Getting to Florida to visit Walt Disney World is quite a journey. Something we get asked is what you should do in terms of getting there, take a direct flight with Aer Lingus, or go indirect with Delta, American, United via another US city, or through another city in Europe, such as Manchester or London, Paris, Frankfurt, or Madrid.
Should I get direct or indirect flights to Orlando?
Only Aer Lingus flies there direct; in our opinion, the service you get on Aer Lingus going transatlantic, is not the best. We’ve done it a lot of times, and every time, found the service on board lacking; lack of refreshments, pay for everything on board, and overall, the price is often considerably more than going with one of the US carriers or going via another city in Europe.
The only time we really recommend going direct, is if you want to just do one flight; this could be if you have small children, infants, or just want to get there as soon as possible. We get it; you don’t want the extra time needed in another airport, waiting on another flight, finding yourself only half way there (or worse!) and still another flight to go. Or if you have undying loyalty to the Aer Lingus brand, and want to stay Irish, no matter the service or the cost.
Indirect – Transferring through a US city.
The benefit of going from Ireland to the USA, is the Cross Border Patrol (CBP) being located here in Dublin. Ireland is one of only two countries in the world (the other being United Arab Emirates) that allow for immigration into the USA to be done while still in Ireland. Technically, once you get through border patrol located in Dublin or Shannon, you are ‘in the USA’. This means you better have gotten your duty-free beforehand, cause there is no duty free after the CBP!
There are several flights daily to cities in the USA that will then link you to Orlando. The most common ones are all on the east coast; New York (Newark and JFK), Philidelphia, Atlanta, and Washington, to name a few. There are also other options of Dallas, Hartford, Chicago, and Charlotte.
By going through a US city, you do not have to do immigration upon arrival, saving time, headaches, and stress. For airlines, we personally recommend Delta as the best US carrier; we have found them to have the best transatlantic service, and often the best prices. On the other end of the scale, American Airlines (who merged with US Airways some years ago) seem to fly old planes, with an ok service. But these are often cheaper than the direct flights with Aer Lingus.
Stop over times in US cities vary in what you should be looking for; 2 hours should do you fine, but 3 would be very comfortable and afford you some small amount of time to eat or shop during your layover. A personal favourite is in JFK, where you can get a Shake Shack burger in the terminal between flights. Anything under 2 hours is cutting it close, even without the need for immigration.
Our personal favourites for layover is JFK in New York, Philidelphia, and Atlanta.
What about Indirect through Europe?
There are a number of flights as well that could go through Europe; British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Iberia are just a few that would be options to take to get to Orlando from Dublin. Our advice on this is the same as above; weigh up your options on cost vs time. For ease, we’d recommend going to either Manchester or London, but anywhere as far west as Frankfurt are still good options if the deal is right.
The main reason though why going indirect via Europe is because you will then need to do US immigration upon arrival in Orlando. This means an extra wait time, possibly 2 or 3 hours, before you even get out of the airport. So you want to be getting a great deal and a great airline to do this!
If we were to pick just one; it would be Virgin Atlantic from Manchester. The service you receive on board Virgin is amongst the best in the world, and with good times of departure, means you dont arrive too late in Orlando.
We hope this helps you decide how to get to Orlando!
Disney From Ireland 