cheap hotel near WDW?

[punkin413]

we're arriving at WDW on 5/6 and staying inside the resort. we are driving down from atlanta, georgia. i'm thinking we may leave on 5/5 in the afternoon and try to get a cheap hotel room somewhere within 30 miles of WDW that night, then get up, drive to our WDW hotel, check in and head to MGM for the day. does anyone know of a decent cheap hotel in that area? i'm talking *cheap*, but not cockroach-crawling, charge-by-the-hour cheap. it would need to be a place that's not too close to orlando or WDW so that we wouldn't have to make reservations, but just be able to get a room when we arrive late that night. maybe like 30-45 minutes from WDW (maybe on the florida turnpike or I-75 somewhere south of gainesville??). thanks in advance for your suggestions!

 

[punkin413]

bump

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Stay at one of the Pops or All Stars for the 1 night. Then you just move the next day. Have fun!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Stay at one of the Pops or All Stars for the 1 night. Then you just move the next day. Have fun!

 

[punkin413]

Stay at one of the Pops or All Stars for the 1 night. Then you just move the next day. Have fun!

when i said cheap, i meant cheaper than ANY of the disney hotels! i guess people have different versions of cheap! i was thinking around $50-$60per night.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

It is worth it to me to pay an extra $10-20 to stay on site the first night as many of the places offsite are dirty and nasty (from my experience) in a cheaper price range.

It is also worth it to me so that we can unpack and be ready to go early the next morning without a lot of hustle and bustle.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

Slightly Goofy

 

[punkin413]

i don't need to stay on site the first night. we're going to MGM our first day (sunday) and i definitely don't think it will take an entire day to do MGM. and seeing as we want to see fantasmic, we're not aiming to get to MGM until after lunch. we don't want to leave our house until late saturday afternoon. we live about 30 minutes north of atlanta. i'm just guessing that we'll be somewhere around I-75 and the florida turnpike around the time we want to stop driving and go to bed. so i'm looking for a place that's north of orlando, maybe on I-75 or the florida turnpike, so we can get up around 9-ish, drive an hour and then check in at our WDW hotel. we don't have kids, so it doesn't take us as long to get things done as it would a family of 5, for example. thanks for the suggestions about staying on site that night, though. i'm just trying to think of ways to save every penny i can.

 

[ducklite]

Try the Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, or should be opened by then Farifield Inn in Clermont. They are all pretty close to the Turnpike and should be around your price range. Travel time from any of them to WDW is about 30 minutes.

Anne

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

when i said cheap, i meant cheaper than ANY of the disney hotels! i guess people have different versions of cheap! i was thinking around $50-$60per night.

I wouldn't risk anything cheaper. Plus they will move your luggage for you in the morning and you won't have to waste your time....

 

[spiceycat]

you are little late - Comfort Inn LBV had a special that ended on the 9th.

for just one night I would go with priceline.

at least 3 stars.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

For about $70/night I'd recommend the Comfort Suites Maingate East in Kissimmee. It's a bit more than you were looking to spend but the rooms are larger and cleaner than a Dis moderate resort. Plus you get a free continental breakfast which would save you a few $$ in the morning. You're also less than 10 mins from any of the WDW parks.

 

[5mins2disney]

Well she wanted a place 30-45 mins north of WDW...so check priceline for a 3 star in the Gainesville area...hotels should be cheaper a bit farther north anyhow and away from the Orlando area.

I've had very good luck using priceline.com in other cities, we get a 4/5 star hotel room in downtown Chicago at times for $100/night if we want to go spend an evening out, dine/drink and not drive home! (It's a whole lot funner, safer, and less expensive than getting a DWI!)

 

[punkin413]

Well she wanted a place 30-45 mins north of WDW...so check priceline for a 3 star in the Gainesville area...hotels should be cheaper a bit farther north anyhow and away from the Orlando area.

wow....is gainesville really only 45 minutes from WDW? it looks like it's further away on a map!

 

[ducklite]

Well she wanted a place 30-45 mins north of WDW...so check priceline for a 3 star in the Gainesville area...hotels should be cheaper a bit farther north anyhow and away from the Orlando area.

I've had very good luck using priceline.com in other cities, we get a 4/5 star hotel room in downtown Chicago at times for $100/night if we want to go spend an evening out, dine/drink and not drive home! (It's a whole lot funner, safer, and less expensive than getting a DWI!)

Gainesville is a full 90 minutes to WDW. And if there is any type of event involving the college that weekend, hotel rooms will already be booked, and what's left will be expensive. Maybe you meant Ocala?

Anne

Anne

 

[spiceycat]

Ocala is closer to an hour - okay with the new short cut might be 45 minutes.

I would go with priceline I changed my mind start with 2.5 stars and try bidding $40.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

Maybe about 8 years ago we stayed at a very nice
"El-Cheapo" place in Kissimmee. We wanted to stay at a cheap place while we did 2 days at Universal Park, then we moved on to a Disney place. We had gotten some sort of a free coupon booklet in the mail ( by my request ) using one of these travel ads in the Sunday paper. At the time, the special was only $30.00 per night. I really liked the place, and the pool was great. I will give you the address and phone, but please realize that my info is about 8 years old.

Econo Lodge - Maingate East
4311 West Irlo Bronson Drive
Kissimmee, Fl 34746
( 407 ) 396 - 7100