‘I’ve flown to Orlando more than 100 times - these are my top tips for Disney World’
From beating queues to saving money, a Manchester flight attendant with Aer Lingus has shared useful tips and tricks for families visiting Orlando
Orlando, Florida, is one of the top bucket-list holiday destinations for families thanks to its incredible theme parks, shopping malls and amazing weather.
Visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort is every kids’ dream, from getting up close to their favourite characters to enjoying thrilling roller coaster rides.
Manchester Airport offers direct flights to Orlando, with Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic, making it easy for families in the North West to reach the Sunshine State.
But with so much to see, visiting the theme parks can be daunting and you might be worried about long queues for rides, expensive tickets and fitting it all in.
Adrian Hughes is a senior cabin crew member and standards supervisor at Aer Lingus and has flown to Orlando approximately 150 times during his 20-year career. In that time the Manchester-based flight attendant has picked up some useful tips for visiting this family-favourite, including how to save money and beat the queues.
Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort both attract millions of visitors, so queues are inevitable. Adrian says the secret to avoiding them is by planning your day carefully and being strategic with which rides you go on and when.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “Everyone rushes to the big rides first thing on a morning, so instead use that time to go on all of the smaller rides.
“Then towards the end of the day head to the more popular ones as the queues will be a lot quieter. It’s nice to have a wander around the park before it all closes too.”
Visiting the parks can be expensive, so Adrian recommends buying tickets in advance or looking at combo-options.
“With somewhere like Disney there’s loads of places out there selling tickets - Attraction Tickets is a good one. You can purchase tickets in advance which will always save you money - it’s much more expensive to get them at the gate on the day,” he said.
“A lot of these companies will do a combo-ticket, which includes all of the Disney parks. It also works out cheaper to do 14 days instead of the seven, and you won’t have all that pressure to have a park every day.
“The good thing is those companies usually throw in some coupons, meal vouchers, little booklets you can use while you’re there, as well as photo passes so you can have your picture taken around the park - that’s a good little tip.”
When you’re travelling with excited kids to somewhere like Walt Disney World, it can be easy to feel the pressure to make sure the holiday is perfect for them. But Adrian advises to make sure you’ve got time to relax too.
The Aer Lingus cabin crew member said: “It is good to plan ahead and make a rough timetable so you know which days you want to do things, but make sure you have those down days you can spend by the pool.
“The parks can be very full on, so keep it fluid and don’t put any pressure on yourself. If you’ve got a four-day ticket you will see everything even if you have to take a few days out of the parks as well.”
One thing many Brits forget is that there’s so much more to Orlando than the theme parks - good news if roller coasters aren’t your thing.
Adrian said: “There’s the Kennedy Space Centre, which is fantastic, especially with Space X these days as there’s so many launches.
“There’s so much wildlife in Florida as well, it has a lot of nature reserves and trails where you can see alligators and different birds.
“You can also catch the train to Miami which breaks up your holiday. Of course you’ve got shopping malls surrounded by amazing beaches, there’s Daytona and Cocoa Beach. There’s so much to do at I-Drive and Wonder Works is great too.”