Thomson flights to Sanford

[thestevied]

We have just booked a 1 week stay at the dolphin resort in September. Every time we have been before we have flown with Virgin into Orlando International airport so this will be very new to us!

Anyone got experience or comments on Thomson flights and Sanford airport? Ii hear the airport is much smaller than orlando international, but I don't see this as an issue... we'll only be there a few hours, not days!!

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Can't comment on Thomson flights but we have flown into Sanford before. We actually preferred it to MCO as the immigration and baggage collection process was much quicker (I seem to recall we had our luggage and cleared immigration in about 25 minutes).

 

[almcg]

We've only ever flown in and out of Sanford and I really can't think of anything bad to say about it. The Security ,especially, are a lot more friendly than their Northern Irish counterparts! Yes it's small but there seems to be adequate room for everyone. We always go to the Royal Palm Lounge in Departures, which is particularly nice

 

[thestevied]

Well that all sounds pretty positive so thanks for that. How do you access the Royal Palm lounge? Is it worth it? And is it expensive? Thanks again to both of you.

 

[Howellsy]

I've flown with Thomson into Sanford - airport is a lot more relaxed and friendly, but there's still a few shops and places to eat. I think I actually prefer flying out of SFB than MCO.

When I flew with them in 2008 there was no seat back entertainment, only overhead screens every few rows and the food was typical airline standard. Good flight though as far as I can remember

 

[Squidgyness]

Orlando Sanford is a great airport, been 5 times for 2 weeks each time and always went through there.

Recollections(sp?):
1) Good Security, firm and safe but not intrusive.
2) All airconned.
3) Easy to reach transport (walk out door, into bus/taxi office and present ticket etc.)
4) Good cafes and shops. Especially considering I am a food-oriented traveller - full stomach is mandatory

Regards Thompson:

Only flew once with them that I can recall. Good leg room seatback TV on the plane I was on, food sucks same as all other flights (Fact of life...)

Last 2 times we flew with monarch , they truly understand the meaning of economy. CRT TV's every 10 seats, no leg room etc. Last time we spent £600 just to get an upgrade to a more manageable seat. Now they are stopping outbound upgrades, thompson holds even more allure for me...

 

[starrysky]

We liked sanford but the lack of disney transport is a problem. We found it was quick to get through both in and out. Some nice shops and the duty free had better bargins that MCO.
If they offered an ME transfer from there it would be back on our list.

 

[BlondeViki]

I'll be flying into Sandford too (also booked to stay at the Dolphin through Thomson!) so I'm really pleased to read these comments

 

[adamandkate]

We liked sanford but the lack of disney transport is a problem. We found it was quick to get through both in and out. Some nice shops and the duty free had better bargins that MCO.
If they offered an ME transfer from there it would be back on our list.

For us UK travellers, not having the ME is a none issue. EVERY package holiday offers a free car or free airport transfairs. I find the transfairs are almost always with meers and are so much faster then the ME.

I havent ever flown to sanford, going in thru sanford via thomson premium in 4 weeks. A friend just landed tho and she said thomson premium was almost identical to virgins premium. Both had good and bad but overall it was very good and well worth the money if you have it. Plenty of booze too if your that type of brit!

She did say economy just looked like economy, but just walked thru it so had no opinion

 

[Squidgyness]

For us UK travellers, not having the ME is a none issue. EVERY package holiday offers a free car or free airport transfairs. I find the transfairs are almost always with meers and are so much faster then the ME.

I havent ever flown to sanford, going in thru sanford via thomson premium in 4 weeks. A friend just landed tho and she said thomson premium was almost identical to virgins premium.

Yep, very good transfers, always modern vehicles and good drivers. The transfer buses are easy to reach too, there is an office if you get lost

Premium looks good from the brochure, just afraid that I am thinking of booking thru airtours and they sometimes use Monarch instead

Thinking of booking flights and hotel seperately, but it mightn't be cheap...

 

[almcg]

Well that all sounds pretty positive so thanks for that. How do you access the Royal Palm lounge? Is it worth it? And is it expensive? Thanks again to both of you.

We had access to the Lounge because we flew Premium Economy with Thomson but I know you can pay for the Lounge on the day, I'm just not sure how much it is We think the Lounge is worth it because you get two alcohol based drinks each, for free, and unlimited tea/coffee and soft drinks. As I don't drink wine, beer etc I gave my two free drinks to my husband so he loves it! My DD11 is able to go off on her own and use the computers, watch a movie( Gnomeo and Juliet when we were there) and play on the XBox in the games room. She also filled up on the crisps and biscuits as she HATES the kid's meals on the plane

 

[starrysky]

For us UK travellers, not having the ME is a none issue. EVERY package holiday offers a free car or free airport transfairs. I find the transfairs are almost always with meers and are so much faster then the ME.

I havent ever flown to sanford, going in thru sanford via thomson premium in 4 weeks. A friend just landed tho and she said thomson premium was almost identical to virgins premium. Both had good and bad but overall it was very good and well worth the money if you have it. Plenty of booze too if your that type of brit!

She did say economy just looked like economy, but just walked thru it so had no opinion

Thats all fair enough if you book a package, we have always gone DIY and found it works out better for us to do so. We like to stay on property and so MCO it is.

 

[katytrott]

Done a mixture of both MCO and sandford so I can compare them both. I do think that I agree on most of these comments.

To add:

We flew with thomson when my DS2 was 18months old and didn't have a seat. We had done the same thing with Virgin and with them the kids a meal allocated whether or not they had a seat - with thomson, no food allocated. I rang customer services (whi incidently were much easier then VA to deal with) and they confirmed this. She also went through the onboard magazine they give in which you can order things - even she found it funny that I could pedigree chum from it but not baby food!

Anywho, all worked out ok on board - plenty of food to share and snacks brought, plus it turns out we could order a casserole dish which we did, but didn't touch (it was seriously foul - and I'm not in the least it picky).

Yes there was no seat back entertainment

Most of Sandford we like, however the food in our opinion is no where near as nice as MCO. It is a bit like sunshine counter service in The Land in Epcot, but nowhere near as nice food. No table service restaurants like there is at MCO. There is also no restaurants/shops land side at sandford - it's all through security.

 

[madmumof2]

I actually had a bad experience with Sanford but I know it's not the norm and I have no worries that I'll be flying into Sanford again.

When we went in 2009 we got off the plane and were queuing for 2 hours to get through customs!

Bearing in mind the aeroplane had run out of water so we had none and I had two young children (then 6 and 3) and was the only adult we really suffered through lack of water queuing for that long.

I don't know why it took so long, there must have been a problem as it was October so hardly busy.

I will, however, say once we got through the staff were very friendly and gave us free water and the transfers to POP left promptly.

I'll have a car next time and have put that all down to a one off glitch as I know many more people say Sanford is quicker than MCO and am sure it won't happen again next time.

 

[Tony Toon]

We arrived back last week having flown to Sanford for the first time since 2003. Our lasting recollection from then was the long queue in the immigration Hall when we arrived and this year noticed the Immigration Hall appeared to have been extended. Just as well - 5 planes had landed in quick succession as a result of the weather and the hall was full; in fact staff were holding people arriving at the escalator before the hall as there was no room for them to enter. We should have landed at 3pm, actual landing time was 3.50pm but between the queue in immigration and then at the Dollar desk it was 7.10 before we were finally on our way to our villa! Not the best start to our holiday and certainly the longest wait we've ever had. On a more positive note we had a much better experience on our return journey (although we did arrive over 4 hours before we were due to fly) and checked in and cleared immigration very quickly. As others have said the departure lounge has a very limited selection of food ( a food court with three counters - meals, burgers, smoothie bar as well as chillers with drinks and sandwiches). There is a small Duty Free area and a Hudson's News where you can buy books, magazines water etc. Very busy as the lounge fills up. Plenty of places to sit. Again as already noted there is also the option of the Royal Palm Lounge, however given that our flight was more or less on time and we were only there for a short time we didn't see the point in paying to use it.

Would use Sanford again if the price was right (which it was this year) but much prefer MCO.

Mrs TT