Walt Disney World - Lukey Travel
Walt Disney World is The Walt Disney Company's flagship entertainment and resort complex stretching 43 square miles. For a quick crash course, why not watch the video below before continuing on?
How to get to Orlando?
The primary method for most people to travel to Orlando is by air. Below is a map showing the routes from 8 UK airports to 3 airports in the Orlando area...
The information from that map is broken down in the table below...
Airports
So, as you can see from the map and table above, airlines from the UK operate into 3 airports in the Orlando area. Orlando International is the closest to Walt Disney World (approx. 20-30min drive to Walt Disney World), with Melbourne Orlando and Tampa being quite a bit further away (approx. 1h30m drive to Walt Disney World). So that begs the question: why bother with the other two airports? Well...
According to official US Government stats (which can be seen by clicking here) Orlando International Airport is the 9th busiest airport in the US, with Tampa being 27th and Melbourne being 165th. So the chances are that by choosing Tampa (or especially) Melbourne, you will have a much quieter experience heading through the airport. However, don't just make your judgement on this! Have a look around and see where you can get the best prices for and where your preferred airline flies.
Where to stay in/near Walt Disney World
I'll start by saying that if you're expecting a comprehensive review of every hotel, appartement and villa complex in the vicinity of Walt Disney World, that won't be happening! Instead, I'll inform you more generally and leave you to figure out what's best for your trip.
The first (and arguably most important) decision to be made is whether to stay on-property or off-property. On-property means staying within the bounds of Disney property and in a Disney Resort, whereas off-property means staying outside of Disney Property. There are many factors that you should take into account here. For example, Disney Resorts may be more expensive than others, but do come with a whole load of perks (see Disney's Resort Hotels Benefits page). They are also of course closer to the parks so a car might not be necessary. The map below shows some of the on-property Disney Resorts (there's quite a lot I probably missed some)...
Off-property however may give you that little bit more flexibility, such as the inclusion of a kitchen space in some options. If you decide to go down the off-property route, Disney have created a collection of "Good Neighbour" hotels (click to view), which Disney claim will offer "High Standards, Choices in Value and The Comfort of Convenience". Again, the map below shows some of these too...
What's at the Walt Disney World Resort?
This is probably the trickiest section for me to write because there is just so much to do! If you get bored, I'll be impressed!! Anyway, it's important to know that Walt Disney World is so much more than just the four theme parks (but we'll get to those in a minute). There's a shopping and dining area, golf courses, two water parks and so much more! You really also must not limit yourself to stay in Disney property for the whole duration of your stay. Head out and explore Orlando or maybe even visit another theme park resort complex.
I'm now going to shamelessly plug another one of my YouTube videos, which shows the highlights of my latest Walt Disney World trip. I'd highly recommend giving it a watch (not that I'm biased, of course)!
More coming here soon! Why not check out 'Walt Disney World on a Page' while you wait!