Our Unexpected PPI trip - August 2019 on a budget

[Rodney_trotter]

We weren't sure whether to post this as a Trip report or Dining Report as it is a little bit of both. As there are very few photos of food though (we kept eating the food before we took any photos ) we decided to post it here.

We received so much helpful info from this site that we wanted to share some of our thoughts/costs in case they are helpful for others. I’m sure we saved lots of money from following the advice on here. Some of our spends are priced in £’s but most are in $’s.

This was a reasonably short notice trip (we booked in May for an August holiday). We didn’t take enough food photos to do a food report and I didn’t take enough notes to do a full trip report but I wanted to do a “budget spends” report for people worried about not having enough spending money. There were 2 adults and a 12 year old but he eats more than we do.

We wouldn’t normally be able to afford a holiday like this but it was a “PPI” holiday and although we had to be careful how much we spent we also wanted to make the most of it as we won’t be doing it again in the near future. We took $1200 with us and I have a Halifax Clarity card for any emergencies or extra shopping.

We flew with United on Indirect flights. We flew in via Houston and out via Newark. We stayed in an apartment at Floridays resort on I Drive rather than a hotel room so that we could have breakfast in the apartment and could have lunch/dinner there as well when we didn’t have time to go to a restaurant or just didn’t feel like it. The apartment was exactly what we wanted and the Floridays resort was great. The food in the café was nice and reasonably priced but the drinks at the bar seemed very expensive (hence we didn’t drink there often)

We didn’t hire a car (to save money) but used a combination of Uber/Lyft & the I Trolley buses. 3 adult I ride Trolley passes cost us £28 from Orlando Attractions (rather than $54 had we bought them there) and we used these heavily. There was an app that showed when the next trolley was coming which was about 90% reliable so we didn’t wait more than 5 minutes for the trolley most of the time. It was slower than using Lyft but was definitely cheaper. I don’t think we waited more than 3 minutes for a Lyft to arrive. We also had a code for $2.50 off our first 10 Lyft rides. We spent $29 on 1 Uber and $115 dollars on 12 Lyfts. This included transfers to and from the airport.

Prices in the supermarket we used (Publix) are much higher than at home. Publix do have some good deals though so if you check their website first and plan around their deals then you can save a lot of money that way. I have attached a few receipts from Publix but have lost the receipts from our first few shops.

I had also planned on using Doordash or Uber Eats to get some take aways delivered whilst we were there. I was going to sign up when we were there but this was not possible as we did not have a US mobile number.

We used a PAYG sim from 3 in our phone for 4G data whilst there. We had a 12GB data package which cost £20. We nearly always had a good 4G connection. In hindsight we didn’t need as much as 12GB (I think we used less than 1GB) as the apartment had great wifi and all the parks and restaurants had good free wifi too.

The refillable cups at Seaworld & Universal worked slightly differently. At Seaworld the cup cost $15 plus tax and had free refills on day of purchase, subsequent refills were $1 plus tax. At Universal the cup cost $16 plus tax and had free refills on day of purchase. You then had to reactivate the cup for subsequent days ($10 plus tax per day) for free refills on those days. I preferred the Seaworld method as it worked out cheaper as we were not refilling it 10 times a day.

[Rodney_trotter]

Day 1
We flew with United from Heathrow to MCO via Houston. Food on the plane was quite nice. We had a 3 hour layover planned but we got in 30 minutes late so it was only a 2.5 hour layover. This was still plenty of time for us. We got through Immigration, collected suitcases and cleared customs in less than an hour. We then just had to go through security again and get to the next gate which was not far away. We landed at MCO at about 22:00 so just grabbed some food from Chick Fil A (it was almost the only place still open). We had a couple of chicken burgers as my wife wasn’t hungry and shared some fries. Food was quite nice and cost $12. We then got an Uber to the accommodation which cost $29 which included a $5 tip (I forgot to add a code to receive a discount from my first Uber) $41 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

I was up early so walked to Publix (it was about a 7 minute walk from our apartment) for some milk, water etc. $23 spent. We had breakfast in the room (we brought some cereals, tea & coffee with us to get us through the first few days). Had a quick look around the resort and then used the hotel shuttle to get to Universal. We were taking it easy today so there was no rush. We just wanted to get tickets sorted (we bought our Universal tickets from Musement when they had 20% off and also bought a Universal 5 day photopass when on sale at $59.99. This included a few prints and a Shutterbuttons video as well) and the photopass activated so that we didn’t have to waste time when we stayed at the Universal hotel in a few days. We had lunch in Krustyburger which was surprisingly good. $36 spent. We got the hotel shuttle back to the apartment. We needed to do a bigger shop at Publix ($53 spent) for beer & wine etc and also bought some of their fried chicken and wedges for dinner. This was really nice. $110 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

Day 3
We were having a chill day by the pool today as we thought the parks would be really busy on a Saturday, we had cereal in the room for breakfast, my son had a drink at the pool bar and we shared some nachos ($25 including tip). We then went back to the apartment for some lunch and a few beers. Lazed at the pool some more and got a Lyft ($6) to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. We had a 25% off entire check offer so total cost was $32. Food was really nice, we all really enjoyed it Got a Lyft back ($6) $67 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

Seaworld today, breakfast in room and snacks taken to park. Iride trolley to the park. $6 on lockers, $20 on food (absolutely awful), $5 Icee. Great day at Seaworld just a shame about the food. We did a small Publix shop ($18) which included a packed lunch for tomorrow at Volcano Bay. Chipotle for dinner $29 (very nice food). $78 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

We were staying at RPR tonight so as per the advice on here we had a very early breakfast in our room and then got a Lyft ($12) to RPR to check in. We were checked in and used the hotel bus to Volcano Bay and were there by 07:45 (early entry was 08:00) We got our locker sorted ($13) and linked our photopass to our Tapu Tapu’s and found some loungers to leave our towels. Also got a refillable cup for $18 as we realised we could get Icee’s in it (don’t really drink fizzy drinks). Had a great time at Volcano Bay, most of the slides were ride now for the first 90 minutes so we managed to do everything several times. It was getting busy in the afternoon so we ate our lunch and went to the hotel. We collected our luggage and took it to the room and then went off to Universal Studios for the day via the hotel boat. We got so much done with our fast passes. Went to IOA via Citywalk and had dinner in Cowfish, $71 including tip (amazing burgers, the pictures don't really do them justice. They were huge). We then did IOA and finished with the Night time lights show over Hogwarts which was lovely. $114 spent today

*The Big Squeal

Hamburguesa

*Shroomin' Swiss Burger

[Rodney_trotter]

Had a coffee in the room and checked out. Went to Voodoo Donuts for breakfast and had a Voodoo Doll, Apple Fritter and the one with bacon on top. They were all nice but the Apple fritter was the nicest, but not as nice as the apple fritter donuts from Publix in my opinion ($16 including a bottle of water). $2 for a locker at Escape from Gringotts and $11 to refill the cup. Unfortunately our plan was to use the Hogwarts Express to go over to IOA but it wasn’t running so we spent a few hours in the Studios and then walked to IOA via Citywalk and had an early lunch in the Hotdog Hall of Fame, we shared a 2 foot long hot dog, fries and coleslaw ($21). Spent the rest of the day in IOA and had a frozen Butterbeer ($8.50). We got the boat back to the hotel to get our luggage and then got a Lyft back to Floridays ($10). We got the Iride Trolley to Cici’s at the bottom of Idrive for dinner (we had a Groupon for 2 which cost $10 and paid for 1 extra meal and drinks ($16.50). Cici’s was good, much better than I had expected. Lots of fresh Pizzas and salad and everything was clean. $85 spent today.

Voodoo Donuts

Hot Dog Hall of Fame - We struggled to finish this between 3

[Rodney_trotter]

Another chill day after 2 really busy days at Universal. Breakfast in room, chilled by pool and lunch in room today. Then went to the Vineland outlets as my son needed new trainers for school. He saw a nice pair in the Nike store but wanted to check the Adidas store before buying. Decided he wanted the Nikes but when we went back they had sold the last pair in his size which led to a teenage temper tantrum. Decided to come back another day as they said there would be another delivery soon. Had dinner at Outback Steakhouse near the outlets. The food was good, they had a deal on for a drink (including beer) steak & fries for $11. Also had the Aussie sampler to share. $55 including tip. Stopped at Publix on way back ($19). $74 spent today.

[disneywiseowl]

Really enjoyed reading your report so far & appreciate the amount of detail you’ve put in.
The supermarket prices are getting scary though. $4 for milk!

I’m thinking it’s probably cheaper to eat out than in now. 🤷

[Rodney_trotter]

Thankyou

Agreed- the supermarket prices are crazy but you can still get some bargains with a bit of planning. I think we are lucky in the UK that are supermarket prices are so low. The prices in Australia are high too from memory of our trip a few years back