July 2018 flights for family of 5 @ £1,800 - but is it worth it when you add it all up...

[popdriver]

I am calling on all your wisdom to tell me to stop pontificating and just book this;

We are 2 Aduults, 3 kids 14/13/8

Possible flights leaving at the end of July 2018

Outbound Flights Journey Duration: 12 hrs 25 minutes
Leeds Bradford to London Heathrow, UK
Changeover Duration: 1 hr 50
LHR to Miami International, Florida - USA

Return Flights Journey Duration: 15 hrs 20 minutes

Miami International, Florida - USA to Chicago O'Hare Intl, Illinois - USA
Changeover Duration: 1 hr 20 minutes
Chicago O'Hare Intl, Illinois - USA to London Heathrow, UK
Changeover Duration: 1 hr 45 minutes
London Heathrow to Leeds Bradford

5 nights in universal Loews Royal Pacific
18 days 7 seater mini van [only a mini van for luggage purposes] car is all in with zero,excess

Costs

Flights £1807
Hotel £836
Car £610

Total £3266

Questions;

Do you think these flights are sensible?
Is the 3 flight return leg stupid?


Our plan is 5 nights on site for universal and then bag a villa & do Disney & other stuff for 13 nights

That takes the budget to;

Flights / car / hotel £3,266
Villa £1100 [bases on what we paid this year]

Disney & universal £2953

Total is £7319 for 18 nights +spends

Any tips on how to talk to the kids & wife from avoiding Disney & save cash? Lol

[Ciano]

Did u do Disney this yr? If so maybe they would agree to a break from it next year in order to keep costs down?

[popdriver]

Yes we did... but if we do Europe it won't be the same

Anyone have views on Florida without the parks?

[sotagals]

I don't have a problem with 3 leg return flights but I don't like the look of the timings on this one.

One hour 20 is ok in theory but if you have any delay you will be in trouble. If the inbound fight to LHR is on AA you will need to transfer from T3 to T5 which involves a shuttle bus and this can easily take up to 3 hours. It took us almost that just to transfer within T5.

See whether there are any other options with better timings.

My kids know that they only get one set of tickets per visit. Last time we only did Universal and next year we will do Disney.

We are flying into Miami but having a week at the seaside on the Gulf coast before driving up to Orlando. A nice villa with a pool or a condo on the beach is great for relaxing and getting over the jet lag.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by sotagals

I don't have a problem with 3 leg return flights but I don't like the look of the timings on this one.

One hour 20 is ok in theory but if you have any delay you will be in trouble. If the inbound fight to LHR is on AA you will need to transfer from T3 to T5 which involves a shuttle bus and this can easily take up to 3 hours. It took us almost that just to transfer within T5.

See whether there are any other options with better timings.

My kids know that they only get one set of tickets per visit. Last time we only did Universal and next year we will do Disney.

We are flying into Miami but having a week at the seaside on the Gulf coast before driving up to Orlando. A nice villa with a pool or a condo on the beach is great for relaxing and getting over the jet lag.

See more...

I landed at T3 in October and was through security in T5 within 40 mins of getting off the plane..


On the outbound journey.. the flight from Glasgow was late getting to Heathrow T3.. but everyone on the connecting flight to Charlotte was rushed to the front of the bus queue so we got to T5 quickly...

Can't imagine why it would ever take 3 hrs to get between the terminals.

[popdriver]

You know that's a fab shout to say to the kids choose either Disney or universal

I looked at Cape Coral the villas look nice and it seems to have a central hub of restaurants

[macadoo]

Originally Posted by popdriver

You know that's a fab shout to say to the kids choose either Disney or universal

I looked at Cape Coral the villas look nice and it seems to have a central hub of restaurants

See more...

We did that this year, we were on a budget and had to stick to it, we booked cheap flights and had already got a Disney hotel booked months before just in case which we were prepared to lose the deposit on and told the kids they had to choose just Disney or universal & seaworld/Busch. They chose Disney.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by popdriver

You know that's a fab shout to say to the kids choose either Disney or universal

I looked at Cape Coral the villas look nice and it seems to have a central hub of restaurants

See more...

Cape coral is fine (I stayed in a lovely canal side villa there), but Naples/ Bonita area better. Cape Coral has no natural beach, instead an inlet with a man made beach on it. Not as many restaurants either.
Look at Lely resort in Naples. Get a villa with Players Club access. That's my advice, from someone who has stayed all over SW Florida maybe 25+ times.

[asmidir]

What date are the flights?

[duchy]

So next year alternate and do Universal..you could even split the stay with a beach resort.

KLM often have decent fares from LBA via Amsterdam which is far nicer than Heathrow to transit. Frankfurt is good too.