Orlando Hidden Costs UK Travellers Don’t Expect (2026)

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I have been travelling from the UK to Orlando, Florida for over a decade. First with my partner, and now with our two children. It’s safe to say I know about the “hidden costs” of visiting.

None of these hidden costs are scams. They’re simply how American pricing works. Across a 2-week family trip, they can add £1,000 to how much spending money you’ll need in Orlando. Here’s what to plan for:

Spend type	UK norm	Orlando / US norm
Restaurant tip	Optional 10% to 12%	Expected 18% to 20%
Hotel parking	Usually free	$25 to $50 per night
Theme park parking	Mostly free	$30 to $35 per day
Sales tax	In price	Added at checkout (6.5%)
Hotel resort fees	Rare	$25 to $50 per night
Bottled water at attractions	£2 to £3	$5 to $7
Bag porter or valet tip	Optional	$1 to $2 per bag, expected
Toll roads	Mostly free	$40 to $70 across 2 weeks
Car rental extras	All-inclusive pricing	Add 20% to 30% on top
Car rental insurance	Usually included	$140 to $210 if bought at desk

ESTA

UK citizens need an ESTA to enter the US. As of 1 January 2026, the ESTA application fee is $40.27 per person and once approved the ESTA is valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

You should only apply for an ESTA on the official website. I’ve been applying for over a decade and have never been caught out by a third-party site. But plenty of friends have.

These sites charge £40 to £60 for the same application, often appear above the official site in search results, and are often deliberately styled to look like a government page.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance isn’t a requirement to enter the US like an ESTA is, but I would never travel without it, especially in the US where medical costs are incredibly expensive.

Standard travel insurance for the US typically costs between £120 and £250 for a two-week trip for a family of four. Significantly less than the thousands of pounds a trip to the ER would cost out of pocket.

Since we travel as a family a lot we opt for annual worldwide multi-trip cover rather than buying single trip policies. I try to look for a policy that has:

• Medical cover of at least £2 million
• Repatriation
• US and Canada included as standard
• Cover for theme park rides (some basic policies exclude them)
• Cancellation cover that matches your trip cost

I’ve never made a claim for a medical incident while abroad. However, when my wife Helen and I got married in Orlando in 2019, one of our family members did have to go to the ER and had to claim on their travel insurance.

UK Airport Parking

If you plan to drive to the airport in the UK then you’ll need to consider the cost of airport parking.

Airport parking typically costs between £60 and £350 for two weeks depending on:

• Which airport you’re flying from
• How far in advance you book
• Which booking platform you use
• The type of parking you book

When my wife Helen and I travelled just the two of us, we’d go for the cheapest option which is often park-and-ride. You get on a shuttle bus to a parking garage often nearby but outside the airport perimeter to drop off and pick up your car.

However, waiting around for the bus and lugging your bags on and off can be painful, especially coming home after the nine-hour or so flight. So now, with young kids we opt to trade our money for convenience and instead pay the premium of parking on-site.

Mobile Data and eSIMs

You can use your phone in Orlando for free by connecting to Wi-Fi in hotels and theme parks. However, if you want to use the internet on your phone outside these places then you’ll want to get an eSIM to avoid your phone provider’s insane data roaming charges.

Personally, I wouldn’t travel without an eSIM. It’s typically $30 or so for two weeks of unlimited data in the US which is well worth the peace of mind of knowing I have access to the internet wherever and whenever. I’ve found Holafly consistently offers the best value and is super easy to install.

Sales Tax (Not Included in Advertised Prices)

Florida charges 6% state sales tax, plus each county adds a small extra surtax on top. In the Orlando area you’ll pay 6.5% in Orange County (Universal, International Drive, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, most Disney resorts) and 7.5% in Osceola County (Kissimmee, Celebration, Disney’s southern resorts).

However, unlike VAT in the UK, the sales tax is not included in the price you see on the menu or on a label. For example, if you see a shirt for sale for $20 then it’ll actually cost $21.30 at the till and a $50 dinner for two becomes $53.25 before tip.

While these small additions don’t seem like much, over a two-week holiday with multiple meals and shopping trips it easily adds on a few hundred dollars.

Tipping

Tipping is expected in the US. Wages in restaurants, bars and service jobs are much lower than in the UK, and tips make up most of a person’s income.

“In a sit-down restaurant the standard tip expected is between 18% and 25%. So for a $60 dinner at one of Orlando’s family-friendly restaurants, that’s $12 to $15 on top of the 6.5% sales tax making your actual spend closer to $76 to $79.

Many restaurants now print suggested tip amounts directly on the receipt to make the maths easier, and some automatically add an 18% tip for parties of six or more.

In Orlando quick-service restaurants and counters (most of the food inside the theme parks), tipping is optional, though many POS terminals will still prompt you. Other common tipping situations to budget for:

• Hotel housekeeping: $2 to $5 per day, left on the bedside table
• Bag porters: $1 to $2 per bag
• Valet drivers: $3 to $5 per car
• Bartenders: $1 to $2 per drink
• Taxi drivers: 15% to 20%
• Uber and Lyft: via the in-app tip option after the ride

I’d recommend adding a 15% buffer to your food budget to cover tips. It’s easy to forget at each meal and it adds up quickly across a two-week trip.

Hotel Resort Fees

Some hotels in Orlando charge a “resort fee” on top of the advertised room rate. This fee is typically between $25 and $50 per night and covers Wi-Fi, pool access, and gym use. Even if you don’t use these services, the resort fee is almost always unavoidable.

Some hotels include parking in the resort fees, but others don’t. Always check the resort fee when comparing hotels because a $120 room with a $35 resort fee actually costs $155 a night.

Theme Park Parking

If you’re driving to the theme parks you’ll need to pay for parking. This costs:

• $35 per day at Disney World
• $32 per day at Universal Orlando
• $25 to $30 per day at SeaWorld and other smaller attractions

Across a six-day theme park trip, parking alone can easily add $200 to $300 to your budget.

Toll Roads

Several of the main roads in and around Orlando are toll roads, including routes between MCO Airport, Disney and Universal. If you’re driving in Orlando in a hire car, there are a few ways to handle them.

The cheapest option by far is the Visitor Toll Pass, a free hangtag you can pick up from vending machines in MCO Terminals A, B or C. It links to your rental car licence plate and gives you the lowest local toll rate across Florida, with no extra fees.

If you’re not picking up your hire car from MCO, you have two choices:

1. Pay the rental company’s toll coverage charge (around $4 to $15 per day depending on the company, capped at around $30 to $90 per rental)
2. Let the tolls bill back to your card with a per-day admin fee on top. Expect the rental desk to push their toll pass aggressively at pickup.

If you don’t get the Visitor Toll Pass, then expect to pay £30 to £60 in actual tolls on a typical 2-week Orlando trip, or considerably more if you take the rental company’s coverage instead.

Car Rental Extras and Insurance

Toll roads aren’t the only thing you’ll need to budget for when hiring a car. In fact, the headline price you see for renting a car in Orlando is rarely the actual price. Things you may need to pay for include:

• Florida sales tax
• Tourism tax
• Airport concession recovery fees
• Child seats
• Additional drivers

If you’ve booked a package holiday with TUI for example, the car is included but the insurance isn’t. When you go and collect the car you’ll be expected to get insurance at $10 to $15 per day, adding $140 to $210 to a 2-week trip.

I’ve been pressure-sold both insurance and toll passes in the past. Based on the information the desk has on us, they know we’re from the UK and I think we’re often seen as easy targets.

The trick is to be informed and confident enough to push back politely. A few specific things to check on any policy:

• CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) and theft protection are the basics
• Liability cover above $1 million is worth having (US lawsuits can be eye-watering)
• Zero excess is rare in the US, so you usually pay an excess if you crash
• Check whether your UK travel insurance or credit card covers the excess

Pre-booking through a UK broker typically saves £60 to £100 compared to buying insurance at the desk on arrival.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most common questions UK travellers ask me about hidden costs in Orlando.