Need help with hotel options for July 2017.

[writingmachine]

Myself and 7 others will be in Orlando July 17th- 27th. The 18th-22nd we will be attending a convention and we then plan to go to the parks the 23rd-26th. I'm trying to look at all possible options before talking it over with the group.

Option 1: A few group members really want to stay on WDW property the entire trip. Right now we're considering POP and ASM. We don't necessarily need connected rooms but it would be nice. The only issue with this option is we would need to rent a car to get to the convention in Orlando and that coupled with the cost of 10 nights on property is a little much. I noticed they have an Alamo at S&D, so we could just rent a car for 5 days and easily return it when we're back on property.

Option 2: Depending on the location of the convention (most likely in a hotel with a convention center) I think it might be better to stay at the convention hotel for 5 nights (take a taxi/uber from the airport) and then take a taxi/uber to POP or ASM when we stay on site. When we leave we can take The Magic Express back to the airport. How much of a hassle would this be? I don't mind a split stay, but others might not like it.

If we find ourselves disagreeing some of the group can always do Option 1 and some can do Option 2.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Relative to option one, remember that connecting rooms are never guaranteed. There is an Alamo at S&D and also at the Car Care Center.

Relative to option 2, you would need to perform your own transfer to Disney, or transfer to the airport, then take ME from there for the on-property party of your stay. For the off-site part of your stay, you would be subject to 30 day FP+ and day at a time ADRs, although if y'all are conferencing that is unlikely to be a big deal since you wouldn't be doing a lot of park time during the convention.

The question also arises if there is an employer or similar who would cover some of the expenses for the stay, and what their usual and customary rate would be for such a convention.

 

[writingmachine]

Relative to option one, remember that connecting rooms are never guaranteed. There is an Alamo at S&D and also at the Car Care Center.

Relative to option 2, you would need to perform your own transfer to Disney, or transfer to the airport, then take ME from there for the on-property party of your stay. For the off-site part of your stay, you would be subject to 30 day FP+ and day at a time ADRs, although if y'all are conferencing that is unlikely to be a big deal since you wouldn't be doing a lot of park time during the convention.

The question also arises if there is an employer or similar who would cover some of the expenses for the stay, and what their usual and customary rate would be for such a convention.

Oh we're aware of the rooms not being guaranteed connected which is why I said it wasn't a big deal either way. Wanted to clarify that!

I should also clarify this is a national convention for a college co-ed fraternity (huge gathering from all chapters around the US) so unfortunately costs are all on us. There might be a deal through the convention center hotel (which we're a little annoyed the convention site hasn't been confirmed) which is why I'm leaning towards Option 2 so we can save costs. A few group members are very much low-balling the cost of the trip, so myself and my friend have taken over most of the planning.

At the time of the trip I will be the only one able to rent a car, so that part really rests in my hands and I'm not big on driving with 7 other people in the car as no one else will be 25 at the time to rent an additional car.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Oh Lordy, 8 in a car with only one driver? NOPE NOPE NOPE and I wouldn't blame you for noping.

I think doing a split stay might be for the best, especially if there is any airport transport to the convention site. Transport for 8 would be somewhat more expensive for both that first bit, and even for an uber from hotel one to Disney on the split.

 

[CJN]

First things first - you've got to find out where your convention is going to be held. I wouldn't make a single lodging decision until that detail is known. Who knows, you might get extremely lucky and find out it's at either the Swan or Dolphin. I've been lucky enough to convention at those two hotels multiple times.

Neither would I want to have a long commute to my convention events just to stay on Disney property. But if you find out your event is held somewhere else, my philosophy under those conditions is to totally immerse myself in my convention event by staying at the convention hotel, then totally immerse myself in Disney by moving to a Disney property. Unless, of course, you're planning on blowing off half of your convention events so that you can really make this more of a Disney vacation. Been there, done that, too.....

 

[writingmachine]

Oh Lordy, 8 in a car with only one driver? NOPE NOPE NOPE and I wouldn't blame you for noping.

I think doing a split stay might be for the best, especially if there is any airport transport to the convention site. Transport for 8 would be somewhat more expensive for both that first bit, and even for an uber from hotel one to Disney on the split.

Yep this is exactly what I said. I'll be the only one 25 at the time, so if those group members really want a car they're going to have to drive themselves down. I have a feeling half the group is going to just do their own thing and meet the rest of us at the convention site. Some of them think that they can survive on $800 onsite for the 10 days we're there. The plane ticket, estimated food cost, and 4 day park tickets alone are going to cost about $950 and that's before the hotel.

 

[writingmachine]

First things first - you've got to find out where your convention is going to be held. I wouldn't make a single lodging decision until that detail is known. Who knows, you might get extremely lucky and find out it's at either the Swan or Dolphin. I've been lucky enough to convention at those two hotels multiple times.

Neither would I want to have a long commute to my convention events just to stay on Disney property. But if you find out your event is held somewhere else, my philosophy under those conditions is to totally immerse myself in my convention event by staying at the convention hotel, then totally immerse myself in Disney by moving to a Disney property. Unless, of course, you're planning on blowing off half of your convention events so that you can really make this more of a Disney vacation. Been there, done that, too.....

I called Disney today when I was dealing with a separate issue from my trip I got back from yesterday and they didn't have any record of our group name for the dates listed. So I'm about 90% sure it's going to be off property at this point. At least I hope the convention would be scheduled by now being 8 months away. It would be nice if it turns out to be on property

 

[fla4fun]

I just googled your convention dates and "fraternity" and "Orlando" and if I googled correctly, it looks like you may be part of the convention at Rosen Shingle Creek, so not on Disney property. It's the only one that came up specifically for your date range. Rosen Shingle Creek is very close to where I work, so to get from there to Disney is about a 20 minute drive if traffic is cooperating. To be honest, you should probably compare the cost of renting a car that will hold 8 of you to the cost of just getting an Uber, and then plan to stay on property for the whole trip. That way, if you get out of meetings early, you can enjoy Disney Springs or other recreational amenities on property and you won't have that "homeless" feeling on the day you are switching resorts.

 

[writingmachine]

I just googled your convention dates and "fraternity" and "Orlando" and if I googled correctly, it looks like you may be part of the convention at Rosen Shingle Creek, so not on Disney property. It's the only one that came up specifically for your date range. Rosen Shingle Creek is very close to where I work, so to get from there to Disney is about a 20 minute drive if traffic is cooperating. To be honest, you should probably compare the cost of renting a car that will hold 8 of you to the cost of just getting an Uber, and then plan to stay on property for the whole trip. That way, if you get out of meetings early, you can enjoy Disney Springs or other recreational amenities on property and you won't have that "homeless" feeling on the day you are switching resorts.

I googled the same and that's actually not us! I did finally get more information for the trip and we will be at one of the Hilton Orlandos. I appreciate you looking further into that! Just a coincidence that another fraternity has the same dates.

 

[fla4fun]

I googled the same and that's actually not us! I did finally get more information for the trip and we will be at one of the Hilton Orlandos. I appreciate you looking further into that! Just a coincidence that another fraternity has the same dates.

There is a Hilton Orlando Resort that is a convention hotel, and actually it's pretty close to the Rosen. They're all kind of clustered loosely around the Orange County Convention Center area, which is where I-Drive and the Beachline Expressway meet.