North America · City guide
Theme parks, villas, resorts and beach combinations, with planning saving both time and money.
Is it right for you?
A strong fit for
Families, multi-generational groups and longer stays.
We would think twice for
Travellers who wilt in queues and heat, because an Orlando summer is both at once, and the parks demand strategy and stamina in equal measure.
What we would want you to know
Tickets, transport and rest days need to be designed together.
We’ve been here
Magic Kingdom features in our own holiday photos, and being there ourselves showed us how much a good park day depends on the plan behind it. That is what we bring to an Orlando trip: which park on which day, when to take an afternoon off by the pool, and whether a villa or an on-site hotel suits your family.
A plan to start from
Days 1 and 2
Collect the car, do a big food shop and let the jet lag settle by the villa pool. An evening at Disney Springs is enough excitement for the first night.
Days 3 to 7
Four park days split by a pool day in the middle: Magic Kingdom early on the first morning, then Animal Kingdom, EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, with afternoons off when the heat and the queues peak.
Days 8 to 10
Epic Universe on the first morning, then Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, leaving a slow day for the springs or an airboat ride.
Day 11
Kennedy Space Center, timed for a launch if the schedule allows, and dinner by the Atlantic before the drive back.
Days 12 to 14
Drive west to the Gulf for three lazy days on the sand, the Dalí Museum if it rains, and a final sunset before flying home from Tampa or Orlando.
An idea to react to, not a fixed package. We shape the real thing around your dates, your pace and what the flights are doing that season.
Neighbourhoods
Staying inside the Disney resort gives you 30 minutes' early entry to the parks every day, and free buses, boats, monorail or the Skyliner cable car to the gates, depending on the hotel. It suits families who want to leave the car behind and take a midday break. The trade-offs are price and a bubble that makes Universal, the coast and the springs harder to reach.
Several on-site hotels are a walk or a short boat ride from Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and the top tier includes unlimited queue-skipping at those two parks. That perk does not cover Epic Universe, which sits on its own site to the south and is reached by shuttle bus. It suits teenagers and thrill seekers more than toddlers.
A long hotel strip between Universal and SeaWorld, lined with restaurants, outlet malls and smaller attractions. Couples and families who want choice in the evenings, and prices below the on-site hotels, do well here. It is built for cars rather than walking, the traffic is heavy at night, and you will need taxis or a hire car for the Disney parks.
The villa belt west and south of Disney, where rows of private-pool houses sit on estates, many of them gated. For families and multi-generation groups it gives far more living space for the price, plus a pool of your own. A car is essential, and "near Disney" covers a wide area, so we check the real drive to the parks before booking.
On the Gulf coast west of Tampa, a chain of barrier-island beaches with fine white sand, gentle shallow water and the sun setting over the sea. It is the natural second week after the parks. Hurricanes hit this coast hard in 2024, so we check the current state of each hotel before we book.
The Atlantic beach nearest to Orlando, a laid-back surf town close to Kennedy Space Center, with rockets lifting off from the Cape through the year. The sea is rougher than on the Gulf and the town is more workaday than pretty, but it makes an easy two or three night add-on.
Things to do
The castle park, and the one most young children picture. From the main car park you still cross the lagoon by monorail or ferry, so allow extra time at the start and end of the day, and arrive before the gates open, when the queues are at their shortest.
A lakeside loop of eleven country pavilions, from Mexico and Norway to Japan and the United Kingdom, each with its own food and drink. It comes into its own in the evening and during the festivals, when tasting booths line the path around the water.
Universal's newest park, opened in 2025, with lands built around Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter's Ministry of Magic, How to Train Your Dragon and the classic monster films. It needs a day of its own, and queue-skipping passes here are sold separately, even to guests at Universal's top hotels.
The visitor complex on Merritt Island, an hour or so east of Orlando, has the Space Shuttle Atlantis and a hall built around a Saturn V moon rocket. Check the launch schedule before you choose the day, because some launches can be watched from the complex itself.
On cold mornings from about November to March, hundreds of manatees shelter in the warm spring run north of Orlando, watched from a riverside boardwalk. Swimming is closed in manatee season, and the car park fills early on chilly weekends.
A clear spring pool, cool all year, at the head of a river you can paddle by canoe or kayak, in a state park just north of the city. Arrive early at weekends and in summer, because the gates close once the park is full.
An old-style alligator park on the road south of Orlando, open since 1949, with breeding marshes, boardwalks and shows. It is smaller, cheaper and gentler than the big parks, so it fills an easy half day between park days.
Disney's waterfront shopping and dining district needs no park ticket and has free car parks. It suits an arrival evening, a stormy afternoon or a night off from the rides, though the shops are busy and the restaurants need booking.
Flat-bottomed boats pushed by giant fans skim the lakes and marshes south of Kissimmee, where alligators, turtles and wading birds are easy to spot. Wear the ear defenders offered, and go early, ahead of the afternoon storms.
On the St Petersburg waterfront, a museum of Salvador Dalí's work, with some of his largest canvases in a building that has a glass bubble bursting out of its concrete walls. A good escape from the beach on a wet day.
Food and drink
Florida's pie of small, sharp key limes, condensed milk and a biscuit base. The real thing is pale yellow; if it is bright green, it has been coloured.
Roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard pressed in crusty Cuban bread. Tampa's version adds salami, a point of fierce local pride.
Served chilled with a mustard sauce from mid October to early May. Only a claw is taken, and the crab goes back into the sea to grow another.
The Gulf coast lunch: a thick fillet of grouper, fried, grilled or blackened with spices, in a soft bun. Beach shacks around Clearwater take it very seriously.
Pineapple soft-serve, sometimes swirled with vanilla, sold in Magic Kingdom's Adventureland and a park snack with a cult following. The queue looks long but moves quickly.
Weather and seasons
Orlando's calendar is set by school holidays as much as by the weather. From June to September highs hover near 34°C in thick humidity, and most afternoons bring a thunderstorm that pauses the outdoor rides for an hour or so; August alone averages about 222mm. January is mild at around 22°C, but mornings near 11°C need a jumper and the water parks can close on cold days. The calmest, most comfortable spells tend to be late January and early February, late April and May, and November outside Thanksgiving week. UK school holidays, American spring break in March and the fortnight around Christmas bring the longest queues and the highest prices.
Worth timing a trip around
Dozens of tasting booths ring the World Showcase lagoon, with small plates and drinks from around the world. Weekends are packed with Florida locals, so go on a weekday.
Separately ticketed nights of haunted houses and scare zones at Universal Studios Florida. It is far too frightening for young children, and the park closes early to day guests on event nights.
Extra-ticket evenings with a Christmas parade, festive fireworks and snow on Main Street. On party nights the park closes early for everyone else, so check the calendar before planning a normal day there.
Character topiaries, garden displays and outdoor kitchens fill EPCOT in spring, when the weather is at its kindest for a long day on foot.
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°C | 11°C | 48 mm |
| February | 25°C | 14°C | 41 mm |
| March | 28°C | 16°C | 36 mm |
| April | 29°C | 18°C | 71 mm |
| May | 32°C | 21°C | 105 mm |
| June | 33°C | 24°C | 169 mm |
| July | 34°C | 25°C | 203 mm |
| August | 34°C | 25°C | 222 mm |
| September | 33°C | 24°C | 213 mm |
| October | 30°C | 21°C | 84 mm |
| November | 26°C | 17°C | 48 mm |
| December | 24°C | 14°C | 37 mm |
Temperatures are 2015 to 2024 averages from NOAA records for Orlando Executive Ap, 4 km away at 32 m. Rainfall is from Orlando 4.9 N, 4 km away and shows the typical (median) month, so one freak storm does not skew it.
Money
Park tickets set the floor, and a long ticket costs far less per day than a short one, which is why a fortnight often makes more sense than it sounds. After that, where you sleep shapes the rest: an on-site hotel buys early park entry and no driving, while a villa with its own pool gives a family far more space for the money but needs a hire car. Queue-skipping passes, park food and parking are where budgets slip, so we plan a daily allowance for them from the start.
Flights and transfers
Direct flights serve Orlando and the Florida coasts from Manchester and London. Villa-and-car is the classic formula; the resort-hotel-and-transfers version suits families who would rather not drive, and both work.
Flights from UK airports
Route check September 2026. Some routes are seasonal and schedules change, so we confirm the live options when we quote.
Practical details
5 hours behind the UK
US dollar ($)
English
Type A and B, 120V
On the right
Safe to drink, though it can taste strongly of chlorine, so many families buy bottled
Expected at table-service restaurants, including those inside the parks, plus a few dollars a day for housekeeping
Entry for British passport holders
Visa. You need an ESTA (or a visa) before you fly, including if you are only changing planes in the USA. Apply through the official ESTA website.
Passport. Valid for your whole stay.
Summarised from the FCDO travel advice on gov.uk, checked 29 September 2026. Rules change: read the current entry requirements and the full travel advice before you go.
Questions we get asked
For a first visit, we suggest four days for the Disney parks and two or three for Universal, including a day at Epic Universe. Add rest days, a water park and time at the coast, and you can see why two weeks is the usual length for families from the UK.
It depends on your group and how much you want to drive. On-site hotels give early park entry and free transport, which matters most with young children and at busy times. A villa gives each family its own space and pool for the money, but you will drive, and pay to park, every park day.
Yes, if you stay on site at Disney or Universal and keep to that resort's parks, using its own transport and ride-hailing apps for the odd trip out. For a villa, the springs, Kennedy Space Center or the beaches, a hire car is far easier and usually cheaper than taxis.
Plan for it rather than fear it. Officially it lasts from June to November, with the main risk from mid August to early October. Storms usually weaken before they reach inland Orlando, but the parks have shut for a day, occasionally two, in the worst of them and flights can be disrupted, so travel insurance that covers it is essential.
Teenagers usually rate Universal higher, for its bigger thrill rides and the Harry Potter areas spread across three parks. Disney has more for mixed ages, with gentler rides, shows and fireworks. Most families with children of eight and over do both, giving Disney the extra days.
Around 9 hours from Manchester. Orlando's clocks are set five hours earlier than the UK's, which works in a family's favour: children who wake early on the first mornings are at the park gates when the queues are shortest.
There is no wrong age, but children of about five to ten get the most from it: tall enough for most rides, young enough to believe in the characters, and able to cope with long days. Toddlers enjoy it too, with a buggy, a midday nap back at the hotel and a shorter list of rides.
Photographs
Also worth a look
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