I took my family to Universal Orlando for less than $200 a person each day my key to saving hundreds was knowing where to spend it

A trip to Universal Orlando Resort was the perfect getaway for me and my two daughters, ages 12 and 8, in May.

After all, it's home to my three favorite theme parks: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay.

Back in 2022, we purchased annual passes, so I was excited to use them on this vacation.

Depending on how frequently you visit the parks, an annual pass might help you cut costs. The four different tiers — premier, preferred, power, and seasonal — range in price.

When we planned an eight-day trip to Universal last summer, I realized that purchasing the three-park seasonal pass for about $600 a person would cost roughly the same as buying park tickets for eight days.

We've spent a total of 11 days in the parks (including the three from this trip) since buying our passes, meaning entry each day has cost us about $50 a person. For the sake of comparison, a park-to-park ticket for single-day entry to two parks without an annual pass costs about $164 a person.

One thing to note is that preferred, power, and seasonal passes have blockout dates, or days when passholders can't visit, around popular travel times like Christmas and spring break, so check your calendar in advance. However, even the lowest level of passholders get additional discounts for on-site hotels and select restaurants.

Though our park admission was "free" on this trip with the seasonal passes, I still factored the cost of our tickets ($450) into the trip total.

If you're able to drive to Orlando, a road trip is a great way to cut down on costs. Some parents can manage a 16-hour journey with two kids, but they're braver than me. We decided to fly instead.

The three of us departed from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Frontier Airlines, and our roundtrip flights cost $490.

Frontier Airlines automatically seats children under 14 with adults in their party, so I didn't have to pay extra for assigned seats. The policy saved me a total of $146.

With my passholder discount, my standard room at Dockside Inn and Suites cost $123 a night. However, the rate dropped to $105 a night closer to our trip, so Universal refunded me the difference. As a result, our four-night stay came out to about $475.

Dockside is one of Universal's value hotels, along with Surfside Inn and Suites across the street. But in this case, "value" doesn't translate to "cheap." They're some of Universal's newest properties, with Surfside opening in 2019 and Dockside opening in 2020.

Dockside has a laid-back coastal theme with modern rooms and amenities. Guests staying there can also enjoy early admission to select attractions and free bus transportation to all three Universal theme parks. This meant we didn't need to spring for rideshares back and forth from the parks.

The parks were our main focus, so we didn't need a rental car to explore the greater Orlando area during this trip.

Instead, we took an Uber to and from the airport, both trips totaling $76. Traveling without a car also helped us avoid the $15 daily parking fee at Dockside.

Food is my favorite part of any vacation, so I budgeted $450 for meals and snacks.

I know how stressed I can get when it comes to paying theme-park prices for food, so having a set budget helped me to stay calm while browsing a menu that features $10 ice-cream sundaes.

We stopped for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in the parks almost daily. We ate at quick-service restaurants for pretty much every meal, with the exception of a pre-Mother's Day dinner at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen.

The quick-service restaurants we visited included Bumblebee Man's Taco Truck, Croissant Moon Bakery, Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, London Taxi Hut, Louie's Italian Restaurant, Mel's Drive-In Restaurant, Three Broomsticks, and Voodoo Doughnut.

Universal also has excellent table-service restaurants — like Mythos Restaurant and Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar — but I prefer the quick-service joints. Not only are they cheaper, but also they're usually more efficient. Eating there takes less time out of our day.

When I'm walking around in the hot sun, I don't always feel like eating a huge sit-down meal. If I don't have a huge appetite, I sometimes order a kids meal for lunch or dinner because I don't want to waste money or food.

Whenever we stopped to rest or waited in line for a ride, I would break out the snacks. These little treats helped keep our energy up and saved us from constantly stopping to buy food.

We also didn't buy any soda or drinks on the trip and relied on our reusable water bottles instead. We refilled them using Universal's Coca-Cola freestyle machines, which dispense complimentary water and ice.

Universal also sells refillable soda cups, but I prefer drinking water in the hot Florida weather.

Before visiting any theme park, we usually buy a few new shirts or fun accessories as a treat instead of giving into the high prices at Universal's gift shops.

However, my daughters brought their own money on this trip, so they both spent it on a unique item of their choice on the last day of our vacation.

During an earlier visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we splurged on interactive wands that cast "spells" in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Luckily, we could use them again during this trip.

They were a fantastic way to immerse ourselves into the world of Harry Potter. Don't panic if they break — a witch or wizard can repair them for free.

We could've cut additional costs, but certain things, like staying at a Universal property and enjoying food in the parks, are worth spending a little more on.