What time do you fly out?

[izzy25]

Do you like to fly out early am or later in the afternoon?

Our flight leaves at 5:50am. I try to get the earliest flight out and latest flight coming home.

 

[dawnhaze]

I do just the same. I like to be on the ground at MCO before 10am if I possibly can, and I never book a flight that leaves before 6pm on my departure day.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We fly from Syracuse. There is only one nonstop flight each day from SYR to MCO, and that's on Jetblue. So we are at the airline's mercy. Sometimes that one nonstop has been early morning. Sometimes its been late in the day. Once it was mid afternoon.

We prefer a morning flight to Orlando, and a late morning flight home. We have a 3 hour drive from the airport to home after collecting our luggage, so its preferable if that's not being done in the wee hours of the night.

 

[rlduvall]

I definitely try to take the earliest flight from home to Orlando. Less chance of delays; we have no direct flights either way. About 10+ years ago, I used to always try to get the latest/shortest return flight home so I could enjoy as much time as possible at WDW. BUT, since so many Legacy Airlines are no longer in operation and flights have been greatly decreased, I find I have much better luck leaving Orlando before 3:00 p.m. if I want to be able meet connections and get home the same day.

 

[keishashadow]

Last flight out of MCO for us but we book NS & typically come home a day early before anybody has to be at work.

We quit taking the earliest flight to MCO, but I still like to land before noon. MK always seems to have pm EMH our arrival day, so it's not a great loss of time in the park that day for us. Find we aren't quite as dead on our feet as we'd have been waking up @ 2 am in order to catch a flight.

 

[Disneylover99]

Earliest flight out....latest flight home! That's ideal for us.

 

[DebbieB]

I like a midmorning flight, arriving at MCO around 11:30-12:00. That way you still get there early enough to enjoy the day but don't have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.

Last year I had an early morning flight in early March and woke up to find the streets covered in snow. I knew the plows would not be around my development before I had to leave around 5:30-6:00. Luckily I had booked SW and was able to switch to a late morning flight through BWI for a few more points.

If it's a short trip, I leave MCO as late as possible. If it's a longer trip, mid-afternoon so that I don't get home late at night, especially in the winter.

 

[pigletto]

We grabbed the first one of the day for our upcoming trip which will be 6am. We'll stay at a park and fly hotel the night before.
Our flight home for this trip is 8:15 pm on a Sunday. That gets us in way later than I would like but it was the cheapest non stop of the day by far and really gives us an extra park day so that's nice. I imagine I will let the kids sleep in and take them back to school a few hours late that Monday though because we don't even land until 10:45 and it will take us an hour and half to get our bags and get home.

 

[stinkpickle]

Unfortunately, Allegiant has the only non-stop flights to the Orlando area (Sanford) from Des Moines, mostly. We're pretty much stuck with their times. We hate layovers.

 

[dis_guy]

Coming from western Canada, we usually need to get out on the available flights geared to the business traveller which tend to be very early departures so with connecting and everything, we are finally at the resort in the early evening anyway. The last few times we had a seasonal red eye flight to Houston that got us to MCO mid morning, so we'd be at our resort by noon.

Coming home we typically need the whole day for travel anyway, so a 3 or 4 PM flight lets us have a leisurely breakfast at the resort, leave the room a little after 11 AM, and have a little time to relax before our DME pick up time. We were once lucky enough to grab a seasonal nonstop home from MCO that left at 8 PM that gave us most of the day in the parks on departure day.

 

[JanaDee]

On a disney vacation, we'd usually leave mid-morning both ways, since it is a 2 hour drive to/from the airport.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We did have the earliest flight out, but changed it so we could fly with the other family staying with us. So, flight out at 9:35 am, but taking the last flight home (leaves MCO 9:35 pm).

 

[wdwrich]

On a disney vacation, we'd usually leave mid-morning both ways, since it is a 2 hour drive to/from the airport.

We're west coasters, so DW and I try to fly out in the evening on a red-eye that gets us into MCO at around 6am. This gets us an extra day at WDW.

Not everyone can handle doing this because if you can't get any sleep on the plane, you'll likely crash by mid-afternoon. It works for us though, and we've done it several times.

 

[JanaDee]

We're west coasters, so DW and I try to fly out in the evening on a red-eye that gets us into MCO at around 6am. This gets us an extra day at WDW.

Not everyone can handle doing this because if you can't get any sleep on the plane, you'll likely crash by mid-afternoon. It works for us though, and we've done it several times.

We always fly non-stop to MCO and it is only a 2 and a half hour flight, so no need for a red-eye.

 

[wdwrich]

We always fly non-stop to MCO and it is only a 2 and a half hour flight, so no need for a red-eye.

Absolutely! Depending on where you're flying from, flight choices can be very different. Many moons ago when we lived on the east coast, we would fly early or mid-morning and arrive in time for lunch. Now, with the longer flight and 3-hour time difference, an overnight flight works great for us. It also gets us the added benefit of departing after dinner from a very uncrowded airport.

 

[Sandi]

I always aim to get to MCO as early as possible. On the return home, I like to get a late flight, but I try to avoid the last flight of the day out of my connecting airport. Too many issues with weather, etc., especially in the winter (Michigander here). I know it doesn't guarantee that I'll get all the way home by air, but I'd rather drive a couple of hours from my connecting airport before midnight.

 

[Ed J]

We have been doing 5 or 10 day trips. On 5 day trips we leave on the first flight out Monday morning usually arriving at MCO around 9 or 930. Usually leave Friday on the last flight out, this makes it so it doesn't mess up out weekends .

Longer trips have us leaving on a weekday, usually a workday so we take the best flight that meets our schedule. That flight often is a 8 or 9 PM flight and the last one out. Then going home we look for the 9 or 10 AM flight out. When we have that many days away I don't mind burning days in travel.

My favorite day is always that long trip the day we leave, I really enjoy the anticipation of leaving, the feeling your running late, picking the kid up from school and the hour drive to the AP. You know that feeling like your not going to make it and then you hit the bar in the terminal with a solid 30 minutes to burn. The vacation really starts when that first cocktail hits your lips .

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

For us it depends on what day of the week it is and whether or not we need to squeeze in a day or half-day of school before leaving. If we fly down after school, we choose a 6pm flight.
We have done those wee early flights many times but I find we're all pretty cranky & tired by dinner time. We all do much better to stay up late than to get up early.
Even if the kids had school Friday and most people would fly down Sat morning, we'd still prefer to fly down Friday night. Some would see it as a waste of a hotel room but we think it's worth it to get good sleep and wake up in FL already. We can get the Hyatt inside MCO for cheap (less than $100) through Hotwire so then Sat am just go downstairs and head to ME well rested.

We also prefer to have off the next day if possible to have a little unwind time.

It works for us.

 

[Sarahgraci]

It really depends on flight prices and schedule. There are 3 reasonable airports I could fly from- one is in my city but is usually a fair amount more expensive, another is about 1.25 hours away and an easy interstate drive, and the third is about 1.5 hours away, but that one requires me to go through the state's biggest city (I'm north of it and airport is south).

I look at all 3 cities, prices, and times, and whichever shakes out to be the best combination is what I/we do (this is true for every flying vacation).

The best option this time is the one that is the farthest away. I think I about nailed the ideal times for this one: Flight out at 9:20, arriving MCO at 10:55am, and return flight leaving at 1:55pm, arriving at 3:20. I'm leaving on a Sunday, so no rush hour traffic to contend with on the way there. If I end up with a bit more rush-hour traffic than I like on the way home, I'll make a pit stop at Ikea (mmmmm.....meatballs) before heading home. I want to get home in time to relax and spend time with my little Stinkerbell (DD, 3) before she goes to bed.

It's a dance to make it all work at right.

 

[mieuxmew]

We used to take the 1st morning nonstop flight from Newark, NJ or Philly. To get to a 6 or 7 am flight required us to leave home at 3am. Loved the airport not being crowded, less traffic and minimal TSA lines. Flight delays were rare, as the plane and crew are fresh (and plane cleaned). My husband is a night person and was pulling all nighters to travel and he was wiped out by early evening. The kids would be so excited and want to stay in the Magic Kingdom on arrival day until close. My husband has begged me no more early am flights!
Our next trip our flight is at 11:30am. Rush hour traffic to the airport will suck. TSA lines will be horrible. And better chance for flight delay. Knowing my husband, he still will not be able to sleep (last minute packer), the travel will be more stressful and he will still be exhausted by dinnertime!

We take the last flight home Sunday around 8-9 pm. Monday work and school will suck, but we had an extra day as a family at Disney :good vibes

We tried flying on Friday or Saturday nights a few times. I was not a big fan but my hubbie LOVED it! A few had flight delays. Every time I check into a hotel late at night it seems like we get stuck with the crappy rooms because all the good ones are taken.

Do what you think is best for you and your family and what is best for your wallet, as all flight prices are not the same.