Book Walt Disney World - Booking Guide For Walt Disney World
Our guide on how to book and the best ways to book a Walt Disney World holiday package from the UK.
If you're looking for how to book Walt Disney World or the best ways to book Walt Disney World, this is for you. There are primarily two ways to book a Walt Disney World holiday. The first way is as an ATOL-protected package, and the second way is the DIY method where you book each part of the holiday individually. One isn't inherently better than the other, as both come with their own pros and cons. The way we book our Disney package holidays here at Mickey From The UK has changed over the years (which we'll share at the end of the guide), but we'll go through what you need to book and how to book in this guide.
Walt Disney World Holiday Packages
A flight, hotel, and ticket Walt Disney World package is the easiest way to book a Walt Disney World holiday. Our recommended way to book is through Disney directly - The Walt Disney Travel Company - also known as Disney Holidays. Dealing with Disney directly on their freephone number is so much easier than having to try and go through other companies (should you need to make any changes).
Adding Flights Direct With Disney
Some people don't know that when you book direct with Disney you can add a flight to your holiday, making your package ATOL Protected. You can only book flights for 11 months, so if you want to book your Walt Disney World package before then, you can still book, with just a £50pp deposit. When your 11-month mark hits, you can then add your flights to your package. Disney has partnered with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and American Airlines so you have different choices and price points to choose from.
Other Options
You can also book your Walt Disney World package through travel agents such as TUI or Virgin Holidays. If you want to use a travel agent rather than book with Disney directly, I would generally advise you to book with the travel agent that runs the airline you want to use. For example, if you want to fly with TUI, book your Walt Disney World package through TUI. If you want to fly with Virgin Atlantic book through Virgin Atlantic Holidays. This again comes down to the ease of customer service if any issues arise rather than going through a third party.
Travel Agent Warning
Many travel agents (not all, of course) have burned customer trust during COVID times and more recently some travel agents are taking bookings and deposits for holidays and flights not even on sale yet. Customers are then put out when hotel and flight prices are released only to be stung by price increases. They do this by inticing you to book dates that are not available yet thinking you're getting a leg up on everyone else. Never book any date with a travel agent unless it's available to book on the official Walt Disney World (Disney Holidays) website.
DIY Walt Disney World Bookings
DIY Walt Disney World bookings consist of you booking each element of the trip yourself. This usually consists of booking your Walt Disney World hotel and ticket package direct through Disney and then booking flights and other activities separately. When you do this, you're not ATOL protected, but as long as you have adequate travel insurance and paid at least £100 of your flight cost on a credit card, you should be protected in the unlikely event of an airline failure before departure.
Flights
Once you've booked your hotel and ticket package through Disney directly it's time to look at flights. While you can add flights to your Walt Disney World package, you might have other plans. You might want to book a couple of nights at a Universal Orlando hotel, or even add a Disney Cruise onto the end of your holiday. For these situations then you cannot add your flights to the package and must book them separately.
Flights can vary drastically in price depending on the time of year and airline of choice. The best place to start is comparison sites like Skyscanner where you can get an overview of the flights available from your airport of choice and time of year. You can then drill down into individual airlines to check for prices. The main airlines that fly from the UK to Orlando are Virgin Atlantic, TUI, Norse Airlines, Aer Lingus, and British Airways.
Booking Walt Disney World Tickets
If you're staying off-site and booking your hotel or villa separately, you should purchase Walt Disney World theme park tickets before you depart. Our Walt Disney World Ticket Guide tells all you need to know about the UK-exclusive Disney Magic Tickets. You should buy your tickets either directly with Disney or through a genuine UK vendor, like Floridatix.
Other Activities
If you're DIY-ing your holiday and doing other activities, like visiting other theme parks, you can book them yourself through sites like Hotels.com and purchase other Orlando theme park tickets through UK vendors like Floridatix.
Insurance
Insurance is a must when travelling to America because they don't have an NHS service like we do. If you ever need medical help, it can cost thousands. A few providers have been listed below to consider that we have previously used (although have yet to claim).
Airport To Resort Travel
Once you've booked your hotel, tickets, and flights, all that's left is your transport to and from the hotel. If you want to use a regular coach service, then use Mears Connect. Otherwise, it's super easy to grab a taxi or Uber/Lyft at the airport.
How We Book
Back in the day, we were loyal customers of Thomas Cook booking our packages through them. When they went bust, I started using TUI as they flew from Bristol (the closest airport to us) on their lovely Dreamliner planes. Now they've stopped that, I have been DIY-ing. I have been enjoying the flexibility of doing things separately in recent years. For my Walt Disney World hotel and ticket package I always book direct through Disney. Depending on what we do on the trip, we might add a couple of nights at a Universal Orlando Hotel to experience the Universal Parks. We book those through Hotels.com with tickets from Floridatix. If we add a Disney Cruise we book that through Disney Holidays or direct on the Disney Cruise Line website. We then wrap our custom trip with flights with British Airways or Aer Lingus booking directly with them. |
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