Flights not working out..... One night stay

[Tk0021]

We are planning an early December trip. I just looked at Southwest and the flight to Orlando almost doubled over night. For a family of four that is a lot of money, so it would be cheaper for us to fly out the night before 7:00 pm. It does not appear that there are any rooms at pop century for that one night. Has any one stayed one night at one hotel and moved to another for the rest of their trip? Is it a hassle?

Also, this will not only save us money it will get us a full day at the park the next day instead of getting there around noon. I know the price will more than likely change but I am trying to plan as if it won’t.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Are you looking under packages or just room only? It makes a difference! I would even call and and ask if you don't see anything but stress to them its a room only so your not paying an extra park ticket day or dining. We've done the same as you, but only because the airline moved our early morning flight to a mid-morning and we would lose most of the day in travel so we opted to come in night before, room only, and get a full nights rest and wake up in the bubble

If there's not a room, not a hassle at all. You wake up, check out, call Uber to the new resort (so you can take your luggage with you) or call bell services at checked out resort, they'll arrange to transfer it, and you go about your day.

 

[Tk0021]

Are you looking under packages or just room only? It makes a difference! I would even call and and ask if you don't see anything but stress to them its a room only so your not paying an extra park ticket day or dining. We've done the same as you, but only because the airline moved our early morning flight to a mid-morning and we would lose most of the day in travel so we opted to come in night before, room only, and get a full nights rest and wake up in the bubble

Thanks for the tip. I will call tonight. Did you stay the one night in the same resort or was it a different resort? I am assuming same resort would not be a big issue.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Thanks for the tip. I will call tonight. Did you stay the one night in the same resort or was it a different resort? I am assuming same resort would not be a big issue.

Last year, same resort different room category. This year, same resort/same room category. But when I looked online there was nothing to be found - a call to Disney they found one. We almost stayed at ASSport and next day would've transferred to Polynesian as explained above.

 

[floridadream]

We just ran into the same situation for August. We decided to fly in the night before and stay at the Hyatt Regency at MCO. It looks pretty nice and the reviews are good. We'll get up early the next morning and hop on Magical Express to our hotel!

 

[lborne]

We've done this when we have to fly out of an airport early or get into a city late (get a room at or near the airport) and what we do is pack one bag with everything we need for the one night. Then we don't have to open the main suitcase that night. Not too much of a hassle and actually, can have some benefits. The negative I see is having to check out of the room at 10 or 11 but not being able to check into the next one until 3 or 4. But you can go directly to the resort and they will hold your bags while you have lunch and explore the resort.

 

[mom2travel]

My DS did this the last time he & his GF met us there. They were supposed to come in the day after us, but classes were cancelled so they came a night early. He called and got a room for a night at an AS, then the next morning drove over to CSR where we were all staying. Pretty easy

 

[momto3pirates]

We stayed at the Hyatt at MCO. The difference in flight prices saved us more than the cost of the hotel. It was really nice. We got up the next morning and jumped on ME.

 

[disny_luvr]

I’m going to echo others and recommend the MCO Hyatt. We’ve stayed there twice before Disney cruises and it is nice. You can grab your bags when you land before checking in and then utilize ME in the morning. I’d definitely consider it.

 

[Tk0021]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and experiences. I ended up booking at all star sports for the one night. They didn’t have anything available at pop century. ( which is where we are staying) I looked into the Hyatt at the airport and it was more expensive than the Disney hotel so we went with Disney.

 

[k5xs]

A lot of you are far more patient than we are.

We couldn't sleep at an MCO hotel (no, literally, we.could.not.sleep) knowing we could have been on property anywhere, no matter for how short of a time.

 

[Moliphino]

We had the same problem for our December trip last year. We stayed at ASMo one night before our week at CSR. It was super easy, since the resorts will move all your luggage for you. We dropped it off at luggage services in the morning then hopped on a park bus.

 

[Tk0021]

We had the same problem for our December trip last year. We stayed at ASMo one night before our week at CSR. It was super easy, since the resorts will move all your luggage for you. We dropped it off at luggage services in the morning then hopped on a park bus.

Thanks, this information helps. I read a couple different places where it is said this would happen,but it’s good to hear it from someone who experienced it.

 

[EdmondD]

I just looked at Southwest and the flight to Orlando almost doubled over night.

As a frequent SW flier, I can tell you that you're way jumping the gun on fares. The best time for fares on SW is about 45 - 50 days out, but they are changing all the time. It's almost a certainty that what you saw double will come back down to what you previously saw and probably even lower. This site tends to be handy to help you predict: http://www.airhint.com/southwest

I check the SW site maniacally (once an hour) starting at about 70 days prior to our trip. You'll see fares fluctuate day-to-day. Sometime a $150 fare will drop to $100 the next morning. Protip - book each person separately and book one-way fares, not roundtrips. Sometimes a really low fare will pop up but there is only one ticket at that price at that time. Trying to book four at once might not work, but you might be able to get one or two family members in at that fare.

Also note that with its no-change-fee policy, even after you book you should keep looking. On our recent trip I had booked a flight for something like $80 one way and at 6am that fare had changed to $36. $36!! Like a 19-stinking-98 $36 airfare! I exchanged tickets and "pocketed" the difference as credit for a future flight. Now, that doesn't help in the near-term (the cost of the December vacation), but if you have SW flights planned in the next six months, you can use that credit toward those flights.

Now my final suggestion would be to ignore everything I said and use the fare hike you just saw as an excuse to get an extra day at the park.

 

[gharter]

If you stay at 2 different onsite resorts, moving is very simple.
When you are ready to check out, call bell services and they will get your luggage, tag it and take it to your next resort.
It may be mid afternoon befor eit is there, so be sure to have whatever you need out of your luggage.
Good luck

 

[Cloe Colton]

Buy the cheaper flight the night before, you can change flights with $0 fees through SW so if the flight the next day comes available you can switch and if not have a room booked for that night and you'll get the full extra day! I always try to fly in the night before now, so much better!

 

[Texans_loyal]

As a frequent SW flier, I can tell you that you're way jumping the gun on fares. The best time for fares on SW is about 45 - 50 days out, but they are changing all the time. It's almost a certainty that what you saw double will come back down to what you previously saw and probably even lower. This site tends to be handy to help you predict: http://www.airhint.com/southwest

I check the SW site maniacally (once an hour) starting at about 70 days prior to our trip. You'll see fares fluctuate day-to-day. Sometime a $150 fare will drop to $100 the next morning. Protip - book each person separately and book one-way fares, not roundtrips. Sometimes a really low fare will pop up but there is only one ticket at that price at that time. Trying to book four at once might not work, but you might be able to get one or two family members in at that fare.

Also note that with its no-change-fee policy, even after you book you should keep looking. On our recent trip I had booked a flight for something like $80 one way and at 6am that fare had changed to $36. $36!! Like a 19-stinking-98 $36 airfare! I exchanged tickets and "pocketed" the difference as credit for a future flight. Now, that doesn't help in the near-term (the cost of the December vacation), but if you have SW flights planned in the next six months, you can use that credit toward those flights.

Now my final suggestion would be to ignore everything I said and use the fare hike you just saw as an excuse to get an extra day at the park.

This is everything, you hit the nail right on the head!
I thought I was crazy checking flight daily! Have you ever seen flights go down within hours?

 

[Tk0021]

As a frequent SW flier, I can tell you that you're way jumping the gun on fares. The best time for fares on SW is about 45 - 50 days out, but they are changing all the time. It's almost a certainty that what you saw double will come back down to what you previously saw and probably even lower. This site tends to be handy to help you predict: http://www.airhint.com/southwest

I check the SW site maniacally (once an hour) starting at about 70 days prior to our trip. You'll see fares fluctuate day-to-day. Sometime a $150 fare will drop to $100 the next morning. Protip - book each person separately and book one-way fares, not roundtrips. Sometimes a really low fare will pop up but there is only one ticket at that price at that time. Trying to book four at once might not work, but you might be able to get one or two family members in at that fare.

Also note that with its no-change-fee policy, even after you book you should keep looking. On our recent trip I had booked a flight for something like $80 one way and at 6am that fare had changed to $36. $36!! Like a 19-stinking-98 $36 airfare! I exchanged tickets and "pocketed" the difference as credit for a future flight. Now, that doesn't help in the near-term (the cost of the December vacation), but if you have SW flights planned in the next six months, you can use that credit toward those flights.

Now my final suggestion would be to ignore everything I said and use the fare hike you just saw as an excuse to get an extra day at the park.

Thanks so much for all the information. Even if I can catch the price when it drops I will more than likely take your final advice and stay the extra day.

 

[EdmondD]

This is everything, you hit the nail right on the head!
I thought I was crazy checking flight daily! Have you ever seen flights go down within hours?

Well, when you say go down within hours, what do you mean? I don't think I've ever seen it drop twice in the same day. Nor even on consecutive days. But I have seen it drop, go up, and drop again in like, 10 days. Vigilance is a must!

 

[katmatry]

We like to fly in the night before and stay at a Disney Springs hotel and go to Disney Springs for the evening. We have a car service pick us up at the airport in the evening and in the morning we Uber to our resort.