Off-site prior to arrival

[Amyphee]

Has anyone ever stayed at an offsite hotel the night before their package starts? We are driving in from Nashville and can leave Thursday evening (Dec 8). The plan is to stay with my sis in Atlanta that night, then drive straight through to Orlando and spend a restful night in an inexpensive offsite hotel on Friday night so we can make our 8:20 am res at Crystal Palace. Our POFQ check-in date is Saturday with a 7 nt stay/8 day PH passes. Want to take full advantage of every moment at Disney!

So, any hotel suggestions? Does this sound like a good plan?

 

[Missytara]

I would post on the Orlando hotels board; this is for the resorts on-site.

 

[Straitlover]

Sure! If it were me, I'd jsut do Hotwire or Piceline for any 3 star and up in the DTD/LBV area. Taht would out you close to POFQ in case you need to check in to get park tickets and Dining plan if you're using it.

Actualty, I got the Orlando Vista on Hotwire for one night last year for right at $42. It was a 2.5 star, though. It was perfectly fine for one night. I used BetterBidding.com to figure out the hotel before I bought it.

 

[Port Orleans fan]

Why don't you get your Disney blood pumping sooner and stay at a value the night before. At least that's what I would do.


Cheers!

 

[I Love Pluto]

WHY do so many feel that the values are "just for one night" hotels?????

SOME people spend their entire week at Disney there. And - we're so thankful to be at Disney that we just don't care where we stay. EVEN THE VALUES are labeled as RESORTS by Disney.

Thank you for listening!

 

[jformica]

We've done it many times. It depends on what your budget would be for Friday night. If it's less than $100 then just about any hotel on International drive will do. The hotels right on Int. Drive are usually decent, once you get off Int Drive and go a block or two away I would be concerned. I know that the Downtown Disney hotels are inexpensive and I believe one of them (forgot the name) has rates of around $82 a night. We always like to start our trip on International drive and get the outlets, Outdoor World and all the little gift shops out of the way. We have dinner somewhere on Int Drive then check into Disney the next day, spend 6 days at Disney then finish with 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal.

 

[ncc1701]

We stayed at the Courtyard in the DTD, a nice hotel near some restaraunts.It was a short drive to POFQ from there.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

WHY do so many feel that the values are "just for one night" hotels?????

SOME people spend their entire week at Disney there. And - we're so thankful to be at Disney that we just don't care where we stay. EVEN THE VALUES are labeled as RESORTS by Disney.

Thank you for listening!

I don't think anyone here has said Values are only good for one night stays.
I think for those looking for one night stay before they check in for the week, Values ARE a great place to stay because 1. you immediately get into the Disney Magic and 2. They can be competitive in pricing to many offsite hotels.

PS - We spent 2 nights at the Hampton Inn near Universal before checking into POP for 10 nights last May - It was super clean and had a fabulous free breakfast. The room was MUCH bigger than our room at POP and the beds were heavenly - and we paid about the same price per night as we did for POP.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

We always spend our first and last nights in Orlando at offsite hotels. There are tons of good inexpensive options near Downtown Disney and on International Drive. I have always tried to talk DH into doing values on our first and last night, that seems like a great idea to me.

 

[janiejake]

Concur with considering a value resort for the one night. We are doing that, BUT we won't have a car. If I had a car, I'd be looking into a deal at a DTD hotel, or LBV hotel, to be near the shopping and the factory outlet center (including a Disney outlet shop...). Nice to be able to get that stuff taken care of, and to stock up on foodstuffs for your room.

 

[janiejake]

Cheapie I have NOT tried myself, but have on 'my list' (have read good reviews), is the Golden Link motel. It's on I92, across from the Publix grocery.

 

[dvcHammer]

We have stayed at the Best Western at DTD, usually under $80 at night. Nice to be able to get to DTD to break into the trip.

 

[Pinkgirl]

We are staying at the Rosen Inn on I Drive before heading to Disney. Think it was about $50 a night

 

[verdi73]

Nothing wrong with that. We always use our Marriott points for two nights and enjoy other things in Orlando before heading to WDW. We live in Atlanta too!

 

[softballmom3]

We are going to stay at the Homewood Suites Lake Buena Vista before onsite for $77 + tax. This is a Friday night and I thought it was a good rate .

 

[Amyphee]

Thanks everyone for the tips! We are so excited!