Have to come in a night early - WWYD? Please help!

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

Hello all! I'm hoping someone can give me some info or has a good suggestion or two for me. Due to bit of a nightmare with United/Continental airlines, we've found ourselves with new flights and in order to get a reasonable price, we're coming into Orlando a night early in October. We're staying at Kidani Village, and I'd love to just get a studio for the night (our plane doesn't land until 11pm - we seriously just need a place to sleep for the night). Sadly, I'm out of points, and can't even borrow from next use year as those points are already tied up in our cruise.

My initial thought was to use David's service and just rent a night, but dvcrequest doesn't take requests for single night reservations.

If I'm undestanding our rules correctly, I can't use the one time purchase option through DVC directly because I'm less than 7 months out? So I can't just "rent" the points from DVC.

I've never rented from an individual before, but from what I'm seeing on the rent/trade boards, everyone seems to be looking to rent out far more than the dozen points I'd need for my reservation. I'd really rather just stay at AKL on the 11th for the ease of switching to our 2br villa on the 12th, but paying rack rate for a room is just more than I want to spend to sleep for 6-8 hours. We could just get a room at a value or moderate resort, but it just seems like so much less hassle to just stay at AKL. Has anyone ever had success renting enough points for just one night before?

If it helps, we are just 3 adults for the first night, so sharing a studio or double room isn't an issue. We will not have a car the first night, so staying on Disney property and utilizing their transportation is prefereable.

What would you do?

 

[disneydenisel]

I thought that you could "rent" points from MS at 7 months or less out, so you might have a chance there. Call MS in the morning and ask . Supposedly we are allowed to buy those points at $15/pt to complete a reservation. Trying to remember what the limit is...24? 14? It's late or otherwise my brain might be working better . Good luck!

 

[kikiq]

We've been that position before with Continental changing my DH's flights. We stayed at the hotel at the airport. Got up the next morning and took the originally scheduled ME to the resort. We were able to get a decent price that included breakfast. It's an option.

 

[AnnaS]

I would first call MS to see if you can get the night on points and rent them through MS. If not,

I would stay at the airport hotel for the night, pay cash and stay at one of the value resorts or pay cash and added to your stay at Kidani.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide and enjoy

 

[donald...really]

We've arrived late and did the "stay at the airport" thing before. Since the hotel is IN the airport, it is very convenient.

 

[ree123]

No brainer-stay at MCO Hyatt for the night, wake up, and take ME in the am. Good discounts which may work(AAA, gov, etc) and it great with lots of options for breakfast. Walk downstairs and catch the Mickey Bus and keep your original DVC....Rack rate for a night just to rest your head at a DVC property would be a waste of $$$$$

 

[Candy Orlando]

I have purchased points from MS for $15 a point to complete a reservation. You can purchase up to 24 points.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I have purchased points from MS for $15 a point to complete a reservation. You can purchase up to 24 points.

That's great!

 

[DebbieB]

I would stay at the airport, get a good nights sleep and then head to WDW in the morning.

 

[Disneypubgal]

We have stayed at the Orlando hyatt x2 with the $7.00 upgrade to a suite (if available)... don't waste the money on points and you can get to bed earlier and have a fresh start in the am... you can also give you bags to bell hop and they will get them to ME express for you!! Good Luck!

 

[goofydad99]

We are in the same dilemna. I am considering this, but I don't want to feel like I am cheating the ME system. Thoughts?

Sorry for the hijack OP.

 

[Disneypubgal]

We are in the same dilemna. I am considering this, but I don't want to feel like I am cheating the ME system. Thoughts?

Sorry for the hijack OP.

I don't think you are cheating the ME system....

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

I called Member Services this morning - apparently I was misunderstanding the rules of the one-time use points - I was able to add the 12 points I needed to grab a studio at AKL-Kidani, the same resort we are checking into the next day. She has linked the reservations, and said all I need to do when we wake up in the morning, is go down to the front desk and let them know we're ready to move, and they will take care of moving our stuff to our new room for us, and we can go enjoy our trip from there.

I do genuinely appreciate all of the suggestions and ideas – we did look at the airport Hyatt but even the best rates we could find there were still about $25 more than what it cost us to just buy the one time use points. I also like knowing that I have full control of my reservation (vs. renting) because the points are tied to MY DVC membership, and it’s less moving around. I like the ME ride to the hotel – it’s a good way to decompress from the airport/flight stress and then we get to arrive “home” and ready to start our trip. Already being at the resort we’re going to spend the rest of the trip at just sounds a lot easier and low hassle – I love that we can get up in the morning, get dressed and after a phone call to bell services and a trip to the front desk, we can walk out the door and head to a park and actually start our vacation!

And, the cost was less than getting a Moderate resort at rack rate (discounts aren’t out yet), particularly with 3 adults, plus we’ll have more space. Mostly though, the convenience of already being “home” the night we get to Orlando is definitely worth it! Especially since we’re paying less than our other 2 top options!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm glad it worked out for you at a reasonable cost!

 

[kikiq]

We are in the same dilemna. I am considering this, but I don't want to feel like I am cheating the ME system. Thoughts?

Sorry for the hijack OP.

We've actually had to do this two times. Once because the airlines changed the flights last minute and once because we changed flights last minute. We fly in from the west coast, so we usually take the red eye in order to make the most of the trip. But once in awhile, the flights get changed and we find we will arrive REALLY EARLY like at 1 am instead of 6 am. ME is there to take you to a Disney resort. You've just delayed your Disney resort arrival.

 

[bumbershoot]

I like the ME ride to the hotel – it’s a good way to decompress from the airport/flight stress and then we get to arrive “home” and ready to start our trip.

Just as a FWIW, you could have "legally" used ME to get there, even if you'd stayed at the Hyatt the night before. You get one ride to WDW and one ride to the airport during your WDW onsite stay, and it doesn't really matter *when* it happens. (and the Hyatt can even get your bags to the DME system as well)



But since it was all taken care of simply, easily, with more points that cost less than the Hyatt, it's all good!