Advice Requested for November December Holiday in Orlando

fatming on 07/01/2018 - 16:36
Last edited 07/01/2018 - 16:49 by 1 other user

I am trying to start planning a trip to Florida Disney World with my family of 5 (2A & 3C 11, 9, 6) leaving Australia around 25th November 2018 and returning early January. Probably go to New York as well to spend Christmas and New Years.

I've never booked a holiday in high season and was wondering if I could get any advice on when to book flights to get the best deal (I know its going to be expensive)…..do I book early or wait til last minute?

Any advice on what airlines to take and what your experiences have been would be greatly appreciated.

We are from Adelaide.

Travel

Comments

  • whodidthat on 07/01/2018 - 16:58

    Often, you get the best price flights by booking ahead. You can risk waiting until near the time, and sometimes there are good deals, but no guarantee.

    As for Orlando, I know it well. Used to go there almost every year when I lived in UK. You can save a fortune by gathering coupon books from tourist information places - there's a lot to collect! Shopping is good, best to shop around though. There's a few outlet places and you can sign up for newsletters to find out best shopping times. End of November/early December they have thanksgiving sales. You can also get coupons for these places for additional savings.

    Bealls is a good place if you have time to rummage through everything.

    International drive is busy, as is the US192.

    I can give you tips on best accommodation locations depending on what you want to see there.

    Airlines, United is not real good but often run specials. Dallas is a better entry point than Los Angeles. Orlando airport is amazing and well organised.

    Car hire is really cheap, loads of choice. Organise travel insurance to cover car excess for best prices.

    Check our restaurant.com for really good discounts.

    There's loads more info but don't want to rabble on!

  • try2bhelpful on 07/01/2018 - 17:03
    +2

    If you are interested in the space program at all I would recommend a side trip to Kennedy Space Centre. They have IMAX cinemas and they have tours showing both the old space program and new space program stuff. We were in Nerdvana.

  • TheRealCher on 07/01/2018 - 20:38

    Go to a decent travel agent for your flights and get them on board for the international. You want the flights as soon as a good deal opens up. Leaving November is a great idea as it will chop a few hundred off each seat. Just be careful because that date yr giving comes right around thanksgiving time and it's seriously batshit crazy more than Xmas.
    I flew hawaian last time… Was nice to break the flight up. Not sure if it's on yr list.
    That said, Because you're wanting to go to the east coast flying into Texas might work in your favour… I think it's Qantas who have their hub there. You should be able to get return to Orlando via Dallas or Houston from Sydney, I think it is.
    This ensures your flights there and back with connections which in the states is important because in winter things get cancelled a lot. If you have a connection Qantas are pretty good with getting you on that flight. The travel agent will also come in handy.
    Next is to do your research about when you want to head to NYC. Accommodation is going to be your major cost here. Staying in Manhattan with a full family is going to cost you a new mortgage and don't even try air bnb as new Yorkers will screw you. They're great people though. Lol.
    Staying in Brooklyn will cut the price per night. Find a decent place near a good subway station. You can get a weekly subway pass for 27$ for adults and going across the bridge is great. Subway makes it easy to get to everywhere… But be prepared because tourist spots at Xmas are packed.
    That said, NYC in winter is magical.

    To answer yr question, my gut feeling is 6-9 months out is a good time. You're not going to save much on flights, maybe 100 or 200 Max by waiting and that's if it's an amazing special. Avoid traps like times square hotels… They will kill your soul and drain your wallet. NYC public transport is pretty safe. And enjoy!

  • Unbranded on 07/01/2018 - 20:39

    If you have the time and are into rides I would suggest a 10 day pass for the Disney World parks (the extra days costs are negligible and you can have a day or 2 break), 3 days for Universal Studios parks (and stay at one of the Universal hotels like the Hard Rock to get early park entry for the Harry Potter world) and 2 days at Kennedy Space Centre (free return entry with a one day ticket).

    I know all of that sounds a lot, but given the time and cost getting there, you may as well make the most of it. Definitely hire a car to get around, cheaper and more convenient for families than hotel shuttles. Hotels chains like the Marriott have family rooms that include breakfast, maybe $70 per night, lots of cheap hotel options. Most hotel chains have free cancellation if you book direct, so you can easily cancel if a better hotel deal comes up.

    A Disney cruise from Orlando around the Carribean is truly magical. My family did a Christmas cruise which was top notch for service, food, kids clubs and adult activities, and of course Disney entertainment. Disney really makes Christmas special for families.

    An interesting tip, flying Qantas long haul direct to Dallas then a domestic flight onto Orlando works well. Coming home from Orlando, we flew on December 30 back to Australia, skipping New Years Eve entirely crossing the International Date line arriving in Australia on January 1st. The flight was empty, people who wanted to celebrate New Years were already where they needed to be, so we managed business class upgrades with points for the whole family for the long haul flight.

  • whodidthat on 07/01/2018 - 21:23

    Just a thought, with having the kids.
    Breakfast in the castle, we did it when the daughter was little. It's not cheap, but a really good experience.
    https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/cinde… (you can book from here - it sells out fast)

    Oh, and never pay full price for attraction tickets. This was one of the best reliable ones I found for prices (be careful of the really cheap places) https://www.floridaticketstation.com/. You can also pick up at Liki Tiki Resort, near DisneyWorld.

  • Stewardo on 07/01/2018 - 23:24

    I’d book early as possible, book flights ADL to LAX return
    Buy internal flights separately as multi city flight
    LAX-MCO
    MCO-NYC
    NYC-LAX
    Hotels in Orlando can be very cheap especially Kissimmee
    NYC hotels $$$
    You can use apps like “hopper” to advise when best time to buy internal tickets is.
    I’d stay at each of the three cities at least one night Incase a flight gets cancelled.

  • fatming on 08/01/2018 - 21:30

    You guys are amazing!! The tips are so good, I’m jotting everything Disney.
    Whodidthat, please continue to rabble ;)
    I’ve got points in various miles but have only been saving and haven’t used, if I wanted to upgrade flights, can you just upgrade return leg or does it have to be on both legs? Also, I assume you can’t buy the cheaper fares for the upgrades?

    • Stewardo on 08/01/2018 - 22:48
      +1

      Yeah the cheapest fares often don’t get upgrade option.
      I’d get a SIM card and the Disney app to jump queues.

  • try2bhelpful on 09/01/2018 - 08:15
    +1

    Don't know how old the family is but Busch Gardens which is, relatively, close has the scarier rides, including a good bunch of rides where you get wet. My personal choice would be to go to New Orleans whilst you are so close, it is a quick plane trip from Orlando and the food and music are amazing.

    The other option to look at from tickets is to get return tickets to LA and then internal American tickets from there on. We did similar with a previous trip. LA to Tampa (Florida) - Tampa to New Orleans - New Orleans to LA. Some of the Airlines have had good return air fares to LA lately and, if you are willing to work around flight dates, you can get some pretty good American internal air fares. You could do return LA to Orlando.

  • whodidthat on 09/01/2018 - 19:35
    +1

    I did forget about something with DisneyWorld tickets.
    On our last trip, we were going to spend a fair bit of time in Disney, when I looked at the cost, it worked out cheaper to buy annual passes https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passes/. The passes also include parking (which costs US$20 extra per day on normal tickets. You also get discounts on dining and merchandise.

    Check out and maybe sign up for newsletters on https://www.mousesavers.com/, good source of info and specials.

    Accommodation:
    Depends if you want hotel rooms or villa/apartment types and location you want.
    You can get really cheap motel type rooms all along US192 near Disney right through to Kissimmee/St.Cloud BUT some are really dodgy (just look at a recent film called The Florida Project! That was filmed at https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g34352-d112090-R…)

    http://www.florida-holiday-homes.com/ has some decent prices and nice places.
    This one works out at US$104 a night at the time you're going https://7heavenvacation.com/rental/32359/

    Any idea of the price range per night you're looking at?

    I've stayed at https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g34515-d223717-R…, very nice but not cheap.
    Almost chose this one https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g34515-d87833-Re…

    I've also stayed at https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g34352-d602911-R… (a smaller friendly resort, cheaper)

    If you're looking to spend a lot of time between Disney & Universal, check out along and around Turkey Lake Road as it's quite easy to travel along when some other roads get really busy. (kind of the back door into both theme parks)

    Factory outlets (sign up for newsletters!)

    http://lbvfs.com/
    http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-vineland/stores
    http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-international/s…

    You've got to do the crazy golf!
    Some better than others.
    We preferred http://www.piratesislandgolf.com/ and http://www.piratescove.net

    Apart from Kennedy Space Center mentioned earlier, going in the other direction, worth checking out St Petersburg & around Clearwater. Tarpon Springs as well if you want something different (old sponge trading area). Between Orlando & those areas is https://www.legoland.com/florida/

  • fatming on 10/01/2018 - 09:01

    Thanks so much for the info, really needed some direction coz the start of a holiday plan always daunts me, don’t know where to look. Can I ask you how many days you think to stay at Disney world would be comfortable? We’ve done Disneyland and we did the 3 day hopper pass but Disney world is bigger right?

    • Schumi5 on 11/01/2018 - 16:31
      +1

      With the 4 parks + 2 water parks you would want to spend minimum 1 day at each park, probably recommend the Park Hopper + Waterparks Pass unless the Disney Platinum Plum Annual card works out cheaper https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passes/

      Make sure you register a disney account online so you can then book restaurants, get ur fastpasses etc all before getting to the parks. I believe you can do this 60days out if staying at a disney hotel for the fastpass and 180days out for the restaurants.

      As the others are saying the sooner you book the better as Disney tend to put the price of tickets up each year.

      If you are looking to stay onsite, We have stayed at the Walt Disney Dolphin/Swan hotel all 3 times we have been. Although its not a Disney owned property you still receive the same perks such as Extra Park Hours,buses to the parks etc etc. Price at the hotel is much cheaper than other Disney hotels and is in a great location within walking distance to Epcot(10mins) and the Boardwalk as well as having access to the boats that take you to the parks or Disney buses which leave the hotel every 10 minutes.

      one tip worth looking at…. We just booked December 28-Jan 2 so busiest time of year for the Dolphin Hotel,
      .
      Dolphin hotel worked out to be $3,700aud for 5 nights… after researching a bit they are part of SPG Starwood hotel group i was able to buy SPG hotel points for the amount we needed for $1900aud. Still not the cheapest but just by doing this we save $1800 so worth looking into this option.

      • Mellyp on 13/01/2018 - 11:36
        +1

        The value resorts on site for Disney are usually cheaper than the swan and dolphin if you don’t need something super fancy. We stayed at pop century and were happy as. One room for 5 nights cost me about $120 a night.

    • whodidthat on 13/01/2018 - 18:01
      +1

      DisneyWorld is big! They own 43 square miles. Obviously only a small percentage "in use" but still covers a lot of ground. It gets busy! I would say at least 2 days per Main park. Then a day each at water parks, Disney Springs, etc.,

      You don't need to pay full price if you intend staying "on site" at Disney.

      • fatming on 16/01/2018 - 08:29

        Can I just check: staying “on-site” does the mean Disney owned hotels? Also, since we’ll be going in December, is it wise to skip the water parks?

        • whodidthat on 17/01/2018 - 02:02
          +1

          Yes, on site is Disney hotels but I think a few have franchised to some of the big hotel groups now.

          Water parks can still be good in December. But you can never tell when Florida will get hit with a cold snap. When we were there in 2010, it was a shocker for about 2 weeks! A lot of days were only 10c maximum ( usually in mid 20c's - which is a good temperature there). They've had some days like that recently.

  • fatming on 12/01/2018 - 12:51

    Wow, thanks for that tip. Looks like my wallets going have a hole in it soon so any of these tips are valuable to me!

  • Mellyp on 13/01/2018 - 11:35
    +1

    If you can stay on site at Disney I’d recommend it. You get extra time in parks that the public doesn’t get, earlier access to fast passes (off site you’ll struggle to get acces to fast passes for the best rides), free transport on site and magic bands which store all of your fast pass info and a way to pay if you wanted to.

    I’d also highly highly recommend checking out touring plans. They’re a company that has an almost unfailing algorithm for how to get around Disney world and maximise your time riding instead of standing in lines. It cost about $20 for a 1 year membership and following their plans I barely spent more than 10 minutes in line. The one time I thought I knew better had me in line for 50 minutes.

  • whodidthat on 13/01/2018 - 18:08
    +1

    The main trick to avoiding queues in Disney is to be there for gate opening (there's a bit of a welcome thing prior to opening at Magic Kingdom) then head straight to the busiest rides. Shops, etc., are open all day so plenty of time.

    For parades in the parks, people pick out best spots early - so you might want to keep an eye out.

  • whodidthat on 13/01/2018 - 22:31
    +1

    You might want to have a look & keep checking https://www.groupon.com/browse/orlando

    I noticed one at the moment free, for 25c off petrol but didn't look at it properly.

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