Multi-centre · USA
13 Night New York & Orlando
The most-requested American pairing, and it works because the two halves are exact opposites. Four days on your feet in Manhattan, then nine in Florida where the hardest decision is which park.
The most-requested American pairing, and it works because the two halves are exact opposites. Four days on your feet in Manhattan, then nine in Florida where the hardest decision is which park.
Two rules, and both come from what goes wrong when people ignore them.
New York first, because it's the demanding half and you want energy for it. Then Orlando — but seven nights of theme parks is the ceiling for most families. It's 25,000 steps a day in 32°C with queues, and children who are having the time of their lives right up until they aren't. We usually put five park days across nine Florida nights, with pool days between, or move the last few nights to the Gulf coast where the sand is white and nobody has to be anywhere.
Thirteen nights with one internal flight. Open-jaw home from Orlando so nothing is retraced.
1Four nights is right for a first visit — enough for the icons and one neighbourhood, not so long that the pace exhausts you.
Where you stay: Midtown for convenience on a first visit, or the Upper West Side for calm and better value.
Getting there: 7h 30m direct from the UK, landing early afternoon.
2Five park days across six nights, with a pool day in the middle. That ratio is what stops it becoming an endurance event.
Where you stay: A villa in Kissimmee for space and a kitchen, or on-site at Disney or Universal for early entry.
Getting there: 3 hours by air from New York, several flights daily.
3Ninety minutes west, and the reason this itinerary works. White quartz sand, calm warm water, and sunsets over the sea.
Where you stay: Siesta Key or Anna Maria for quiet; Clearwater for facilities and easier access with children.
Getting there: 90 minutes by hire car from Orlando. Fly home from Tampa.
Everything below is quoted up front. Nothing appears after you've paid a deposit.
Guide prices per person, two sharing, outside school holidays. The hotel standard is the biggest single variable.
| Standard | What that means | Guide price pp |
|---|---|---|
| 4-star | Midtown hotel, Kissimmee villa, good Gulf beach hotel | £2,299 |
| 4-star plus | Better Manhattan location, Disney or Universal on-site, beachfront Gulf | £3,199 |
| 5-star | Landmark New York hotel, deluxe on-site resort, luxury Gulf resort | £4,899 |
On-site Disney or Universal hotels cost more but buy you early park entry, which is worth an hour of queuing every morning. For families of four or more, a Kissimmee villa with a private pool usually costs less than two hotel rooms and gives you a kitchen.
Spring and autumn suit both halves. Summer is hot everywhere and hurricane season overlaps Florida's.
April to May and October to November give you comfortable New York weather and Florida before the worst humidity. June to September is 33°C in Florida with a daily afternoon thunderstorm, and it's inside hurricane season which peaks in September. New York in July and August is hot and humid; December is cold but the Christmas lights are the reason many people go. Avoid the American school holidays if you can — park queues roughly double.
We'll come back with hotels in both cities, park tickets priced properly, and the payment plan written out in full.
Five across six or seven nights, with pool days between. More than that and most families stop enjoying it, whatever the ticket says.
For four or more, a villa with a private pool in Kissimmee is usually cheaper than two hotel rooms and far more comfortable. On-site hotels buy you early park entry instead.
White quartz sand, calm warm water and sunsets over the sea. The Atlantic side is closer to Orlando but the beach is noticeably worse.
Apply on the official US government site — around fourteen dollars. The copycat sites that outrank it on Google charge four times as much for the same thing.
Similar shapes, and the ones people most often weigh up alongside it.
Same approach, different shape. All reshapeable around your dates.
