WDW & Universal

Walt Disney World & Universal 

We are currently planning our Florida trip for 2026. This will be mine, Rubi’s, Ellia’s and Layton’s first time to Florida as Troy went when he was younger. Hopefully Kirst and her youngest will coming with us too.  Although you are going to ‘one of the most magical places on Earth’ this still takes an extensive amount of time to plan. There are so many things to consider, and organisation is key. YouTube will be your best friend! Get a good notebook to write everything down, or if you’re like me an Excel Spreadsheet.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) It determines whether any individual is eligible to travel to USA or whether they are a security risk. This needs to be purchased before you book anything as you CANNOT go to the USA without one. Once approved they last 2 years. They cost $21 per person.

Going to Orlando can be expensive, so you need to set a realistic budget to cover all necessary items to have the best time. You also need to consider the time of year you go and whether there are big American holidays or events.  We broke it down into categories to set a realistic budget for each and see if it was achievable.

Travel: What airline is best? We looked at cost of the flight and which had the best flight times. What is included such as baggage allowance and meals on the plane. We looked at Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow and the cost of Airport parking and hotel stay.  

Direct or indirect flights. After a lot of discussion, we decided we would prefer to fly direct. However, I watched a YT where a family, traveling from Birmingham, flew indirect to Ireland and then on to Orlando meaning they had their USA security check in Ireland and could go straight out the airport, after baggage claim.

There are the two airports in Orlando. MCO (Orlando International airport) is about 25 minutes from Disneyworld whereas SFB (Stanford International airport) is 50 minutes but has less time getting through security. MCO offer transport to the Disney & Universal resorts such as Meers connect. Whereas SFB only offer private transfers. 

We looked at hiring a minivan and then 2 separate cars. You must book with a Credit card, and this must be registered to the person driving the vehicle. Check what the agreement says as you don’t want to be caught out having to pay a charge.  This is an option for staying on and offsite as there are benefits to both.  Parking fees at the park? Again, this is only applicable to those not staying onsite Disney is about $30 per day to park at WDW and Universal.

Accommodation & Food: Where are you staying? This is this biggest decision as there are going to make and where you must consider your budget. There are so many options from staying onsite Disney or Universal, to using a partner hotel to staying in a villa in the area. We did a lot of research on this, and it all depends on your budget. You will also need to factor in food and spending money per day. This is where the real research starts.

Disney Onsite:  Disney are always releasing news offers for onsite stays. Currently they have free Disney Dining plans. They offer different dining plan options depending on what level of resort you stay at.

Value: Pop Century, All-star Movies*, Sports & Music* or Art of Animation*.

Moderate: Caribbean Beach Resort, Port Orleans Resort Riverside & French Quarter, Coronado Springs and The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort.

Deluxe: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian Village Resort, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Resort, Contemporary Resort, Yacht Club Resort and BoardWalk Inn. This also includes the partner hotels: Dolphin, Swan & Swan Reserve Hotels.

Obviously, these all increase with price the higher level you stay at. Some offer family suites, which sleep six*.

You do receive benefits to staying onsite and again, they do depend on you level of stay. Main benefits include early access to the parks and transportation.

Universal Onsite:

Value: Endless Summer resort – Dockside & Surfside inn & suites*

Moderate: Cabana Bay resort, Universal’s Adventura Resort, Universal Stella Nova Resort & Universal Terra Luna Resort

Deluxe: Loews Royal Pacific**, Sapphire Falls Resort, Hard Rock Hotel** and Portofino Bay Hotel**

These hotels are normally booked as part of a package with Virgin. Some suites offer rooms up to 6 people*. You do receive benefits to staying onsite and again, they do depend on the level of your stay. Main benefits include early access to the parks and transportation. Some resorts do offer free fast pass**.

Offsite: Staying offsite can also have its benefits. You get more space in the property; you can cook meals such as breakfast and Dinner. Villas normally have a pool too.

We looked at a few reputable sites to see what the cost would be for a villa stay. Some companies will pester you to book with them. We looked for independent people such as Debbie’s Villas. We joined a few pages on Facebook to and ask for recommendations for people to use.

We also looked at local hotels within the area. Rosen Inn had a few hotels on International Drive, which is relatively close to both Walt Disney World and Universal. Airbnb was also an option, but we decided against looking.

For staying offsite, you will have to factor in how you will be getting around Florida. This will need to be added to your budget. Uber prices or car hire and fuel, as well as parking.

Tickets: Tickets for all Orlandos attractions can be bought from numerous outlets. Walt Disney world and Universal sell them directly and can be included in your stay package.

We looked around to see where had the best offer. Attraction tickets offer combo packages for WDW & Universal and then also Busch Gardens, Sea World, Gatorland and other attractions. Discovery Cove was also available to buy from them. They offer a deposit scheme as well as paying outright. Floridatix & Orlandotix offers similar packages.

Packages: Packages are where you book all items together. Flights, Hotel & Tickets. Virgin & Tui offer a combo ticket for Walt Disney World & Universal. While staying onsite Disney & Universal.  Virgin also offer Kennedy Space Centre. This also includes the current deal of free dining from Disney.

Walt Disney Travel Company offer packages for Walt Disney World. British Airways offer Flights & Disney Hotels, but no tickets. These would need to be bought separately.

Food:  We looked at what budget was needed for food by averaging 3 meals per day and 1 snack person. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, plus snacks. Again research, watch YouTube Vlogs. Decide if you are going to eat at restaurants or just grab quick service meals. Look into restaurants outside of Disney & Universal. International Drive has so many food places that will be a fraction of the cost inside the Disney/Universal bubble.

You can go to Walmart or Target or even Publix for your snacks to take into the park. If you’re staying in a villa you can opt to eat breakfast and dinner in the villa and just eat 1 meal in the park.

Extras:  So, while looking at the time of year you want to go, you can also look to see if there are any special events happening that you might want to go to. WDW have several events such as Epcot Food & Wine festival, Flower & Garden festival, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas. Universal have Mardi Gras and their Halloween Horror Nights and many more.

These are all the things you need to consider before booking an Orlando trip.

We have set a realistic budget of £10,000 for our trip for 5 of us. This doesn’t include our spending money, but we are looking at finding the best price for us and hopefully finding payment plans for the hotel and tickets. We are saving separately for flights as we realised it was cheaper to book these independently.

So do all of your research and find the best deal for you!