10 Tips for Saving Money on a Trip to Universal

If you are looking for tips on saving money on your next Universal Park trip, you have come to the right place. Universal can be expensive, but it really doesn’t have to be too bad if you do your trip right.

For those of you looking for tips on saving, here are 10 ideas for saving money on a Universal trip:

1. Buy your tickets online, in advance. If you are planning to go for multiple days, you definitely want to buy your tickets in advance and online. Online ticket sales will save you $20 over gate price for a multi-day pass. Bonus: You don’t have to stand in those long gate lines. Your tickets can be printed out at home and you get to walk right past all of those people waiting to buy.
2. Stay at a partnering hotel. There are quite a few hotels that partner with Universal that offer discounts to people that are staying in their hotels and visiting the parks. From food discounts to shuttle services, you will find a way to save.
3. Check your memberships. Do you have any memberships such as AAA, AARP, or Costco?  Double check through your membership package (or call to ask) and see if you are able to buy discounted tickets through them.  
4. Buy a vacation package. If you are making a full trip of it, why not look into vacation packages?  Occasionally, you might find free tickets thrown in with a hotel stay or possibly a free dining plan during your stay. There are quite a few benefits to booking a vacation package and amusement park vacations are no exception to that.
5. Plan your trip in September or November. These are typically the slowest months at Universal parks so you will find better ticket rates and far fewer people, which is savings enough for some people.
6. Drive there. If you live close enough, consider driving to Universal parks as opposed to flying.  Flights often make up for 40% or more of a vacation budget.  If you can swap that out for the cost of gas, you will probably save a lot of money.
7. Rent a hotel with a kitchen. Plan to cook your own meals and you will save a fortune.  Just because you are on vacation, doesn’t mean you need to be having 5 star dining the entire time.  Make sure you have a fridge and at least a small area to prepare meals.
8. Study restaurant menus in advance. Check out a list of the restaurants in the park (or nearby) and go online to check out their prices and menus before you leave on your vacation. Doing this will prevent you from walking into a restaurant that is out of your budget.
9. Purchase souvenirs ahead of time. This is true for just about any big park that you visit.  Souvenirs are expensive when you buy them inside of those gates. If you know that you or your kids are going to want souvenirs from your trip, buy them ahead of time and from a big retailer such as Amazon, etc. You will spend about ⅕ of the price by doing it this way.
10. Plan a budget and stick to it. You need to be sure to have a budget in place for your trip, or it will be very easy to overspend.  Make sure to plan out what you are comfortable spending and either be very diligent in your spending on your debit/credit cards or bring the exact amount in cash (but be careful!).

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