Direct Flights - Thomson Dreamliner v Virgin & MCO v Sanford

[Lucys dad]

Looking for some advice folks - have always flown direct from Glasgow with Virgin in Premium. Just wondered how they compare with the Thomson flight direct. I see they are flying twice a week from Glasgow. The price for their premium seats is a little less than Virgin and wondered if the service is comparable

Also, we have always landed at MCO and taken the ME, we do not bother with a car. However, as we are flying with a 1 year old this time I am dreading the lengthy wait at immigration - it looks like the Glasgow Virgin flight arrives shortly after a couple of UK flights. Would be happy to pay for a taxi/transfer from Sanford if coming through immigration is a breeze compared to MCO. Is that the case ?

Any thoughts appreciated

 

[Jon84]

From what I've read its close, but less luggage allowance.

Sanford is a great little airport, but I'd say Immigration is no quicker. Last time I flew into Sanford there were not Electronic Passport control, and they didn't have many people at desks, so it still took a while. I'd book a transfer ahead of time as a Taxi from a rank will be alot of money.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Transportation from Sanford to WDW will run you $100 to $150 each way plus tip.

 

[DrunkJam]

Honestly I'd stick with the Virgin Flight.
We've done both, and MCO was much quicker, especially with the ME

 

[micksn]

I find Sanford much quicker. It took us at least 2 hours at MCO and about half an hour at Sanford. I was quite impressed with the Dreamliner, but then I've never flown Virgin just Thomas Cook, the old Thomson and Monarch!

 

[2Tiggies]

Just a note to keep in mind if you are not hiring a car. With the work going on on I-4 right now, expect it to take around an hour to get from Sanford to WDW. You might want to get a quote with LYFT or Uber instead of a regular cab because it's not cheap.

 

[Lucys dad]

Thanks for the responses. I'm veering toward sticking with what I know. VA.

 

[saintrob]

We regularly fly with Virgin into MCO but have done the Dreamliner and it's a great plane. I'm a fan of Sanford when it's empty! We've flown into Sanford and been through in thirty minutes however we've also been forced to use a holding room as it was so busy! I'd always choose Virgin and MCO despite the waits at immigration which can occur.

 

[Thickey]

I have done both from Gatwick, The flight and plane itself I would say the Dreamliner wins... The price difference meant we could fly premium with Thompson rather than economy with Virgin.. When we fly Virgin we get economy seats in on the top floor of the plane (AKA bubble). This has the advantage of being quieter and also we offload from there before the rest of the economy on the lower deck. In the previous 2 times we have gone Virgin we were alway the first 30 or so people in line.. but perhaps we were just lucky.

With Thompson, being premium again meant we got thru immigration quickly, I seem to recall it took us about 30 mins from hitting the runway to getting in our cab. We were using Disney bus services that holiday.. an experiment we are not replicating and got a car last year and will do this year as well. I think the cab cost $150 or something there and back, I can't remember completely. But the experience going with Thompson wasn't a bad one at all.

This year we are going again with Virgin, partly because I have a virgin credit card and so wanted to use miles. Next year i'm not at all sure if we are even going to be able to go.. The £ v $ rate is killing me but I will look at using Thompson again even economy and seeing if it makes a trip viable or not. The travel time to and from the airport isn't a huge factor for me.. 30 mins or an hour isn't that big of a deal we are only going to do the journey once there and back. Sanford airport however sucks in terms of amenities so I would avoid going there hungry because your options are limited!

 

[nursejackie]

We always fly Virgin Atlantic (MAN to MCO) but I have flown with Thomson a few times to Italy or Spain and I can honestly say they are flights to be endured and not enjoyed. They have a sell, sell, sell attitude and they are never off the PA system selling us 'duty free' even though we didn't leave the EU, reading out the menus, even though we all had a copy to read ourselves. They used statements like 'we don't carry that many so don't be disappointed and buy now' 'don't wait until your return flight we may not have any left', it was a nightmare. It drowned out anything we played on the ipad, and we had nowhere to hide from it. It was quite torturous and we said we could never fly long haul with them. Stick with Virgin.

 

[Jon84]

We always fly Virgin Atlantic (MAN to MCO) but I have flown with Thomson a few times to Italy or Spain and I can honestly say they are flights to be endured and not enjoyed. They have a sell, sell, sell attitude and they are never off the PA system selling us 'duty free' even though we didn't leave the EU, reading out the menus, even though we all had a copy to read ourselves. They used statements like 'we don't carry that many so don't be disappointed and buy now' 'don't wait until your return flight we may not have any left', it was a nightmare. It drowned out anything we played on the ipad, and we had nowhere to hide from it. It was quite torturous and we said we could never fly long haul with them. Stick with Virgin.

I'm pretty sure on a shorthaul flight on a crappy old plane that is to be expected. Easyjet and even BA have been like that for me in the past.

The Dreamliner flights on long haul I've heard nothing but good things about

 

[Thickey]

The Dreamliner flights on long haul I've heard nothing but good things about

Yes I agree.. there wasn't any upselling that I can remember on my flight.

 

[married2mm]

I've recently returned from medium haul flights with Thomson & Thomas cook.

The outbound (Thomson) flight felt longer than on the dreamliner to sanford
It was basically a nonstop shop in the air & rather irksome

The Thomas cook flight was similar-but nowhere near as hard sell.
And I found the cabin crew more pleasant----
However that's not the answer to your question !!

I've flown virgin from Glasgow & Manchester-standard economy & no issues.
Ds loved va and yearns to fly with them again-
Wishes granted in 32 days.

I preferred the dreamliner (both pe & econ ) and the ease at sanford-
So much smaller & quicker: smaller,faster,better...
I'm not the driver though-however dh states he has no preference at all..

I prefer the distance from mco to disney
But as a pp stated-it's only there & back; we're not driving it daily.

 

[Wakey]

If you are staying at Disney I'd go to Orlando for Magical Express.

 

[flortlebap]

Bit late to the party but you can't book seats until 90 days out. We looked at going PE on the Dreamliner as the saving was about £3,000 compared to virgin PE (family of 6) but there's no way I'd want to wait until 90 days out to get our seats. The idea of being split up fills me with dread!

With VA we got our seats together the second we bought the tickets (11 months out)

 

[Jon84]

Bit late to the party but you can't book seats until 90 days out. We looked at going PE on the Dreamliner as the saving was about £3,000 compared to virgin PE (family of 6) but there's no way I'd want to wait until 90 days out to get our seats. The idea of being split up fills me with dread!

With VA we got our seats together the second we bought the tickets (11 months out)

The 90 days is for everyone so makes no difference right?

 

[flortlebap]

The 90 days is for everyone so makes no difference right?

Yes. But with VA, you can book 11 months out and get your seats 11 months out so you beat the rush!

 

[jamez2014]

im sure to pre-book seats on VA (which we had done last year) we had to pay extra and i don't remember it being cheap, there was also still in the terms and conditions somewhere they can re-allocate your seat, I'm sure there is some rules tho about splitting children up from families, thats the main thing i would have thought?

 

[Jon84]

Yes. But with VA, you can book 11 months out and get your seats 11 months out so you beat the rush!

True,

im sure to pre-book seats on VA (which we had done last year) we had to pay extra and i don't remember it being cheap, there was also still in the terms and conditions somewhere they can re-allocate your seat, I'm sure there is some rules tho about splitting children up from families, thats the main thing i would have thought?

You're exactly right, I think we've only been discussing Premium. But yeah, for VA you have to pay to choose in Eco (unless you are buying Extra Legroom, or Exit Row)

 

[stephensmum]

Flew newcastle to Sanford on the Dreamliner & all 3 of us felt it was the best fight ever. We book a town car in advance & gave a supermarket stop on the way.