Family’s ‘rip-off’ $1,113 day-trip to Universal Studios in Florida goes viral on TikTok

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A British family of four revealed how their one-day outing to Universal Studios in Orlando ended up costing them more than $1,100 (£970) in a now viral video.

Miranda Pearce and her husband Tim, an aesthetic doctor, flew with their two sons to Florida to attend the theme park.

A TikTok video that she posted this week – with the caption “the cost of one day at Universal Studios” and the embarrassed face emoji – garnered more than 1.5 million views.

Receipts show that the family, from Leeds, paid $483.66 (about £423) for tickets to the theme park and $396 (about £345) for passes to allow them to queue-jump on some rides.

They also spent $62.79 on lunch, $42.60 on two Harry Potter souvenirs, $36.39 on Burger King meals, $27 on parking, $21.79 on breakfast, $19.76 on ice cream, $19.16 on drinks, and $4.25 on a cup of coffee – totalling around £205.

Ms Pearce, who runs a marketing consultancy for aesthetic clinics, wrote: “That’s not even including tips.”

Some TikTok users left comments saying that not having to wait in queues and the “memories for the kids” would be “worth” the price.

But most viewers said they were shocked by the cost.

One woman wrote that she and her partner are saving money to take their two kids to Universal Studios, but she fears that no matter how much they save they “just won’t be able to afford it”.

Some commenters remarked that they would “never” go to the theme park, including one who accused Universal Studios of wanting to “fleece” its guests.

One said that their family “paid just over one thousand dollars in April in one day and [it] was a rip off”.

The Pearce family could have flown somewhere closer to home for a week-long holiday for the same amount it cost them to go to the theme park for one day, some Tiktok users argued.

One wrote that the family “could have gone away to Portugal for a week and rented a villa for that”, while another said it would have been cheaper to fly to Turkey and stay at an all-inclusive hotel for three nights.

The Independent has contacted Universal Studios Florida for comment.