First night..stay value or offsite?

[DVCMikey]

We are arriving one day before we start our DVC stay at WDW. We are flying down the day before because we are off work and because the airfare was cheaper.

We can either take magical express and check into a value for the night.

or

I was thinking we could rent a car, stay offsite, do some foodshopping for our dvc stay and then bring the car back and take magical express back.

It looks like it would cost about $50 more to rent the car and stay offsite as the value resorts are more expensive than staying at a nice place offsite.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Rent a car from Alamo or National and stay off site. Go shopping for supplies and enjoy the Florida sun by the pool. The next AM, drive to your DVC resort with your luggage and unload. Then, return the car at the WDW-CCC or Dolphin.

 

[Chuck S]

It seems a waste to have the car, grocery shop, then haul all the stuff back to the airport to take ME.

I'd either pay a little more and stay offsite the first noght with an Alamo or National car rental that I could return on Disney property, do your shopping, check-in at DVC, then return it to the car care center near the MK.

Or, I would just book the value and use ME and let thembell services mess with all the luggage and transfers to the DVC resort. Maybe still rent a car for the day if you need groceries.

 

[robinb]

It seems a waste to have the car, grocery shop, then haul all the stuff back to the airport to take ME.

I'd either pay a little more and stay offsite the first noght with an Alamo or National car rental that I could return on Disney property, do your shopping, check-in at DVC, then return it to the car care center near the MK.

Yup. There would be no way I would return the car to the airport and take ME. I would just drop the car off near WDW. If you go here: http://www.carrentalsavers.com/index.html you can look at how much it would be to book one way from MCO to somewhere near Lake Buena Vista, FL. All the major car companies have locations near WDW so you are not limited to Alamo/National. Many places will even drop you back off at your resort.

 

[DVCMikey]

It seems a waste to have the car, grocery shop, then haul all the stuff back to the airport to take ME.

I'd either pay a little more and stay offsite the first noght with an Alamo or National car rental that I could return on Disney property, do your shopping, check-in at DVC, then return it to the car care center near the MK.

Or, I would just book the value and use ME and let thembell services mess with all the luggage and transfers to the DVC resort. Maybe still rent a car for the day if you need groceries.

I would def. still check in before we brought the rental back so we don't have to lug anything. just thinking if i got a cheaper rate with a company other than alamo/national. I could drop it off and take ME back to the resort.

 

[robinb]

I would def. still check in before we brought the rental back so we don't have to lug anything. just thinking if i got a cheaper rate with a company other than alamo/national. I could drop it off and take ME back to the resort.

It's kinda a waste of time to drive all the way back to the airport and then take ME back. My guess is that you would spend at least an hour and a half doing that. The small amount extra to drop off nearby is really worth it!

 

[Candace]

We are arriving one day before we start our DVC stay at WDW. We are flying down the day before because we are off work and because the airfare was cheaper.

We can either take magical express and check into a value for the night.

or

I was thinking we could rent a car, stay offsite, do some foodshopping for our dvc stay and then bring the car back and take magical express back.

It looks like it would cost about $50 more to rent the car and stay offsite as the value resorts are more expensive than staying at a nice place offsite.

I would take ME when you fly in, stay in a Value resort and let Disney move your luggage the next day to your DVC resort. Order groceries from Garden Grocer or Wegoshop, and have them delivered to the DVC resort. Skip the rental car and shopping trip, unless you need it later in the trip.

 

[Granny]

or

I was thinking we could rent a car, stay offsite, do some foodshopping for our dvc stay and then bring the car back and take magical express back.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you could even use ME the day after your flight arrives. I'm not an ME expert, but since it is tied to your incoming flight, I wouldn't think this would work. Your ME pass would have the wrong date on it.

 

[DVCMikey]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you could even use ME the day after your flight arrives. I'm not an ME expert, but since it is tied to your incoming flight, I wouldn't think this would work. Your ME pass would have the wrong date on it.

Well DVC thinks I am arriving Saturday and not friday. So they would have the ME for me on Saturday

 

[lakohls]

We are doing the same thing. Week long DVD stay 11/5 arrival, but flights are much cheaper to come down 11/4 instead. And with 6 of us it adds up fast. We ended up about $20 off break-even by flying on 11/4 and booking adjoining regular rooms at value resort. So we'll take ME to value and get another full day Saturday. Guest services will move our luggage etc to AK. and garden grocer is delivering supplies as well Saturday.

 

[DVCMikey]

We are doing the same thing. Week long DVD stay 11/5 arrival, but flights are much cheaper to come down 11/4 instead. And with 6 of us it adds up fast. We ended up about $20 off break-even by flying on 11/4 and booking adjoining regular rooms at value resort. So we'll take ME to value and get another full day Saturday. Guest services will move our luggage etc to AK. and garden grocer is delivering supplies as well Saturday.

its like the same as us, except one week earlier we will be there.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I would take ME when you fly in, stay in a Value resort and let Disney move your luggage the next day to your DVC resort. Order groceries from Garden Grocer or Wegoshop, and have them delivered to the DVC resort. Skip the rental car and shopping trip, unless you need it later in the trip.

Ditto! We've done this a few times, and it works out great. We have Garden Grocer deliver our groceries the next day to our resort, have Dis move our luggage, and we get to take full advantage of our first day there by getting up and going to a park or water park. For us, we've found that we actually save money or break even, because we use ME and don't rent a car.

 

[burnsoc]

If you do rent from national/alamo and return it to the car care center they shuttle you back to your resort. I did it in January and from the time I left AKV till I returned was 45 minutes. Personally I would go offsite, somewhere near DTD and rent the car. I've always gotten a room on priceline for under $100 at a 3 star hotel. While I've used GG and was satisfied with the service, I still prefer to do my own grocery shopping.

 

[GoofItUp]

It depends on how you like to spend your vacation time. I do not want to be grocery shopping or messing with rental cars if I don't have to. Once I get to Florida, I want to VACATION. So, my vote...stay at the value, let them deal with your luggage transfers the next day, and use Gardner Grocer for your groceries.

 

[TosaTrio]

I would not rent a car from the airport. Way too much time to return. If you only want the car for groceries, I would use GG. If you want it to do something else, take ME and then rent a car from either the car center or one of the DD hotels/Dolphin.

Even renting from the Disney area will take a couple of hours when you consider pick up and return.

 

[JWG]

We love staying at Marriott Village just off property. Either the Fairfield or the Springhill. For short stays we like the Fairfield, if we're staying 3+ days we like the Springhill.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I have done Pop the night before our trip. It was great just starting out on property, even if it was 10p.m. I would recommend getting a taxi to take you and luggage to AKV if you have something expensive like DH's camera equipment. He uses several lens, tripod--you get the picture. Hwas a bit uncomfortable when Disney transfered our luggage and his camera equip was no where to be found for about 45 minutes.

If it is simple luggage then leave the transfer to Disney and the shopping to GG or We-Go...or even odering from the resort itself. A little more expensive but I like the convienence and for me that is worth the extra cost.

 

[amylock]

We had the same situation and thought about staying at Swan/Dolphin the first night. We changed to on-site (BWI) bc we are thinking of getting married there. We had a car service which was $109 round-trip. They will make a grocery stop on the way to the resort. I am sure they will do one-way with grocery stops.

We had a duffel we put the groceries in and 2 cases of water. Everything was transferred perfectly. We bought milk at SSR for the cereal.

Personally, I would not rent a car and go through the hassle of that. We thought about ME on the way back, but the car service is just so much more convenient! ME is a great service IMO though.

 

[DisneyMotherOf2]

I would stay onsite at a Value resort. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[DVCMikey]

we booked pop the first night. got a pretty good rate too. looking forward to it!