Vegas to Orlando Florida

MishMashPotato

So we were planning on doing a full two weeks in Las Vegas coming from the UK and having our wedding and honeymoon in Vegas. However, we are now thinking of booking one week in Vegas, getting married half way through and  then heading straight to Orlando for two weeks for our honeymoon. Internal flights seem to be pretty cheap (we will be paying around $1125pp on flights anyway). We are planning this for October 2015. I know internal flights may not be available until 12 months before. The hotels also seem a little cheaper than Vegas so it doesn't seem too much more expensive. Does one week in Vegas sound like enough time including bachelorette? Does anyone have any tips on internal flights from Vegas to Orlando? Anything else I should be aware off? We will definitely be booking flights and accommodation within the next few weeks!!!!

vegasgroom

I should be able to help you with this; I have many friends in Orlando and live about 80 minutes away in Tampa.  I wouldn't worry about trying to book the LAS->MCO flight too early; you'll pay a lot more booking it 12 months out than you will if you wait until four or five months out.

Something additional to consider; if you're going to be renting a car in Orlando anyway, you may want to consider flying LAS-TPA (Tampa) instead and driving to Orlando.  Southwest has a direct flight from Vegas to Tampa and it's typically very cheap if you book about three to four months out.  I find it to be much less stressful to take a non-stop 4.5 hour flight and drive 80 minutes than a connecting flight that wastes more than 80 minutes, run to the next gate, hope your bags make it, etc.  Rental cars tend to be less expensive out of Tampa as well since Orlando is a massive tourist trap.

So, all that being said, I think a week in Vegas is more than enough.  When we got married we were there from Thursday to Tuesday which allowed plenty of time to get marriage license, relax and rehearsal dinner, then two full days of hanging out with friends and family at the start of our honeymoon before flying out to the next destination.  Even our normal vacation trips to Vegas are typically not longer than five days; I just get burned out drinking and gambling for longer than that in one sitting lol.

What do you have planned for Orlando?  I really love Universal Studios and its sister (attached) park Islands of Adventure.  The rest of Orlando not a huge fan of; it has horrible traffic and things are fairly expensive since it's all geared towards tourists.  Disney is not far; it's between Tampa and Orlando, if that's something you wanted to do as well.  I dont really like the main park because the lines are absolutely horrible, but I do really enjoy Epcot where you can "drink around the world" by stopping in each country for a drink and/or food.

MishMashPotato

Ahhh @vegasgroom I don't know how Vegas brides ever planned anything without your website!! Its awesome so thank you very much for making that its been a big help (as well as this forum of course). 

I never really thought about flying to Tampa but that makes a lot of sense if its a direct flight! Is this the only direct flight your aware of? I don't suppose you know how often these flights are? This may sound silly but I'm a little worried that if we book a week in Vegas and two in Florida that there won't be domestic flights available for that day?

Thanks for confirming you think a week will be enough! We just don't want to miss out on anything. We have been to Vegas twice before so we have an idea of what we would like to do etc. I like to plan too so I'm sure I will have most days planned before we go!

We are big Disney fans but I have only been to them once when I was about 6 so I don't really remember them. Hubby-to-be loves Epcot so we will definitely check that out! I have been to Orlando since but we skipped out on the Disney parks and just stuck to the Universal parks and did a lot of shopping. I absolutely love the Universal Studios park and my better half has never been to Islands of Adventure. I'm dying to get him on the hulk!!! Have you ever been to Orlando in October? Is the weather okay then? Were the parks incredibly busy? Would you advise staying on International Drive or not?

Sorry for all the questions! Thank you so so much for all your help so far!!!  

vegasgroom

Southwest actually has direct vegas to orlando flights as well, but I'm not sure if they're daily because I've tried to book those before and found days they didn't have them.  As far as I know, they're the only airline that flies direct to and from Vegas from Tampa and Orlando.  I think either way, Southwest would be your best bet since I'm sure they'd have a direct flight to one of the two cities on the day you want.  If you can get the direct to Orlando flight, it will be just over five hours.

Their booking window is six months.  The other great thing about Southwest is that they do not charge change fees, even on their cheap fares.  So if your plans change and you need to adjust the day or even the airport, you can have them do that for free, or for whatever the difference in price is if the day you want or airport you want costs a little bit more.

During the more popular times of the year, typically there are two direct flights to Tampa, a morning and evening.  Orlando has one or two direct flights per day on days they have them.  I just poked around their calendar and they seem to have direct flights on most days in October of this year so you may be fine; they might have increased that flight to every day now.

If you're going to go to Disney first, I'd fly to Tampa.

Universal has some on-site hotels that have the benefit of getting you a permanent express pass so it definitely helps with lines.  I can't remember if Disney has something similar; their official hotels are so expensive I've never stayed in them.

I think in October you'd be in pretty good shape from a line perspective since the kiddies will be back in school.  Weather is not bad either; it will still be definitely hot but not brutal like June-September.  At night, in Disney, Downtown Disney seems to be completely packed every night regardless of time of year; it's crazy.  There's lots of close by restaurants and bars that are better options.  If you like Japanese Steakhouses, there's a Benihana close by that is quite good.

As far as Orlando goes, that will be better than Disney that time of year.  I know International Drive is the tourist mecca but I personally have fun there.  The more southern Embassy Suites (there are two on I-drive, one near the interstate exit which is old and run down, and a second one a mile or two south) is a pretty reasonable hotel that is in the middle of everything so you can walk to all kinds of things to do at night.  I like Wonderworks; it's a big upside down building that has laser tag on the fourth floor.  For drinking, there's an Ale House chain restaurant on I drive that is great; best drink prices on the street.  Further down is Dave & Busters which is basically an adult video arcade with food and booze.  Universal is a short drive from any of this stuff.

MishMashPotato

Thats a big help! It sounds like we will definitely be flying Southwest. Really don't want a stop in-between flights if we can help it.

Thanks for the advice about the Universal hotels! I have looked at a few hotels online and the Hardrock hotel looks pretty good!! Express passes would be very helpful although its great to know that October usually isn't too busy. I can't wait to finally get things booked!!

Thank you so much for all the advise @vegasgroom!!

cirena166

If you like the outdoors, you might want to stick around Vegas a little more. If you're only interested in the neon, yeah, a week should do.

Have you thought about LA? It has beaches and Disney but is much closer. In October, it'll be considerably cooler than Florida though.

Either way, I'm sure you'll have a blast.