MCO Hyatt vs WDW resort the night before

[Meem93]

Hoping someone more experienced with Disney cruises can help me. It is my husband, myself, and my son will be 13 months at the time of travel.

We are flying in the night before and land around 9 pm. We are deciding between staying at Disney the night before or the Hyatt MCO.

We are DVC so we would save a little bit of money using points and staying at Disney, but it would be more convenient to stay at Hyatt MCO.

We will be using DCL transportation. Iarw there any advantages to taking the transportation from Hyatt mco vs WDW resort? Does one get you a better PAT? We are silver status if that matters.

Thanks!

 

[sponica]

Honestly with a 13 month old, I would pay more and stay at the Hyatt. You land around 9, by the time you deplane, go to the bathroom and get luggage it's 930, then get in whatever transportation you have booked (car service with car seat or Mears) you're probably talking another 30+ minutes to get to the DVC resort. You're looking at 10ish on the early side then get to the room, settle in. I would personally prefer to avoid all that and just go upstairs.

I think the transfers from the Hyatt arrive before the WDW resort transfers, just make sure you're booked as taking the transfers from the hyatt so you don't need to pick a PAT.

 

[ljhayes]

Agree with sponica. I would stay at the Hyatt. You're basically just sleeping wherever you are, and WDW is in the opposite direction than the port from MCO. Not worth the late night transportation hassle for me. There's also no way to know for sure what the schedules or boarding groups will be from the Hyatt vs a WDW resort, but it's unlikely to be significantly different.

 

[jimmymc]

Landing at 9 pm, I think the Hyatt is an easy choice. No reason to take a bus over to Disney World, only to have an even longer bus ride first thing the next morning.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Hyatt at that time of the night, for sure

 

[Liastaob]

Yeah, that sounds exceedingly painful. By the the time you got into whichever resort you're heading to there might not even be a restaurant open. Also with transport from MCO you might not be saving that much.

However, sometimes you have to do brief painful things to make your budget work!

 

[Meem93]

Yeah, that sounds exceedingly painful. By the the time you got into whichever resort you're heading to there might not even be a restaurant open. Also with transport from MCO you might not be saving that much.

However, sometimes you have to do brief painful things to make your budget work!

For me is more about it what the better PAT would be, but regardless I think the Hyatt is a better choice overall!

 

[lanejudy]

For me is more about it what the better PAT would be, but regardless I think the Hyatt is a better choice overall!

I don't think there's a significant difference in PAT between MCO Hyatt and WDW resorts. And keep in mind that you might be automatically assigned an early PAT of 10:30-10:45 but that doesn't guarantee the bus you ride will arrive that early.

 

[auntlynne]

Kid or not, if you are getting in too late to do anything at Disney, just having dealt with flying, even if things go smoothly, I would not stay at WDW.

And I like to think I try to save money when possible. While splurging, obviously; it is a Disney cruise. If I couldn’t swing the Hyatt, I would be staying at a hotel near the airport with that arrival time.

Check the rate for a direct booking with Hyatt. I got a room when DCL had none to offer. Then I watched and caught a nice price drop. You still can use DCL transfers.

The room was nice, beds comfortable. I didn’t feel I was just paying for convenience. It was a very chill, calm environment.


> WDW: On cruise day, you may be sharing a bus from several resorts. Meet up is fairly early in the lobby (those can be a distance from DVC buildings?) and eventually boarding.

> Hyatt: you have an assigned time to sign up for a bus (this is based on Castaway Club status). If you aren’t in a rush to get to the ship, you could chose to go down with a later group to do this.

We got our bus time assignment and went back to our room at the Hyatt. Quick elevator ride from lobby. Someone could stay in room and not have to wrangle a kid while in line. As a Silver, you will be one of the later buses from Hyatt.


The night we arrived, it was a smooth process. It was late night (after midnight). We flew Delta. Off the plane, straight to the hotel. Checked in, dropped off carryon stuff. Then we went down to Baggage Claim. Two minute walk, perhaps? We didn’t have to stand around the carousels, waiting the usual 20 minutes for luggage to offload. Depending on your luggage, one person might be able to handle this, too.

I woke up early (4 or 5) the next morning and was able to go out into the terminal, grab some Dunkin’ and food court options.

We’ve only done this once - and, again, it was for a late arrival.

(I am Platinum, so get a shorter line at PC check-in, so I have a slightly skewed concept of PAT. Once I get to the Terminal foyer, there is rarely more than a family in front of me at the kiosk.)

 

[Meem93]

Kid or not, if you are getting in too late to do anything at Disney, just having dealt with flying, even if things go smoothly, I would not stay at WDW.

And I like to think I try to save money when possible. While splurging, obviously; it is a Disney cruise. If I couldn’t swing the Hyatt, I would be staying at a hotel near the airport with that arrival time.

Check the rate for a direct booking with Hyatt. I got a room when DCL had none to offer. Then I watched and caught a nice price drop. You still can use DCL transfers.

The room was nice, beds comfortable. I didn’t feel I was just paying for convenience. It was a very chill, calm environment.


> WDW: On cruise day, you may be sharing a bus from several resorts. Meet up is fairly early in the lobby (those can be a distance from DVC buildings?) and eventually boarding.

> Hyatt: you have an assigned time to sign up for a bus (this is based on Castaway Club status). If you aren’t in a rush to get to the ship, you could chose to go down with a later group to do this.

We got our bus time assignment and went back to our room at the Hyatt. Quick elevator ride from lobby. Someone could stay in room and not have to wrangle a kid while in line. As a Silver, you will be one of the later buses from Hyatt.


The night we arrived, it was a smooth process. It was late night (after midnight). We flew Delta. Off the plane, straight to the hotel. Checked in, dropped off carryon stuff. Then we went down to Baggage Claim. Two minute walk, perhaps? We didn’t have to stand around the carousels, waiting the usual 20 minutes for luggage to offload. Depending on your luggage, one person might be able to handle this, too.

I woke up early (4 or 5) the next morning and was able to go out into the terminal, grab some Dunkin’ and food court options.

We’ve only done this once - and, again, it was for a late arrival.

(I am Platinum, so get a shorter line at PC check-in, so I have a slightly skewed concept of PAT. Once I get to the Terminal foyer, there is rarely more than a family in front of me at the kiosk.)

Thanks for the info! We are going to do the Hyatt mco for convenience. I would have considered a wdw resort for an earlier PAT, but since it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference we will stick with the Hyatt. I would prefer to get on the ship as soon as we can. We sailed once before we had my son in November 2022 and somehow got a really good PAT, we were group 6 or something like that.

But since I’ll be using DCL transportation and staging at the Hyatt mco, I don’t need to check in right at midnight and rush through online check in for a good PAT, right? They will assign it to me?

 

[MrMagoo]

With a 13 month old and getting to MCO about 9pm definitely stay at the Hyatt.
As others pointed out it could be very late getting to a room at WDW. You may get to your room about 10:30 or probably later.
Then you would have to be getting up early for bus check in.
You will probably save yourself at least an hour time staying at the Hyatt.

Another thing to consider is what if your plane is delayed getting into Orlando.
Our last cruise from Port Canaveral we were scheduled to arrive to MCO about 10:30 but our first flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours and
we missed our connecting flight. We ended up arriving at MCO at 12:30am!!!
Had we planned on staying at WDW we probably wouldn't have gotten to our room until 2am!
That would have made a VERY short night as we probably wouldn't have gotten to bed until about 3am.

As for bus from MCO to the port, you will have a direct bus from MCO and not have any other stops picking up people.
You just want to make sure when you check in at the Hyatt that you are on the hotel bus pick up list.
You do have to let Disney know you are staying at the Hyatt when you book your transfer. Just double check when checking in.
Then the next morning you just leave your luggage in your room and only take your carry on that you need.

Am not sure about your PAT but I know being platinum we are on the first bus leaving MCO and have arrived at the port
around 10:30.

 

[Meem93]

With a 13 month old and getting to MCO about 9pm definitely stay at the Hyatt.
As others pointed out it could be very late getting to a room at WDW. You may get to your room about 10:30 or probably later.
Then you would have to be getting up early for bus check in.
You will probably save yourself at least an hour time staying at the Hyatt.

Another thing to consider is what if your plane is delayed getting into Orlando.
Our last cruise from Port Canaveral we were scheduled to arrive to MCO about 10:30 but our first flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours and
we missed our connecting flight. We ended up arriving at MCO at 12:30am!!!
Had we planned on staying at WDW we probably wouldn't have gotten to our room until 2am!
That would have made a VERY short night as we probably wouldn't have gotten to bed until about 3am.

As for bus from MCO to the port, you will have a direct bus from MCO and not have any other stops picking up people.
You just want to make sure when you check in at the Hyatt that you are on the hotel bus pick up list.
You do have to let Disney know you are staying at the Hyatt when you book your transfer. Just double check when checking in.
Then the next morning you just leave your luggage in your room and only take your carry on that you need.

Am not sure about your PAT but I know being platinum we are on the first bus leaving MCO and have arrived at the port
around 10:30.

Oh yeah a delay is something to consider. We are definitely doing the Hyatt at MCO. Will I need to pick a PAT during online check in or will it be assigned to me? We only did one DCL sailing and I was on right at midnight to check in to try for a food PAT (which I got!) but it would be nice to not have to do that

 

[sponica]

Oh yeah a delay is something to consider. We are definitely doing the Hyatt at MCO. Will I need to pick a PAT during online check in or will it be assigned to me? We only did one DCL sailing and I was on right at midnight to check in to try for a food PAT (which I got!) but it would be nice to not have to do that

If you have transfers that are specified to the Hyatt, you won't need to pick a PAT, the PAT and BG will be assigned to you.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

If you have transfers that are specified to the Hyatt, you won't need to pick a PAT, the PAT and BG will be assigned to you.

When you do the check in process will you see those numbers already there? I’m doing a Hyatt stay but it’s my entire party’s first Disney Cruise, so I’ve never done the check in process. In general any pro-tips? I’ve heard I should try and book the Royal Gathering for our two staterooms first.

 

[kiford]

By the the time you got into whichever resort you're heading to there might not even be a restaurant open.

Almost guarantee that by the time you get to a resort, there will be nothing open. We were scheduled to arrive around that time for our upcoming trip to WDW, and I was searching for somewhere to pick up something to eat. I concluded that it'd be best to get something grab-and-go at our departure airport and bring it with us. In the end, friends convinced us to come earlier and stay with them for a few days before our resort stay, so it's now a moot point, but there's just not much open after 10 pm at WDW.

At least McCoy's in the Hyatt is open until midnight, so you still have some time. It's not so great with a little one, but I believe they also have to-go options.

 

[Liastaob]

For me is more about it what the better PAT would be, but regardless I think the Hyatt is a better choice overall!

Yeah, we've had great PAT for our cruises staying at the Hyatt. Only slightly annoying thing about staying there is the morning wait in line to get your bus assignment.

 

[auntlynne]

@Meem93 and @foodiddiedoo

The option to pick a PAT should not be in your screen. You are not responsible for adhering to a specified arrival time! And you will be earlier than so many others.

A year ago (different bus assignment system), we opted to go to the lobby after the expected rush (this was a festival seating scenario - first come, first serve). It landed us on the last bus (and a short line to get that assignment.) Then it was about 40 minutes between assignment and getting on the bus. That’s where not having checked out helped - a little nap.

We got to the port and then waited upstairs before they began calling any Boarding Groups. Yep, those on the first buses were hanging out in the Terminal. I think our BG 6 only had to wait 20 minutes. (The actual time is somewhere in an older post/ thread).

Your Boarding Group will show on your Boarding Pass.

 

[auntlynne]

When you do the check in process will you see those numbers already there? I’m doing a Hyatt stay but it’s my entire party’s first Disney Cruise, so I’ve never done the check in process. In general any pro-tips? I’ve heard I should try and book the Royal Gathering for our two staterooms first.

Take photos of everyone in your party. Follow the instructions. Save them in an album in your phone/computer you will use for check-in.

Take photos of the passport info page. Put in same album.

There’s a thread on Page 1 of the DCL forum, in the yellow section, titled:

What do I need to have prepared for online check-in?​

You have no Castaway Club loyalty status - yet. You will be doing your check-in at 30 days ahead of sailing. Those who have sailed previously will have had 3 days or more to check in and will be able to just log in and get desired reservations - Royal Gathering.

>>>which is why I suggest you don’t build up children’s excitement for things like this. Unless your goal is to teach a lesson in disappointment. It’s hard on adults, too.

Don’t forget that’s midnight at the beginning of your check-in date. And Eastern Time (Orlando). Adjust that if you live to the West (or even East, like Brits and Germans who come over for the Mouse).

When I want to move quickly through the check-in process to get to booking activities, I chose Arriving by Car instead of filling in flight info - and paying by Cash - much faster. I went back and edited those after I was checked in.

You are able to select “Apply the same info” for all guests on your cabin reservation. Another time saver.

Then give it a try for your desired activity. A lot of people go straight to Alcohol Tastings. You won’t know what’s available until you give it a try. Good luck

I do see you have two staterooms. Same reservation number?

 

[ljhayes]

When you do the check in process will you see those numbers already there? I’m doing a Hyatt stay but it’s my entire party’s first Disney Cruise, so I’ve never done the check in process. In general any pro-tips? I’ve heard I should try and book the Royal Gathering for our two staterooms first.

If you've got transportation from the Hyatt you should book your activities right at midnight and then check in.

 

[Liastaob]

If you've got transportation from the Hyatt you should book your activities right at midnight and then check in.

Keep in mind that's midnight eastern time, so if you're a different time zone it might be a little earlier; for example, in Mountain Standard Time it'll be 10pm.