Where to stay the night before?

[hulagirl]

Hi all,
We were finally able to make reservations (Yeah!). We will be staying for 4 days at Old Key West and 4 days at Wilderness Lodge. Our flight times have changed and we won't be arriving onsite until 10:00pm so we decided we'll pay cash for the first night somewhere. Any suggestions? We were thinking maybe Port Orleans (hopefully at a good code rate) since its right near OKW and we could send one over to check us in while the other got the kids ready for the day. What do you all think?

 

[kfields1]

Believe it or not, it might be worthwhile checking into how many points a studio at OKW would be that night. I am in the same situation and was going to stay at the ALL-Star for cash. Then I saw that it was 15 points for a studio at OKW. I rented the points at $10 points and it turned out to be the same price with less moving!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I would also consider Caribbean Beach. We drove stright thru earlier this month. We had thought we would spend the night somewhere on the oerad since we didn't leave until mid-afternoon, but made excellent time. I called CRO while driving I-95 and they had Caribbean Beach available. Therooms are larger than Port Orleans and very recently were refurbished. It had been years since we stayed there, but it became our new favorite moderate.

 

[InstImpres]

I have used priceline and stayed in a 4 star hotel near the airport for $28. We have done this a few times.

Good luck

 

[Dancind]

We also stay at a Priceline hotel near the airport when we arrive late. They're all clustered just north of the airport, very easy to find, and check-in takes maybe five minutes. We had to check-in at OKW twice last week, since we went from a 1 BR to a 2 BR. The first check-in took over an hour, the second about 45 minutes. They were having problems with computers, and seemed to have several new employees, I've never had it happen before. I would hate doing that at 10 pm though! Diana

 

[Michelemouse]

Another Priceline vote..although we usually stay in the WDW zone. We usually bid 3* in that zone and have been very happy with the different properties we have gotten. We have stayed at the Hotel Royal Plaza, Hyatt Orlando and Sheraton Safari...all for $30 bids.

 

[chris1gill]

Since you're already staying in two different resorts relatively close together timewise, I'd also vote for using points or cash to stay the first night at OKW!!!

 

[natt]

For those of you who have stayed near the airport the night before, how do you get to WDW the next day? Has anyone ever had a towncar service pick up at one of these hotels, then have them do a grocery stop before? Just wondering if they only pick up at the airport or if this would be an option.

 

[Dancind]

We always rent a car. However, the 3* hotels near the airport all have shuttle service, and I'm sure a towncar service would be willing to pick you up at one of those. Diana

 

[hulagirl]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I was intrigued by the idea of trying Priceline so I read about it a bit and gave it a try and was able to get the Orlando Airport Marriott for 22.00! Just wanted to share that with you all because I think that is such a good deal! It is only a few minutes from the airport so I can have my little guys in bed and hopefully sleeping by 10:00 so we can get a fairly early start the next day. Thanks again for the great suggestions!

 

[momsully]

We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites at the Airport in February and used Happy Limo. They stopped at the grocery store for us on the way to WL.

 

[natt]

So, you mean you arranged for Happy Limo to pick you up at Country Inn? I also assume you could use their shuttle to get you to the hotel that night, right? DH likes that hotel chain, so that's good to know that it's a choice.
This wouldn't be for this year's trip, as we are driving, but for 2004, I think we'll fly. Thanks. natt

 

[momsully]

We used the Country Inn Shuttle the night we arrived to get to the hotel. Happy Limo gladly picked us up right at the Country Inn and delivered us to the Wilderness Lodge with a quick stop on the way. They were very prompt and for our group (9 people) very affordable. They were $105 round trip and also included booster seats for the kids.

 

[floridafam]

Maybe you should check out the Swan or Dolphin

 

[JMWSR518]

Why not try the dolphin or swan. they advertised $139.00 a night on this very site.

JMW

 

[DebbieB]

A couple of years ago I made a National Car reservation when the rates were cheap in the fall for a February long weekend, expecting that we would fly down on Thursday morning. The price for the morning flights never went down, so we flew down on Wednesday night and stayed at a Sheraton near the airport. The rates for National had gone way up, so we wanted to keep the original Thursday reservation. They had a free shuttle to and from the airport, so we took the shuttle to the hotel and then back in the morning to pick up the car from National and got to CSR by 8:30am. It wasn't a problem that our National reservation was for noon, we picked up at 8:00am, they didn't say a word.

 

[vernon]

Hula, I think you've had a great solution there, $22 for the Mariotte is a great deal and being right at the airport is going to save you time getting to bed. IMHO there's no gain to staying onsite that night as you're going to have to change rooms first thing in the morning anyway. I've often done this ( stayed near the airport first night) and moved to WDW in the morning. Spend the money saved on a nice character breakfast and get the holiday off in style