Orlando recommendations

I woke up super excited this morning because now it's 2020 it means my holiday is this year! I'm pathetic, I'm 39 and I think I'm more excited than the kids! :laugh:
 
I'm going Feb 2021. Without the kids! Just me and a few mates to do Star Wars land and a week of boozing.
 
Park tickets all booked for Easter !! Woo hoo...can't wait to do Galaxy's Edge and Pandora this time round !
 
Does everyone book the flights and hotels direct or do you find it cheaper to book a package through the likes of Tui or Virgin ?
 
We book it all separately. Flights via Virgin, villa via online sites (using a house we stayed in before), car through Avis (or other) and park tickets
 
Does everyone book the flights and hotels direct or do you find it cheaper to book a package through the likes of Tui or Virgin ?

Always do it separately. Although I've spotted some really good deals if you leave it until the last minute and aren't restricted by school holidays.
 
Neither.
I decide the dates I want then see if they're available at my favourite hotel in Orlando and check for flights through Expedia (preferably due to cashback via Topcashback) or Travel Republic.
 
That's rather an open question, as it all depends on the dates and places. Really, the only thing you can do is try them both out and work out which is best. Bear in mind that by booking separately
- you have much greater flexibility in accomodation, flight schedule, airline, class of travel, itinerary etc.
- you can often both save some money AND benefit from lower room rates by booking direct AND joining whichever hotel chain's loyalty program. And maybe other benefits like free WiFi you may not get with a package
- BUT you do have to cover things like airport transfers (if needed)
- AND in the unlikely event of a major business failure, (such as an airline going bust) you may have to manage the situation yourself to a greater degree than with package protection. But at least, you won't be in a situation where (as reported recently with Thomas Cook) your hotel demands EXTRA money from you - money you have already paid out to the failed TourOp - or they threaten to throw you out.

I just about always book each component direct nowadays. I do prefer the flexibility to choose exactly how long and where, and I do make use of loyalty points etc. Incidentally, whilst I do use the likes of booking.com and Trivago etc., to assist with initial hotel research, I have NEVER YET found any of them to offer me a better deal than I can get by (once I have chosen) booking direct with the hotel itself (or its corporate site).
 
Good to know thanks Guys.
I thought it may be better / cheaper / more options etc to book direct but just wondered if packages were more cost effective with Orlando being such a popular destination.
 
I think it's generally better to book directly, but we went through Virgin to book a package because there are 12 of us travelling. Just because it was just easier for us really.
 
sorry one other quick question ...
if we stay at one of the universal hotels, is it fairly easy & not too costly to get a taxi or uber to the Disney parks - I'm just wondering if it will be easier (& cheaper) to taxi to Disney on 2 or 3 occasions rather than pay for car hire for the duration of the holiday plus car parking at the parks and our hotel.
 
sorry one other quick question ...
if we stay at one of the universal hotels, is it fairly easy & not too costly to get a taxi or uber to the Disney parks - I'm just wondering if it will be easier (& cheaper) to taxi to Disney on 2 or 3 occasions rather than pay for car hire for the duration of the holiday plus car parking at the parks and our hotel.
Definitely Uber it for 2/3 occasions. No question. Easy and cheap.
 
Definitely Uber it for 2/3 occasions. No question. Easy and cheap.

Thank you - I looked on google maps and I thought that would be the case but wasn't 100% sure.
 
This is possibly a silly question, but I can't actually find an answer anywhere... we're flying with Virgin and I'm taking headphones with me, but does anyone know if I will need one of those 2 pin airline adapters to use them with the in-flight entertainment system?
 
This is possibly a silly question, but I can't actually find an answer anywhere... we're flying with Virgin and I'm taking headphones with me, but does anyone know if I will need one of those 2 pin airline adapters to use them with the in-flight entertainment system?
Not silly at all. Depends on the aircraft. Most newer or newly refurbished planes have the single jack. Older ones may need the adapter but you can get them cheap on ebay or pound land type stores.
 
Yeah, these days on Virgin its usually single jack and you can use your own.....I tend to use mine. Where you flying from and is it a 747? If its an old jumbo it might be the old system, but worse case is they give you headphones anyway.


Our park tickets have turned up this morning.....countdown well and truly started !!
 
Hey folks ... where is the best place to buy tickets for the theme parks ?

Universal full pass for 14 days
Disney Parks for individual days

Thank you :smashin:
 
We used American Attractions....don't know how they compared to others but tickets arrived within 10 days at competitive rates
 
Yeah, these days on Virgin its usually single jack and you can use your own.....I tend to use mine. Where you flying from and is it a 747? If its an old jumbo it might be the old system, but worse case is they give you headphones anyway.


Our park tickets have turned up this morning.....countdown well and truly started !!


We're flying from Heathrow. We go via JFK to Orlando International on the way out then via Atlanta on the return journey. I would have preferred direct flights because we're travelling with kids, but for some reason these ones with changes were significantly cheaper.
I can't remember what aircraft were on, it's either A350s or A330s.
 
They're always significantly cheaper because of a stop or two.
 
We're flying from Heathrow. We go via JFK to Orlando International on the way out then via Atlanta on the return journey. I would have preferred direct flights because we're travelling with kids, but for some reason these ones with changes were significantly cheaper.
I can't remember what aircraft were on, it's either A350s or A330s.
The heathrow planes are usually better than the Manchester planes (the JFK flight may even be the brand new interior) so you should be able to use your own headphones
 
Hey folks ... where is the best place to buy tickets for the theme parks ?

Universal full pass for 14 days
Disney Parks for individual days

We used American Attractions....don't know how they compared to others but tickets arrived within 10 days at competitive rates

Orlando Ticket Deals and FloridaTix are worth looking at as well.
 
I’m going again ..... had a wonderful time reading back through this thread from almost three years ago. @rustybin you going this summer?
 

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