Would you ever stay offsite for the first night?

[twinklebug]

I read once of a family who decided it was most economical to stay outside at a low rate for the first evening and move over early the next AM to their resort. It makes a lot of sense, but in all honesty, I think it might be too much work at the start of the vacation to check in/out of a motel not to mention not starting the trip off with that Disney feel.

Would you ever do this? If you have, would you do it again?

 

[grimley1968]

I did this and it went well. We flew down to Orlando in the early evening, and arrived at about 8 PM. Since I didn't want to pay $200 or thereabouts for our Beach Club room just to sleep in it for that night, we decided offsite was wise in this case. We stayed at the Orlando airport's Hyatt. It's very convenient. You just go to baggage claim, pick up your bags and wheel them to the Hyatt lobby and go right to your room. Early the next morning we rented a car and drove over to Beach Club and checked in. We did not get a chance to try this on the trip back home, since the airport was closed due to Hurricane Frances, and we had to drive back home. But this approach really saved us time the night we arrived, saved us money, and made for a much more relaxed check-in experience on the first day of our actual vacation.

 

[mycropht]

We actually did this on our last trip in September 04 and it worked very well. We saved $200 on the first night by staying in a Sheraton on I-Drive before moving to WL.

The best part of it is that you can get rid of your travel tiredness and get adjusted to being "on vacation" before actually hitting the parks. We were rested up on Sunday morning when we drove "over the border" in to Disney World and WOW!


It was really special and impactful. Much better, Imho, than arriving harried and tired from the airport and "just wanting to fall into bed"

 

[safetymom]

We used to do that all the time before we moved here. We had one bag with our overnight stuff so we didn't take all the bags into the room. In the morning we went to our Disney resort and checked in and headed off to the parks.

 

[SB in KY]

I agree with other posters...we have done this many times...either with an evening flight arrival (we always Priceline a 3* hotel in the airport zone....either get the Hyatt inside the airport or a nearby hotel with a complimentary shuttle)....just check in and go to bed....next AM I pick up the rental car and we drive to WDW....rested and happy to be there (and the $50 for the Priceline room is much easier to swallow for an overnight than the $200+ at WDW)...if we drive we often off site the first night also since we arrive in the late afternoon/evening and are beat from the drive.... we stay near WDW then. Always gets us off to a happy start the next AM knowing Disney is right around the corner.

Be sure to pack 1 bag with everyones overnight stuff so you don't have to unload everything for just 1 night.

One other advantage to staying off site the first night if you are arriving late is room assignments seem to be much more flexible if you check in earlier in the day.... you can check in bright and early the next day and be much more likely to get the room requests you made than if you arrive at 10PM or so.

 

[barb45]

Can't you do the same thing but choose a value resort at WDW. The price would save you money for that "just to sleep for one night" thing but then you could have bell services switch your luggage over to the new resort instead of you hauling it around in the morning. It might be more convenient and you get more "disney" feelings sooner. Has anyone done this?

 

[finnie48]

Hi,

We would do this when we drove from NJ, and,arriving in the evening would get a room in the Lake Buena Vista area (Rt.535) Then we would take the very short drive to DTD and have a most enjoyable evening, shopping, eating, and just relaxing. As someone said, this would get us at our resort early in the AM in a most wide-awake mode and ready for whatever. Haven't done it when we have flown, though.

 

[Lewisc]

I've done the 3* PL airport route. Didn't really want to spend $200 + for a deluxe hotel when my flight didn't get in until after 10:00p. A value hotel would have been more than the $50 PL rate and grabbing the hotel shuttle is very easy.

 

[vanyel]

We stayed off site after getting in at 8 pm. It was $35 at a the Lake Buena Vista Comfort Inn and we were barely there. We used our carryon to put in everything for the first night and it worked great.

One of the reasons I didn't consider a value for the first night was for the ease of checking in and out. Sometimes check in can be a long process at wdw resorts. Since we used the hotel for sleeping and a shower, then checked out by 8 am in the morning, it seemed a waste to go to a value then transfer to the Poly. Of course, we had also rented a car so that makes a difference.

If I came in later, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. We arrive at 11:30 am next trip so we're heading straight to CSR

 

[Jen D]

I would do it, if I had a late flight in. Especially since late arrivals often don't get the most desirable room.

 

[OceanAnnie]

We've done this and it worked well. We would do it again.

 

[Luv2trav]

Not to mention you have a better chance at getting your requests if you check in early in the morning. We have done this the last 2 times we went. I wouldn't do it any other way!

 

[Dalton5]

This is exactly what we are planning to do. We are driving non-stop from Ohio and will not arrive in Orlando until around 7:00 pm. We figure all we will want to do is shower and go to sleep. Wake up early and drive over to the CR for check in.

Less than 90 days!!!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

If you do it b/c your flight gets in late in the day and you dont plan to go to the parks, I could see how it might say you some money. I have friends who did it b/c their flight got in around 11pm. They checked into an airport area hotel for very cheap, ate the free continental breakfast the next morning, the hotel had a shuttle to go back to the airport where they took mears to their wdw resort. They checked in around 11am and got the magical vacation started.
For us though, I think it is just easier to check in at WDW and stay there. Just my preference.

 

[safetymom]

We did it because we took late night flights that got us in around midnight. We felt like we were getting a jump on our vacation. It worked better than when I had to get the kids up early in the morning, then fly to Orlando, check in and then head off to the parks.

 

[PamNC]

and you're right, it did take away from the Disney feel. I would prefer to start my vacation on Disney property. We drove in kind of later than usual that time...didn't arrive until about 5:00 p.m. So we figured why spend the money on the Contemporary for one night. So we booked the Best Western on I-drive. The DIS had a great special going on - I think it was like $39. It was fine, the hotel was clean and decent. It wasn't a pain really, because we didn't even unpack. I would do it again, but only if I were arriving late...like 6:00 p.m. or later. Usually when we drive we arrive about 1:30, and in that case we definitely start out on Disney Property and end on Disney Property. In fact, we'll be doing just that 7/2-7/9.

PamNC

 

[3lilprincesses]

Can't you do the same thing but choose a value resort at WDW. The price would save you money for that "just to sleep for one night" thing but then you could have bell services switch your luggage over to the new resort instead of you hauling it around in the morning. It might be more convenient and you get more "disney" feelings sooner. Has anyone done this?

you can do this, but not if you are a FAMILY OF 5! it is so frustrating to me! our youngest will be 4 on our next trip, so a value resort isn't an option. our next trip is going to be a grand gathering. we (my family of 5) will be flying in from pgh. w/ my mom. we're staying at GF and she is going to be sharing a room w/ other family members who will be coming from NY and CA, but that first night she is on her own, so we are going to get a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. It will be tight w/ 3 adults and 3 children, but for one night, it will be FUN! we are so excited about it!! plus we will get to do the whole sing-along, camp fire thing. can't wait!

 

[Kapp]

and it was not worth it. Having to unload, check in, check out, load back up an than go to our Disney resort (AKL), it was just not worth the hassel and the $$$ saved.

 

[maryIN]

We stayed at the Swan using a teacher discount for one night before checking in at the Poly the next morning. DH and I took in one carry-on bag and locked the rest in the trunk of the rental car. It was really easy for us to do this, but then we didn't have any kids with us either.

*mary*

 

[FamilyGuy]

When we visted last December, our flight landed at almost 11pm (I actually was at work til about 6pm that day), I had booked a room at the Baymont Inn Orlando for one night thru Hotel Kingdom for less than $40. By the time we secured the rental and got to the hotel it was 12:30am anyways.It worked out fine as we had it planned that way, so we had packed in such a way that we would only need a couple of bags to go into the Baymont with us. Then the following morning we checked in early at the CR, it worked out perfect!

I would do it again if we were flying into MCO late night in the future.

Our trip earlier this month we drove, and did not make any reservations for the first night as we were not sure how far we would comfortably drive. As it turns out we drove the entire way to Orlando, leaving Chicago at 3:45am in the morning and arriving in Orlando at about midnight. I first called the POR where we where supposed to check in the following night and was told they could not accomodate us as the resort was at capacity (2000 rooms?). Later in the night, I attempted to call POR again and with said that my kids had their fingers crossed and my wife was sprinkling some pixie dust, is there anyway they could allow us to check in one night early. I paid the rack rate of $149.00 for the first night, my other nights were at $104.00 nightly, so this time I was willing to pay extra to not to have to move.... One of the factors that played into that was that we already had a split stay planned with the latter half at the Boardwalk... changing resorts 3 times in Orlando would not have been a lot of fun!

So, believe it or not we are considering re-visiting WDW in October, more than likely driving again, and if we do so, We will probably stay offsite for the first night or two, and then check in to our DVC resort for the rest of the stay.

Funny thing is, if you had asked us a year ago, I would have said we have never been to WDW! Gotta get maximum use out of those annual passes - three trips in one year!