Don't get taken for a ride this summer at the theme park

Peak season at theme parks means peak pricing. Admission discounts can be hard to find, and nearby hotels jack up their rates. Add in the always-inflated prices of food, souvenirs and parking, and you're buying a pretty expensive day out.

At the megaparks operated by Disney and Universal, a family of four can easily spend $1,000 per day.

Here's how to rein in costs while keeping your sanity.

Beware of too-good-to-be-true prices

As prices rise, scam artists pounce, offering discounted tickets and "unused" passes for sale to those desperate for a bargain. Often what they're selling is fake.

Better places to look for discounts include:

• Your employer, if you're a local.
• Warehouse clubs such as Costco or Sam's Club.
• Groupon and other deal sites.
• AAA, AARP and other member groups.
• The park's Twitter or Facebook feeds.
• CityPass, which offers a bundle of discounted tickets to area attractions.
• Authorized resellers such as Undercover Tourist and Visit Orlando.
• Vacation packages that include hotel rooms, tickets and sometimes flights.

If nothing else, you usually can save a few bucks and avoid yet another line by buying your tickets online from the park's site. Grab a parking pass, too. A single-day parking pass at Busch Gardens Williamsburg costs $16 in advance online and $20 on site.

Know when to splurge to skip the lines

Disney has the free FastPass system, but other parks charge — sometimes quite a lot — for line-cutting privileges. At Universal Studios in Orlando, the Universal Express Unlimited pass can cost up to $160 per person on peak days.

Ways people try to beat the crowds:

• Be there when the gates open.
• Visit the most popular attractions first.
• Use single-rider lines.
• Use apps that estimate wait times to plan your attack.
• Stay late. Crowds often start to thin an hour before closing.

But if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip at a time when crowds will be thick, splurging on line-skipping passes could mean actually getting to enjoy all the attractions you came to see.

Make a food plan

A common frugal hack is to keep a cooler in your car or hotel room and retreat there for a picnic lunch. If that doesn't appeal to you, research the park's outside-food policies in advance. You don't want to discover at the gate that you have to give up your snack stash — or that you could have brought more.

Some parks offer prepaid meal plans or passes that can be a good deal. Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, has an all-day dining pass for $31.99. Users can get a meal or snack every 90 minutes throughout the day.

Some general ideas:

• Start with a hearty, high-protein breakfast before you enter the park to stave off the munchies.
• Lunch is typically cheaper than dinner at sit-down restaurants.
• Soda prices are outrageous. Bring water bottles or opt for souvenir cups with free refills.

One final tip: Give each kid $20 or so to spend on souvenirs or extra snacks with the understanding that when the money's gone, it's gone.