Flying to WDW from Sydney with 2 kids

[jenshell75]

Hi Hi Ausie Dissers,

Well it's nearly time for me to start booking flights for our 2011 WDW holiday.

I just thought I would ask the expert panel what they did when flying to Orlando Florida.

I am told that we will need to fly to LA then grab a connecting flight to Orlando. I believe that the flight from Sydney to LA is going to be about 14 hours and the flight to Orlando 5 hours.

So my questions are, should we fly out of Sydney during the day or the night?

Should we book a night in LA to rest and then fly the next day to Orlando. Or should we just do immediate connections and go straight thru and then book a hotel off site for a day or 2 to sleep and recover then head to the park on the 8th December.

What do you all do ?? My children will be DD6, DS4 when we fly out.
Thanks in advance
Jenshell

 

[PrincessInOz]

I hope you are prepared for all answers here....

I like flying out of Oz around or before noon. This gets me into LAX or SFO about 2 hours before takeoff; so I'm usually picking up car hire around 10 or 11 am in the morning.

I also like breaking up the flight in LA or SF for the night and catching a flight somewhere between 10 am and 12 pm to get into Orlando between 6 - 8 pm.

Completely up to you; but with 2 youngies, I'd be tempted to spend 2 or 3 nights in LA to acclimatise to the time zone and then push on. Plenty to do in LA...both on the way there and on the way back.

 

[Sugarglider]

I like catching the morning flight out of Sydney so that I am awake all through the flight - I have great difficulty sleeping on the plane.
I've done both - where I just fly straight through to Orlando and where I spend a couple of days in LA. Flying straight through got a bit tough towards the end and I arrived at WDW at about 6pm and the excitement woke me up! Obviously staying in LA is useful and less taxing. I then caught a 7am flight oiut of LA and got to WDW at about 4pm.
For my next trip I will book Qantas direct flight to Dallas - however that is an overnight flight (I wonder if I will sleep?) and I am checking out staying in Dallas for a day or so.
Sorry - no kids - can't help you as to how they would go. But I suspect it would be hard keeping them travelling for 24 hours straight

 

[hjd0411]

I also like the stopover in LA or SF, and with Qantas now going to Dallas (from May), I think that will be my option next time I go (I hate LAX airport with a passion!!! )
I also don't have kids, but I know how I feel going straight through, and it's not good! Have a break, stretch your legs, sleep a night or two in a bed, and the domestic flight to MCO is no real trouble. I would do the same on the way back, too!
Have fun planning.

 

[jacs1234]

The problem with staying at La for a night of two with kids is that you have to organise transfers, accomodation, you have to make sure you have clothes and food etc etc. I'd be tempted to do the whole flight in one go, maybe with just a few hours between flights. kinda like ripping off a bandaid. We always leave australia in the morning so we get to LA in the morning. Then we go to the parks that day, can't possibly waste a day

So if I were travelling with my 4 kids to Florida, I'd get to LA in the morning, have a couple of hours so the kids could stretch there legs, then catch the plane to Florida and get in that night. Then we'd start the parks the next day, but we can be a little crazy.

The only reason I'd do a few days at LA would be to do Disneyland there, before moving on to Disneyworld

 

[jacs1234]

Will you be there for the Christmas season? I'm too lazy to work it out from your ticker.

 

[aussietravellers]

We won't fly to LA if just going to Orlando anymore with Qantas flying direct to Dallas, then it's just a short flight onto Orlando and lots of flights to choose from. Awesome.

For those who like the San Fran flight, Qantas is cancelling that and taking on the Dallas Flights instead, so we lose one direct destination but gain another. But this is great for those going to Orlando!

 

[Oz-kateer]

Having been to WDW a few times recently with kids, I recommend no matter what route you take - aim to arrive in Orlando in the late afternoon or evening, NOT the morning. And trying to "acclimatize" the kids with a day or two stopover in LA isn't useful, as there is a further 3 hours time difference between coasts. Getting to WDW in the evening means you can arrive, check in, shower, unpack a bit and then get a full nights sleep before hitting the parks in the morning. You'd be surprised how quickly your body adjusts - when we did it this way all of the kids slept 12 hours on arrival and had no jetlag.

 

[Mum from oz]

We're going in May with a 4 year old and a 3 year old. We are leaving Sydney in the morning and arrive in LA at 8 something AM local time. We then are staying a night to sleep then fly out the next morning around 10am and get to Orlando early evening. We'll see how that goes!

 

[DVCAustralia]

The most important consideration is that the flights can easily be timed so that arrival at WDW is between mid afternoon and evening the day you leave, so when you check-in you get your room immediately and can go to sleep without guilt knowing that you are sleeping at night. If you need a slow day the next day you have one spare from not having wasted one in LA, and usually shopping at Downtown Disney and/or the outlets is a perfect option (it is amazing how much energy can be found for shopping).
Stopping in LA causes a number of problems logistically including that the room will not be ready when you arrive and you have to take luggage with you and then check-in with it again the next day.
If flying with Qantas on the new Dallas route it is even more logical to get the flights to WDW over with in one go.
Stopping on the way back is certainly an option particularly as the flight back home is always longer with headwinds anyway.

 

[Willow25]

We just returned from our trip with our 3.5 year old and a 21 month old. We flew into LAX and two hours later go on the flight to Orlando. We arrived there in the evening and the great part was we were all ready for baths and bed when we got there. Then the kids were already on Orlando time by that morning. My fear with stopping for a night in LA is that you have to try and keep them up that whole day and then have another time change the next day to get them over. I would rather get it over with all at once. The flight from LA to Orlando I found was the hardest on the kids they were just so over it by then, but they did okay!!

 

[Travel Mum]

We will be flying straight through but, because two of us are on QF frequent flyer tickets, we all have to be on AA and therefore fly via Dallas. It's going to be such a long haul and I'm really dreading those domestic flights as, even if we fall asleep on the first domestic, we will have to wake up when we land at Dallas. Expect we will be walking zombies during our Dallas transit and when we arrive at WDW. We won't get to the resort until late at night but at least we can go straight to bed!

 

[Sugarglider]

We will be flying straight through but, because two of us are on QF frequent flyer tickets, we all have to be on AA and therefore fly via Dallas. It's going to be such a long haul and I'm really dreading those domestic flights as, even if we fall asleep on the first domestic, we will have to wake up when we land at Dallas. Expect we will be walking zombies during our Dallas transit and when we arrive at WDW. We won't get to the resort until late at night but at least we can go straight to bed!

BRAIIIIINNNSSSS

Seriously Travel Mum, I had to transit through Dallas on my way home on my last trip and AA had booked my flights fairly tight. So I am waiting in DFW and watching the boards and suddenly become aware that they moved my DFW-LAX flight to another terminal and I have to get on the little monorail (without a TRON overlay!). Suddenly I'm late and rushing around!

 

[shushh]

I think this will depend on your travel style and you'll probably get a whole range of opinions!

I do have to agree though, on the getting to Orlando in the late afternoon/evening.

I personally prefer to go straight through on the way there no matter where I'm travelling. Its easier to get your body clock adjusted to the right time zone right away. I also find it more tiring to bring ourselves to a hotel, check in, then have to do the whole airport check in thing again. We travelled to Orlando recently with a 2, 5 and 7 year old and it was great just getting there and being ready to crash. We managed ok the next day as we had pretty much adjusted.