6 Tips To Help You Save Money In Theme Parks

Theme parks are great for a day of entertainment and fun, but they can really be expensive! The average ticket costs $115, and that’s just the base cost. Add on food, souvenirs, and parking, and your day can cost hundreds of dollars. If you’re planning a trip to one in the near future, here are six great ways to save money so that you can have more fun without breaking the bank. Our goal with this article is to provide you with some tips to help you save money in theme parks.

1.) Take Public Transportation Instead of Paying For Parking

You might not find this cheaper if you’re going to a huge theme park, but taking public transportation instead of paying for parking is a great way to save money when you’re visiting a smaller one.

At the time of writing this article, Disney standard parking is $25 and Universal Studios is $26, which I find to be insane. It is kind of irritating that you spend all that money on a theme park ticket and then eat, plus souvenirs, then pay a parking fee when you already purchased the theme park ticket. I understand there are costs, but it’s a parking lot, anything over $10 is insane in my opinion.

If you’re staying in a hotel, you might also be able to park your car there for free (and then maybe even get around on their shuttle).

Another option if you are close enough to the Parks is taking an Uber or a Lyft. Paying $15 instead of 26 will at least allow you to save a few bucks.

2.) Bring Own Drinks Into The Theme Parks

One way to save money in theme parks is by bringing your own drinks. Most parks do allow you to bring in bottled water. If you are in Florida, bringing something that is insulated will help your drinks stay cooler longer throughout the day. You could refill those at fountains. You could ask food kiosks for ice as well to help cool down the drinks on a warm summer day.

In addition, if you’re traveling with children, you can also ask for free cups of water at restaurants and fast-food chains. In the Florida parks I have found that both Disney and Universal do offer small cups of water because they certainly do not want you becoming dehydrated while in their parks, no one wants to see that.

Theme park policies do change so it is best to go to the theme parks website to view what they allow you to bring into the park. This will allow you to plan accordingly on what you will bring and help you plan to save money at the theme parks.

3.) Bring Your Own Snacks Into The Theme Parks

If you’re on a tight budget and are planning to visit theme parks like Disney, Legoland, or Universal Studios, you should consider bringing your own snacks instead of spending money at the park. There is usually plenty of availability to bring outside food into the park. You can bring in items that are sealed up in order to avoid any messes and keep the items fresh.

Items like small bags of chips, popcorn, granola bars, and other items that won’t melt due to the heat are great snack items to bring. Most parks do allow a small number of snacks to be brought into the park, so take advantage of that as much as you can.

4.) Pack Your Own Lunch To Help Save Money In Theme Parks

You can save a lot of money when you bring your own lunch to the theme park. Stick with things that don’t need to be heated up or refrigerated, and try to pack them in reusable containers. This will reduce the cost not just for yourself but for everyone who will have to throw that food away.

If you can at least cut out paying high theme park food prices for lunch you can save a lot of money especially if you have a large family.

Some parks have picnic areas outside the park gates like Cedar Point. If they do you can bring a cooler with your food, drinks, and snacks. This makes it really easy to feed the entire family a lot cheaper than you would inside the theme park.

Here is a good forum where people are discussing lunch options to bring to Disney Here.

5.) Go Back to the Hotel To Eat Lunch Or Dinner

There are a lot of overpriced food options in most theme parks, so it’s no wonder that the typical budget for a vacation can quickly get blown. So instead of buying pricey food all day, you can take a break from your day at the theme park and go back to your hotel to eat lunch or dinner.

We do this a lot when we go to Disney or Universal. That Florida heat really puts a lot of stress on you too, so we find breaking up the day to go back to the hotel to eat is saving us a lot of money and also allowing us to recover a bit before we head back to the parks.

We usually get a hotel off-site with a full kitchen. We then grocery shop and get food that we can make at the hotel. This cut our theme park costs down a lot.

We love to do this between 1 – 4 pm since that is when the sun is really nasty and even take in some pool time to cool down. When we get back to the park we are usually refreshed. Best advice USE THE HOTEL POOL…

6.) Share Your Meals With Family Members To Save Money In Theme Parks

It may be tempting to buy food from popular theme parks like Disney Land. However, it can cost a fortune! Sharing your meals with family members will help cut the overall costs of your theme park meals.

The trick here is to locate menu items that are hefty and provide a good portion that would satisfy at least two people. This strategy allows you the opportunity to try some of the food you have seen in the park and enjoy the overall theme park meal experience.