Advice on 1st time Family travel to USA Orlando...

Morlock

Hi all , we are planning a family trip to Orlando USA to visit the parks , we have never been to the USA as a Family ( 2 adults and 2 kids )

What I would like is tips on airlines and also houses near the parks, I also have heard we would need a rented Car.

So if you can offer tips on any of the following areas :

• We would like to Fly direct from Dublin Airport, which Airline we should use, Aer lingus Vs the Rest,
• Have you used a good vacation home in or near Orlando
• And your best tips , ( ie Something you figured out the hard Way while over there )
• Should we buy Park tickets on line or wait to Get there ?

Any Advice will be gratefully accepted

slave1

I've used Aer Lingus direct and Delta indirect via Atlanta, no issues with either option
I've always stayed in Kissimmee, very close to Disney in particular and easy to get to the Gulf Coast (you will want to get to a beach is possible)
Usual suspects for a car, I've used Budget and Alamo, again no issues with either of them, with Alamo I was able to do on-line check in which was handy
I always buy tickets in advance.

My tip is to register with http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48 and read/digest their fourms, after that just plan your days and leave time for rest as the parks can be HUGE

Best of luck, you will have a great time!!

Spook_ie

....where to start !!!.......

We have been a few times, and we are heading back next June on a direct flight with Aer Lingus. We have done it the cheaper way ie going through the likes of Atlanta, yes, you pay more on AL but the service is great and since we first travelled direct back in 2005 we would not go back to the one stop journey. A huge bonus when you fly AL is the pre-clearance in Dublin which means you arrive in Orlando as a Domestic passenger, which saves loads of time and hassle.

Tickets - everyone has their favourites.....certainly undercovertourist is very reputable, but it always works out cheaper to purchase before you go. Next year we will only be in Orlando for a few days before we head to Sand Key so we are just doing our favourite of Universal and we will purchase our tickets from their website. We will be staying onsite in the Hard rock hotel to avail of the early entry plus the unlimited fast passes which are great. Even if you rent a house in Orlando, its well worth booking one night in any of the 3 onsite hotels to avail of this, fastpasses are good from 7am on day of checkin to close on the day you check out. We'll also be visiting Busch Gardens.

Accommodation in Orlando is great, but you really have to sit down and have a think as to what you want ie a private house ? or a condo in the likes of Floridays, Sheraton Vistana Villages ? obviously when you go to the likes of the Sheraton the pools are fantastic and your kids can meet up with other kids. Tripadvisor has a great map of Orlando and where alot of the resorts are based.

Car ? if you decide to stay on the likes of International Drive, then no, you dont need one, but anywhere else.....yes its strongly advisable.......

Morlock

Spook_ie wrote: »

....where to start !!!.......

We have been a few times, and we are heading back next June on a direct flight with Aer Lingus. We have done it the cheaper way ie going through the likes of Atlanta, yes, you pay more on AL but the service is great and since we first travelled direct back in 2005 we would not go back to the one stop journey. A huge bonus when you fly AL is the pre-clearance in Dublin which means you arrive in Orlando as a Domestic passenger, which saves loads of time and hassle.

Tickets - everyone has their favourites.....certainly undercovertourist is very reputable, but it always works out cheaper to purchase before you go. Next year we will only be in Orlando for a few days before we head to Sand Key so we are just doing our favourite of Universal and we will purchase our tickets from their website. We will be staying onsite in the Hard rock hotel to avail of the early entry plus the unlimited fast passes which are great. Even if you rent a house in Orlando, its well worth booking one night in any of the 3 onsite hotels to avail of this, fastpasses are good from 7am on day of checkin to close on the day you check out. We'll also be visiting Busch Gardens.

Accommodation in Orlando is great, but you really have to sit down and have a think as to what you want ie a private house ? or a condo in the likes of Floridays, Sheraton Vistana Villages ? obviously when you go to the likes of the Sheraton the pools are fantastic and your kids can meet up with other kids. Tripadvisor has a great map of Orlando and where alot of the resorts are based.

Car ? if you decide to stay on the likes of International Drive, then no, you dont need one, but anywhere else.....yes its strongly advisable.......

Thanks very much , for the advice , we hadn't a clue where to start looking , Accommodation is still the big one, but your idea of booking in a resort hotel for 1 night sounds a great idea.

The big worry was the flights as the youngest will be 5 , and the furthest we have flown is Spain , via Ryan air , so we have no ideas around what a comfortable flight is !!

Again Thanks very much for the Advice

naughtysmurf

Ideally fly direct with AL

Plenty of reading here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80623648#post80623648

And on the orlando travel forum on tripadvisor

Morlock

thanks very much for the tips, Kissimmee are they all houses ?

slave1

Morlock wrote: »

thanks very much for the tips, Kissimmee are they all houses ?

There are some hotels, but generally houses with pools (villas as they call them). Car would be essential.
Regarding staying on site, it depends on what time of the year you intend travelling, I visited Universal after the US schools went back in late August (few weeks back ) and queues were short and expense of hotel booking unnecessary. On the positive side your kids will be free with your hotel stay most likely.

Diddler1977

My tip......

Standard tip in a restaurant is 18%

Good Service 20%

Excellent Service 25%

Just letting you know because some people think that 10% tip is correct:(

athtrasna

When hiring a car, search for an all-inclusive rate. Many of the hire companies quote you one price but when you turn up you are told you need extra insurance and the price can almost double.

For the US I always book with Arguscarhire.ie - they are a reseller but I've always found their prices to be better than direct with the companies. When we've used them the price has included all insurance, breakdown assist, and a full tank of fuel. My favourite part though has been the companies we've got, Enterprise, Alamo and National. They all allow you to book a category of car but when you turn up you go to the part of the garage where that category is and you pick out your actual car. We have big Samsonite cases which don't fit in most smaller cars but we discovered could get into one of the small Chevrolets which cost 20% less to hire than the bigger ones. Being able to choose the car allows you to factor in things like boot space, driving position (height) and interior layout.

naughtysmurf

AL direct is great especially with kids, very good / new planes & back of seat entertainment packages, no probs with a 6yr old last year, never flown indirect before, again age of kids and layover time would decide this for me, personally a significant saving would have to be made before I'd consider indirect, how much €5/600 minimum

The where to stay question...there are pro & cons with all the options. How old are your kids?

If they were older kids / teenagers I'd go for the villa option, pool outside the back door, wifi for their gadgets, plenty of room, washer / dryer etc etc or maybe a two bedroom condo with similar, we would have some park free days so prefer this option & they would be competitive pricewise with decent hotels.

Would use tripadvisor as a gentle guide as regards hotels / condos


With younger kids, may chance a hotel closer to the parks but imo one room starts to look real small after three days

There is no right or wrong just comes down to your personal preference

Get your park tickets before you go, shop around a little, have used undercovertourist in the past, good to deal with, may use attractionticketsdirect next time as it was working out € better for us, work out what & how many tickets you actually really need, they are expensive & easy to overbuy in the excitment of it all.

Jonny_D

Morlock wrote: »

The big worry was the flights as the youngest will be 5 , and the furthest we have flown is Spain , via Ryan air , so we have no ideas around what a comfortable flight is !!

Should be fine.
I did Florida for XMas a couple of years ago with a 2 year old and a 6 year old.
Not a bother on them - slept the whole way.
We rented a villa in Kissimmee and a car - which I'd recomend doing.
There are a couple of other places than the main parks you should check out too, like Old Town Kissimmee, Gatorland and that town that was built by Disney (Celebration maybe?).

And if you're going to Sea World, check out the sea lion show (I think it was sea lions) and get a seat early and watch the guy dressed up who greets people as they come in. Well worth it.