Driving down

[bless7ings]

Does anyone that drives down do a cheap motel the night before and the last night?

We have a large family, and I am frugal. I have a hard time spending around $350/night when we are not going to arrive till late afternoon. I also have a hard time spending it the last night when we are not going to use it and leave around 6 am the next morning.

Does anyone do it?

 

[sallysue66]

When we arrive late we usually stay at a value the first night. Usually I have reserved it ahead of time with a promo code or aaa discount.

 

[mrsabbott]

We don't drive straight through, but we stop halfway to rest in between. Last time, I got hotels via hotwire.com for the trip there and back and it was uber cheap. We did have a bit of a snafu at one of them, but we rolled with it and it was fine. Both offered free hot breakfasts the next morning, which was an additional savings for us. It helped make the trip less stressful then driving straight through and we arrived at our resort in plenty of time to unpack, grab a bite to eat, maybe even take a swim..

 

[minushka72]

We've done this for when we are arriving at 10 or 11 pm. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Kissimmee. I think it was about $40 for the night. This was back in 2009 though. It was clean and comfortable and cheap. No frills.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We stay in one of the downtown Disney resorts, depending on when you stay, usually under $100 per night, with walking distance to marketplace. We stayed at royal plaza 2years ago, it's now "B" resort. It was $89, and we walked to the marketplace for a late dinner at t-Rex.

 

[tar heel]

When we went to WDW every year, we always stayed off site the last day.We would check out, then park hop, usually until park closing. We would then take Disney transportation back to the resort, get the car and head north. Sometimes we only drove about an hour, but we wanted to get away from the craziness of Orlando.

The next morning, we would stop at the Disney outlet in St. Augustine. That's when I knew the trip was over!

We stayed offsite when we arrive a couple times, too, but usually didn't. We thought it messed up that day too much.

 

[fluffykalie]

we stayed outside of disney when we pulled into orlando really late then drove around and shoped the cheesey tourist shops before going to disney the next day it was really fun. We did the checkout the night before we leave thing too. We were a little board with the places I took my family but we didnt know that we wouldnt like those attractions till we tryed them so still worth it in a learning experince. If theres something you want to try outside of disney i think the first or last day is the best time to do this since you will be driveing outside disney anyway.

 

[OceanAnnie]

We took an extra day off and have stayed off site the first day/night to rest from the long trip. Had a place with a nice pool. Slept in and swam.

When we arrived at WDW we were rested and ready to rumble.

We haven't stayed elsewhere on the last night, but it isn't a bad idea at all. We do pack things up on the last night and hit the parks in the morning though. Nice to be so close. So that probably wouldn't work for us.

 

[dpswift]

What we have done is either drive strait through or stop on the road the night before a few hours away. We arrive midmorning. The thought of getting to Disney checking in and then switching hotels does not appeal to me.

Going back we do the same thing get up, check out go to the parks until midafternoon then start driving home.

For us the drive is about 20 hours.

 

[OceanAnnie]

What we have done is either drive strait through or stop on the road the night before a few hours away. We arrive midmorning. The thought of getting to Disney checking in and then switching hotels does not appeal to me.

Going back we do the same thing get up, check out go to the parks until midafternoon then start driving home.

For us the drive is about 20 hours.

I can see that. We packed small overnight bags for that one night so while we had a little extra to carry, it worked for us because we didn't have to repack our bags.

It's not for everyone, I'm sure.

 

[crazelion]

We stay offsite because we get more tvs and bed for everyone. The bonus is free hot breakfast. Plus we do not have go food court for breakfast because that take least two hours for us. If the hotel has fresh fruit for breakfast we take couple pieces for our 10 hour drive home.

We have stop at every rest stop in the state Georgia and Florida on the way home.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We stay offsite so ALL our nights are cheap - like me

 

[unicornshoes]

It's our first time (me and my SO) going to WDW as adults/together and we are driving from Louisville, KY. About a 13 hour drive. We plan to leave early, check into a cheap, offsite hotel that evening. Rest up, swim, maybe look at some of the touristy stuff on international drive, sleep and eat the free hotel breakfast bright and early and head to Disney!!!

Glad to see this is a common idea!

 

[hearts8701]

We drive from Chicago when you enter a state any rest stop will have coupon books with some coupon deals on hotels Florida welcome center offers fresh orange juice you can also pick up theme park brochures there we usually stay at a cheap hotel in Kissimmee the first night since we arrive in the evening nothing fancy just a pool and clean room works for us in the morning I stop at Walmart for what we need before checking in at Pop we also stop at Cracker Barrel for good early breakfast they open at 6 am once I'm on disney resort property I never leave until we are headed home

 

[mrsabbott]

It's our first time (me and my SO) going to WDW as adults/together and we are driving from Louisville, KY. About a 13 hour drive. We plan to leave early, check into a cheap, offsite hotel that evening. Rest up, swim, maybe look at some of the touristy stuff on international drive, sleep and eat the free hotel breakfast bright and early and head to Disney!!! Glad to see this is a common idea!

Hey! I live in Radcliff.. Grew up outside of Louisville.. Have a great time!

 

[sallysue66]

I can see that. We packed small overnight bags for that one night so while we had a little extra to carry, it worked for us because we didn't have to repack our bags.

That's what we do. We leave the big luggage in the car.

The next morning, depending on which value we stayed at and which DVC resort we are moving to, we get breakfast at either Earl of Sandwich or McD's by the All Stars. We check in at our DVC resort and usually hit the parks. By late afternoon our room is available and we are ready for a break anyway so we can rest up for a late EMH night.