Arrival Strategy

[jcf]

Has anyone ever stayed at the Hyatt right in the airport when arriving late in the afternoon/early evening instead of rushing to Disney with just enough time to get a snack and go to bed. This way you can wake up refreshed in morning and then go to Disney.

Just wondering.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We did this on our last trip. It was really nice after flying in from the west coast that had us up at 4am our time! We walked around to the stores (including the Disney store) had a nice dinner and good sleep. Then it was up early (for us with the time change), checked in at Disney by 8:30 am and in the parks by 9:15 am! We'll definitely look at doing that again in the future.

 

[Reginak]

We always spend the first night at Pop or the All Stars before transferring to our primary resort the next morning. Disney moves our luggage and all we have to do is check in at the new place. This way we get a little of Disney before the vacation really starts.

Regina

 

[dvczerfs]

we drive, one year we left a day early due to an ice storm coming.we stayed off property the first night, checked in at okw at 6am and than had the rest of the day. they cant promise the early check in, we got lucky.

 

[salmoneous]

I often fly in on Friday night - no way I'm spending Friday points when I'll just be gettting to the resort at midnight and falling asleep. I've never stayed in the airport Hyatt though - just one of the many airport hotels nearby.

 

[dgaston]

We often take an evening flight out of Providence and I Priceline either a 3* or 2 1/2 * hotel in the MCO area. We get up early, shuttle back to the airport for rental car or ME and we're off to WDW. This works very well for us.

 

[Greg K.]

...and it was a great idea.

We arrived Friday evening, settled in at the Hyatt, and then early the next morning rented a car and drove to Port Canaveral. We dropped the car at the hotel near the port, and took their shuttle to the ship. We got there nice and early -- and were among the first in line to board the ship.

Which means we were also among the first to make ressies at Paolo and the spa and then start grazing at the pre-cruise buffet ...

 

[tor]

We usually use hotwire; the wingate comes up less than $40 two queen beds non-smoking and free breakfast and airport shuttle

 

[crisi]

Yes, works very well.

One thing to note is that Disney will not allow you to use Magical Express if you have the Hyatt (or any hotel) in the loop - ME is to get you to your plane, not a competing hotel.

 

[laughinplace199]

Haven't done it at the Hyatt, but going the night before is our new favorite thing to do.

We were just in WDW from 4/16-4/24. On 4/16, our flight landed at MCO at 7:30 PM. By the time we got our luggage, rental car, and got to AKV it was almost 9:00 PM. We booked a value studio for that night. Our 3 kids were very sleepy when we got into the room and went to bed immediately. DH and I hung out by the sink area and had some pizza before going to bed. We woke up early, got ready, checked out of the studio, and headed for the MK. When we returned to AKV in the afternoon, we checked into our 2 BR unit.

It was so nice to be there the night before our "real" vacation time began. I really liked having a studio at the same resort as our week long reservation so that we didn't have to be concerned with moving luggage to a new resort. It was so easy to have bell services come and get our bags and store them until we switched rooms later that day. We hope to do the same thing next year as well.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Has anyone ever stayed at the Hyatt right in the airport when arriving late in the afternoon/early evening instead of rushing to Disney with just enough time to get a snack and go to bed. This way you can wake up refreshed in morning and then go to Disney.

Just wondering.

We always take the AutoTrain so we always arrive early, but you absolutely have the right line of thinking. To me arriving late is like wasting half a day's points, plus you're getting the last of the room pickings. On the other hand arriving early is like getting half a day extra, especially if they have a room ready.

Yes... get to DVC early the next morning, see if they have a room ready that you would like, and if they don't you're first or high on the list to get one.

 

[salmoneous]

ME will take anyone staying at a Disney resort from MCO to WDW - even those without an income flight. You don't get the luggage service, but you do get the bus ride.

Because making a non-flight ME reservation is a bit more complicated than one with a flight, most folks just give Disney a flight number arriving at about the right time.

 

[crisi]

ME will take anyone staying at a Disney resort from MCO to WDW - even those without an income flight. You don't get the luggage service, but you do get the bus ride.

Because making a non-flight ME reservation is a bit more complicated than one with a flight, most folks just give Disney a flight number arriving at about the right time.

They told us no - you have to have a flight - they won't just take you to or from MCO unless you are catching a plane.

 

[dwelty]

They told us no - you have to have a flight - they won't just take you to or from MCO unless you are catching a plane.

MS just takes the flight information, there is no way of them knowing if you are actually on a flight or not. I know that they do not check.

 

[crisi]

MS just takes the flight information, there is no way of them knowing if you are actually on a flight or not. I know that they do not check.

Well, now, that gets into the ethics of putting a fifth person in your studio, telling people that your just turned three year old is still two, using last year's mug, and taking pool towels up to your room. They do not have flight manifests, so you could tell them you are on a flight you are not actually on. But if you are honest with them, they will not take you.

 

[jcf]

MS just takes the flight information, there is no way of them knowing if you are actually on a flight or not. I know that they do not check.

If you bring them the luggage, will they load bags onto bus?

 

[Cricket2]

Coming in the night before on a cash night at your DVC resort is also a good (however expensive) way to guarantee your room is yours on your entire first full day. No playing "Room Of Fourtune" all day long with the "Guaranteed after four" phone rep roulette. You also don't have to check-in first thing in the morning since you have already done it and it's one less pack/unpack situation to go through.

 

[salmoneous]

If you bring them the luggage, will they load bags onto bus?

They will treat them the same way they treat carry-on luggage - the driver will put them under the bus when you get on, then take them off when you get to the resort. They will not give them to bell services. If you want bell services to take it to your room, you'll have to bring them to bell services yourself.

I've had ME pick me up without a flight, and there are many similar stories on the transportation board. It might be that ME isn't supposed to do that and has given all of us special service. But I suspect the CS who said it can't be done was mistaken.

 

[Water Sprite]

They will treat them the same way they treat carry-on luggage - the driver will put them under the bus when you get on, then take them off when you get to the resort. They will not give them to bell services. If you want bell services to take it to your room, you'll have to bring them to bell services yourself.

We are arriving late to MCO and heard that our luggage could take 3 hours via ME to arrive at the villas, so we were planning on not using our ME tags upon arrival, and walking our luggage to the bus. In the manner you stated above. We just want to check in and sleep immediately, and would likely get the bell services involved after the bus arrives at the resort.

Has anyone else heard of this delay in getting luggage delivered via ME to the WDW resort?

Tom and Pat

 

[crisi]

They will treat them the same way they treat carry-on luggage - the driver will put them under the bus when you get on, then take them off when you get to the resort. They will not give them to bell services. If you want bell services to take it to your room, you'll have to bring them to bell services yourself.

I've had ME pick me up without a flight, and there are many similar stories on the transportation board. It might be that ME isn't supposed to do that and has given all of us special service. But I suspect the CS who said it can't be done was mistaken.

Member services and TWO CMs at the Boardwalk concurred. Couldn't do it. This was last October.