How my family of 3 spent $2,855 for a single day at Universal Hollywood — and what we’ll do differently next time

• We flew to California to visit Universal Hollywood despite living near the company’s Florida parks.
• Tickets, flights, hotels, food, and other expenses totaled $2,855.22 for just one day at the park.
• Although this was a pricey experience, there’s very little I would do differently next time.

Last year, I took my family of three from Orlando to Southern California for a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood.

For our one-day visit to the park, we spent:

• Flights: $665.73 for flights from Florida, including luggage fees
• Lodging: $541.47 for two nights split between two hotels
• Ground transportation: $337.55 for rideshares, a rental car, and gas
• Parking fees: $89.10
• Park tickets: $747 for three tickets that included Universal Express skip-the-line passes
• Food purchased on-site: $160.57
• Souvenirs: $313.80

Altogether, our getaway to Universal Hollywood cost my family $2,855.22.

Although this figure seems high — especially given that we live mere miles from the Universal theme parks in Florida — there’s very little I’d change about how we spent our money.

Heres’s a breakdown of expenses that were worth it and what we’d do differently next time.