Planning Your 2024 Florida Theme Park Trip? Check Out the Current Holiday Ticket Prices!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the busiest seasons in the theme parks and ticket prices vary widely from park to park. So we made a video to compare the ticket prices at the theme parks around the holidays so you can pick which park best fits your budget.

Here is a brief breakdown of the costs for Florida’s 5 main theme parks.

If you plan on visiting any of the parks the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas through New Year’s Eve, you are looking at higher ticket costs than at some other times of the year.

Thanksgiving: Novemeber Saturday 23-Saturday 30

Legoland – $89-104

Busch Gardens – $97-103

SeaWorld – $97-105

Universal Studios – $219-224

Disney – $159-189 (Depends on the park)

(Disney parks vary in price with Animal Kingdom being the cheapest and Magic Kingdom having the highest ticket cost.)

Christmas: December Saturday 21-Wednesday 31

Legoland – $89-104

Busch Gardens – $90-103

SeaWorld – $97-105

Universal Studios – $224-234

Disney – $159-189 (Depends on the park)

Which park are you planning to visit for the holidays?

Should you take a Tour at SeaWorld Orlando?

There are more than 10 tours or experiences that you can add-on to your day at SeaWorld Orlando. Now, of course, there is certainly no need to include one of these experiences, but they would be perfect for guests who are looking for

Behind-the-Scenes Access: Tours offer exclusive access to areas not open to the general public, allowing you to see how SeaWorld operates behind the scenes.

Up-Close Animal Encounters: Get closer to dolphins, penguins, sea lions, and other marine animals, with opportunities to interact, feed, and learn about them in a more intimate setting.

Expert Guidance: Enjoy a personalized experience led by knowledgeable guides who provide in-depth information and answer questions, enhancing your understanding of marine life and conservation efforts.

Educational Experience: Tours provide an educational experience for all ages, teaching you about marine biology, animal care, and SeaWorld’s conservation initiatives.

Exclusive Photo Opportunities: Capture unique moments with animals and in restricted areas that are only available to tour participants.

Memorable Experiences: Tours create lasting memories with unique experiences, like touching a shark, visiting animal rescue centers, or learning about the daily care routines of the animals.

Learn more about some of the tours, through these videos.

Ultimate VIP Tour

Enjoy a guided, private group tour including front-of-line access to rides, VIP seating at our signature shows, animal interactions and more!

Learn More

Family Adventure Tour

The whole family will enjoy meeting a warm-weather penguin, and making new friends in Sesame Street Land! You can even add on additional animal experiences and receive souvenirs that will remind you of this grand adventure.

Which tour would you like to take?

What is in my Theme Park Bag?

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Every visit to an attraction, theme park, museum, state park, or race event is different and calls for a variety of gear.

Whether you are just enjoying a day in the park solo, with family and friends, or like we often do at Ant on the Move, spend the day filming and photographing the park, you need to come prepared.

Personally, I like to travel as light as possible. Occasionally, like on my most recent visit to SeaWorld Orlando, I carried a backpack loaded with cameras and their gear.

So what is in my bag on a big filming day compared to a typical day at a theme park?

Filming Day

On a day when I am specifically taking photos for YouTube thumbnails and Instagram posts, I carry a backpack. In the backpack will be my

• A large backpack
• Nikon D3400 with an 18-140mm lens
• Sigma 180-600 mm lens
• GoPro 7 Hero Black
• GoPro 10
• 2-4 batteries for each camera
• Protective Sleeves or bags for each camera and lens
• A Water bottle
• Keys
• Pocket wallet
• Ziplock bags (Always good in case you get cookies with your All Day Dining and you want to eat them at a show.)
• Annual Pass Lanyard (I have the Gold 4-Park Pass to SeaWorld Orlando)

On more relaxed days I generally just carry my pocket wallet, keys, annual pass lanyard, theme park water bottle, a GoPro (with an extra battery), and cellphone. That is it!

What are your go-to items for theme park day trips?

How to Use Guest Tickets at SeaWorld Orlando

Back in 2021, I made a YouTube video about “How to Use Guest Tickets at SeaWorld.” Now, I do not recall exactly where the inspiration for the video came from, but I think it has something to do with the year 2020 and this annoying thing called “Reservations.” The process of getting into the park for pass members was more complicated and there was an added element for getting the guest tickets. We made the video and it did surprisingly well. So well in fact that is kept getting videos long after the process for getting guest tickets had changed.

This year, we updated the video which you can watch here – How to use Guest Tickets in 2024.

But since you are here, let me explain how it works. You have two options for redeeming your Guest tickets
Option One – Online Redemption

1. Log into your Pass Member account using either a username/email and password or your pass barcode and zipcode.
2. Click on the “Rewards Tab” and add the Free Guest Ticket(s) to your cart. Then proceed to check out.
3. Check your email for confirmation of your E-ticket. (You can print it out at this time if you choose)
4. Accompany your Guest to the park and show the e-ticket on your phone or on the paper you printed.
5. Enter the park and enjoy!

Option Two – Redeem at the Park

1. Enter through security, turn to the right and head to one of the self-service kiosks.
2. Scan your barcode and select Rewards
3. Select the Guest Ticket(s) and checkout
4. Wait for the ticket to print
5. Head to the park entrance with your guest.

There are a few additional things to remember about Guest tickets

1. There is a different quantity of guest tickets depending on your pass type. Fun Cards and Bronze passes have no Guest tickets
2. Tickets can only be redeemed during the redemption window
3. Tickets can only be redeemed once
4. Occasionally, throughout the year SeaWorld may add additional Guest tickets that can be used for a limited time.

Inaugural SeaWorld’s Seven Seas Food Festival Run

SeaWorld hosts Fun Runs in the park throughout the year, with the most popular probably being the Greg Warmoth Reindeer Run in December.

In 2020, SeaWorld did what they called a “Rescue Run” and it sounded like it would become a yearly thing, but it was 2020, so plans changed. But now they are bringing back the fun runs with the Inaugural SeaWorld’s Seven Seas Food Festival Run.

If you are interested in signing up you can check out the registration details on the Run Sign Up website. Also, you can join our team! Under teams, look for Ant on the Move! Click join and become part of our team!

The run starts out in the parking lot but enters and takes you all around the park. You will pass Infinity Falls, go out by the SeaWorld Rescue center, come back across the bridge, and finish at Wild Arctic.

To see what a SeaWorld Fun Run looks like, you can watch our video about the SeaWorld Rescue Run in 2020.

SeaWorld Orlando’s VIP Tour

Disclaimer: I have not taken the tour, this video is based solely off of the details listed on the SeaWorld Orlando Website.

In recent months, SeaWorld Orlando has been promoting their Ultimate VIP Tour. Looking at the $600+ price tag made me wonder if this was a deal or a steal. So I hopped on SeaWorld’s website to see what was included in the Vip Tour.

Here is what the SeaWorld website says is included:

• VIP Parking
• Expedited Park Entry
• Quick Queue Unlimited
• Photo Key Per Party
• Meal Voucher for One Meal Per Guest
• Dining at Sharks Underwater Grill
• Meet & Greets with Sea Lions, Orcas, Penguins, & Dolphin
• Reserved Seats At All Three Signature Day Time Animal Presentations

The tour requires a Minimum party size of 2 people and the cost of the tour varies by day. Dates are available for 2023 through December 31st, so if you have some flexibility in planning your trip and want to take the tour, check the listed dates to find the cheapest day for your trip.

We discuss many more details about the tour, including an estimated price breakdown so you can decide if this is a good deal for your budget.

If you have taken the tour let us know what you enjoyed most about the tour!

Aimee

Ant on the Move

SeaWorld Pass Member Rewards – February

February 3rd marks the start of the Seven Seas Food Festival at SeaWorld Orlando. We talk briefly about that and Pass Member rewards for the month in this week’s video. Enjoy!

Thank you for watching Ant on the Move! #antonthemove #themeparkevents #florida #seaworldorlando

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