Spring break flight prices, help!

Jajone

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May 29, 2007
Messages
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We are trying very hard to stick to a tight budget for spring break as DD is paying her own way. Flight prices are terrible leaving on Saturday (I know bad day to fly, but school schedule dictates this). We are considering a flight leaving Friday night that gets us there at 2am. We were planning to take ME and not rent a car, but arriving at that time our room will not be ready and I will definitely need to sleep. Are there any options to just get a quick sleep somewhere and then take ME in the am to check in?
 
When we flew during Feb school break last year the prices were crazy! To save money, we left on Friday morning (DS missed one day of school) and flew back the following Thursday. This saved us several hundred dollars!

If you didn't want to do this, you could book a night at the hotel in the airport.
 
Many times we have used hotels around the airport for our early morning flight home, or because we got in late. Almost all of them have easy shuttles to and from the airport, and some will even have a free breakfast you can enjoy before you go back to get ME. There are at least 20 to chose from that are clean, safe and very close. We've done the Marriott, a Sheraton, Country Inn and Suites etc. All basically the same.
 

The Hyatt right inside MCO is super convenient. We have stayed there many times for either late arrivals or a 1 night pre-cruise stay. It's not cheap but we've had late arrivals that became even worse with a few hour delay due to T-storms down the whole east coast. Boy was I glad I could just stagger to our room.
Another alternative would be to add another night to your Disney stay and take a private transfer or taxi direct to your hotel. If you're staying at a deluxe resort and don't want to spend the $ for another night, understandable, you could book a value stay for your late night arrival but give ME flight info for a flight the next morning then use the yellow luggage tags for the deluxe resort. Just have a small carryon to change clothes in am and you won't have to stop at baggage claim upon arrival.
That's all kind of a pain and a long ride at 2:30 am. I vote for the Hyatt.:thumbsup2
Most off site hotels have a shuttle but some you have to call then wait for it. Some you have to just wait and it keeps circling around. JMHO but I know I wouldn't have the patience for that at 2:30am unless I had a really long nap that afternoon.
 
When we fly in late we get a room 2 miles from the airport at the Country Inn and Suites. the free shuttle will not be running at that time so you will have to take a cab. Then in the morning take the free shuttle back to the airport to catch the DME.
 
I thought you had to register your flight with Disney and then ride the ME on arrival day. Is this not true if you arrive when ME isn't in operation?
 
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I thought you had to register your flight with Disney and then ride the ME on arrival day. Is this not true if you arrive when ME isn't in operation?
If you are referring to OP wanting to arrive at 2 am with no Disney hotel booked until later in the am, she could just enter any flight info that would put her at an arrival time close to when she wants to board the ME bus. They don't actually stop to confirm your reservation with the airline.

For my idea, if staying deluxe but don't want to add another night at those prices when only occupying it for a couple hours, she could keep her already-planned deluxe reservation, let's say it's a week. Then add another reservation for a 1 night stay at a value resort. These would have 2 reservation numbers. Every reservation has a place to enter ME info or decline it. If she entered flight arrival info for the 7 night reservation, she will receive yellow luggage tags for it and could put those on her bags and it will arrive in her room at their final destination so she doesn't have to retrieve her luggage at baggage claim at 2am. Even if she put the yellow tags on for the value stay, they would not be delivering to their room until later in the am anyway when they would be ready to check out and move to the next hotel. So why bother?
As I started to explain the whole idea in my previous post, it sounded like a PITA and a lot of extra expense when really a hotel stay at the airport would be easiest. The trek to any part of Disney property will take at LEAST 40 mins with ME or she would be paying more OOP for taxi/private ground transfer in addition to the 1 night value stay. For all that extra cost, might as well crash at the Hyatt. Once you try it there, you won't want to deal with offsite shuttles again. ;) JMHO.
 
If you are referring to OP wanting to arrive at 2 am with no Disney hotel booked until later in the am, she could just enter any flight info that would put her at an arrival time close to when she wants to board the ME bus. They don't actually stop to confirm your reservation with the airline.

For my idea, if staying deluxe but don't want to add another night at those prices when only occupying it for a couple hours, she could keep her already-planned deluxe reservation, let's say it's a week. Then add another reservation for a 1 night stay at a value resort. These would have 2 reservation numbers. Every reservation has a place to enter ME info or decline it. If she entered flight arrival info for the 7 night reservation, she will receive yellow luggage tags for it and could put those on her bags and it will arrive in her room at their final destination so she doesn't have to retrieve her luggage at baggage claim at 2am. Even if she put the yellow tags on for the value stay, they would not be delivering to their room until later in the am anyway when they would be ready to check out and move to the next hotel. So why bother?
As I started to explain the whole idea in my previous post, it sounded like a PITA and a lot of extra expense when really a hotel stay at the airport would be easiest. The trek to any part of Disney property will take at LEAST 40 mins with ME or she would be paying more OOP for taxi/private ground transfer in addition to the 1 night value stay. For all that extra cost, might as well crash at the Hyatt. Once you try it there, you won't want to deal with offsite shuttles again. ;) JMHO.
Thank you for this detailed info. It was very helpful. We are just deciding now if the hotel for an extra night costs more than paying for the more expensive flights. What is my easiest way to go from a value hotel to AKL the next morning should we decide to do that.
 
Exactly. Crunch the numbers with each option and weigh savings vs. convenience. Generally speaking, what is most convenient is usually the most expensive. Only you can decide what works best for you & your family.
When we had a split stay we brought our bags to bell services (or they will pick up in the room) and asked them to transfer it all. We went to MK the day of the move (WL to BC) so instead of taking the bus/boat back to WL, we took it back to BC. We stopped at bell services there and brought to our room.
We had a morning flight down the day before so all day to relax at WL then have a park visit the next day. I guess if you want to just go resort to resort you would follow whatever steps you would take with Disney's transportation as if you had an ADR there.
The older I get the less I can tolerate doing anything at 3 am. lol:goodvibes We like a Friday night flight also but mostly so that I don't have to wake up in the wee hours for an early Saturday morning flight. Our latest flight is 9pm to 11:30 pm so that works great for us.
 

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