Does anyone stay somewhere "cheap" the night before?

[smvdelv]

I am planning my trip for next August (gotta keep planning - it's half the fun!). We will be flying Delta out of Boston because we all have FF miles. I HATE that Delta no longer has the 7 AM or the 7PM flight out of Boston. The earliest out is 11:30 and the latest back is 3:30, so you lose a half day on both ends. We will be checking in to BCV on August 10 and checking out on the 20th.
Sooooooo...
I was thinking about flying in to MCO the night before we check into BCV (8/9) and then staying either in the airport or somewhere close by the last night (8/20) and flying out the next morning. This way we will have full days on the 8th and 20th.
Has anyone done this? We probably won't rent a car, since there will be 6 - 8 of us and we would need a van.
My question is, what is the cheapest way to do this? I am thinking we should get Tiffany to drive us to the AS the first night, stay there in 2 rooms (hopefully with AP discount), and then "bus" it to BCV the next morning. What would you suggest? What about grocery shopping? Maybe rent a compact at the Dolphin on the 10th for one day to do that?
And what about that last night? Would renting a van at the Dolphin that last day be an option? Then we could stay somewhere cheap that night of the 20th, and drive to the airport the next day, return the car, and be off...
Wait - what about the AS again for the last night? Then just get Tiffany to pick us up there and that would only be one round trip. I'm SOOOOO confused! The problem is that we just came back from 12 nights at BCV (with 2 at CS before that!) so 10 nights is going to seem so short now (spoiled!). And then to arrive at 2:30 the first day and have to leave at 3:30 the last day STINKS!
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rbuzzotta]

I usually use Priceline.com for those type of stays.......

I always put in Downtown Disney area and either 3 or 4 star resort and bid from there. We have gotten the Wyndham, Hilton, Hyatt and Grosvenor..........not bad for $40. per night!!! (we also need 2 rooms).

We always rent a car though so I really can't help there.......

good luck.........

 

[smvdelv]

How about renting a van that first night, and returning it to the Dolphin the next day? I see that National has deals off and on for $45.99 a day for a van. That way I could food shop before returning it on the 10th.
Then, on the 20th, rent a van from the Dolphin, stay at a Priceline hotel, and return it to the airport the next day when we are leaving? Does that sound like a good idea? I'm sorry, you all must be rolling your eyes thinking, "what a nut!!!"

 

[DeDixie]

I would use Tiffany, spending both before and after at All Stars.

We used ASsports for our first night in Aug. We arrived about 7:30 pm after driving. I went over to BCV early the next day to check in and lo and behold our room was ready. We got the room for $66

We would llike to try different resorts for this first night and they enjoy the pools and such the next am before checking into DVC.

 

[DeeP]

I do this all the time and it is a great way to experience all the great WDW resorts and save the very high weekend pts. I always stay at a WDW resort and which one depends on the best rate I can get. I have gotten some excellent rates for the deluxe resorts. Also many times the moderate resorts will only be $20-$30 more per night than a value resort and for that price difference it is worth it, especially if it is only for 1-2 nights. Don't get me wrong when they have the value resorts for $49.00 a night it is a steal but the higher up you go, of course the nicer the resort is.
As far as transportation, I have done it all from a rental car, to a towncar, to Mears, to having a family member pick me up. If I am in the area for business and pleasure I always have a car for at least the business part of the trip. If the trip is solely pleasure and I also want to stop at a store I most times will rent a car for the first and last days of the trip. I use either National or Dollar because they both have pick up and drop offs at Disney or DTD. This way I have transportation from and to the airport and I can go shopping. If it is a short trip and I do not need to go to the store I will get towncar service and if I am trying to go really cheap I will use Mears. I have also done various combinations of all of the above forms of transportation. With the rental car drop offs on property and the towncar and shuttle services providing both round trip or one way transportaton, it is a snap to get to WDW. When you change resorts the easiest way is to let Disney transport your luggage and you go to a park and then hop on the next bus or whatever applicable form of Disney transportation to your new resort. You can also rent a cab but it s really not necessary, Disney makes moving resorts a breeze.
Good luck!

 

[colleen costello]

We usually do this -- I am always trying to add a night or two. I usually plan on a DD resort but wind up at a Disney "bargain" because the rates have been so good. We have added nights at Coronado Springs and often choose Riverside (because it's my favorite Moderate). Haven't done the deluxes yet because we get in fairly late and haven't done the AllStars yet because the rooms are small and after 2 days in the car I am near to killing a kid...

Good luck!

 

[JimC]

We did this one time, due to a difficulty in coordinating air and DVC dates. We came in late, took a free shuttle to an inexpensive airport hotel and had Cartier Towncar pick us up at the hotel the next morning. Would have preferred to be on property but we got in so late that all I wanted to do was hit the bed.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Wresseling with the first night decision as well. Stayed in the Marriott Courtyard in DTD one trip for a couple of days and were appaulled at the lousy condition of the hotel. We ended up leaving early, it was terrible. I've stayed in the Dolphin the first night and loved every minute of it using a special on the DIS board. Seems like you start your vacation a day earlier, it's worth the extra $$. There are specials for $129 now. I think we are heading there. Got scared off of DTD, although $40 does sound appealing.

 

[DeeP]

Got scared off of DTD, although $40 does sound appealing.

For a few dollars more, I would go with one of the specials being offered for a WDW value or moderate resort. Just the ease of transferring from a Disney resort to another Disney resort alone will be worth it, let alone the added benefits of room charging, package delivery etc.

 

[skorpie]

Even if you rent a car for the first day or two, how do you get from the National Car place in WDW back to your hotel? Once you turn it in there, you're stuck at the agency. I'd really be interested in hearing how you get back to your hotel!

 

[Terry S]

There is a National return center at the Dolphin. If your at the BCV or BWV, you can walk back. If you anywhere else you can take the resort bus to the park that is closest to your resort and bus it from there.

 

[DeeP]

Both National and Dollar have shuttle service that will either pick you up or drop you off at a Disney resort depending on whether you are picking up or returning a car. All you do is give them a call the day before and make the arrangements. Actually when you are dropping off a car you really do not need to even call ahead, when you return the car you just tell them you need a ride back to whichever WDW resort you are staying at. To pick up a car you do need to call ahead so a shuttle will come to your WDW resort to take you to your rental car.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Originally posted by DeeP
For a few dollars more, I would go with one of the specials being offered for a WDW value or moderate resort. Just the ease of transferring from a Disney resort to another Disney resort alone will be worth it, let alone the added benefits of room charging, package delivery etc.

Hay DeeP, where is a good place that I can find out about specials at moderate resorts? Especially for next April 9th? Thanks.

 

[DeeP]

Originally posted by CaptainMidnight
Hay DeeP, where is a good place that I can find out about specials at moderate resorts? Especially for next April 9th? Thanks.

It is a little too early for discounts for next April but I would book whichever resort you want now and pay the first night's deposit, this will hold the reservation. Then after the 1st of the year start checking at mousesavers.com or here on the Dis at the resort's board for discounts. Once you find a discount that you can use just call CRO and change the reservation over to the discounted rate. As with most things, Disney makes this very easy for their guests.
Good luck!

 

[tjkraz]

Last January we drove down from Ohio. We knew we would be arriving at some point on Saturday, but it could have been anywhere from 6pm to midnight. Not wanting to rent additional points for a Saturday night stay, we got a room at the nearby Sierra Suites for about $60. Room had two full beds, fold out couch, full kitchen and included a free continental breakfast in the am.

IMO, it was a great deal for what we wanted to accomplish. We ended up arriving about 8pm. Went to Downtown Disney for about an hour just to get in the spirit. Then got a full night's sleep before moving over to OKW (which had our room ready at 10am, I should add), and then spending the day at MGM.

 

[mmmcq]

I understand the predicament. We use our FF miles for other vacations and buy tix to WDW from Providence on Southwest just because they have the very early morning flight into MCO and a late day flight out....so we feel like we get an extra day with our 5 night stay.

Next April we have 7 nights booked at BWV in a 2BR and have an extra three days to play with. It turns out my girls' schools both have teacher's conferences the week after Easter so they go back to school the Mon and Tues and then they have 1.5 weeks off. So we're thinking of going down 3 days before our WDW reservations and staying offsite at Sea World or Universal. Only I looked availability and the rates at Universal and said "forget it".

I may try to see what AP rate I can get onsite elsewhere at WDW or wait for a special. In the meantime, I booked a room at the Marriott at Sea World for the points.

 

[Lesley]

This is the second time we've used priceline for an arrival night stay. In 2000 we stayed at the Wyndham Palace at DTD for $40 and it was wonderful. In Oct. we'll be staying at the Best Western at DTD for $35.

If you don't have a car, I guess it would be tempting to go to the All Stars for the luggage transfer and all.....but I really don't think they are worth what you'll pay for them. If you'd stay at a DTD hotel it would be very inexpensive to send someone to your hotel with your bags in a taxi and have the rest of the party take the bus from DTD.

 

[TerriBelle]

I have never used Priceline - How far in advanced can you try and get a room? If you need 2 can you get adjoining rooms?

We have this same problem in January. Southwest does have early flights out of BWI but we have found that our 3 kids prefer to get there late and start fresh first thing the next day. When we took an early flight a few years ago, my dd fell asleep as soon as we walked in to MK!

On our last trip we arrived late Sat and spent the night at PO. This worked great for us. THe CMs at PO were wonderful. They even drove our stuff and us over to the BCV in a van. In Jan we actually need 2 nights because our DVC reservation starts on Sunday and we are planning to arrive Friday. (If Southwest ever post their flights past 1/16) Has anyone gotten any good deals for Jan. yet? We would love to try the AKL.

 

[MM1102]

We've flown in late to MCO and stayed at the on-site Hyatt (on points) and then Town Car'd to the resort in the a.m. Painless *if* you have the points.