I would suggest putting in a Priceline bid for a 3* hotel in the MCO area. All of the 3* hotels in that area have free airport shuttles 24/7 so you can return your rental car the night before.
The 3* hotels that come up in that area are the Hyatt (inside the airport) the Holiday Inn Select, the Mariott, the Renaissance and occasionally the Sheraton Suites (the Crowne Plaza used to show up evey now and then, but it had a lot of hurricane damage and I don't think it has reopened yet). The Mariott and the Renaissance seem to be coming up most often for Nov and Dec visits.
We have stayed at all of those places except the Sheraton Suites and all are very nice and have decent pools (large and clean, but nothing real fancy like themed slides or anything. All are in the same area and are close to a fair selection of moderately priced places to eat and all have decent restaurants in the hotel.
Rooms are big everywhere except the Hyatt inside the airport and much nicer than you would expect for the price. Rooms usually come in for bids of $38 to 43/room/night before taxes and fees.
