Pre-cruise stay: WWYD? OKW or Hyatt MCO

[anricat]

I'm super torn about our pre-cruise stay for our upcoming cruise. It's been forever since we sailed out of Port Canaveral and last time we did it, we stayed at the Hyatt and it was mega convenient, but it's also more than we would normally pay for a quick 12 hour stay. Our flight doesn't get in until 8:30 PM. And this flight really our best option (the earlier flight is too early in the day for us, unfortunately and is also like $150 more per person). So we have two options for our pre-cruise stay:

1. Hyatt MCO, which is $205 for the night, but is decidedly the most convenient. But I also am not a super big fan of spending $200 that we don't have to. And I've checked booking the Hyatt direct vs. via DCL and direct is cheaper.

2. Use 12 of our DVC points to stay the night at OKW. We have the points available. If we don't use them, we'll bank them and our 28 remaining Dec 2021 UY points to the following year. The thing is, we aren't really planning on a WDW stay in 2023 and I'm honestly already uncertain about how we'll use those remaining 28 points so I'm down with using some of them up. But perhaps adding 12 to the 28 makes them a bit more usable if we do decide to take a quick trip? On the other hand, again, I don't want to spend $205 when I don't have to. Though, to use those points, I'd have to pay transportation (likely Uber) to get our weary butts to OKW from MCO late at night. And that's assuming the flight is on time.

Can you tell I'm super torn? What would you do?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm super torn about our pre-cruise stay for our upcoming cruise. It's been forever since we sailed out of Port Canaveral and last time we did it, we stayed at the Hyatt and it was mega convenient, but it's also more than we would normally pay for a quick 12 hour stay. Our flight doesn't get in until 8:30 PM. And this flight really our best option (the earlier flight is too early in the day for us, unfortunately and is also like $150 more per person). So we have two options for our pre-cruise stay:

1. Hyatt MCO, which is $205 for the night, but is decidedly the most convenient. But I also am not a super big fan of spending $200 that we don't have to. And I've checked booking the Hyatt direct vs. via DCL and direct is cheaper.

2. Use 12 of our DVC points to stay the night at OKW. We have the points available. If we don't use them, we'll bank them and our 28 remaining Dec 2021 UY points to the following year. The thing is, we aren't really planning on a WDW stay in 2023 and I'm honestly already uncertain about how we'll use those remaining 28 points so I'm down with using some of them up. But perhaps adding 12 to the 28 makes them a bit more usable if we do decide to take a quick trip? On the other hand, again, I don't want to spend $205 when I don't have to. Though, to use those points, I'd have to pay transportation (likely Uber) to get our weary butts to OKW from MCO late at night. And that's assuming the flight is on time.

Can you tell I'm super torn? What would you do?

I'd stay at the Hyatt MCO. Just too easy to crash as soon as you get in your room, and then up refreshed and early the next morning to catch DCL transport.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Since you're getting in so late, I would probably just stay at the Hyatt. You won't get to OKW until 9:30/10pm I'm guessing and you'll have to deal with a transfer. If it were maybe 4pm I would do OKW so you could enjoy the resort or DS a bit.

 

[randumb0]

Hyatt

 

[apwenger]

Have you factored in the cost of transportation to Old Key West now that Magical Express is no longer available?

The price difference may not be as much depending on the size of your party. Plus you avoid the drive from the airport to WDW.

 

[loislane]

We booked the Hyatt direct through Disney ($214) for the convenience since we already planned to use DCL transportation to/from the port. I'm especially glad now that we finally booked out flights and will be landing a little before 8 p.m. Nice knowing we will get off the plane and our hotel is right there so we can just grab a later dinner, relax and get a good night's sleep. I think all the details of transport to/from OKW, especially at night, would be more than I would want to manage.

 

[anricat]

Thanks all! I was leaning towards Hyatt, but I think I needed a confirmation that it's worth the cost. I think you're right that it will be. I think it's probably worth the extra price to have a good night sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to go.

 

[loislane]

Thanks all! I was leaning towards Hyatt, but I think I needed a confirmation that it's worth the cost. I think you're right that it will be. I think it's probably worth the extra price to have a good night sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to go.

I just feel like there are so many things that can go wrong - delayed/canceled flights, etc. and especially now in covid times - that having one less thing to stress about is so worth it.

 

[Jen81NYC]

We’re doing the Hyatt the night before. Getting in around 9:45pm and very much looking forward to being able to immediately walk to hotel and crash.

 

[vetrik]

We're doing the Hyatt with a flight that gets in at 9:40 pm. Really looking forward to being able to grab our bags and get to bed!

We stayed at a Disney resort before our last cruise in Feb 2020 - the Hyatt was outrageously priced ($350/night), and CBR was much cheaper plus we could take advantage of free Magical Express and luggage transfer. We were supposed to land around 6:30 pm and also thought we could see a little of a new-to-us resort. However, our flight was delayed for hours, we landed too late for luggage transfer by 10 minutes, and Magical Express took forever. I still remember seeing our cruise countdown click to 0 while we were still on the bus at midnight. Then we had to traipse around Caribbean Beach with all our luggage after midnight with no idea where we were going to find our room. It ended up being a pretty miserable late night and definitely impacted us the next morning.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If you don't want to pay the higher price for Hyatt, you could always do a search of lower-priced airport hotels. For our 1st Disney cruise (2007) we stayed at the Fairfield Inn near MCO. It's a Marriott property which for us, usually means it will be a decent place. It doesn't have a lot of amenities and maybe not doing the usual free breakfast buffet due to covid, but most airport hotels have a free shuttle to pick you up at MCO.
I think the deciding factor for me would depend on how you plan to go to PC. If using DCL transfers, then I'd pay for Hyatt. If using private transfers to PC, I wouldn't mind looking off site from MCO.
I usually have enough Chase points to cover the pre-cruise hotel stay so it doesn't stress me out.

 

[MomOTwins]

I'm going against the grain, but I will always choose a DVC resort over the airport Hyatt. Breakfast ADR at Olivia's alone makes it worth it! And 8:30 is not so late... we've had many a 10pm swim at the resort quiet pools on our Disney trip. So relaxing!

 

[tvguy]

Skip the Hyatt. There are a dozen other hotels that are just on the edge of the airport property on Augusta National Drive that are cheaper, they have a shuttle to pick you up for free to take you to the hotel, and to drop you off at the Disney bus stop at the airport the next morning. Most offer free breakfast too. We stayed at the Marriott.
I totally get how little time you spend at the hotel. We got in on a 11 pm flight, at the hotel at Midnight, up eating breakfast at 7 am then back to the airport for the Disney bus. Not even 8 hours in the room.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm going against the grain, but I will always choose a DVC resort over the airport Hyatt. Breakfast ADR at Olivia's alone makes it worth it! And 8:30 is not so late... we've had many a 10pm swim at the resort quiet pools on our Disney trip. So relaxing!

I wouldn't have been against this idea 20-25 years ago.
Now, it just sounds like a lot of extra time and effort for very little reward. Of course that is subjective. JMHO.

 

[anricat]

So once we did stay at the Hyatt Place pre-cruise. Pros - it was cheaper, there was a free shuttle and it was close, the free breakfast was actually really good. Cons - I was up until all hours of the night listening to planes take off and land and then woke up super duper early listening to loud planes taking off. I vowed never again! The Hyatt MCO is super quiet!