Have you been dreaming of going to Disney or Universal? Well, be to sure to take plenty of money. It costs the average family of four about $700 just for entrance and a meal.
Our Taking Action For You reporter Jackie Callaway looked into how you can slash the cost on your next theme park visit.
Rule number one, never buy tickets at the gate. Check out reputable third party wholesalers for multi-day tickets. That can help you save up to $50 a ticket. Touringplans.com is another resource that helps find the lowest prices. Or you can use Disney's site and save a minimum of $20 per ticket on three-day passes.
You can also consider just going to the water park. Universal charges $65 to get into its Volcano Bay water park versus $124 for other parks.
Another way to save money is by stretching out your vacation dollars by purchasing a pass for one day less than you are actually staying and using the extra day to hang out by the pool.
You can also consider using ride share services. Search for promo codes for Uber and Lyft and use them to get from the hotel to the park instead of paying $20 to $30 a day to park. You'll get to the entrance faster and save money.
Food can get costly as well. Consider using a grocery delivery service like Shipt or Instacart to deliver some food to your room. If you have a fridge you can keep snacks, cereal and sandwiches at the ready and save on eating out 3 times a day.
Another way to slash the cost is by considering a hotel on property your visiting. Express passes at Universal can run up to $150 per day on top of the admission. If you stay at one of the three on property hotels, which includes both transportation to the front gate and express privileges, you save tons.
And if possible avoid the souvenir shops like the plague. You'll almost always find it cheaper outside the park or online.
