New flyer needs help! With best flight times, non-stops, flying from Milwaukee, etc

[traces7]

I'm trying to look for airfare to Orlando for Oct. from Milwaukee (hopefully). I'm just having a hard time trying to decide the best times to fly. It will be just me and my 7 year old DD. I was thinking of a 7:30 or later flight in the morning on the way down and 9:30 or later for the flight on the way back. Seems like it would be easier to get to the airport early on the way down and have longer to be at Disney! Or should we leave later in the day both ways?? We're more early risers than staying up late people.
Also how bad are flights where you have to transfer planes? I was hoping to get a non-stop flight, but the cheaper flights are ones with transfers - that scares me though. Any thoughts?
And when would be the best time to buy airfare. Here in Wis. this time I want to travel, we are off school, so I think a lot of people will be flying. When will I get the best prices?
Sorry so long! Thanks though!

 

[beagle744]

We live in Milwaukee and are always balancing the cost vs flight times and convenience. I tend not to like the flights with stops because going down you're so anxious to get there to start your vacation that the layovers feel so long and a like a huge waste of time and coming back you're tired and anxious to get home.

Flying out of Milwaukee, non-stop, leaves you with just about two choices, Midwest Airlines and Northwest. Midwest has very nice flight times but they can be a bit pricier than other flghts and Northwest is even more expensive right now. We usually find a better selection of non-stops out of the Chicago airports and its less expensive.

We're planning our trip now for Oct as well and I'm finding I can fly out of O'Hare at this point cheaper than Milwaukee and the fare I'm looking at is as cheap as SWA ding fares out of Midway.

There are lots of reasonable ground transportation options from Mitchell to O'Hare or Midway so you can save on parking.

We're going down Oct 22-29. When will you be there?

 

[McKelly]

Don't have much advice, but if you are going 10/21`-10/28, teacher's convention, we already bought our airfare because someone on these boards told me it was a popular time to fly and I should book sooner rather than later. I got a good deal with Midwest back in December, I think it was 178.00 round trip. Sign up on their website, Midwestairlines.com to receive deals and they will E-mail you whenever they have a sale. I kept checking everyday, and when I saw the prices go down for the times I wanted, I booked, and thank goodness, because now the flight I have is over $300.00.

We have also flown Northwest out of Milwaukee and got airfare for under $200.00, again we booked from their website. We have had better luck doing that, pricewise. Good Luck!!

 

[traces7]

We're hoping to go Oct 25-30. I've signed up on Midwest's website and I've been watching the fares. The times that I'd like are at $214 with a promo code I found on this board. (Is this a good price?) There's some flights a little cheaper, but the times to come back are 7 a.m. (a little early I think!). So, I'm not sure if I should book now, or wait and hope for lower fares, or try to fly out of Chicago. (I definitely would not drive to Chicago, but there are shuttles from here– but that's another expense). So I'm not sure what to do. What are some other ground transportation options to get to OHare & Midway? Also doesn't AirTran fly out of Milwaukee?

 

[CleveRocks]

I've never been to Wisconsin, but I have some parently advice about morning flights.

The night before you leave, put your daughter to bed in the clothes she'll wear on the plane the next morning. It'll make a very early wake up that much less stressful. If need be, you can basically pick her up out of bed and carry her to the car to get to the airport. We've only flown with our little ones (then 5 and 2.5) once, and we did it this way. They were thrilled to wear their "Disney" clothes to bed, and we were thrilled to not fight with tired and cranky kids at 5:00 a.m. and risk a delay in making our flight.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I would check online for air tran but I hear Midwest is GREAT and airtran not so much...

214 sounds kinda high...but then again I do not know about your area too much

We just found flights for 160 out of KC for August...I would try to find it a BIT lower than 214, I bet you can fly from Chicago for a lot less...

our kids had to wake up at 4 am to catch the flight, then that night we were up til 12am at the MK...then again we are freaks and must have been running on PURE mouse juice!!! LOL...we had MINIMAL sleep that week as it was our first family trip!! But our girls NEVER once fought or complained, they were angels actually...then we got home!
I agree with putting the kids in Disney trip clothes, I did this for my kids too. Pack up the car and put all your stuff in it the night before.

Does allegiant fly out of your area? OR close to your area?? You may want to check them too as their flights are about 84 one way...

We plan to have friends or family drive us to KC and just pay gas for them instead of paying 100 dollars to park our van.

I may even rent a LIMO this time to suprise my family...my girls have always wanted a limo ride and this way I have a good reason/excuse on our way to WDW from MCO!!

Have a great time!! It is a MAGICAL place~!

 

[TheShellys]

We fly NW out of Milwaukee because of the non-stop to MCO. We've never had any problems with our flights. The early flight leaves around 7am and you get to WDW by noon. On the way back you have a late flight so you really have most of the day for the parks or the pool.

We live in Madison now and are willing to driving the 1+ hour to get a non-stop.