Is There A Cheaper Way To Do Universal?

[WDWMAD]

We have just worked out a price to visit Universal Resort for one day, doing both parks, Universal and IOA, and having the Express Passes, including £50 for food and £100 for a taxi it has come to a whopping... drum roll please... £766 for one day at the parks.

Because we want one day only we will be buying 2 Park 1 Day tickets off the Universal USA website for $165 each (not sure how much on the gate?) for 3 totalling $495 (£406), can't find single day on the UK website, only the 14 day one's.

We are going in August so decided if we are going to make the most of it we may need Express Passes, these are optional and may not be purchased, but, they are £70 each on the UK website, totalling £210.

A taxi fare quote online from Grand Floridian to Universal is costing around $52 (£43), so return would be around £100 including tip.

We have allowed around £50 for food, but, may be more I suppose if we are there until park closure.

So grand total of:
Park Tickets: £406
Express Passes: £210
Taxi: £100
Food: £50
Total: £766 (£556 without Express)

We don't want to stop in a Universal Hotel because we have spent a fortune to stop in the Grand Floridian and we get food included, so doing this for the Express Passes isn't really an option and will cost more, ticket wise, to do the parks for two days anyway.

We aren't hiring a car because this is the only day we will be off Disney property and we are using Magical Express for transfers, so pretty pointless really.

I really cannot see a cheaper way of doing this, has anybody been the third week of August who can let us know how busy it is there, this may decide whether we go for Express Passes or not?

[kellsbells]

Using Uber instead of a taxi will save you some money. Last year our journey from AKL to HRH was $27 each way

[SunbreezeFL]

save Universal for your next visit £766 is crazy for a day and even with express passes you will struggle to see everything

[ILoveLeith]

That's an awful lot of money for one day. I think I would leave Universal for the next time .

[Disney Bear]

How long are you willing to queue? Avoid the weekends - Monday/Tues/Wed tend to be quieter days.

You could wait until you are there to get the express passes? If you don't need them - that's a saving.

What about a cheap one night in one of the hotels that does not give you express passes but does give you early entry? You don't have to stay at the hotel but you could try and get a few rides in early and then just queue for the rest without express? You could get Cabana bay for about £140 - cheaper than 3 express passes and with money back etc you could save £90 on buying express - that said I think you would get more done with express rather than early entry.

Remember for food you can take snacks with you and city walk has plenty of choice and might be a cheaper option than eating in the park.

[amandajane10]

Its almost cheaper getting 14 day park tickets. I think 1 day isnt enough time we usually do i park per day then a 3rd day doing both parks just the rides we want to do again. A night in one of the better hotels would give you express passes for 2 days.

[curlysue2]

We love Universal and prefer it to Disney but I wouldn't spend that much for 1 day to be honest same as I wouldn't if it was the same for Disney it's just not worth it in my opinion.
Also 1 day isn't long enough especially if you love HP.

If money was no issue and by that I mean I was loaded maybe I would do it :-)

[Moorlandman]

I am trying to work out how to do Universal as well. For a family of 4 in August, one night at Hard Rock or similar is approx £330 + £12 parking + £100 for meals/drinks. So about £442 and then tickets are about £900 for the 4 of us. So £1332 although I think we will get 3 or 4 days out of the tickets

[WDWMAD]

To be honest if it wasn't for Harry Potter we wouldn't bother with Universal this time at all, but, my daughter is a massive fan and I was really impressed with it last time we went, best part of the holiday.

Universal have been really clever by putting Harry Potter in both parks and making it connected via the Hogwarts Express because we would have just done IOA before.

My wife isn't a thrill seeker so there aren't many rides which she will go on there, Gringotts is the top of her limit and we're not going to let her sit around all day waiting for us when we have paid that much. I know we're going to have to go because we have spent so much this time, we won't be going again until our daughter is much older and won't appreciate it all.

This thread has at least told me that we can't do it much cheaper than what we are, so thank you all for your feedback.

[THOscar]

You can save money by using Uber but I'd suggest budgeting more for food. Lunch cost us around £15 each when we went 2 years ago and if you plan to be there all day you'll possibly want a second meal there too. I'd encourage not to try and do it all in a day though as there's so much to do. You can spend most of a day just in harry potter!

I'd also consider skipping the express tickets if you're trying to save. We were there in October so maybe it wasn't as busy as when you go but we didn't queue more than 30 minutes for anything, apart from minions which had a 2 hour queue and we skipped.

Edit: Something to consider for cost saving is getting a grocery delivery to your hotel and taking a picnic or something.