Updated January 2024

Right. Now that some of the boring aspects of the holiday booking is out of the way let’s start looking at the real reason we’re here – theme parks! Woo Hoo!

This is final item you need to book before you fly out.

If you’re not already aware central Florida has 4 main theme parks resorts in and around the Orlando area:

Legoland Florida has a theme park similar to that in Windsor, a water park and 2 onsite hotels. It is situated about a 1 hour 20 minute drive south of MCO – Orlando International Airport just off Highway 27 near to Haines City.

Right next door to Legoland is the Peppa Pig World Theme Park which opened in 2022. This is a small theme park with playgrounds, a boat ride and a little roller coaster. It is generally considered part of Legoland Resort as they share car parks and hotels although the Peppa Pig Theme Park has its own entrance and so requires a separate ticket. You’ll often find a Legoland/Peppa Pig combo ticket is the most cost effective way of visiting these parks.

Sea World Resort includes the famous Sea World marine life theme park, Aquatica waterpark and the Discovery Cove all day dolphin experience in Orlando. Busch Gardens wildlife theme park in Tampa is also part of the Sea World resort.

Universal Orlando Resort is Florida’s second most popular theme park resort and has 3 theme parks each of which has a Harry Potter themed land, a large water park, a shopping and entertainment mall and 7 hotels.

And of course the most popular and largest theme park resort of them all is of course, Walt Disney World (WDW).

It features 4 large theme parks, 2 water parks, a large shopping and entertainment mall and around 18 Disney operated hotels. All this is set in around 40 square miles(!) of landscaped Florida forests and lakes, about 30 minutes drive from MCO – Orlando International Airport.

Too much choice!?!

The biggest mistake anyone can make when planning this type of holiday is to try and squeeze in every single theme park in Florida – 16 in total across all 4 resorts, and waterparks, into 14 days (this is from personal experience!). It simply isn’t possible. There’s enough attractions at WDW alone to occupy a family for 2 weeks and the new additional theme park at Universal is likely to make visiting all three parks and the Volcano Bay water park a week long adventure. Therefore it’s worth doing a lot of research (social media platforms and of course our TMTO park guides can help) and having a good long think about which parks are best suited to your family and especially your kids and of course your budget before parting with your cash. If you’re planning on visiting WDW then we would recommend visiting just one other theme park resort. If you’re not visiting WDW then it may be possible to get through the 3 smaller resorts – Sea World, Universal and Legoland. But remember, it’s not just about rides; your time is taken up with the shows, firework displays, parades, characters meets and sometimes just wandering around taking in the decor, the food and atmosphere of the parks.

From 2022 Walt Disney World and Universal are using e-tickets. You can exchange these for real card tickets at guest services in the theme park resort which make for a nice souvenir. At Disney World guests can also transfer their ticket to a Magic Band. Ticket sellers will send you a Will Call voucher with a unique code. With this you can assign each ticket to each person in your party using the My Disney Experience (MDE) or Universal Orlando app. Disney’s MDE will also allow you to add your tickets your phones Apple Wallet or Google Wallet for quick access.

Kids 9 and under get a small discount but not much! Adult tickets are required for anyone 10 years and older. Babies and toddlers 3 and under go free and do not require a ticket.

TMTO Budget: The most popular combination of 14 day WDW and Universal tickets will set you back around £3600 for a family of four – around £900 (2024 prices) per person depending on the time of year.

Combination Tickets

The UK ticket sellers will also offer a small saving (only around £10 per ticket) if you buy two or more resort tickets together in a combo ticket. Although this is a bit of a misleading description as you will still get a set of tickets for each resort i.e. one set for Disney and another for Universal. But again, shop around and compare prices. It may be cheaper to buy tickets for each resort from different sellers.

TMTO TIP: Always buy your theme park tickets in the UK and get them emailed or delivered to your home at least 2 months before you fly. Buying your tickets when you’re in Florida is a big no-no! Tickets from a local Orlando seller will be expensive and require you to purchase add-ons which UK issued tickets will usually have already included like park hopping and entry to the water parks.

UK sellers will also be able to offer you tickets for other attractions like the Orlando ICON Wheel and Madame Tussauds on International Drive, the Kennedy Space Centre and airboat rides, hot air balloon rides and boat trips although these can also be booked locally and depending on the exchange rate can be sometimes cheaper if booked when you’re already on holiday.

Seasonal Pricing

As of 2022 Walt Disney World have been adding a premium to their Magic Tickets depending on what time of year you visit. They now have a low (value Disney call it), medium (regular) and high (peak) season price for each theme park ticket. Lucky for us Brits however, is that August is generally a mix of regular and value season since most US schools have started back in early August. Value prices for 14 days are around £530. Christmas and New Year are the peak season so expect to pay nearly £600 for a visit to WDW during the festive period. Check out the Disney calendar for a day by day view at the WDW tickets web page.

18 day validity

From 2022 a 14 day Walt Disney World Magic Ticket has an 18 day validity. This means that you can visit any of the theme parks and water parks at WDW up to 14 days within an 18 day window (this includes park hopping – you can enter any theme park or water park as many times as you like in a day and this still only counts as one visit). This allows you a bit of space for chill days or a trip to the beach if you plan on spending more than 2 weeks in Florida. e.g. if your first day in the parks is Monday 7th August your ticket will remain valid until Thursday 24th August as long as you’ve had a few days away from the parks in that time.

If you’re only visiting for a short time there is also a 7 day Magic Ticket available. It’s not as good value as the 14 day Magic Ticket but does have a 15 day validity.

Disney Memory Maker, PhotoPass & add-ons

Each adult (10 years+) Walt Disney World ticket will usually come with the Disney Memory Maker. This is another great addition which is included in UK tickets and is only available to US guests as a purchased add-on. It allows you to use the Disney PhotoPass professional photographers at the character meets and theme park landmarks and capture your ride photos to view and download using the Photopass section of the My Disney Experience app or website. It typically costs $219 per person but as mentioned is included in a UK adult ticket but double check that this is definitely included before you buy. Also included in all UK tickets are entry to the Disney’s water parks which for many other visitors is a separately purchased add-on. Park hopping is usually another add-on but again should be included in any UK issued ticket.

Time scale: You can buy tickets from the UK sellers over a year out from your departure flight but, in our experience, it is usually cheaper to get them the same year you’re visiting Florida e.g if you’re planning your holiday for August, wait until the January or February before to buy your park tickets. Do not leave getting your park tickets to the last minute especially if you’re visiting WDW as you will want to have your tickets loaded on your phone so you’re ready to scan through the gate on the first day plus it will allow for any delays in emailing the tickets or printing the voucher if needed.

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Shop around to find the best deal for park tickets by looking at the four main UK suppliers:

• Attraction Tickets www.attractiontickets.com These are the biggest UK suppliers of USA theme park and attraction tickets and so will often offer freebies when you purchase from them. In 2014 they were offering free Legoland Florida tickets when you bought any Disney or Universal tickets. 2018 they are giving a free trip to the Orlando ICON Wheel, Sea Life Centre and Madame Tussauds on International Drive.

Below are other well established UK based, authorised ticket sellers with many years experience all of which we have bought tickets from in the past.

• American Attractions www.americanattractions.co.uk
• Florida Tix www.floridatix.com
• Orlando Attractions www.orlandoattractiontickets.co.uk

All of these sellers will be able to supply you with gate ready e-tickets (not emailed vouchers which have to be exchanged before entering). Most ticket sellers will have a secure ‘wallet’ area only you can access where you will be able to download your tickets and then add them to your phone using the theme park app.

Undercover Tourist www.undercovertourist.com is another official ticket seller but they are based in the USA so are unable to issue a Walt Disney 7 or 14 Magic Ticket but they do have all of the Special Event tickets available for purchase. We have used them for the After Hours events at WDW and also for Disneyland and Universal in California as these tickets are not typically available on the UK sites. Because you’re going to paying in US Dollars ensure you use your travel credit card or Revolut when processing the payments.

Of course you can buy tickets direct from the Walt Disney World and Universal websites but these are usually not the cheapest. But it’s still worth a look as occasionally they’ll have deals and freebies especially if you book a hotel with them.

Virgin Holidays and British Airways Holidays can also issue tickets if you are buying a package holiday from them.

Ensure you visit all of the above websites and make a note of which one is the cheapest or who is offering the best freebies.