How to Plan a Trip to Universal Orlando

Back in 2019, our family traveled to Universal Studios for the first time.  Our kids absolutely loved it and have asked, several times, to go back.  That trip was our last big trip before everything got crazy.  Now that things are starting to get back to normal, we decided to book another trip!

For the last seven years, we’ve ditched the traditional Christmas where our kids get a bunch of toys they don’t need, and opted for family experiences instead.  This year, our kids’ Christmas gift was this trip to Universal.

When to Travel

Because we’re always traveling on a budget, we don’t typically do our trips during Christmas break or peak times.  Prices for flights, hotels, etc. are incredibly expensive during this time.  Not to mention, parks are usually the busiest when school is out.  However, mid-January works out really well for our family.  Not only are costs lower, but our kids also have two days off school for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  Because they only need to miss three days of school for a week vacation, it’s a perfect time to get away!

How do I begin planning a trip?

I plan out all of our trips—from food and activities to lodging and transportation.  We aren’t really a hop in the car and go kind of family.  Unless it’s just a quick day trip—but even then, I’m still doing some planning.  If you’re in need of a budget worksheet to help you get started planning any vacation, check out this post!

Once we’ve figured out a destination, I start researching flights and hotels.  Those are undoubtedly the biggest expenses of a vacation.  For Universal, I already had an idea where we’d stay and knew the approximate cost so I started researching flights.

# 1 Booking Flights

Flights are usually the first thing I book.  There are so many options for accommodations–as long as you’re not traveling somewhere during a peak time, you can really hold off until you find a decent-priced flight. When I am looking at flights, there are a few places I look:

Google Flights

I like that I can put in my destination (i.e. flight from CLE to MCO) and Google will show me all the flights and costs in a calendar view.  You can switch airports too—so I typically toggle between Cleveland, Akron, Pittsburgh and Columbus since they are all relatively close to where I live.  I suggest you do the same!  Often times, one of those places will have a significantly cheaper rate or better flight times than the other.

I do the same for my destination.  For this trip to Universal, most people would fly into Orlando International.  However, Orlando-Sanford is pretty close as well.  And since Florida has multiple airports within an easy driving distance, places like Tampa may also be an option.

Sky Scanner

I also use Sky Scanner when I am looking for cheap flights to any destination.  Sometimes I just want to see what’s cheap—and if I find something good, that may just become our next destination!  In the app, you can select an airport you’re leaving from, but then choose “anywhere” as your destination.  You can see if there are any cheap flights available for the dates you select.

One thing to remember when searching for flights on Google or Sky Scanner is that some airlines don’t advertise their flights, such as Southwest or Breeze.  In order to see those flights, you’d need to go directly those airlines’ websites.

When I am ready to book my flights, I always go directly to the airline’s website.  The flight costs are usually the same and I figure it’d be easier to deal directly with the airline if I had to cancel than with a third party. 

This year’s flight: Breeze Airways

For this trip, I booked our flights a few months ago with Breeze Airways.  If I find a cheap flight, I typically book it pretty quick because they will usually keep going up.  I found a really cheap flight going from Columbus, OH to Tampa, FL, plus it’s non-stop and leaves and comes back at a great time. 

I could have chosen a closer airport, but the cost would have been a lot higher and our flight times wouldn’t have been as good.  Our total, roundtrip flight (including bags) was only $540 for our family of five.  Plus, Breeze airlines has no change or cancel fees so if we do need to cancel, we’d be able to reschedule with no fees. You can read our review of Breeze Airways here.

#2 Booking Accommodations

Offsite Accomodations

Once I knew our dates, I booked our hotel.  For this trip, we’re actually splitting our stay between a Hilton brand hotel and a Universal Hotel.  Every so often, we get an offer from a hotel chain for a cheap 4-day, 3-night trip to one of their resorts.  The catch is that we have to listen to their timeshare presentation.  We’ve done these in the past and have said “no” and other times we’ve actually bought into it.  You can read our post about the timeshare we own in Mexico.

For this stay, we’ll be at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at SeaWorld Orlando.  Our hotel cost was $167 TOTAL for all three nights and once we attend their presentation, we’ll receive another free night (up to $200) at almost any of their properties.  Hilton is our favorite brand of hotels so this was a no-brainer for us. 

I use the Hilton Honors credit card for almost all of my purchases, which allows us to rack up Hilton Honor points with our purchases.  We use these points to stay for entire vacations or when we want a quick weekend escape. You can read our post about how we save quite a bit of money on our trips with this card and my Discover It Card.

Universal’s Cabana Bay Resort

For the last three nights, we’ll be staying at Universal Studio’s Cabana Bay Resort.  We stayed at Cabana Bay on our last trip to Universal and we loved it.  It’s one of the cheaper Universal hotels—although you can find the Endless Summer resorts even cheaper. 

One thing to note is that when you book your Universal hotel, you can always cancel and rebook if you find it cheaper at a later date.  When I initially booked, our cost per night was $147, but about a month or so later, I found it for $99/night.  I canceled and rebooked saving us around $150!

Universal has several options when it comes to accommodations.  For us, Cabana Bay seems like it offers the most for kids.  They have a huge pool with a waterslide, lazy river, arcade and bowling alley.  Some of the other resorts offer more upscale restaurants or even free Express Passes.  It’s best to do your research to see what makes the most sense for your family. 

When booking any of Universal’s resorts, you are required to pay the first night as a deposit.  The rest is due when you check in.  I use my credit card for the deposit so I can easily cancel and rebook, if needed.  When I get to the resort, I will pay the balance with gift cards.  We live by Giant Eagle grocery stores, which offers “Fuel Perks” when you buy gift cards through them.  I typically buy Universal gift cards for all aspects of our trip including our hotel, food, souvenirs, etc. so I get more bang for my buck! 

Cabana Bay Tip

If you’re staying at Cabana Bay or plan to pool hop, they have a lazy river, but they do NOT provide the inner tubes. You can either purchase them or bring your own. We packed our own to save money and the attendants will blow them up for you!

Universal Resort Perks

Universal allows you to check in early at any of their hotels. You can actually check in before Early Park Admission so you can take advantage of that perk on the day you arrive! Universal will keep your bags for you and text you when your room is ready so you don’t have to lose any valuable park time!

If you’re planning to purchase Express Passes, it’s probably a good idea to look into staying at one of the hotels that include them as part of your stay.  You may end up finding it cheaper to stay in a higher end hotel than pay for those passes separately!

All of Universal’s resorts also offer transportation to Universal Studios/CityWalk so you won’t need a car if you’re not planning to go off property. This is a huge cost savings.  They do NOT, however, offer a shuttle to the resort from the airport or back so you’ll need to pay for an airport shuttle or Uber/Lyft.

Another perk when staying at a Universal Resort is that you can “resort hop.”  Want to swim at the pool at Royal Pacific or have dinner at Portofino Bay?  You can!  If you’re planning to swim, just head to the front desk to get a guest access pass!  Just know that some of the Universal resorts don’t allow pool hopping (i.e. Endless Summer resorts).

#3 Booking Transportation

Car Rental vs. Uber/Lyft

Since our flights are booked and our accommodations are handled, now is when I plan transportation.  Because we’re flying into Tampa and not staying at a Universal Resort for our entire stay, a car rental is needed.  We’ve found with past vacations that renting a car for the day is often cheaper than a shuttle for our family. 

What’s nice is that your car rentals do NOT need to be round trip.  We are picking up our car on Saturday from Tampa International and returning it in Orlando on Tuesday (since we won’t need it when we’re at Cabana Bay).  Then we’re picking up another car on Friday right from our hotel and returning it to Tampa International.

Car Rental Tip: Book early! I’ve noticed on the last couple of trips we’ve taken, prices have skyrocketed as the trip dates got closer. We’ve used Expedia as well as Tickets at Work to book car rentals.

Do I need transportation if I am not leaving Universal property?

The short answer is no, you won’t need a car rental during your time at Universal, if you’re planning to stay on resport property. You’ll be able to utilize Universal’s shuttles or even walk to the parks. However, you WILL need to get transportation from the airport to the hotel and back.

When we went to Universal in 2019, we flew into and out of Orlando-Sanford.  We didn’t need a rental car for that trip so it saved us that cost.  They had a shuttle (around $50 total) that took us to Cabana Bay.  We ended up booking an Uber back to the airport on our way home.  And because it was the first time my husband used Uber, we got a coupon code for our ride, saving us 50%!  The typical cost of an Uber XL for our family of five to the airport is between $40 and $45.

#4 Purchasing Universal Tickets & Annual Passes

Tickets

Now that we have all of our flights, accommodations and transportation booked, we can start looking at tickets.  When we went to Universal in the past, they were offering a buy 3 days, get 2 free promotion.  I was also able to use my Tickets at Work account (which is set up through my employer) to get an even better deal.  However, I later noticed that those 5 day tickets weren’t much less than Annual passes.

We also didn’t have park-to-park tickets in 2019, meaning that we could only go to one park per day.  This is typically fine for us, but one of the things we didn’t get to do was ride the Hogwarts train from Islands of Adventure to Universal (and back).  This ride is only available when you have a park-to-park ticket, which also costs more.

It’s also good to keep in mind that Volcano Bay is a third Universal Park, but your tickets must specifically include Volcano Bay for you to go. Universal has both 2 park and 3 park tickets/annual passes. So be sure to check out those differences!

Annual Passes

This year, we’ve decided to spend the extra money and get Annual Passes.  We’ll automatically get park-to-park tickets as well as other perks too!  Not to mention, we’ll be able to get into the parks everyday—instead of just when we’re staying at Cabana Bay! And hopefully, we can come back again before the end of the year!

Universal has four tiers of passes—some with block out dates so it’s a good idea to look into that BEFORE you choose your pass. The four Annual Pass Tiers are Seasonal, Power, Preferred and Premier. You can see the perks of all of the levels here.

Our plan is to get Seasonal Passes for 4 of us and then one of us will get the Preferred pass for some additional savings.  The Preferred pass is $100 more than the Seasonal Pass tier, but offers free parking (after your first visit) and a 10% discount on most restaurants and stores in Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay, plus CityWalk and restaurants and shops in Universal hotels too.  We’ll easily make that extra $100 worth our while since we’ll need to park when we have our car.  Couple that with the discount at restaurants and the savings will be over $100!

Parking Tip

Parking at CityWalk (which is where you go to get into the parks) is $27 before 6pm.  That’s even if you just plan to go to a restaurant to eat and are not even going to the parks!  However, they do offer free parking after 6pm.  There are some ways around this fee including the Annual Pass.  For the Preferred pass, free parking is only available AFTER you go to the park for the first time.  Thankfully, our first day in the park will be after 6pm so we’ll be able to take advantage of the free parking, then activate our passes and get free parking going forward. 

If you don’t have an Annual Pass, you can also get free parking when you purchase two matinee tickets from Cinemark inside of CityWalk.  You will have to pay for parking first though—then you’ll get reimbursed on the way out when you show your tickets. 

This is something I wish we would have known a few years ago when we just wanted to eat lunch.  We had a late flight and were just killing time and it was pouring out—a movie would have been a perfect option for us, plus we could have eaten and got free parking!

Hotel Savings Tip

Having Annual Passes also offers us discounts on hotels—which is how our hotel was so much cheaper when we rebooked.  Thankfully, you can book your hotel before you actually have your Annual Pass.  Just be prepared to show it at check in.

Gift Card Tips

I’ve mentioned that I use gift cards to pay for all aspects of our trip.  You can use gift cards on tickets and annual passes, but you’d need to purchase them at the gate.  You can’t pay for them online with gift cards.  It’s good to know that gate prices are a bit higher than what’s online, so you’ll need to decide which option is better.  You may also find cheaper tickets through retailers such as Tickets at Work (which is where we purchased them in the past).  Florida residents are also eligible for special discounts.

#5 Booking Restaurants

Now that all the big stuff is out of the way, you get to plan (in my opinion) the best part—FOOD!  No matter where we go, I am always looking for new, unique or local restaurants to try.  Since we’ll have a car for the first three days, we’re going to eat at some non-Universal restaurants.  As a matter of fact, we’re heading to Disney to try some of theirs!  No—we aren’t buying park tickets, but we’re heading to Animal Kingdom Lodge to try Sanaa as well as Disney Springs to try Morimoto.  Both of these restaurants are very highly rated so I am excited to give them a whirl!

Disney/Non-Universal Restaurants

Sanaa offers Indian-inspired African dishes with a view of wild life.  Their bread service comes highly recommended so that’s certainly on my list!

Morimoto is Masaharu Morimoto’s flagship restaurant that serves dishes inspired by both Japanese tradition and Western culinary techniques.  My kids love sushi and other Asian food so we’re excited for this restaurant too.

Keep in mind that you can use Disney gift cards at Disney Springs and at any Disney hotel/restaurant. Just know that Disney and Universal are NOT the same! Disney and Universal are like Coke and Pepsi–they are completely different brands so you CANNOT interchange gift cards or tickets!

Universal Studios/CityWalk Restaurants

At Universal Studios and CityWalk, we’ve booked Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, Mythos, Finnegan’s Bar & Grill, and The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar.  All of these restaurants are new to us with the exception of Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.  That was one of our favorites from our last trip so we’re heading there again!  We’ve also eaten at Bigfire, which was good.

Because these restaurants can fill up fast, we went ahead and made reservations for all of them.  I’d rather be guaranteed a spot and not have to worry about long wait times.  Food is also a pretty big chunk of our trip expenses.  We typically go to one sit-down restaurant each day and then grab something light for lunch. 

Restaurant Booking Tips

Before booking restaurants, I look at their menus in advance for a couple of reasons.  Obviously, I want to make sure they’ll have things our entire family will like.  And second, I try to give myself a rough estimate on how much we’ll spend on our meal.  Remember, I buy gift cards in advance so I try to plan as closely as I can so I know how many I need.

I also read blogs, Facebook Posts, etc. to get suggestions on the best food, snacks and drinks in the park.  When I see something we’d like, I add it to my list of things to try.  I am a huge foodie so I am always down for a good suggestion!

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have PARK TO PARK tickets (meaning that you can go to multiple parks in the same day), you’ll have to carefully plan your restaurant reservations. If you decide to to go Islands of Adventure for the day, but you have a reservation at a restaurant in Universal Studios, you will NOT be able to go to the restaurant! You’ll need to make sure you choose a restaurant that is in the park you plan to enter for the day.

Ways to Save on Food Costs

Eat Breakfast in the Room

If you’re looking to save money on food, you have some options!  For us, we typically don’t pay for breakfast.  If we won’t have a car, I’ll throw things into our bag that can be eaten and won’t spoil (i.e. cereal bars, pop tarts, oatmeal or even cereal since most places have small bottles of milk available). 

If you have a car or can use a delivery service like Instacart, you have even more options (i.e. milk, breakfast sandwiches, fruit, and even eggs to cook in the microwave).  Rooms at Cabana Bay have a mini-fridge; plus, if you’re staying in a family suite, you’ll also have a microwave.  And even if your room doesn’t have a microwave, you can still use the ones available in the Bayliner Diner.

Pack a lunch and/or snacks

You are also allowed to bring food into the park.  So, you may want to consider packing a bag with snacks or sandwiches.  I’ll say that this was a lot easier for us when we had a stroller because we didn’t have to carry the bag. However, now that we won’t have a stroller, we’ll avoid carrying a cooler bag into the park. 

If you don’t want to carry extra bags either, consider taking a mid-day break and head back to your room to have lunch, relax or enjoy the pool.  The Florida heat can really hit hard, so having some mid-day downtime isn’t a bad idea!

Share snacks/meals in the park

And if you don’t want to completely miss out on the theme park food, you can also share meals in the park.  We do this a lot!  We like to have “tastes” so we’ll get a few different things and just share them so we get to try a variety of food/snacks.  Kid’s meals are another option.  Some offer a good amount of food that can be split into two small meals (for kids) or will make for a perfect snack for adults or kids.  Plus, they are usually cheaper than an adult meal.

Order Water

One of the ways we save money at restaurants is to order water instead of pop.  Most of the time, we’re ordering fun drinks or pay for the refillable cup so we’re already drinking sugary drinks.  It’s a perfect time to work on your water intake! 

I also bring collapsible water bottles.  Water is free throughout the parks and since these water bottles are silicon, they actually roll up into the size of a pair of socks when they are empty.  This means they don’t take up much space in our bag and keep us hydrated.

Bookbags, Fanny Packs & Lockers

And speaking of bags, I prefer to carry a fanny pack.  I know they are so 1980’s, but they are convenient!  I have a smaller one, but it’s big enough for the essentials—phone, money, sunscreen, sanitizer, etc.  Plus, I don’t have to worry about a crossbody strap being in all of my pictures.  And I don’t have to take it off either.  It will just sit right under my shirt, completely hidden!

Bag Policy

It’s important to know what you can and can’t bring into the park, which you can see here. Also, many of the rides have a no bag policy.  There are FREE lockers available that can be used while you’re in the ride line, but they are not free all day.  If you do have a larger bag or other items that can’t go on with you, they can at least be locked up for no charge!  Please note that the lockers aren’t huge so some bags may not fit in the lockers.  Larger lockers are available, but those will cost you. Read about Universals lockers here.

Universal Vacation Packages

Universal offers a variety of vacation packages that may be a better option for your family. Instead of booking your hotel and tickets separately, you may find better value in one of their packages. Packages include hotel accommodations and tickets, but may also include car rentals/shuttle services, flights, Express Passes, dining experiences, photo packages, VIP Experiences and more. This gives you one price for your trip, rather than piecing it together. You can mock up packages on their website to see the best option for your family.

Other Tips & Things to Consider

Kid’s Spending Account

One thing that has worked well for our family is to get each of our kids their own gift card.  Each kid has a set amount of money on their card that they can use for souvenirs, extra snacks, arcade games, etc.  This allows them to choose how they want to spend their money—and helps give them a sense of responsibility. 

If they want to splurge on something, they can, but once their money is gone, it’s gone.  This also saves us from overspending or consistently telling them no.  We’ve found that when it comes to extra snacks, they usually work together—they will each pay for something different, but share with each other so they all get a try. 

Photo Package

It’s not easy getting a family picture so we opted for the My Universal Photos package. This allows us to get pictures taken in certain areas around the park, with characters and on some rides. I have a DSLR camera, but I usually just bring my phone into the park so I don’t have to carry it around or risk it getting wet. The photo package is just a nice way to get some family pictures.

And you’ll notice that in our family pictures, our outfits are typically coordinated. You can read my post here about how I pack and why we coordinate!

Driving Tips

We’ve made the 16-hour drive from Ohio to Florida in the past so it’s definitely do-able. And at the time, it was more cost effective for our family than flying.  If you do choose to drive, just be sure to factor in things like parking costs—especially if you’re trying to decide if driving or flying is the better deal.

Parking Costs

If you’re not staying on park property, you’ll need to pay for parking at CityWalk, which is $27 before 6pm.  After 6pm, it’s free.  However, when we go to the parks, they are only open until 7pm so if you’re planning to just go to Universal at night, you may not get much time before the park closes. 

If you are staying on property, you still don’t get free parking.  We’re staying at Cabana Bay and the hotel charges $18/night to park. 

Remember that the Annual Pass does offer free parking at CityWalk on the higher tiers so you may find that the added benefits it gives you outweighs the added cost of that pass.

Offsite Accommodations

A trip to Universal is completely do-able when staying on an offsite property.  We stayed offsite for Disney a few years back and saved quite a bit of money—even adding in the extra costs we had, such as parking.

For this trip, our hotel cost was only $99/night and we could have stayed at other Universal resorts even cheaper.  You may not find many offsite hotels much cheaper, if at all–unless you’re cashing in points you’ve earned.  In addition, we like the Early Park Admission perk, which is only available for Universal Resort guests.  Plus, if you are flying, it’s nice to not have to worry about any rental car or Uber/Lyft fees to get to the park each day.  Universal provides transportation to the parks/CityWalk right from every Universal hotel.

Universal Activities & Budget Planner

When I plan our vacation, I use my budget planner. I’ve added another worksheet to plan out your daily activities. I use this second page to keep all park information such as opening and closing times, Early Park Admission info, flight info, dining reservations and planned activities. I also jot down snacks, desserts and drinks that I want to get in the park. In addition, you can also see my park necessities list. You can type in any of the fields and make the sheet your own!

On the Budget worksheet, you can change any of the white boxes with descriptions or costs. The numbers currently in there are from our last Universal Orlando Trip.

What suggestions do you have?

Did I miss anything or do you have other tips for planning a Universal trip?  What about suggestions on how to save money?  Share your tips with us!  Don’t forget to share your favorite foods, snacks or drinks–we’re always up for new things to try!