orlando & las vegas ?

[Disney owl]

has anyone combined a holiday to both Las Vegas & orlando?

it's our silver wedding next year & DH & I are starting to discuss where we'd like to go to celebrate.

I'd like to visit Las Vegas .DH isn't as keen but would love to see the Grand Canyon so it's a distinct possibility.

When I mentioned visiting WDW DH said he wouldn't go without the kids and the plan is to holiday without them.

I then had the idea that we could have a week at WDW with the kids & then send them home & we could fly out to Las Vegas for 4 or 5 days. Sending them home shouldn't be a problem though I haven't looked into it. Eldest DS will be 20 by then.

Anyone done anything like this?

Any thoughts on combining orlando & Las Vegas?

Thanks`

 

[Miffy2003]

I think it sounds fabulous Sue. What a great idea to combine the two - it would break up the long flight to LV from the UK one way, too

 

[littlegreydonkey]

We've done it because we come the other way (and land in LA from NZ) usually on Xmas Eve and so always stay in Vegas for a few days before flying to Orlando. There is currently one direct flight between Vegas/Orlando, with, I think, Song. We don't take it as it goes at night, but flying to LAX from Orlando then taking a one hour connection flight to Vegas is also easy - and very cheap if you book early. For your UK flight you might want to look into a ticket that lets you fly into Orlando and out of LAX, rather than an Orlando return - it'll just save you one five hour flight.

The Grand Canyon is a veeerrrryyyy long drive from Vegas, if you are going to combine the two you'll probably want to book a sightseeing tour that gets you there by plane and back in a day - or, stay overnight in one of the cabins.

 

[Claire L]

One alternative to the LAX route home is by going with VA they fly from Gatwick to both Orlando and Vegas, direct non stop flights.

Claire

 

[paulh]

why not do disneyland insted of wdw and las vages thats what we are doing
Paulh

 

[IlluminationsUK]

Funnily enough we have just booked our WDW/Vegas flights for this December!

If it's any help we got the following deal from Travelocity, I think we got a bargain...

1st Dec : Gatwick - Orlando with Virgin

10th Dec : Orlando - Las Vegas with Delta

15th Dec : Las Vegas - Gatwick with Virgin

All direct flights - £429 per person.

We're booking hotels and tickets etc separatley to take advantage of AP rates, I would definitley say to shop around for Vegas, for hotels and tours (Grand Canyon) and try to avoid Vegas at the weekends when it's really busy and expensive!

If you need any Vegas help let me know, we've been twice in the last three years, it's like WDW, once you have the bug you are hooked!

 

[paulh]

IlluminationsUK we are thinking of doing mandalay bay or the hotel at mandalay bay have you been to these propertys at vegas
Paulh

 

[Verity Chambers]

We did a virgin trip 3nights in new York, 4 in vegas and 7 in orlando. It was a FAB trip.

 

[Pootle]

I think it sounds fabulous Sue. What a great idea to combine the two - it would break up the long flight to LV from the UK one way, too

The difference in the flight times isn't what you'd think. It's about a 10.5 direct flight to Las Vegas or Los Angeles compared to the 9.5 hours to Orlando.

I've done a Las Vegas/Orlando holiday a few times but have always done Las Vegas first, thereby having the 8-hour time difference at the start.

I've just made a booking in November for best friend and her family with American Airlines from Manchester. They are flying into Los Angeles and spending a few days at Santa Barbara, then driving to Las Vegas before taking a flight to Orlando. The cost was a very good (I think!) £402 per person although none are direct flights.

The drive to the Grand Canyon, as littlegreydonkey says, is very long - almost 300 miles each way, but there is a good selection of tours and they collect you at your hotel.

I think it's a great combination for a silver wedding, with the chance to win the cost of it back

 

[Amyrlin]

I have thought about doing this gatwick to las vegas and then vegas to orlando befoe orlando to Gatwick. I'd love to do it.

 

[disneyholic family]

a few years ago we spent 3 weeks at WDW, 4 days on the Disney cruise, then flew to Los Angeles for 4 days at Disneyland/DCA, then flew to Las Vegas for 4 days (we HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED Las Vegas), then to Detroit for a week, then ended the 6 week visit to the US with 3 days in New York City......

we took the kids with us (they were 18 and 15 at the time).....we never holiday without the kids....

oh...and did i mention how much we HATED Las Vegas?

 

[gilld]

My son and his girlfriend went Gatwick - Las Vegas - Orlando - Gatwick last August. They flew into LV and out of MCO with VA and LV to MCO with Trans Air. It wasn't expensive - considering it was August - and by doing it that way they reduced the jet-leg on the return.

 

[kazzie]

Disneyholic family--can i ask why you disliked Vegas so much?
I haven't been there but am hoping to go in May

 

[IlluminationsUK]

Mandalay Bay is GORGEOUS and the rooms at THEHOTEL look amazing. One thing I will say is that MB is at the very far end of the Strip so you do have a walk to get to anywhere else. Having said that though, there is a monorail that takes you up to Excalibur from where you can walk more easily to the major hotels.

The pool is amazing at MB as well, huge man made beach, lazy river etc and they have some excellent restaurants, try the Noodle Bar just off the Casino floor, reasonably priced and tasty noodle bowls!

PM me if you need any links to Vegas websites

 

[disneyholic family]

Disneyholic family--can i ask why you disliked Vegas so much?
I haven't been there but am hoping to go in May

i should say that most people love vegas, although i do know others like us who don't...
i'm not sorry we went, because now we know what we're not missing...

May is probably a much better time than when we went....July is so intensely hot in Las Vegas (much much hotter than Orlando if you can believe it) that you really can't do anything but be inside LV....you can't drive out to any of the really beautiful nature areas that are very close by....(like the Red Rock Canyon)...

and the hotels are fun to visit, you'll want to spend at least part of your time visiting the hotels and their attractions........
and you should make sure to get to a few of the shows.....i think that cirque de soleil has two shows in vegas: "O" and "Mystere" -- we saw both of them.....they're good, although we prefer La Nouba in DTD...
there are lots of good shows to see...you can order your tickets in advance (which is probably advisable for the really popular ones)...

and there are interesting malls - the one at Caesars, and the one at the Venetian (where you can go on a gondola ride)...

all in all, there's lots to do there...

so why did we hate it so much?.....it's overrun with people who smoke and drink....24/7......the malls, which by law should be smoke free, are thick with smoke from smokers.....i couldn't breathe half the time...

and i really don't enjoy walking down the street next to a group of people with drinks in their hands, who are already halfway smashed to kingdom come...

to us, it was a good approximation of Sodom and Gomorrah....

but if you don't mind being surrounded by drunken smokers, you'll probably enjoy it....

 

[carolfoy]

but if you don't mind being surrounded by drunken smokers, you'll probably enjoy it....

 

[IlluminationsUK]

Heaven forbid adult, grown up people might drink and smoke *outrageous*!!!

Vegas is very much an adults playground and whilst not for everyone, if you enjoy great food, amazing architecture and friendly people then you will have a fab time!

 

[carolfoy]

I'll be in Vegas for a couple of days in april so I'll check it out! I haven't really decided on what to do there yet apart from visit a couple of the hotels. Any suggestions? Not keen on cirque type shows and have a 10 year old with me so the casinos are out of the question.

 

[IlluminationsUK]

The shopping malls are great, particulaly Caesars Forum Shops, they have a brilliant FAO Shwarz (spelling!) that I'm sure your 10 year old would get a kick out of. Circus Circus has a theme park and is the hotel most set up for kids.

Enjoy!

 

[paulh]

thanks IlluminationsUK we will be booking it this weekend we are doing the hotel at mandalay bay, we are there for 4 nights planing on doing hotel pool 1 day up and down the strip,next big pland for a day at grand canyon flight,heli,boat,heli,flight .Then more of looking at the hotels ect dont mind that hotel is at bottom end of strip
Paulh