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We are so excited to be going to Disney World and Universal Studios in a couple of weeks!!
Twelve years ago, we took our family to Disney. Both the LOML and I grew up in South Florida so we spent many summer vacations at Disney but this trip was in early December and it was a whole different and wonderful experience with all of the beautiful Christmas decorations!
Six years ago, we went to Universal. My boys are huge roller coaster fans so this park was made for them.
Looking at these pictures brings back so many fun memories!! And that is why we are all very excited to go back. A little older, maybe wiser, some a little more weighty!
There will be ten of us (our family of 8 and two beautiful girlfriends) so finding a place to stay could be very difficult and pricey.
We have a timeshare that we’ve barely used so we tried to go on their website to find a place near either park. We weren’t having any luck so we called them. They were a huge help finding us two rooms at the Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando. The pictures on their website are impressive. SEVEN POOLS!!! Each of our rooms can fit 8 people so everyone will have a bed. Sometimes when we’re traveling, being such a large family, someone always ends up sleeping on the floor. It’s costing us $500 for both rooms for seven days. That’s it!!!! Thank you Interval International!
Next, we needed to find great park ticket prices.
The LOML, the research king, hopped onto the internet and started searching. For our last Disney trip, we found a great website for smart tips when planning a trip to Disney World and Universal. The whole process can be very daunting. The website, Mouse Savers, is jam-packed with all sorts of tips and tricks for navigating all the parks. For buying Disney and Universal tickets, they stated that Undercover Tourist offered the lowest prices on tickets. They also offer hotel accommodations, car rentals, and so much more. Just looking at their home page causes my ADD brain to shut down! Click on the banner to see what I’m talking about.
When we were purchasing tickets, we decided on the 3-Day Single Park Pass for Disney. They have so many options to choose from. Below are special links to different types of passes to Disney World. If you click the links, it will direct you to the Undercover Tourist page with the specific kind of passes you’re looking for.
Disney on a Budget? Save money and time now with UndercoverTourist.com!
Save up to $49 on 4-Day Disney World Theme Park Ticket and get an extra day!
Save $53 on Disney World 4-Day Park Hopper!
Save up to $62 on Disney World 5-Day Park Hopper! Hop through all Disney parks.
We got very lucky with our Universal Studios tickets. They were having a “Buy a two-day ticket and get three free days” special. We’re thinking our boys will want to go an extra day that we won’t because they love themselves some roller coasters.
Save $60 on Universal 3-Park 3-Day Park to Park! Visit Universal’s Volcano Bay Water Theme Park.
Save $24 on Universal 3-Day 3-Park Base Ticket!
Save $53 on Universal 2-Park 2-Day Park to Park, get an extra day!
Save $46 on a 4-Day Universal Park-to-Park Ticket!
Eating out is always a huge expense when you have a large family. We try to cut costs as much as we can. Our rooms have a kitchen so we’ll visit the nearest grocery store and buy breakfast items, drinks and snacks for when we’re in the room. That’s one meal taken care of cheaply. We always splurge on a couple of dinners especially since we’re celebrating two birthdays while we’re there. We’re blessed to have kids who are very cost conscious. While in the park, they’ll look for the cheapest way to eat what they love.
Mouse Savers gives excellent tips on restaurant coupons and deals. Again, there are so many wonderful choices, it can get overwhelming.
I found this great video on how you can spend $35 a day eating at each park.
I can’t wait to share our Disney World and Universal Studio experiences with y’all. If you’d like to receive my posts right to your e-mail please consider filling out the your e-mail on the right side of this page.
Come back and read all about it!
Love y’all,
Linda