Family holiday advice

[Gerrycarey]

Hi, we are hoping to travel to Orlando around 4 October and are looking for some advice to help us book flights, villa and car independently assuming this is cheaper than through a travel agent. So if you have time and can help with the following questions we'd be very grateful.
Some information about us: 4 kids ages 14, 16, 19 and 21: live in Glasgow so would prefer direct flights from there but would fly from Northern England if needed.
last visited Orlando 8 years ago.
can you recommend a villa in a quiet location 15 mins from Universal or Disney with heated pool, 1 double and 2 twin rooms ( or 4 rooms if the price is right) plus games room?
what are the best flight websites?
can you recommend a reliable car hire company?
best way to buy park tickets - in uk or us and from where?
we all love Disney etc but what other attractions would you recommend for our older kids?
easiest way to get entry visa?
thanks in advance for your help.
Gerry

[Bigblue35]

I work in Glasgow airport, the direct Florida flights normally stop around the end of October so you should be ok on that score. Use the link at the top of the page for car/villa hire and also park tickets. I'm sure the other guys will be along shortly with more hints and tips.

Don.

[Gerrycarey]

Thanks Don. Do you know which airline goes direct from glasgow in October?

[kitch50]

Definitely get your car hire, park tickets and villa through the links at the top of the page, you can't beat them for service and value. All of the villas in the links are verified and are top notch and I am sure you will find what you are looking for. I personally wouldn't go anywhere else to book all of the above. [msnsmile2]

We found with our children as they got older (20, 18 and 13 at the time) that Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Islands of Adventure and the waterparks went down well, also airboat rides are good fun but the BEST fun of all is Discovery Cove, which is a day out any age would enjoy..... Have fun with all your planning.

[Gerrycarey]

Thanks Wendy. Your enthusiasm is getting me excited already!

[Madabouttigger]

I agree completely with all the above, the advice of this site is always excellent. Before we booked our villa I took time to ring George and ask a few questions to give me peace of mind. I'm sure all other villa owners are the same. I haven't been able to get any better deals on car hire or park tickets than this site.

Enjoy your planning.

Diane.

[christhear]

By entry visa I assume you mean ESTA. Before applying for this make sure you have approx 6 months left on your passport. If not renew your passport before getting your ESTA as its linked to your passport. Use the website in this link https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta. There are lots of websites to get it through but they will charge an additional fee. This is the official website of the Us Government, price is US$14 each.

Busch is a favourite for my teenage son along with Universal

Like others have said the links at the top of this page are your best bet for car hire / villas and park tickets

[Gerry Reed]

Discovery Cove is amazing. A day there is not cheap but will give you life long memories. It is not just the dolphin swim but also plenty to fill your day.

Sue

[cook22uk]

If your kids love the rides they'll probably prefer Universal Islands of Adventure to say Magic Kingdom but each park has so much to offer and believe me 2 weeks is never enough - we've been going since the early '80's so seen many changes. You can't go wrong using the site links at top of page - we always rent our cars and recommend park tickets through Roger as they are genuine sites - so many scams re tickets nowadays - it can ruin your holiday not to mention lose you a lot of money to just use any old website! villa owners such as myself advertising on here also have to prove genuine ownership. worth researching the various parks if you are limiting the number of days out during your trip and get a multi park ticket if doing the Universal/Seaworld etc as cheaper. Also ticket prices rise annually so worth getting asap if you are 100% sure to go.

[Gerrycarey]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Your endorsement of this site has given un a lot of comfort.