Can this be done?

fairydust72

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Hi-Im pretty new to the boards but have lurked forever it seems!LOL

We are going to the World from 8/17-8/23.Our closest major airport is BWI(Baltimore-Wash.).We were planning
to arrive at the airport the night before(the 16th) and fly out early am the next day.

When checking flights I saw if we leave on a 8pm flight the 16th we can save 40 dollars a ticket as opposed to the am flight the next day.

What I want to know is if I can pay for a room only
at POFQ and take ME on the 16th (late at like 11pm)
and then start my package on the 17th as intended ?
When I add an extra day to my package it jumps up quite a few hundred.We just want a place to sleep because it
will be late but we need to use ME because we wont have a rental car.

Am i making sense? If anyone understands me(and according to my DH some dont LOL) :) can I do this?

Thanks
 
That doesn't sound like it should be a problem. If you're looking for a room only, you should call whoever you booked the trip through (Disney, travel agent, etc.) and speak to them about adding one night hotel stay, without park tickets. I don't see why this should be a problem. Good luck! :)
 
You shouldn't have a problem. Question for you, though. Are you staying at French Quarter for the rest of your trip? If you are, ask to have the one night room only reservation linked to the package reservation that you have. You might not have to switch rooms that way. You will have to check out of the room only room and check back in but you might be able to just stay where you are - just get new room keys for the same room.
 
If you are doing a package it would include meals for that day you couldn't use. If not, then adding a room only shouldn't be a problem as long as there are available rooms.
 


You can use ME for a room only ressie or a package. Take ME to your room only ressie then the next day when your package starts just have your first hotel take your bags to the second hotel. You dont have to move any of your stuff, they make it very easy to switch resorts.
 
You can sure make a second room-only ressie (assuming they have a room available for you) and still use DME.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you might have to go down to the front desk in the morning, check out, and check back in to get your package. In fact, depending on how crowded it is at POFQ, you might even have tro change rooms. The reason behind this is that your package and your room-only ressies will be completely separate, unlinked ressies. Id doesn't matter that one begins on the same day that the other ends; they are still two separate ressies in the Disney reservations system.

Another option you could use is to stay the first night at a hotel in the airport area. All of the hotels near MCO have complimentary shuttles to the terminal, so you could arrive, take the bus to a nearby hotel, stay the night, take the bus back in the morning, and board the DME bus. Because of the extra time this would take, I recommend doing it only if you can't get a room at POFQ for the 16th.

You could also get a room at the Hyatt inside the MCO terminal, but of course that's an expensive hotel and you might wipe out any savings on airfare that you get from flying in a night early.

But think this through - you are saving $40 per plane ticket by flying out a night early. But how many people are in your party? How many $40 will you save? You should consider how much money you will spend on an extra room-only night at POFQ, or another hotel, and see if it balances out the money you will save by flying in a night early.

For instance, if there are 4 people in your party, then your airfares will go down by a total of $160. But then you have to pay for a night at POFQ; August 16th is Value Season, so the rack rate for a standard view room is $149. Then you add in the sales tax and hotel tax (which together are 12.5%), and the whole room costs you $167.63 - a net loss of $7.63.

If there are 6 people in your party, you will save $240 on airfare. But with 6 people, you will need two rooms at POFQ, which means you'll be paying $335.26 for two rooms - a net loss of $95.26.

Obviously, if your rates at POFQ are less than the rack rates, then my numbers will be off a bit, but you get the picture.Subtract the cost of the room from anything you save on airfare to determine your net savings, and then decide if that net savings - or loss - is worth the extra time and trouble it might put on you. Sometimes it is; heck, I have been known to do exactly what you are planning, incurring extra expenditures of $50-$100, just so I can fly in the evening before my trip is to start instead of getting up at o-dark-30 the next morning to make an early flight.

By the way, I also fly out of BWI on every trip; I live in Cockeysville, MD, along I-83. If you're coming from PA, you might drive past me on your waay to BWI. Wave as you pass Exit 17!
 
Thanks for the replies. Yes we are staying at POFQ for our
package.I just figured with the money we would save on the flight we could start our first day of our package there
already and not have to factor in travel time.I will call them today.:woohoo:
 


.


Obviously, if your rates at POFQ are less than the rack rates, then my numbers will be off a bit, but you get the picture.Subtract the cost of the room from anything you save on airfare to determine your net savings, and then decide if that net savings - or loss - is worth the extra time and trouble it might put on you. Sometimes it is; heck, I have been known to do exactly what you are planning, incurring extra expenditures of $50-$100, just so I can fly in the evening before my trip is to start instead of getting up at o-dark-30 the next morning to make an early flight.

By the way, I also fly out of BWI on every trip; I live in Cockeysville, MD, along I-83. If you're coming from PA, you might drive past me on your waay to BWI. Wave as you pass Exit 17![/QUOTE]



This will be our first time out of BWI.We just moved to Central PA and this was closer than Philly.

We had considered staying at a value the first night but didnt want to get too complicated.

We have 4 people traveling so it would be a savings of 160.
I think I forgot to mention that We were going to stay at a hotel at BWI the night before anyway because we have an 8am flight and it will take us
over 2 hours to get to BWI and my dh doesnt want to cut it close with traffic etc..I checked hotel prices at BWI and didnt see anything under 109 or so.So I figured even if it cost me a little more Id rather wake up at Disney than spend my first half of the day traveling.Not sure if Im making sense or if it will work out though.:confused3


But I will be sure to wave to you as Im driving by!!:hippie: :banana:

How hard is it to get around BWI in general and the area?
 
This will be our first time out of BWI.We just moved to Central PA and this was closer than Philly.

We had considered staying at a value the first night but didnt want to get too complicated.

We have 4 people traveling so it would be a savings of 160.
I think I forgot to mention that We were going to stay at a hotel at BWI the night before anyway because we have an 8am flight and it will take us
over 2 hours to get to BWI and my dh doesnt want to cut it close with traffic etc..I checked hotel prices at BWI and didnt see anything under 109 or so.So I figured even if it cost me a little more Id rather wake up at Disney than spend my first half of the day traveling.Not sure if Im making sense or if it will work out though.:confused3


But I will be sure to wave to you as Im driving by!!:hippie: :banana:

How hard is it to get around BWI in general and the area?

The roads can be a little conffusing if you're not used to them, especially after dark.

If you're not going to stay at a BWI area hotel the night before your flight, another cost to factor in is long-term parking for your car. Many area hotels will allow you to leave your car in the hotel lot when you take your trip, saving you a lot of money. But if you're going directly to the airport on the night of the 16th, then you'll need to spend more to leave your car in one of the long-term lots, then take a shuttle bus into the terminal. Cost at the long-term lots is $8 per day.

Here's a link to the BWI parking page:
http://www.bwiairport.com/directions_parking/parking_info/

Once you're in the BWI terminal, it's not terribly confusing; the main part of the terminal, outside security, is a big horse-shoe, with an outer corridor (where all the airline desks are) and an inner corridor (where shops and food courts are). The gates are located in several "concourses" (also called "piers"), each of which sticks out from the back of the terminal like a spoke. Security is at the entrance to each pier. Departures are on the upper level; when you come back from MCO, you will go to baggage claim, which is on the lower level.

Here are the terminal maps; they are on BWI's web site, but not very easy to find, so I'm linking them directly here:
m_lowerlevel_121207.gif

m_lowerlevel_121207.gif


If you're flying Southwest, you'll be in either Concourse A or B; Southwest is the only carrier in these two concourses. And there is a nice food court between the two, past security, so if you want to grab something to eat after you get through security, you can go here. It's only fast food, but it's convenient. Each concourse has a few food places past security, as well, mostly snacks and drinks.

TIP: Concourse A and B at BWI are connected by the food court, so get in the security line that's moving faster. It doesn't matter if your flight is in Concourse A, you can go through the Concourse B security line - they both lead to the same area.
 
DH and I ran into a similar situation when we booked our trip a few months ago. It was actually cheaper to add 2 more days in WDW than it was to fly down and back on our original dates.
We had to add an extra night at POFQ, instead of doing a room only we added an extra night to our package. We did not have to purchase tickets for that day. We did, however, have to add that day to our dining plan because the dining plan is based on how many nights you're staying.

Oh, and we fly out of BWI as well :thumbsup2
 
We did that at POR last August. We even were able to get a room only code for that night. It came out in late June. We were able to check in the next morning on the first day of free dining at 7 am and beat the rush and keep the same room. All worked out without any problems.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top