First time trip January 2018

[ministrychick77]

So I'm planning a 1 day trip to MK for my BF & I the day before we go on a Disney cruise. The cruise is on Jan 5th, so I'm looking to get a hotel for the nights of the 3rd & 4th, checking out on the 5th to head to Port Canaveral. Neither of us have been out there before, so I don't know what to look for. It's just 2 adults. I'd like to get something near the MK (I've read a bit about the time it takes to get from hotels to the park) or at least something with rather quick transportation. I'd rather not spend an arm & a leg, but I don't wanna be so far away from the park that it takes us 2 hours to get there. (I'm an open to being kicked out of the park girl)

What hotels would you recommend? We don't really need anything fancy, we have no special requirements, but I do wanna stay in a Disney hotel cause I haven't yet.
Thanks!!

 

[Harambe]

None of the values are close to being 2 hours away from the parks!! Bus transportation is fine from all of them, especially if you are planning to going first thing in the morning.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Your trip overlaps the marathon (which is January 3-7). The three weekend days will be under the rate tier "Marathon," so I think you'll avoid that.

So it comes down to what your budget is. What is an arm and a leg to you? As park warriors, I wouldn't advise paying a lot to be near the park, or for transportation access, or for resort amenities, to be honest.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Your cheapest options in the MK area will be Wilderness Lodge and the garden wing of the Contemporary. Wilderness Lodge is beautiful and will offer you boat transportation to MK. Contemporary is the only resort in all of WDW from which you can walk to MK, so certainly the most convenient in terms of transportation to that park.

If you really aren't going to spend time at the resort, however, you may not want to spend the money to stay right in the MK area. In fact, if you are going rope drop until close and only going to MK, I really wouldn't worry about transportation that much. I would just get to the bus stop about 90 minutes before the park opens and simply take the bus back at the end of the night. It won't take you 2 hours to or from any WDW resort to MK. If you choose a value or mod, you could also just take uber from your chosen resort to Grand Floridian in the morning (and then take the monorail) or to the entrance of Contemporary and walk from there.

 

[TIS Grandma]

Your trip overlaps the marathon (which is January 3-7). The three weekend days will be under the rate tier "Marathon," so I think you'll avoid that.

So it comes down to what your budget is. What is an arm and a leg to you? As park warriors, I wouldn't advise paying a lot to be near the park, or for transportation access, or for resort amenities, to be honest.

Thanks for the Marathon info! We're also planning a Jan 2018 trip and had planned to arrive Jan 6. We have some flexibility and could probably plan on Jan 8 instead.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thanks for the Marathon info! We're also planning a Jan 2018 trip and had planned to arrive Jan 6. We have some flexibility and could probably plan on Jan 8 instead.

I would suggest it. The Marathon rate tier is a little crazy.

 

[ministrychick77]

Thanks everyone! I was originally looking at the value resorts, but then the transportation time made me second guess myself. So transportation isn't that bad in the morning? At night, I don't really care. I wanna stay for the Kiss Goodnight. We're spending the day at MK. We only have time for one park, so that's the one I wanna check out. Might go check out Disney Springs the night before or the day after till we go to Port Canaveral.

Also, when would I be able to buy a vacation package through the website? It looks like sometime in July, but I don't know...