C.F.
Well, it's not that it's too good to be true, but really, if you are a Florida resident and just pay attention to the travel section of the newspaper, or visit the Disney website and click Florida residents, that's truly the best way you'll save money. The rest is just common sense for any seasoned parent that travels. Bringing your own drinks and snacks, for example. You can also try www.mousesavers.com for special rates, codes, and everything that you ever needed to know about Disney. It truly is the best source on the web,and we've used it for 7 or 8 years now. Traveling to Disney during the "off" peak season will save you hundreds of dollars. Buying tickets through AAA will save you a little, especially if you combine it with the Play 3 or 4 Days Florida Resident tickets. Unfortunately, as someone who has lived in Florida for over 20 years, I've seen just how much the theme parks have skyrocketed to making it unaffordable for a family to even go without going into debt. Disney has the WORST deals out there for Florida residents. You can still go to Universal Studios for $49 (As opposed to Disney's $70 ticket price now) through AAA (and their 2 park pass with free parking/ was around $120; an 18 month pass with no black out dates through AAA was $184), or get a yearlong Funcard from Busch Gardens/Sea World for the cost of a one day ticket. A year pass for Cypress Gardens is a mere $69 and that includes their water park, too. Whereas 4 day ticket at Disney is $155 (AAA), a season pass with blackouts is over $220, and a year pass is over $330 per person. OUCH!
We live about 15 minutes from Busch Gardens so we invested in Gold passes for BG and Adventure Island, and pay only $18 per month for them on the EZ Pay system for the whole family. That includes FREE parking (now about $8 a trip) and 10% off all snacks, meals, merchandise. Too bad Disney doesn't offer anything close. I still remember going 3 or 4 times a year as a kid when the ticket price was $19 for Fl residents.
