Flight to Orlando - what is the ideal time to leave?

[zeferjen]

We live 1 hr from Philly airport. In your opinion, would you rather fly out at 6:20 AM and arrive in Orlando at 8:55 (for $20 more per ticket) or fly out at 11:38 AM and arrive at 2:11 PM? This will be a 6 day trip, fwiw.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

No question, the 11:38 am flight. I hate those early morning departures. You are going to have to get up around 3-3:30 am to make that 6:20 am flight.

 

[zeferjen]

Ok, thanks! Follow up question - do you think I am going to get a cheaper flight than $200 round trip or should I just book this Airtran flight now? This is for mid-October.

 

[DebbieB]

If you want to take the early flight, I would get a hotel by the airport. Most airports have hotels with park and fly, you can leave your car there for a small additional charge.

 

[Minnesota!]

We MUCH prefer flying out as early as possible. We are flying at 920 this coming trip and that seems SO late to me! We love getting up early and heading out. 920 means we don't need to be to the airport until around 7...and that means a lot of waiting around for us in the morning (we are early risers..). I would much prefer getting up and starting my day earlier than killing half a day waiting.

 

[Muhlenberg]

No question, the 11:38 am flight. I hate those early morning departures. You are going to have to get up around 3-3:30 am to make that 6:20 am flight.

Ditto!

We also live an hour from PHL. I aim for late morning or early afternoon flights. It really depends on your family. There is NO WAY my family could leave before 8:30 AM!!!

Same concept for return flight...depends on your family's "awake hours." I could never get back to PHL on a late flight knowing we have to drive an hour AFTER baggage retrieval and then car retrieval.

And for me, I don't like the getting a hotel room near an airport (on either end). I don't like packing/unpacking, and I recently researched this for our upcoming trip, and found that what we pay for parking is "tacked onto" the normal room rate. So it doesn't save there, either. To each their own! It may fit some folks, but it doesn't fit us!

Oh and this is also for a 6 night trip. Ditto for when we went for 5 nights. We're more of a "do what we can do" and not commando.

 

[sam_gordon]

We live 1 hr from Philly airport. In your opinion, would you rather fly out at 6:20 AM and arrive in Orlando at 8:55 (for $20 more per ticket) or fly out at 11:38 AM and arrive at 2:11 PM? This will be a 6 day trip, fwiw.

I would personally take the 6:20 AM trip and get a room the night before. You'd be at Disney around 10:30AM vs. almost 4PM. That's at least 1/2 day in the parks. Worth it to me.

 

[rlduvall]

No question - for our family, I would opt for the earlier flight. The main reason is because I have found the earlier flights don't usually have all the delays [yes, there are exceptions]. The later the flight: if there have been any delays it usually gets worse and worse. BUT, I am totally a morning person. I know my family can handle early rising; not all can.

 

[siskaren]

Ok, thanks! Follow up question - do you think I am going to get a cheaper flight than $200 round trip or should I just book this Airtran flight now? This is for mid-October.

Grab it! I seriously doubt you're going to find anything better.

 

[mckivigl]

I would take the earlier flight. We have done a 7 am and a 4pm flight from Pittsburgh and I will never do the later flight because of the wait to get your bags. We arrived in Orlando around 6 pm and were at the hotel by 7 but our luggage never arrived until 11:45 which was terrible because we didn't have what we needed to go to bed that night. I never thought it would be so late. So for that reason I would go early.

Also I think 200 is a good price point for flights. Just keep on checking if they do drop down then redo them and have the credit in your account. Then you can use it for a future flight!

 

[iluveeyore]

We take the earliest flight possible, and glad we do! We just flew SWA in May, were at the airport at 5:30 am for our 7:30 am flight - found out just before we were to board that there were delays all over going into Florida because of air traffic control computer glitch in Florida - our flight was cancelled and we scrambled trying to get rebooked - managed to get on an 11am flight, getting in at 2:30 - All the people on later flights pretty much had to go late at night or the next day because they cancelled most of the flights and then started rebooking when air traffic control allowed flights to leave for Florida. If we had showed up later that day, we would have had a long wait until late at night, or had to go back the next day and try again.
Besides, I'm usually too excited to sleep when we're going to Disney, so I'm awake really early anyhow (if I sleep at all), might as well be at the airport and on my way!

 

[richmo]

I generally like to take the early flight out of PHL, for a couple of reasons:

- Yes, for a 6:20AM flight, you're going to need to be at the airport very early. The good news is there are absolutely no worries about traffic getting to PHL. You can assume best possible trip time no matter where you're coming from.

Now think about the 11:30AM flight. You'll want to get to PHL about 9:30 or so. I'm not sure where you're coming from, but, depending upon where you're coming from, you'll likely be driving to PHL in at least part of rush hour. In my case, I'm about 1.25 hours from PHL on a good day and I'd allow at least another 45 minutes because of potential traffic (and on a bad day, it could be worse). So, I'd be leaving home no later than 7:30, so most likely I'd wind up getting up early anyway. Granted, its better than getting up at 3:30, but not having to worry about traffic is a good thing.

- My experience has been that flight delays are pretty rare on the first flight out. The plane you're getting on at 6:20 has been sitting in PHL all night. On the other hand, the plane you're getting on at 11:30 is coming in from somewhere else. In all probability, they shouldn't be backed up too much late morning, but it can happen.

I know getting up in the middle of the night can be brutal, but you're down there early and have a full day.

 

[Tara]

I'd much rather get there and have the day to be at Disney. Flight delays typically build over the morning/afternoon, so I find early flights are more reliable. Plus, this is funny, but one of my 10-year old son's favorite things in the world is to leave home for the airport when it's still dark outside.

 

[dawnhaze]

I've always liked flying early mornings out of Philadelphia to avoid the rush hour traffic. There are plenty of motels in the area if you're not a morning person. Plus - more time at Disney!

I'll be flying out of DCA to go to Disney and I booked a 7:15am flight.

 

[prekteacher]

When we went in 2007 we took the ealry flight (520am)the flight was not full . On the way home we took a afternoon flight about 4pm and if was not bad. We are planning to go in 2014 and want to take the early flight again.

 

[Missyrose]

I would definitely take the earliest flight to Orlando and the latest flight coming home, I like to maximize my time at Disney.

$200 RT is awesome, I'd jump on that.

 

[ncc1701]

We live about 45 mins from PHL and always try to do the earliest flight. Usually we try to use hotel/CC reward points to stay overnight .If the hotel doesn't have the option to park the car while away you can check in, drop off your bags then go park the car in the remote lot, get the bus back to the terminal and grab the hotel's shuttle back to your hotel.
It sounds like a lot but the next day you will be in WDW by lunch time. Plus as PP have said your plane will already be at PHL.

 

[jakeybake]

The earlier the better. I want to be at the resort and maximizing as much WDW time as possible!

We are taking our annual Beach Club trip this year and we are on the 6:30 am flight out of Boston. We could of had the same, low fare out of Boston on a 1:00 flight but it would of driven me crazy knowing that I would of already been in WDW for over 3 hours before my 1:00 flight even left!

J

 

[mamamary]

We just flew out of BWI (live about 35 mts. away) on a 6:45am flight. We were at our resort - our room was ready - by 10:30am. Unpacked, headed to DTD and were at Wolfgang Pucks Express by noon. We were able to then come back to the resort, have a swim and be in Epcot by dinnertime. I was so glad that we got to have just about a full day on our arrival day - i'd do this everytime.

 

[mieuxmew]

Ditto here! We always try to get the earliest flight out to Disney as possible. Plane and flight crew is there and ready to go! Flight leaves on time. No traffic issues getting to the airport, either. We drop off the luggage and arrive to the Magic Kingdom by lunch time! My kids get so excited they even like to close down the park, even though their parents are exhausted! It is only one day but having an entire day to enjoy your vacation is awesome!

$200 is a great price these days to fly out of Philly! TAKE IT!

BTW - we like to park at Winner Parking at PHL. You drive your car to their parking lot. Then they dire you IN YOUR OWN CAR (no need to unload) and drop you off at curbside checkin. When you return, call them and they will pick you up in your own vehicle. You can either then go back to the parking lot or for a few extra dollars leave directly from the airport. Get a coupon. Great service.