How We Saved Money and Time on our Disney Trip

[5bound4wdw]

Always looking for another way to save some cash! Great option...Thanks!

[Wanna be Ariel]

This is so good to hear. I love it! We have always rented a car(when it was DH and I) but now with DS we are going to try the ME. I do have a few questions if someone could help me

1-What time will the ME start in the morning?

2-What is a good price for the Hyatt? Right now for our date it would be $152 + taxs

3-Since we will have suitcases we need to pick them up at baggage claim then check into the Hyatt and then the next morning bring them down to ME and they will take them from us??? Is that how it would work?

Thank you so much for the idea and the help. Anything else I should know???

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

I was wondering about the noise. We have some light sleepers in our family, and I'm uncertain about their ability to sleep well that first night in both a new bed and with plane noise...

[camdensmom]

Originally Posted by Wanna be Ariel

This is so good to hear. I love it! We have always rented a car(when it was DH and I) but now with DS we are going to try the ME. I do have a few questions if someone could help me

1-What time will the ME start in the morning?

2-What is a good price for the Hyatt? Right now for our date it would be $152 + taxs

3-Since we will have suitcases we need to pick them up at baggage claim then check into the Hyatt and then the next morning bring them down to ME and they will take them from us??? Is that how it would work?

Thank you so much for the idea and the help. Anything else I should know???

ME runs 24/7. We are early risers so we got up around 6 and went straight down to ME (with a quick Starbucks stop in between). There was a bus waiting for us...well not really for us...but there was a bus waiting and we hopped right onto it and it drove us to the hotel. LOVED that.

I think that price sounds pretty good, but I would check back as they always fluctuate. Maybe lock in that rate and then check in periodically.

You will need to grab your bags. If it is late when you are getting in you could go to check in and have hubby grab the bags and meet you at the hotel. We checked in in a matter of minutes. The Hyatt room was spacious with a good sized closet. My recommendation would be to pack an "overnight bag" so you don't need to unpack any of the other bags. In the morning the crowds are non-existent at ME so it will be very easy to bring your bags down and the driver will put them on the bus (since we were the only people we didn't even need to close our stroller). When you check in at the hotel just drop them off (the desk will tell you where) and they'll bring them to your room when it's ready. So easy!

On a sidenote I don't know how old your little one is, but the Hyatt had actual cribs with nice thick mattresses that they wheeled in for us (we have twins). I was expecting to see pack n plays and was delighted with the full crib because the girls slept so well in them.

Happy Travels!

[camdensmom]

Originally Posted by M-I-C-K-E-Y

I was wondering about the noise. We have some light sleepers in our family, and I'm uncertain about their ability to sleep well that first night in both a new bed and with plane noise...

We had a room with a balcony that looked down into the terminal which was kind of fun. We didn't hear any airplane noise, but could hear noise down there until it got to be a bit later. The site does mention quiet rooms. If you asked for a room across the hall from the terminal you should be fine. You need to take a tram-thingy to get to the terminal from the boarding gates so there is some distance between them.

[wallawallakids]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[2ndStarr]

Love this! It never would have occurred to me.

[Wanna be Ariel]

Originally Posted by camdensmom

ME runs 24/7. We are early risers so we got up around 6 and went straight down to ME (with a quick Starbucks stop in between). There was a bus waiting for us...well not really for us...but there was a bus waiting and we hopped right onto it and it drove us to the hotel. LOVED that.

I think that price sounds pretty good, but I would check back as they always fluctuate. Maybe lock in that rate and then check in periodically.

You will need to grab your bags. If it is late when you are getting in you could go to check in and have hubby grab the bags and meet you at the hotel. We checked in in a matter of minutes. The Hyatt room was spacious with a good sized closet. My recommendation would be to pack an "overnight bag" so you don't need to unpack any of the other bags. In the morning the crowds are non-existent at ME so it will be very easy to bring your bags down and the driver will put them on the bus (since we were the only people we didn't even need to close our stroller). When you check in at the hotel just drop them off (the desk will tell you where) and they'll bring them to your room when it's ready. So easy!

On a sidenote I don't know how old your little one is, but the Hyatt had actual cribs with nice thick mattresses that they wheeled in for us (we have twins). I was expecting to see pack n plays and was delighted with the full crib because the girls slept so well in them.

Happy Travels!

Thank you for the info. That rate is no refundable so I guess I will wait since we still are a ways out. My DS will be a little shy of 2.5 when we go. I am wishing that by then we would be okay in a big bed with rails, but that is great to know about the crib. Might go with that just for the night. Thank you again for all the great info. This is really going to help.

[pigletto]

Originally Posted by camdensmom

Hi Everyone,

We flew from Boston to Orlando for a long weekend stay in early December and stayed at the POLY. Typically we take the first flight of the day down, but this trip we changed it up a bit and I wanted to share our experience because I would highly recommend it to others.

Since this was a super-quick trip I didn't want to factor in a "travel day." My family consists of myself, DH, DS7 and our twin DDs3. An early flight would have meant getting up at 4:30 to get to the airport and I knew the day would be wasted so we decided to work on Friday and fly out in the late afternoon (I'm a teacher and Hubby left a few hours early).

Our flight was scheduled to land at 7:10 p.m. which would have meant that after the whole Magic Express and hotel check-in procedure, getting settled, etc it would be way past their normal bedtimes by the time they got to sleep and would effect the next day.

SO....

What we did was flew down and stayed at the Hyatt that is built into the airport. The rate was over $300.00 cheaper than the POLY would have been. We were in our room less that 15 minutes after walking off the plane and the kids were asleep by 8:00. We went to sleep soon after which was an awesome way to end a workweek and transition into vacation mode.

The next morning we woke at 6:00, headed downstairs, grabbed a Starucks coffee and bananas for the kids and went straight to Magic Express. There was NOBODY there except staff. Literally not another person.

I am so use to long lines, waits, crowded buses and multiple hotel stops.

Instead we walked straight onto the waiting bus and our driver immediately drove our family of 5 to the POLY. He said mornings are typically like that and he usually serves as a private chauffeur until around 8 or 9.

We checked in, dropped off our bags and had breakfast at the hotel. We were at the park for rope drop at 9.

I will purposely plan travel like this on future trips. Normally we lose an entire 1/2 a day traveling, dealing with lines at Magic Express and check-in and then waiting around for our room because it's typically too late to go to a park. Plus the fact that we saved so much on the hotel for the 1st night was great. The airport Hyatt was very nice and the staff was friendly. They have a nice rooftop pool and there are tons of shops and restaurants.

Anyway I just wanted to share because I don't know if I would have thought to do this or even elected to do it if we were on a longer trip, but it was a great way to save some $, save some time and start our trip refreshed and ready to take on Disney.

Well you sure just helped me. I have to work on the Friday before our trip. However, we could comfortably make the Friday 8:20pm flight. We wouldn't get there until 10:50 or so but I kind of just want to get going! We've been debating between that and the 6a.m. flight the next morning. One means a hotel stay at the airport here and fly out the next morning.. the other means fly first and stay there. I think my mind is made up. I would LOVE to wake up and walk down to ME and be ready to go!!

Now it will technically cost us more money because the hotel for the night here is only 120 and and the Hyatt will be quite a bit more. But to wake up and have a full day to have a ride on ME, check in, have a nice breakfast and head to a park sounds like a wonderful way to start the trip!!

[FantasiaMagic]

That is such a great idea! Esp to save some money and for a quick trip. The hotel at MCO always looked interesting...

Glad your family had a good trip!