help with night before arrival

[zeke11]

Our agent suggested flying into Orlando the night before our WDW vacation since flying on the day it begins would waste half of it.

This makes sense!

We are doing the 3 day land/4 day sea in September.

I am stumped about the best type of hotel res (and where) to make for that night that would give us extra time the next day.

If we book a hotel near the airport, then the next day, will the hotel shuttle take us to WDW (with all our luggage) in order for us to check into our WDW hotel?

And usually the hotels won't let you check in early in the am anyway, so wouldn't we be waiting around, basically wasting the day anyhow?

I know the simple solution would be to reserve the same WDW hotel for one extra night, but we need two rooms and I'm sure it would be super $$$$$$$$$.

Any help with all of this would be grand!

Thank you -
Kris

 

[Karel]

Which hotel are you staying at and how many people are we talking? I don't think there is any airport hotels that will shuttle you to WDW. Did you book transfers with DCL?

It is good to get to Disney as early as possible the day your Length of Stay passes (or whatever they are calling them now...) start because you can do a pre check in and they will store your luggage until your room is ready.

I would look into two rooms at All Stars Resorts. Disney will transfer your luggage for you to your cruise hotel the next day, you can go early to your new hotel for Cruise check in and then go to the parks till your room is ready.

 

[zeke11]

Hi Karel -

There are six of us (2 adults and 4 kids). So we would need two rooms - that's where the expense comes in.

We are booked at the Port Orleans Riverside.

I'll look into cost of rooms at All-Star. That sounds like the simplest plan.

Kris

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by zeke11
If we book a hotel near the airport, then the next day, will the hotel shuttle take us to WDW (with all our luggage) in order for us to check into our WDW hotel?

And usually the hotels won't let you check in early in the am anyway, so wouldn't we be waiting around, basically wasting the day anyhow?

Consider a hotel by the airport for the first night, especially if you are arriving in the late afternoon or evening.

You can often get great rates at MCO airport hotels (such as the Marriott, Crowne Plaza, or Sheraton Suites) through Hotwire or Priceline. Your rate per room can be half of what you would pay at a Disney value resort. If you've never used Hotwire or Priceline, do some homework first.

The airport hotels provide free shuttle service from the airport when you arrive. (Of course, a tip to the driver is appropriate, especially if he or she helps you with your luggage.)

The next morning, you can travel to your Disney resort as early as you wish, using whatever form of transportation you were planning to use anyway. If you were planning to use a van service, they can pick your party up right at your airport hotel. (You don't have to return to the airport.)

When you check in at your Disney resort in the morning, you probably won't get your rooms right away. But the bell service will hold your luggage, you can get your Disney resort ID, and you can start having fun right away!

 

[two-foxes]

We came in the night before our land/sea and got a great rate at ASMu. We took mears from MCO to ASMu, got a bite to eat in the food court and relaxed. Even though it is a value resort, guest services arranged to get our bags over to AKL, where we were staying for the package and they arranged for a cab to pick us up bright and early to head over to AKL so we could get our park passes and start the day! Like said above, your room won't be ready, but you can get your KTTW cards, they'll hold your luggage and you're off!

So, in addition to checking MCO area hotels, I would investigate the values at WDW, as well. They offer pretty decent rates from time to time (I think ours was $79, with either AAA or Disney Club) and it will get you that much closer to the parks!

 

[jrabbit]

Check with MouseSavers.com a few months before your trip. It looks like you will be there in September and you should be able to get rooms with a significant discount from the regular rates. Since that is "Value Season" you should be able to get a room at a value resort (all star's and pop century) for $75 per night or less(regular rates are over $100). The current code gets you a room for $74 or $84 / night and that includes checkins up to the 4th of July!! (HIGH/EXPENSIVE season) so you should be able to do much better in September!!

 

[zeke11]

Our land/sea package includes transfers. So if we stay at an airport hotel, am I correct in assuming that the dcl transfer gets us from the airport to our Disney hotel the next day?

Kris

 

[Melynny]

I am no expert, but I think if you bought "transfers" with your package , they would "transfer you from the airport" to a Disney Hotel. Then all you would need to do is to reserve an inexpensive hotel near the airport that has airport transportation. They could pick you up, you sleep, they take you back to the airport, there you get on the Disney transfer to your hotel. Either would have no way to know that you were or had just arrived.. or not...

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by zeke11
Our land/sea package includes transfers. So if we stay at an airport hotel, am I correct in assuming that the dcl transfer gets us from the airport to our Disney hotel the next day?

Kris

Yes, that is exactly what happens.

We have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and the Marriott the nite before our cruise or land/sea packages. They both have shuttle services to/from the airport. We have points at both, so we can usually stay for free, which is nice.

The next morning, you just take the shuttle back to the airport and ask to be dropped off at Disney. Once dropped off, just head inside the terminal. The CMs will help you with any last minute document questions and get you onto a DCL bus. The buses start leaving for the resorts and port at about 9:30, so we always head back to the airport at 9:00 or so.

 

[dsncruise lover]

If you are doing the cruise first I would book a room at Raddison at Port. It is a 3-5 min ride from port. It has free shuttle rides to and from the port for its guests.

 

[staylor]

You can get great rates using Priceline.com
Just go to biddingfortravel.com, this is a forum/chat site that lists the current priceline hotels and the going rates. It is a wealth of information!

 

[zeke11]

Thank you everyone for all of the info!

I think the best idea would be to find a hotel near the airport that has suites. So we can book just one room for our family of 6.

Then in the morning, get back to the airport via hotel shuttle and go to the Disney area of the airport for our transfer to Port Orleans.

One more question -- a referral to a good hotel relatively near the airport (inexpensive) that offers suites and perhaps walking distance to something to do -- be it shops, grocery, etc. -- would be great.

I know that's a lot of ask, but perhaps there is something out there!

Thank you all!

Kris

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by zeke11
One more question -- a referral to a good hotel relatively near the airport (inexpensive) that offers suites and perhaps walking distance to something to do -- be it shops, grocery, etc. -- would be great.

We were very happy with the Sheraton Suites Orlando Airport two weeks ago.

Because we're a family of four, we booked a room with a king bed in the bed room and a double sofabed in the living room. But we could also have had a room with two double beds in the bedroom (and the double sofabed in the living room), which, I assume, would hold six guests.

It's walking distance to several other hotels and restaurants, but not to shops or grocery stores.