best option for late night arrival

[thepuppies]

Apologizing in advance if this has been asked 100 times before, but my husband and I are driving to Orlando and it will take about 12 hours to get there. We are staying at the Boardwalk Inn for our vacation. Our question is should we book a cheap hotel in the Orlando area on the night we arrive or stay at one of the value resorts? We did not feel it was worth it to book an extra night at the Boardwalk. We would appreciate any advice on finding a hotel that is in the $50-$100 range that is within a few miles of our resort.

Thank you!

 

[stitchlovestink]

If it were me, I would book a value. BUT, I would let them know just a couple of days prior to your arrival that you arriving VERY LATE at night. I say this from first hand experience. the two times we have done late night arrivals, check-in has not gone the smoothest... One time they called us at home in the early evening to see if we were still planning on arriving that day!!! We were either on the way to the airport or on our flight, so we had no idea that they had called. Well they gave our preferred room away and we got stuck with a crappy room the first night. Due to the nightmarish check in, they comped us the room that night and moved us the next day. But WHY on earth would they call us at HOME to see if we were still coming??? I have yet to figure that one out!!
Anyway, the mgr suggested that we call 2 or 3 days before check-in and have our ressie documented that it would be a late check-in. Good Luck!!

 

[cluvsdisney]

We just stayed at the Wyndham Orlando Resort for $59 per night. It's on International Drive near I-4. But I would check with Expedia or Orbitz for hotels near Lake Buena Vista and see what comes up. I just did an arbitrary search for one night (Nov 12-13) and the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort came up at $42. I am not sure if value rates are that low.

 

[LISMYLIFE]

I would recommend that you stay at a value. Call reservations so they can note the split stay. I have heard others talk about being moved to their deluxe resort on night one for no extra charge!

 

[Lewisc]

You're driving. You won't be using DME for airport transfers. No real advanatage in booking a Disney value hotel.

I'd use Priceline or Hotwire for an offsite hotel.

 

[JENOS]

We had the same dilemma a couple years back, we didn’t want to pay an extra night since we were arriving late as well. Our mistake was not booking an inexpensive room for the first night ahead of time;we drove around for an hour going hotel to motel looking for a vacancy, we ended up staying in a disgusting motel. Never did I think I would have such a hard time finding a room especially after a 19 hour driving

 

[DisneyScraps]

I always use Priceline and get an off site motel. I pack a seperate bag with everything we need for that one night so I don't have to lug a big suitcase into the first hotel with me.

Lisa

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We do this most of the time and usually just stay at one of the Value resorts and have never had a problem with a late arrival, I just let them know when I make the reservation. I usually use on-line check in and note the arrival time and our rooms keys are usually already printed out for us when we arrive.

Suzanne

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We always just stay at the resort we are booked in for the whole trip. We have arrived as late as 1am.

I don't want the hassle of dealing with a 2nd hotel. I'd rather pay the money and stay in 1 place.

 

[Lewisc]

PL or Hotwire only makes sense if you're sure you're going to make it all the way to Orlando. Won't work if you get tired and want to stop N of Orlando.

A suggestion is to take the AAA travel guide, or equivalent. Make some phone calls when you want to stop. No reson pulling into hotels that are booked or only have $$$ rooms available. Your GPS might do the trick.

 

[thepuppies]

Thanks for all the responses!

This will be the first trip my husband and I have taken by ourselves, we usually go with my entire family. This is my first time planning out every small detail so all the advice helps!!

 

[bwolfe]

We did this in June. There are several Disney "partner" hotels just outside the property. We stayed, I think, at a Comfort Inn and Suites for less that $100.

 

[keltic]

Just another option:

We drive from NJ. We split the drive. We stop in GA or just inside FL. We check into a place we can use a coupon or get a AAA discount and sleep well, wake early and arrive to WDW around the earlier time for check in. If you arrive a bit too early, they will hold your bags for you and you can just go ahead and hit the parks.

My thinking is that the kids would be too excited to sleep if we arrive later at night. This way, they are able to enjoy WDW as soon as we get there.

Just a thought.

 

[csharpwv]

If I were you I would look at the Downtown Disney area hotels (Hilton, Holiday Inn, DoubleTree etc) because they are very close - and they all have a little Disney flair to them (gift shops etc) to easy into a very Disney Vacation!

OR you could split your stay up and stay a few hours outside of Orlando so you could arrive in Orlando well rested instead of making such a long drive without rest.

Our usual trip is around 16-17 hours and while we have made the drive straight through, we have also stopped for the night 1/2 way or a little more than 1/2 way. Since we are usually traveling on the weekends we also usually take that opportunity to find a church on the way We love visiting other churches when we travel (we are Catholic) and with www.masstimes.org it's REALLY easy!

Take your time getting there - WDW isn't going anywhere - and the trip isn't always about the destination - it's about the journey

We have fun driving, however since we are checking in on the Saturday after Thanksgiving - we didn't want to deal with Holiday traffic so we are taking the Auto-Train from the DC area on Friday - and will arrive in Sanford on Saturday morning well rested and ready for an awesome vacation!

 

[edk35]

We stayed at Buena Vista Suites for our late arrival night this summer. It was a 1 bedroom suite with 2 queen beds and a sleeper sofa. It was 89 bucks I think. I booked it with a code from either www.mousesavers.com OR www.mouseforless.com I forget which one. It was not far from DTD..we could see the hot air balloon from our balcony. We got a free breakfast buffet the next day. It was JUST OKAY..but the room was nice.


EDIT: It is actually www.mousesavers.com and it is a PREFERRED HOTEL on their site. Here is the link to others also:

http://www.mousesavers.com/preferred.html

 

[elgerber]

We stayed at Pop last year and arrived very late, after midnight. Check in was super easy, and the lady at the front desk was so nice! She was offering us take out menus, asking if she wanted her to order a pizza for us, etc.

 

[thepuppies]

My husband considers himself a marathon driver so I think his goal is to make it to make it very close to Orlando. How early are you allowed to check in or have your bags held at the boardwalk?

Thanks again for all the good advice!

Obsessive planner

 

[keltic]

I don't know their check in times, but you could just call directly and ask how early you could arrive and have your bags held:

(407) 939-5100

 

[KC78]

I'm doing this for our trip next week. We were suppose to be arriving on monday but we had to switch our flight and leave sunday night instead and we won't be getting into MCO until around 9pm and we still need to get luggage and get our rental car so I decided to book a cheap (but nice) room close to Disney for the one night instead of paying for another 2 bedroom at OKW. I decided on the Buena Vista Suites as well. Booked it tonight and they had a deal for 20% off the best available rate so I got a 1 bedroom suite with 2 queen size beds plus sleeper sofa in livingroom for $75.00!!!!!!!! Includes free breakfast buffet as well! So we can rest...wake up early and fill up on a free buffet before we head over to check in at OKW. Free parking as well, so that was a plus!
I was originally going to book 2 cheap rooms through priceline...but I think this ends up being a MUCH better deal!!!
So, if ya can't tell...I say find something cheap for the one night! You only need it for less than 12 hours!!!!

 

[LilGMom]

We tend to always add a night onto the beginning or end of our trip and usually stay off site to do so. If you aren't going to be using any of the onsite amenities (EMH, free parking, etc.) save the money and stay off site. The DTD hotels will sometimes offer really good rates, just check out their parking and resort fees which can offset the savings. There are also a good number of decent hotels off of Park Ave. just a little outside of DTD.

You can then head to the BW as early as you want to get your KTTW cards, DDP (if purchasing), parking pass, etc. No guarantee that your room will be available early but it never hurts to check.