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Universal Studios Ticket. ©2014 Betsy Malloy Photography. Used by Permission.

Universal Studios Tickets and Cost Control

Like most theme parks, Universal Studios' tickets are expensive, and anyone more than 48 inches tall pays adult admission. Ticket prices do not include parking fees.

Most people can see the park in one day.

Types of Universal Studios Tickets

• 1-Day Pass: Instead of basing the price of this ticket on age, Universal does it by height, with a discount for anyone under 48 inches tall.

• Front of the Line Pass: It's just like the 1-Day Pass except you lose the wait and go right to the front of every line. This pass is priced by age, with children 2 years old or younger getting in free. The cost of the pass varies by season and is less expensive January through March.
• VIP Experience: The VIP treatment lets you go behind the scenes to visit closed sets on the backlot and you'll also get escorted priority access to all rides, shows and attractions.

• Season Passes: You can often get a season pass for the price of a one-day admission if you go late in the year. Year round, the details vary, with some passes having blackout dates or offering free parking and other benefits.

Be Smart: Buy Ahead

The last thing you want to do when you get to the park is stand in line before you even get inside the gate. Leave the line to the clueless visitors who don't know better and .

Buying tickets from a mobile device: You can buy your tickets from a smart phone or tablet. Universal recommends that you print your tickets, but you can also show them on your mobile device screen at the park entrance.

Be Even Smarter: Pay Less for Your Universal Studios Tickets

During the busiest times, the wait for the most popular rides at Universal Studios can get quite long, sometimes more than an hour.

If you're visiting on vacation and have only a day to enjoy the place, those long waits could make it hard (if not impossible) to fit everything into one day - and who wants to stand in line on vacation, anyway?

As you'd expect, a Front of the Line pass costs more than the basic general admission and they can sell out. Expect the longest lines during the summer, spring break, three-day weekends and around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. For those times, you'd might as well buy a Front of the Line Pass in advance.

For the rest of the year, use this strategy to manage your costs: Buy regular admission tickets, get inside and then assess whether the wait times are intolerable. If they are, you can upgrade your ticket at a booth near the entrance. You can also get a same-day assessment of the crowd level before you go at isitpacked.com