One night in Orlando before starting Disney? resort

[twinone]

I'm not sure of the best place to stay, were going to fly into MCO one day before our official trip starts. We'll need to go to the wilderness lodge the first day early to pickup our park pass and get to Epcot for an 820am ADR.
So do you think we'd be better off at the airport or stay closer to the parks and take a taxi over in the morning? Any suggestions for hotels near the park that have an airport shuttle?

 

[twinone]

bump

 

[Ametista]

I'm not sure of the best place to stay, were going to fly into MCO one day before our official trip starts. We'll need to go to the wilderness lodge the first day early to pickup our park pass and get to Epcot for an 820am ADR.
So do you think we'd be better off at the airport or stay closer to the parks and take a taxi over in the morning? Any suggestions for hotels near the park that have an airport shuttle?

We had an extra day at the beginning of our Jan trip and stayed at this comfort suites

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=comf...697,0.064974&t=h&gl=us&hq=comfort+suites&z=14

It was very comfortable and close to Disney, plus they serve an awesome free breakfast including Mickey waffles (what better way to start your trip???)

 

[smitcheck]

We are in the same boat for our October trip. Wife has pricelined a hotel for us for the night of arrival. We are renting a car from alamo and plan to do some shopping and maybe some hotel swimming. Great thing about alamo is that you can rent from the airport and return it to WDW (dolphin or transportation center). We plan to check into POR the next day, turn the car in, and then hit the parks, all before 8am. POR said that our room would not be ready (obviously), but we can leave our luggage there and still check in (get tickets or maybe armbands if they are in use by then). That is the plan anyway and just the way thought best for us. By the way, we shared the idea with the three kids and they are on board, especially the shopping part.

 

[skylizard]

We've stayed at the Clarion Lake Buena vista a couple of times. It's right across from downtown disney, safe, clean, and inexpensive. You can usually get it for around $50-60 a night.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I've flown in the night before many times. Here's what I've done:

• Hotel near MCO for the first night through Hotwire.com. Most of them have free airport shuttles.

• Since you need to check into WL early and make an early ADR, option two might be better - get a room at one of the All Star resorts. This way you can take DME to your hotel when you fly in, and Disney transportation or an inexpensive cab ride to the WL in the morning.

I don't think there are any off-site hotels near WDW that offer free airport shuttles. You'd have to pay for Mears or something like that.