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

[kiford]

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!

It is a nice hotel and it's great if you come in late. Takes only a few minutes to walk there from the arrivals terminal and check in, especially if you do online check in. We're considering this for our next next trip as we may come in late the night before to maximize our time since we're just planning to do an extra long weekend. But flights are not yet posted for those dates so we're not sure about whether to stay at WDW an extra night or just stay at MCO Hyatt. I like that it's an option plus I think the restaurant is open later than most at WDW resorts.

 

[reluctantredhead]

I just wanted to pop on to this thread to thank the OP and several others who posted about flying in the night before and staying at the MCO hotel. Our trip isn't until December either, and I hadn't looked for flights yet because I assumed everything would be a fortune this far out...we live near a very small regional airport, and last year Christmas flights were $900+ each per person no matter when I checked. Well, thanks to this thread I checked prices, and I found an almost-unbelievable-for-our-area-at-Christmastime $487 PP round trip! The only catch was leaving the evening before our WL reservation starts...but since the flight would get in at 10:45 pm anyway, it made perfect sense to stay at the MCO Hyatt that night, sleep in, check in to the WL a little early (we're staying CL so we'll at least have use of the lounge and can leave our bags with bell services) and then hop over to MK for MVMCP that night! I think it actually even works out better because weather at that time of year is always iffy and can cause flight cancellations, so leaving the night before we need to get there will give us more options if our flight does get cancelled due to weather.

I am thrilled with the fare we got and the way this all worked out. Thanks so much for starting this discussion, OP! I hope your fares and trip work out as well as ours.

 

[Tk0021]

I just wanted to pop on to this thread to thank the OP and several others who posted about flying in the night before and staying at the MCO hotel. Our trip isn't until December either, and I hadn't looked for flights yet because I assumed everything would be a fortune this far out...we live near a very small regional airport, and last year Christmas flights were $900+ each per person no matter when I checked. Well, thanks to this thread I checked prices, and I found an almost-unbelievable-for-our-area-at-Christmastime $487 PP round trip! The only catch was leaving the evening before our WL reservation starts...but since the flight would get in at 10:45 pm anyway, it made perfect sense to stay at the MCO Hyatt that night, sleep in, check in to the WL a little early (we're staying CL so we'll at least have use of the lounge and can leave our bags with bell services) and then hop over to MK for MVMCP that night! I think it actually even works out better because weather at that time of year is always iffy and can cause flight cancellations, so leaving the night before we need to get there will give us more options if our flight does get cancelled due to weather.

I am thrilled with the fare we got and the way this all worked out. Thanks so much for starting this discussion, OP! I hope your fares and trip work out as well as ours.

I am glad this topic helped someone other than me! This is the whole reason I come on the forums. To be helped or help someone else.

 

[reluctantredhead]

I am glad this topic helped someone other than me! This is the whole reason I come on the forums. To be helped or helpe someone else.

Thank you so much -- that is so kind of you! And I agree with you...I initially came (for the first time years ago) because I had so much to learn...there are so many DISers who make frequent trips and know all the ins and outs! But every so often I feel like i actually have some knowledge to contribute and always make an effort to do that...and it always feels good to be able to give something back.

 

[GPC0321]

So glad to see other mentioning the MCO Hyatt. We stayed there last December ahead of our 3-night stay at VGF, and we could not have been more pleased. I'm still amazed at how I was able to book the room, check in online, get to the hotel and get room card-keys at an automatic dispenser thing, and check out the next morning without ever talking to a human being. We got up early, headed down to Magical Express, and were at our resort by a little after 9:00am and at Epcot shortly after.

I have and keep a Chase Hyatt credit card just so I can have a "free" (actually $75, which is the annual fee on the card) night at the MCO Hyatt every year for the Disney trip. It's just so super easy.

 

[camnhan]

We have run into the same problem for our first ever thanksgiving week trip...we are actually driving 4 hrs to STL to meet up with our DD who will be at MSU. Flying into Atlanta. Meeting our DS in Atlanta who will have flown from Milwaukee...rent our car, drive about an hour (our flight gets in around 10ish)....stay in a hotel for the night, finish drive to Bonnet Creek in the morning. Coming home we do the same thing all over again! Crazy travel but it saved us over 2 grand versus flying into MCO and back.... We are still looking for direct flights for my parents who are coming in a couple days later. We have always flown SWA and they have been amazing.....we will be on Delta on the way home so fingers crossed we have a good flight.

 

[Tk0021]

Over the weekend on Saturday we purchased our flights to Orlando. We were able to get a southwest flight on Thursday evening for $96. This was way less expensive than flying out Friday morning. We saved money even staying an extra night in a hotel. The southwest customer service told me they had a sale on some flights that day.