I live a ways from Orlando but use MCO a bit for business/vacation travel as it offers great prices and many nonstops--you can actually get somewhere without a stop in Atlanta, unlike the rest of the south.
Because of very early morning departures or sometimes arriving late after 22 hours of flying back from overseas it is so easy to stay in one of the many nice nearby motels and drive to/from home at a decent hour, rested. Using these motels and their free shuttles I can avoid one day on the rental car which pays for the motel.
The MCO web site has all kinds of info and maps including a list of all local motels with free shuttles.
you will have to Google orlandoairports and net and goaa to get their home page, as dis will not take a url. Under Travel Tips go to Local Hotels.
I prefer the ones straight north of the terminal on 436/off Semoran Blvd, as they are almost all brand new. Plus they are between the runways and you do not hear the planes. Plus they are the quickest to get to the airport as the Beeline Expressway is busy.
The ones on McCoy Road west of the airport are just about at the end of the western runway so you might get a little noise depending if they are taking off north or south.
I use Expedia for these because they have a selector button for price and once you bring up Orlando you can select an area and the MCO/airport list is almost nothing but these with the free shuttles, although they include some as far west on Sand Lake as the Florida Mall, which is several miles but not bad traffic wise except at rush hours.
In off peak times Expedia lists these in the $45-55 range, in busier times in the $60-80 range and most include a nice breakfast. $50 for a room, two way shuttle ride and breakfast for the price of a cab ride downtown? Good deal.
