money on food, this was a huge plus! During pool season, this was also a wonderful time to take advantage of the pool and put your feet up! The Lowes Royal Pacific Resort also had refrigerator, so a quick grocery delivery was always an option, like scheduling a delivery ahead of time from Walmart+ for example (click here to get $10 off of groceries). While a 2 or 3 day trip may not yield as much of a savings, every bit of savings on a 5-day trip will certainly add up!
A quick note on flights.
Once the package was booked, flights were up next. I saved a ton of money by booking our flights using my Chase Reward Points. With this rewards system, I use multiple credit cards to rack up points with my daily business and personal transactions, and then use them for flights, hotels, and more! I will be writing a post shortly on this topic as well, and how I have now added the new Chase Freedom Flex to my portfolio of reward cards! This annual fee – free card has some really fun benefits, and let’s you rack up points to use towards flights, hotels, and more! Click the link to learn more or to apply!
Next up, supplies!
While I plan to do a more thorough list later on, I have a suggested list of items that I highly recommend buying BEFORE your trip, and will also be putting list together of the items that I used to surprise my daughter as well!
- Ponchos. They are so inexpensive here on Amazon, and such a lifesaver!
- Lanyards. These are really great for Universal Express Pass holders, and can be found for half of the price as the ones at the park. Find them here.
- A drawstring backpack or backpack that is less bulky to carry all of your items. Just make sure it is small and compresses easily to fit into the lockers.
- A reusable water bottle that seals well such as this one. Pro Tip – there are water fountains across the parks, so grab your favorite water enhancer and you are good to go for the day!
- For the Harry Potter fans, the Robes run $125.00 (yikes) at the park! Save your wallet from the burn by snagging one here. The gear is also pricey as well, so check out sites like Zulilly or Amazon and plan your wardrobe out ahead of time to avoid getting sucked in!
Overall, having an agenda, a lot of our items pre-purchased, and having a meal plan really seems to help make the trip less chaotic for the brain and the budget! I will be following this post up with a Part II and III on my experience at the park during the pandemic, as well as how I surprised my daughter!
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