SW is how DH and I fly to MCO from New Orleans. I find the cheapest flights on or near the day they open new dates. I was going to say, don't forget the budget airlines, like the PP. Allegient, Frontier, Spirit. The reason I don't do those is the time it flies and there is only one flight at the Gulfport airport. IF the flight is delayed or cancelled, you are driving, which defeats the purpose. We never fly Mobile because of the cost, it is ALWAYS more expensive. We also get a car service to pick us up from the airport. We only use Tiffany Towncar and request two drivers we like. DH prefers flying always. I could drive from where we live ( 10hours), but now need to spend the night on the way down, not back. Our flight in Nov was $110 PP both ways. So it, combined with Tiffany, parking at airport and Early Bird on SW makes it more expensive. But that is the way we choose to vacation. We take an early flight down and a late morning flight back. On our May trip our DVC room was ready as soon as we got there (about 9:30), and we started our vacation instantly. When I think about it, driving 2 hours west to airport to fly non stop 2 hours east...we might just be a little nuts, but it works for us. I always do the driving because DH has to be distracted with phone or tablet on trips. So the quickest way to get him there is flying….well until teleportation is invented.
Be sure you check airlines not listed sometimes on Expedia, etc. Make sure you wiggle the dates a little, like an evening flight after work or the night before if possible. Once you expand your airports and dates you might find something good. You can also fly into Sanford airport ( I think another 30 minutes away) and Tampa ( about 1.5 hours I am told). If coming from NJ...I would have to make the flight happen... and I would probably pay SW whatever they we asking because we really like the airline. I priced AT once, I think it took us to St. Louis or something before we got to Orlando....ummm, no.