Booking Report #2 - Spring Break 2018 in Orlando

Last winter we had such a fun time in Orlando, FL that we decided to go back again.  Instead of December we decided to do Spring Break time in March.

Flights:

Southwest of course!  Southwest extended their schedule into March 2018 back in August.  The day the extension came out I went on and booked flights.  I wanted to book ASAP since I knew Orlando at spring break time would be a popular time to fly.  I booked 4 round trip, non-stop tickets at 19,200 points per piece.  This is higher than normal for a trip to Orlando but again it's spring break.  We expect everything to be more expensive and crowded.  I will continue to check the prices during upcoming Southwest sales.  I bought a ticket for Kim just in case something goes wrong with gaining my companion pass for 2018 & 2019.  You can read about our effort to get the pass here and here.  I fully expect to gain my pass and will cancel Kim's flight and receive the points back.

Emmy will be 1 and on the move at this point. I feel like this is the hardest age to fly with. They really don't want to hang out in their seats (aka your lap) and are hard to entertain. Hoping to find some good snacks and for no flight delays.

Hotel:

Happy hour at the resort bar

We are returning to Marriott's Harbour Lake Resort.  We stayed there in January of 2017.  You can read about it here.  We booked this resort back in May.  At the time they had great rates available,  especially during spring break.  We booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa for $250 per night.  This rate also came with a $50 food and beverage credit per night.  This was such a great deal I did not use points.  After taxes our total will be around $1400 for 5 nights.  This is by no means cheap but for spring break I think this is reasonable.  I will try and use points for all our other 2018 trips.

Car:

Again, cars are not cheap during spring break.  I have only searched for mini vans so far.  The best I could find for our 6 day trip was $408.  And the $408 does not guarantee us a mini van!  Through my Chase Sapphire Reserve we get National Car Rental Executive privileges.  If you've ever seen the commercials with the guy that played Puddy in Seinfeld, it's pretty accurate with what happens.  We walk right past the counter, pick a car in the emerald aisle,  drive to the booth and show our ID and off we go.  The cars in the emerald aisle can be anything from a Cadillac sedan to a mini van.  We have used this perk twice and each time we got a 3 row SUV such as a GMC Acadia or Buick Enclave.  I will continue to check rental prices to hopefully find something cheaper.

Activities:

So far we have only booked one activity - a Disney character breakfast.  It's called Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast.   We have had a great time at past character breakfasts, and it's also a great way to get more autographs for the kids' books.  Other than the breakfast we plan to visit Disney Hollywood Studios.  We have never been there with kids so if anyone has any tips please let us know.  We are excited to try the Star Wars activities.  I believe they also have a Star Wars themed fireworks as well.  From what we have heard the Star Sars activities and training can not be fast passed and book up quickly. We are planning this park for a day that the on Disney property hotels do not get early access. This way we hope to get a fair start and go straight to the star wars attractions.

We plan to spend most of our trip at the pools hopefully enjoying the warm weather.  I'm sure we will also visit Disney Springs once or twice for dinner as well.  Where is everyone else going for Spring Break?


Subscribe to Travel Hacks for the Modern Family by Email