Ques. about staying at MCO hotel for a late flight

[lindanj]

Hi... Our flight does not get in until 11pm. Since I do not want to pay for an extra night at our disney hotel, I was thinking about staying at the hotel at MCO when we get to the airport and then taking DME the next morning. We have 4 children, so there are 6 of us. When I check availability online they say I would need 2 rooms. I do not want to pay for 2 rooms, since we will only be there for a few hours. There are 2 double beds in the room and since my kids are small, we could make do for 1 night. Will they let us all stay in 1 room even though there are 6 of us? I know that we would be responsible for our luggage so I would not put the yellow tags on.
Has anyone done this when arriving on a late flight?

 

[summermac]

I figure you'll be fine - except for shuttle purposes maybe?

 

[summermac]

Although depending on your dates and your resort, it may be just as cheap to stay onsite.

We are doing a room only b/c it's a better deal for us and so don't have to add dining and our room is only $85. I think it will be hard to find a room that cheap close to the airport for the night. I considered it b/c we're arriving late to MCO as well.

 

[lindanj]

We are going during spring break, family suite at AofA so the prices at our
hotel are over $400.00/night. Because of this, it would be cheaper to stay at the hotel at MCO. Just wondering if they would let us stay with 6 in the room. If the hotel is right in MCO, I wouldn't need a shuttle would I? I would just take DME the next morning.

 

[summermac]

I meant shuttle to that hotel for the night from the airport.
I guess you could take a cab though huh?

 

[DVC California]

We are going during spring break, family suite at AofA so the prices at our
hotel are over $400.00/night. Because of this, it would be cheaper to stay at the hotel at MCO. Just wondering if they would let us stay with 6 in the room. If the hotel is right in MCO, I wouldn't need a shuttle would I? I would just take DME the next morning.

There is only one hotel at MCO that doesn't require a shuttle and that's the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport. If you choose any other hotel servicing MCO, you will be using that hotel's shuttle to transport off site, usually 10 mins away.

Regarding whether the hotel will allow 6 in your room, I doubt it. Unless it was a "Suite" type hotel, occupancy laws and individual hotel policy would prohibit that.

Could you do it anyway? Probably. Just do like when you go to the drive-in and have the kids hide around the corner until you get the room card.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just wondering if they would let us stay with 6 in the room. If the hotel is right in MCO, I wouldn't need a shuttle would I? I would just take DME the next morning.

They won't knowingly let you stay there with your whole family in one room. You'll be going against fire codes. Utter horrid worst case scenario, a fire breaks out and they know that 4 (or 5) people are in the room, they'll get 4 (or 5) people out and think they are done. Bad situation.

If you book two rooms or if you hide the extra family members and sneak them up (by the way, the lobby at that hour is VERY empty and the elevators are *right there* at the checkin desk, unless you have the others wait down on the level of the airport atrium), you are right, you can just take DME in the morning and bring your bags with you. You'll take them to the bus driver who will put them under the bus and get them back out when you reach your resort.

I know it's an expensive night at AOA, but I gotta tell you from experience (of doing it both ways)...when you wake up in the morning in YOUR room, from which you don't have to move, and there's nothing to do but get people ready and head on out for WDW...that money becomes much closer to being seriously worth it. It's only beforehand that it really feels like a waste.

 

[Poohlove]

On one of our trips we stayed one night at a hotel near the airport and went to Sea World and Gatorland. We rented a car using rewards points from a credit card to travel around in for the one day and then took DME to our resort on property. It was a real pain in the butt!!! We had our luggage as well as some stuff that we picked up at the grocery store while we had our rental car, it was so frustrating in hindsight I would not do that again. You can't put a price on sanity

On a different note, it is only one night and I really don't think that anyone will give you a hard time about having 2 extra people in the room. At one of the places I stay when I visit my mom in NH they allow 4 per room but charge $10 after 2. Rather than pay the extra $10 (I know - it's only $10) I just say there are 2 of us when there are really 3 and no one notices. They also don't have any kind of free breakfast or anything of that nature so we aren't cutting into anyone's amenities, just saving $10 per night.

 

[sam_gordon]

OP, I suggest calling the hotel. As mentioned, it's possible they won't allow it because of fire code. Let them know the ages of the kids (if under a certain age, it's possible the child doesn't "count" toward room occupancy).

The best thing to do would be contact the hotel directly and ask them. Here's their phone #: 407-825-1234

I would not book a room for 4 (or 5) and then hope the extra is allowed.

 

[Lewisc]

There are suite hotels near MCO which will sleep 6. All of them offer a complimentary shuttle bus. Double check. Some of the lower rated hotels don't run the shuttle 24/7.

 

[bumbershoot]

since we will only be there for a few hours

I was re-reading your post....

Do you REALLY want to spend the first few hours of your trip unpacking a quarter of the way, sleeping, repacking, and heading out early after a flight and late arrival? If you were checking out at checkout time (which I think is noon there) you would at least get some good sleep, but as you say it's for a few hours.

Comfort and sleep and avoiding hassles are worth something.

 

[bek]

I've had great luck with getting excellent rates ($65-$90/night) through Hotwire for the Hyatt and the hotels just north of the airport. If you click the highest star ratings when the list comes up, it is oftentimes the Hyatt. However you don't know until after you commit whether you're getting the Hyatt or not.

I've stayed in lots of the hotels in the business park north of the airport and they've all been fine. (I frequently drive two hours to fly direct out of MCO and spend the night for early or late flights.) However, as a PP said, you'd need to take a shuttle to all but the Hyatt. By the time you wait for the shuttle, then shuttle back the next day; I think you'd be happier just grabbing ME and waking up at WDW.

I don't know if you want to gamble with Hotwire that you'd get the Hyatt but I thought I'd mention the possibility of a great rate. The Hyatt is super convenient for both arriving and departing!