First of all... I hope everyone gets the chance to experience this beautiful place someday. You could feel happiness radiating off the people around you... even the Slytherins. I truly believe it is impossible to walk into this park without a smile on your face! Unless it is day 3 of following your wife around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and you have blisters on your feet. OK! On to the money saving you tight wads.
1. TAKE WATER
I was in such a rush to get there on the first day that I forgot to pack our waters in my backpack. Bummer. So I paid $7.50 FOR 2 BOTTLES OF WATER. This water did not come from a glacier in Alaska so I could show up at halftime and the Mud Dogs could win the Bourbon Bowl. This water did not have any of Michael's secret stuff allowing me to beat the Monstars. This was plain Jane middle of the mall water. So, just bring some waters jugs from home or stop at a gas station outside the park. There are water fountains located by all the bathrooms so fill them up there for free!
2. SHARE
When I was here in 2015, I remember loving the butterbeer with all my heart! Frozen is the best way it comes so Dillon and I ordered one from the cart outside Hogwarts castle. Within 3 sips, both of us were like "OMG, this is too sweet" and ending up throwing most of it away.
Which is extremely weird because I'm a sweets person! That was around $7. ( Don't tell Dillon this) I also went into Honeydukes for a chocolate frog, came out with a $10 Cauldron cake, and threw half of it into the trash shortly after. It was huge and I should have gotten something he would have actually eaten so it wasn't such a waste. This may be hard for some of you parents who are having to make children share. All I can say is good luck. Stand your ground.
3. BUY YOUR T-SHIRTS BEFORE YOU GO
I felt totally underdressed... People had on full costumes and I wanted my own Hogwarts robes so dang bad! But I could not talk myself into spending $120 on robes and $30 on a scarf. No, thank you. I also wanted a Jurassic Park tank top to wear for our next day but they wanted $30 for it as well! It doesn't even have sleeves! So I started looking on Amazon (that's where I found our shirts below) and there are tons of cheaper options! And don't forget to check Walmart and Target!
4. STAY OFF-SITE
This is really just a preference. Some people think it is worth it to stay on-site but to me, I'd rather save the money. Some hotels offer benefits from staying on-site and what not but if you look up the difference in price, sometimes it's not really a perk, you're actually paying for it. Some on-site's give you early admission to the park but honestly, you probably won't need it, especially if you go during the off-season. We rented a car but never really used it! So that's another way to save money. Don't rent a car... lol. The cheapest (and farthest) place to park was $25 so we Uber'ed for $8 to the park and they dropped us off right at the front gates. Our hotel also had a park shuttle but we seemed to always miss it.
5. PACK SNACKS
Why I didn't put this at the top of the list, I have no idea. We spent hardly any money on food at the park! We'd have a nice, filling breakfast and stuff my backpack full of snacks. Well, not totally full because the free lockers outside the rides aren't very big! To get a bigger locker, you'd have to pay a small fee. Anyway, we went to Walmart and picked up some beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, and Quest protein cookies! Food inside the park is outrageous so be prepared for that!
6. PICK A DAY TO RIDE ALL THE RIDES
We paid $120 each for an unlimited fast pass for 1 day... This is another way on-site hotels will lure you in sometimes! I had some ladies in line with us one day tell us about their hotel and how they got fast passes for free by staying there! So I looked it up and they were paying at least $300 more per person than we were! Again. No, thank you. We picked one day to ride all the rides as many times as we could. Most of the rides are 3&4D and gave me motion sickness anyway so I'd say buy a fast pass for one day and do all your exploring the rest of your days!
Happy Savings! Travel with Syd!
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