Firstly let me start by telling you that Orlando is simply one of the best places in the world to visit with kids. In fact, I will go further. The United States of America is just a great place to travel to and visit with kids.
The Americans just seem to be more set up and accommodating of small folk and that makes in my books, a huge difference to a positive travel experience.
Now, let's not be thinking travel to the USA with children is a bag of laughs - far from it in fact. The long travel days teamed with jet lag can leave the whole family feeling less than perky but we found that after a day or so and a good nights sleep we have usually adapted to US time pretty quickly.
There is no doubt that planning a trip to the sunshine state of Florida can be expensive so I will be sharing some tips on how you can make the trip a little cheaper.
Saving money before you fly!
Don't fly direct - Flying direct in peak holiday times could see you paying at least £1,000 + per ticket. We flew indirect last February with British Airways and paid £1600 for all four of us. We flew via New York and all said we would definitely do it again.
Book as far in advance as you can. We typically book our flights as soon as they come out as in our experience the prices rarely come down. We are team British Airways, but that said I always shop around for the best deal. Aer Lingus, Virgin, American Airlines and British Airways all offer indirect routes to MCO Orlando Airport.
Try flying to Tampa (1.5 hours away) or Miami (3 hours away) to cut your costs down. Some of our cheapest flights have been when we have flown direct to Tampa or Miami. Miami is our preferred as these have always been most cost effective and don't let the 3 hour drive put you off, it's a really simple and doable drive.
Use AVIOS! It is because of the https://www.avios.com/gb/en AVIOS points we accumulate during the year we are able to travel to America so often as we utilise our points and then typically only pay the taxes. We have booked to travel to New York in Easter next year and have paid £400 for four of us.
Get yourself a British Airways American Express Credit Card where for each £10,000 you spend in a calendar year you'll earn yourself 1 companion reward flight - basically, buy one flight get one free. You can sign up via my referral link and bag yourself 30,000 points which equates to one return economy class flight to Orlando! Click this link https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/tHOMAWN70a?XL=MIMNS
We were able to fly business class to Orlando in the summer of '22 using our points and our seats in taxes cost us £1900 which was well worth the money!
Let's chat Disney and Universal merch! If your kids are mine (well and like me!) we are suckers for Disney and Universal merch. Heck if it's got a set of Mickey ears on it its got a 50% higher rate of coming home with me!
Primark, ASOS, H&M and Asda all do amazing Disney and Universal inspired clothing. You can kit the whole family out for less than you think. You can pick up Disney inspired t-shirts for under ten pounds vs $30 + in the stores in the US. Keep an eye on ShopDisney for bubble wands when they are on sale. In the parks they sell them for near on $40 plus tax which is ridiculous so if you can buy here before you leave you can whip one out in the parks and not feel so mean for saying no to your small folk. Mickey ears are much cheaper when purchased through ETSY and you can often find far more unique designs. I am big fans of finding small independent businesses and the quality is also much better.
The cost of the dollar has taken a pounding recently so I would advise you bring some snacks out with you. I'm talking crisps, crackers, chocolates, breakfast bars. Whilst I love a wander around an American supermarket to buy snacks it soon starts to add up so anything you can bring with you to throw in your park bag will save you some $$$. With that in mind, definitely take a trip to a supermarket when you are out there. Our favourites are Walmart, Target and Publix. Here you can stock up on canned drinks, bottled water, cereal for the room which will all cut your costs down.
Bring refillable water bottles with you and small compact squishy squashes. These are lifesavers. Water in Orlando is chlorinated and definitely has a distinct taste to it. My kids don't like the park water on its own so we always carry squash with us. Take more than you will think you will need as you will drink far more than you think, especially in the summer months. Quick service locations around the parks provide free ice water so just pop by and fill up your bottles. Bottles of water in the parks will set you back $4.50 plus tax - crazy!!!
Consider buying cooling fans and cooling towels on Amazon before you leave. Disney and Universal both sell branded versions but the non branded ones do the same job - a must have for the summer months!
Think about whether you actually need to hire a car. Whilst the freedom is brilliant now with having to pay to stay at Disney hotels plus park parking if you are not - allow up to $30 per day those charges can really start racking up. Make sure you download the UBER app and the LYFT app and before you book your ride check the prices on both apps - we found LYFT cheaper than UBER. If you do want to rent a car then our go to supplier is the ever so helpful Andy at Discount Florida Car Hire (https://www.discountfloridacarhire.co.uk/) . He has been used by so many and we have used him many times to book our rentals.
If you are not renting a car and need to get from Orlando airport to your Disney hotel then definitely check out The Sunshine Flyer. We used them back in the summer and they were fab. Since Disney scrapped the Magical Express these guys have hopped in to offer a similar paid for service. With prices at $32 adults and $20 children return you'd be hard pushed to beat that price. You can find details at https://sunshineflyer.com/
These are just a few ways you can save a few $$$ before you travel. I hope you found some of these tips helpful.