No More Red-Eye, a New Plan

[snackyx]

We fly in from Michigan and always try to extend the trip a day where possible, but if we can get early flights many times the rooms are not yet available. Now we arrive on a late flight the night before, get into Orlando 10-11pm, get a hotel near the airport--not IN the airport--much cheaper, and they have shuttles to pick you up from the airport. We always rent a car for the week--if you book the car reservation early you can get a full size car for about $200-$250/week (great for driving to other Disney hotels, groceries, off-site visit to Target, etc.). We now have the system down cold: arrive late, stay at the Crowne Plaza Airport hotel (free shuttle from airport to hotel), get up the next morning, WALK EXACTLY NEXT DOOR to the Thrifty Rent-a-Car location and pickup our car--the place is a two minute walk from the hotel--thus no need to get transport from hotel to a farther off rental location.

As for the "don't want to leave Disney and lose the magic" feeling with a rental car, you don't have to leave Disney--buy you will want the luxury of being able to go to Walgreens just outside the grounds and stock up on drinks, snacks, etc. far cheaper than you will buy them in Disney. (I once saw a family loading up on groceries at Old Key West and they must have spent $200 on very little! That's the cost of the rental car--go to Publix and save a load.) We stay at OKW and go to table service every night. Want to eat at Boardwalk? Drive the car, free valet parking, you are there in 10 minutes. Take the bus from OKW? You wait for the bus, go to Downtown Disney or another location and then wait to catch a bus to Boarwalk. Time? 45-60 minutes? A rental car--for us--is a must.

 

[keishashadow]

OP - i had a difficult time adjusting during our trip to DL last summer, found myself falling asleep in the DLH pool every night

heading out west again this summer, I plan on just splitting the difference & hoping for the best

can't imagine a west coast guest managing to make a WDW AM EMH

good luck

 

[PinkTink63]

OP - i had a difficult time adjusting during our trip to DL last summer, found myself falling asleep in the DLH pool every night

heading out west again this summer, I plan on just splitting the difference & hoping for the best

can't imagine a west coast guest managing to make a WDW AM EMH

good luck

I have to admit that we are kind of night owls, so we have yet to make it to an AM EMH! Now the PM EMH, we are all over that!

 

[OurDogCisco]

We fly red-eye when we can. We have learned to adjust our expectations. This 1st time flying red-eye is hard but it gets easier. Sometimes we have no choice but to fly red-eye due to school schedules and we like to get a lot our of our vacations. However, our last trip a red-eye wasn't available so, we flew late evening arriving at around 11 pm Florida time. It was nice because the airport wasn't crowded at all. Then, we booked a room at the value resort for the evening. There was no line at check-in either. We slept in and had breakfast at the food court before heading over to our timeshare (we were staying offsite this time). Then, because we were still on West Coast time we lucked out and was able to go to MVMCP at MK that night. So, it was a breeze staying up late to enjoy the party. But by the 3rd day we had to sleep in and rest. All flights times have their advantages and disadvantages coming from the West Coast...

 

[Entropy]

OP - i had a difficult time adjusting during our trip to DL last summer, found myself falling asleep in the DLH pool every night

heading out west again this summer, I plan on just splitting the difference & hoping for the best

can't imagine a west coast guest managing to make a WDW AM EMH

good luck

The first day was brutal. I was up 36 hours before I got a couple hours of sleep in the evening. The day was mostly walking around in a zombie state but I learned a few things: 1. You can get more sleep in the Hall of Presidents than on the train because the seats are softer. 2. Don't sleep in the Haunted Mansion, you'll have nightmares. 3. They don't allow sleeping in the Emporium regardless of how many hats your wife is trying on.
The hardest part about EMH is that my feet are usually still tired from the day before. I just love those Jacuzzi tubs and I'm not a Jacuzzi tub person.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I agree, red eye is brutal and just doesn't work for us. We ended up on a red eye on accident our first trip to WDW. Hurricane Charley intercepted our original flight which is how we ended up on a red eye. We were absolutely exhausted on arrival day.

The flight for our subsequent trip went as planned. 8:25 a.m. departure on AA got us into Orlando around 4ish. We're on the same flight again come August and we wouldn't have it any other way.

As for hotel on your first night, I vote for the Hyatt. No, you won't be on Disney property but you won't need to travel to your hotel on arrival and can truly relax for the rest of the evening and wake up refreshed and ready to hit WDW the next morning.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

We've done the red eye the last two trips, and are planning it again on our upcoming trip. On the first one, we made the first day a resort day/DTD. We were able to check in, come back later when the room was ready, enjoy a swim. On our last trip I had a full day scheduled including breakfast and lunch ADRs. The kids and I did fine- but DH was dying by 3 pm. So this time around we'll play it a little easier the first day. I still think the red eye is the best vacation value for us from the West Coast. We do try to go to bed at East Coast time so we don't have jet lag and are rarin' to go for the rest of the vacay. Plus, it's hard for DH to get many days off in a row, so he can work that day and we take the red eye that night, eliminating the "travel day".