So, we have our airline and we have our hotel..I decided on the Runaway. It just
looks so awesome. Granted, it's probably not the most frugal option but
it IS a vacation, so I can afford to spend a few more of my saved
pennies. So, the epitome of Florida is Mickey Mouse. The prices are OUT
RAGE OUS..say it loud with me..OUT RAGE OUS. It's a necessary evil
though. I happen to have my own little princess who is dying to see the
Magic Castle. There are actually ways to save money on Disney tickets
though. Truth be told, I think my kids are going to want to see Sea
World a lot more! So, here we go with Disney World tickets. I first
went directly to the Disney World
official site. The cost for all of us, 2 adults and 2 kids, for a 2 day
ticket is a whopping $512. I'm in the wrong business. Maybe I could
open up a theme park with a singing moose and make a fortune. So, I
head over to Orlando FunTickets
and find that I can get my tickets at a discounted rate! More days,
less cost. I don't think I want to spend 3 days in Disney though. It's
a little bit of overkill. Another great site for discounted Disney
Tickets is Know Before U Go.
I found some great sale prices. One other thing that you can do is when
you get to Orlando, if you stop at any of the hundreds of kiosks that
are selling time shares, sign up, go to a 1 hour demo and they give you
a 4 pack of FREE Disney World tickets. That's what I did last time. It
was just my husband and I but we had a great time at the presentation
(major AC) and we got our free Disney tickets.
Like
I said, I can't wait to take the kids to Sea World! It was the
highlight of my last trip to Orlando. So, let's see how much the
tickets are for that. I head over to the official Sea World
site. For all 4 of us it is $231.80! WOOHOO, great price..AND, with a 7
day advance purchase we can get a free day. So, we get 4 2-day passes
for $231.80. I love it and so will the kids. We can also upgrade for a
couple of hundred dollars more and get Park Hopper passes that will
also get us into Wet N Wild and Universal Studios. I'll check their
prices. I loved Wet N Wild and Universal bored me. It's only fair to
find out though how much it would be. So, Wet N Wild
will cost us $157.42 for the day for all 4 of us. Still sounds like fun
and I spend that much to take the kids to Water Country up in New
Hampshire. The good news is that you can very often find coupon and
promo codes online prior to going and you can get the tickets for
around $30 each! So, it could be as low as $120 for the day.
So,
how are we going to get around while in Orlando? The obvious answer is
rental car. But, you could probably skip that and either walk or take a
taxi (shameless plug) while down there. It depends how far your hotel
is from major attractions. We rented a car while down there the last
time and I don't think we put 70 miles on it in 7 days. Such a waste at
$50 a day and it was ugly neon green. I checked out the taxi service
available and I am duly impressed. You can go to Orlando Sanford Taxi and find out all of the prices and amenities. 9 passengers can ride for the price of 1. When we were there last time we used Payless Car Rental. The price was fair and I shouldn't complain. It's live and learn. A good site to use is Rental Car Momma. This site has a list of all available discounts and coupons for rental cars. Check it out!I recommend eating off property at any of these places. Go right after breakfast and leave before dinner. You can find many many family friendly restaurants available right on International Drive in Orlando. I think our best meal there was at Bennigan's. Many of the chain restaurants have an inexpensive buffet which will satisfy everyone in the family or the have "Kids Eat Free." Free is always an
excellent meal. One in particular jumped out at me..Gator's Dockside.
Kids eat free on Tuesday nights. Great menu for everyone. I know IHOP
also has a day where "Kids Eat Free." So, we've saved money on
airlines, hotels, rental cars, taxis, food, and attraction tickets.
OHHH, you should check this out..if you go without kids..last time I
was there I saw a poster that said "Call 1-800-Roll-711." We
called..it's a free gambling cruise. The bus picks you up for free and
takes you down to Coco Beach for a gambling cruise..includes dinner! I
lost a ton of cash but it was my own fault..lol. Children are NOT
allowed. Until next time, keep textingChaCha and Happy Saving!
