Everything you need to know when visiting Orlando Florida with your family #familytravel
There is so much to see and do when visiting Orlando Florida. My family and I recently took a much needed vacation after an eventful year. It was our first family vacation outside of Canada. I did a ton of research for my trip, asked around, searched for deals then searched for even better deals. The best place to buy tickets according to my research was Undercover Tourist. I also loved their crowd calendar feature if you’re planning on checking out Disney World, Universal Studios or SeaWorld while you’re down there. There are some awesome apps that allow you to track wait times in the theme parks. They saved us a lot of time and allowed us to best plan out our day.
The general rule of thumb when booking a flight is to book 54 days in advance. Many people recommend bundling flight, hotel and car rentals but that does not always work out to be the cheapest. In fact, in our experience, we had better luck checking out the specials/deals portion of hotels we were interested in staying at. We wound up getting a great package that included a gift card, coupon book to nearby outlets and a steal on our nightly rate. There are a few things you should ask yourself when booking a family vacation. What do you plan on doing while you’re away? If you’re visiting Florida and plan on sticking to theme parks for the duration of your stay, then you may not need to spend as much on accommodations. If you’re planning on alternating theme park days and relaxation days (which we opted to do) then you’d be well suited to select a hotel or resort with some great features.
The hotel we stayed at had a ginormous pool, splash pad for the kids and was very family friendly. The kids loved making friends from different countries. It also had an amazing coffee shop/diner located in the main building. This was a HUGE bonus for obvious reasons (java jolt anyone?!) and helped us save a ton of money when out at the theme parks.
Often times hotels are happy to offer special perks. In my experience, those tend to be more likely when booking a longer stay. In our experience I requested a higher floor, which helps reduce noise levels while increasing your chance of getting a room with a great view. Fortunately our hotel was able to oblige. We loved being able to sleep in after what felt like a REALLY REALLY long time!
While I was interested in booking a vacation for a long time, I hadn’t really done a ton of research in advance. At least not as much as was needed. We booked everything, packed, and planned everything out in FIVE days…it’s totally doable.
When it came to the parks we used Undercover Tourist to secure amazing deals on our tickets. They offer a great option of being able to ship the tickets to you ahead of time at NO extra cost! We would have loved to have done that but due to limited notice had them shipped to a local Florida post office not too far from our hotel and we simply picked them up when we got there (always aim to have them shipped a day in advance). It also felt great having our tickets in hand and not have to wait in lengthy lines when we arrived.
FOOD
I personally love to cook and when vacationing for a lengthier stay prefer the option of having a fully equipped kitchen in my hotel room. Some might think I’m crazy but with dietary restrictions and growing kids food costs really add up FAST. We opted to make breakfast in the hotel, pack sandwiches/wraps and snacks for lunch then eat supper out. This worked great for our family, it all depends on what’s important to you. Personally, if I’m on a shorter vacation I prefer to have my meals out, but it’s not always the healthier or most cost efficient option when on a longer stay. We stopped off at a local grocer when we arrived in Orlando and picked up fresh fruit (bananas and oranges work great as their peel is a natural protection), nuts, and crackers along with a box of sandwich bags. These doubled great if you go on any wet rides. They’re the perfect size to accommodate your cellphone/keys and some wallets so they don’t get wet. They also fit my small portable point and shoot camera. We also heard some great things about the Kids Eat Free Orlando card and would highly recommend you check it out.
PREPARE
We picked up ponchos from the dollar store for our visit and were glad we did! The weather is Orlando is moody to say the least and despite checking the forecast each morning before heading out, we were caught off guard by major rain when the forecast was calling for overcast. We simply pulled out our ponchos which were wrapped in freezer sized resealable bags. Once we were indoors, we put them back, flattened them out and placed them back in the bag. We carried a large BPA free water bottle with us for our travels and simply refilled it at water fountains and restaurants along the way. It was a free and healthy way to stay hydrated during our trip. The kids had orange juice most days with breakfast and got to splurge on a drink of their choice with supper.
BAGS
We were able to fit our thermal lunch bags full of sandwiches, water bottles, hand sanitizer, bandaids, pain killer (NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the benefit of a painkiller), snacks and ponchos all in one large backpack which we carried around with us. The kids wore hats which when they removed could easily be strapped onto our backpacks.
We picked up lanyards from the local dollar store that we were able to attach the kids sunglasses to. This allowed them to keep them secure and easily accessible. We had such a wonderful family vacation. Travelling with kids is not always easy but with a little bit of planning and a few creative twists you can be sure to have a fantastic time.
Great suggestions and tips! Thanks so much for sharing. It looks like you all had a great time! I will have to check out Undercover Tourist as we’re thinking of planning a Disney trip soon.
love the back shot of you with the castle! glad you had a great vacation
It looks like you had a great time! We used to go to Orlando when I was a kid, we now live on the West coast so Hawaii and California are our go-to vacation spots. I’d love to take the kids to WDW one day.
haha you are so funnY (never underestimate the benefit of a painkiller!) SO TRUE! 🙂 It looks like a wonderful time! 🙂
We go to Orlando every year. We stay on Disney property and are very happy there.
OMG I love that last picture! I was talking to hubs about when we will be planning a trip to Florida. I think it might be another year or two away, but am already looking forward to it.
Great ideas. We have yet to go to Florida. One day we will as a family!
I am dying to visit Florida!! What a great experience you had! There are some amazing tips for planning a trip!
I was supposed to go to Orlando two weeks ago for work trip (and then I got the flu.) These are great tips for the next time I try to go!
I love ORLANDO. It is a beautiful city: lots of things to do: Disney, WetNWilde. The food is great too
I have an aunt and uncle who live an hour from Orlando. I’ll keep these tips and tricks in mind next time I’m down to visit them.
Great photos. Looks like so much fun. One of these days I’ll get to Orlando. I have some friend and family there. I have been to Ft Lauderdale.
I wish I was in FLA right now. This winter has been terrible. I need FLA now!
I have never been lucky enough to visit Disney or Orlando but if I do these tips will come in handy.
Great to know! I haven’t ever visited Orlando, or Florida but I plan to at some point very soon!
I have always wanted to visit Florida! I heard Orlando was so much fun!
I love Orlando! Disney is so much fun and I can’t wait to go back some day.
My brother owns a Timeshare there so we go pretty often. When it’s occupied we usually stay at the resort but this year we’ll be back again. Great tips!
You got a castle picture without five million people in it!!! Love that!! You’ve got good tips too. I love taking the family to Orlando.
I live an hour away from Orlando so yes you nailed it on the head! These are great places to visit 🙂
We always bring ponchos from the dollar store too. This is like out second home!
We ate breakfast at the hotel (donuts and muffins we bought at Walmart), packed our lunch, then dined out as well. That easily saved us a few hundred dollars on our trip!
Wonderful!
Such a smart tip to pick up ponchos before getting going. We went to Disney World and within the first 10 minutes, it started pouring. All of the visitors hit the store to buy ponchos at $20 a piece! I looked at the price and decided that we’d just wait it out. We have 5 members of our family!
I loved visiting Florida with my family. You have some great tips here. I can’t wait to go back.
Great ideas, thank you and I will have to check out Undercover Tourist for when we’re thinking of planning our trip
I pressed ‘post comment’ a bit too soon – We are planning on going to Disneyland next month – so definitely like will share this info with my hubby 🙂
Wonderful! Have an awesome trip.
We went to Disney Orlando for the first time last November and had a great time. My kids wished they had stayed there longer.
I’d love to visit Orlando! It looks so much warmer than cold Iowa. My younger sister lives in Miami.
We’re leaving for Disney in 3 weeks and besides accommodations and travel, I haven’t arranged a thing. Thanks for sharing this.
Besos, Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
So glad to hear! Be sure to use the links to buy your tickets Sarah. You can have them delivered to your home before you leave and save a ton of money.
Cool. Seems like I would definitely have tons of fun if I get to visit the place someday haha!
We just came back from Disney! These are excellent tips. We like staying on property!
This looks like a really great trip. I really want to go there someday. Thanks for these tips.
Excellent tips on here, and I will have to check out that Undercover Tourist site! I am dying to go to Orlando – especially for Harry Potter!
I have been to Orlando about 4 times I think. The last time we travelled we stayed outside Orlando and we drove a rental car. I actually preferred Orlando though to the last trip we took in Florida. Anyways, great tips. We haven’t yet been to the Harry Potter themes park rides and such. Can’t wait to get back there soon.
I told the kids they had Disney and I had Harry Potter 🙂 If you’re a fan of the books you will definitely appreciate all the attention to detail.