Stay before Disney vacation begins in hotel near MCO?

[Queenscoroots]

My DH and I and two children are going to WDW in September and staying at the WL. We have to drive to an airport five hours away to get a half-decent flight, which is fine. We plan to either: a) leave home the day before our first WL night, stay in a hotel near our departing airport, and catch an early morning flight to MCO – but not get to WL until the afternoon; or b) leave home in the early a.m. on the day of our first WL night and catch an afternoon flight to MCO – but not get to WL until evening – effectively missing one day of our vacation.

I’m wondering if we should instead fly out the day before our first WL night, spend the night in a hotel near MCO, and then start our Disney vacation in the morning. Has anyone done this? And if so, can you please recommend a good hotel near MCO.

Thanks - this forum is so helpful!

 

[lilyv]

We're staying the night near MCO on arrival day. We tend to stay at Hilton properties for the points. There is a Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn and and Embassy Suites all within 5 miles of the airport. Rates are good for Sept. We opted for the Embassy suites because we love their breakfast and there's a restaurant in the hotel.

Probably lots of other hotels, too, but these are at least a start.

 

[ABCanada]

We stayed at the Hyatt right at the airport when we had an early departure. It is very convinient, just take an elevator from the arrival level. It is comfortable and fun, you can watch the planes takeoff and land from the pool deck.
They had a good auto association rate for the night we were looking for but this can vary.
We still took ME we just gave them the date we needed the transport rather than our flight departure date. This could easily be done in reverse but you could not take advantage of ME luggage collection.

Many people spend their first night at a Disney value resort if they are arriving late. Disney handles moving your luggage from one resort to the next. Catching ME express is no worse than waiting for your luggage. I would pack everything you need for the first night as carryon so you do not need to wait for your bags to arrive.

 

[Queenscoroots]

I called today and added one night (ASM) onto our reservation! I hadn't thought of this before - but it makes it so much easier being right on the property - and having an extra day of our vacation! And they will transport us to the WL on our scheduled date. Thanks so much for the info!

 

[OntFamily]

I called today and added one night (ASM) onto our reservation! I hadn't thought of this before - but it makes it so much easier being right on the property - and having an extra day of our vacation! And they will transport us to the WL on our scheduled date. Thanks so much for the info!

We have done this many times. It enables you to use DME, and it is very relaxing. Also, Disney will transfer your luggage to WL from ASM.