Would you take a later flight to save over 300?

[Skellingtonj]

I would save the money and take the later flight .

Same.

 

[a742246]

Another vote for later flight. We can stay up later and still spend 5-6 hours at the parks.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would see how much flights are for the night before. If they are cheap I would fly in a day early and add on a night.

 

[buzzrelly]

We like doing this too but we often fly after school, like a 6-7:00 flight or later. For a 1:30pm flight, it would be boring to sit around MCO four hours but I guess that depends how long OP’s flight is.

Same! In April we are picking up the kids from school when they get out at 220 for our 520 flight. We’ll sleep at the Hyatt that night and get picked up the next morning for our cruise.

Obviously, I’d we were going directly to WDW, we would head to DME the next am.

 

[pigletto]

We are going in Aug and usually take the first flight at 6AM. If we wait to fly out till 1:30PM, its about $330 less (total) for our outbound flight. We would lose most of the day at the parks as we would only be landing at 4:30, but its not like this is our first or last trip. We also have APs bought for last Aug trip, so we could go to the park just for dinner or a few rides. I'm tempted to save the $ even though I've always been willing to spend much more for just a few hours in the past...

I sure would. But I have a very set budget for travel and that kind of savings would really help in the food or tickets category.

 

[crisi]

We like doing this too but we often fly after school, like a 6-7:00 flight or later. For a 1:30pm flight, it would be boring to sit around MCO four hours but I guess that depends how long OP’s flight is.

MCO is one of the best airports to waste four hours in (Lord knows I've done it post cruise a few times). Arrive and eat - that's a good hour. Spend some time shopping - the Disney, Universal and NASA stores are all worth time. And you wouldn't need to get stuck at the airport - you could catch a cab to a movie theatre or bowling or something - or hang out with a book. And if the kids are along and you are a Hilton guest, there is a pool (although I think it would be really loud out there).

Personally, we only go for a few days - we go in early, spend half a day in the park, stay about four or five days, leave late, and then don't go back to Disney for two years or more. So we commando and an extra few hours of park time is absolutely worth it. But that is because we only spend a few days every couple years at Disney. If I were using an AP, had been there recently or was going back again soon, then I'd probably save the $300 for the next trip.

 

[tzeitel]

For our upcoming trip to DLR it is actually cheaper for us to stay an extra day than to go home on our originally planned day. We are still saving almost $250 after adding a day at the hotel. I would take the later flight and use the $300 for a special something. Like a character meal or fireworks party, etc.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

MCO is one of the best airports to waste four hours in (Lord knows I've done it post cruise a few times). Arrive and eat - that's a good hour. Spend some time shopping - the Disney, Universal and NASA stores are all worth time. And you wouldn't need to get stuck at the airport - you could catch a cab to a movie theatre or bowling or something - or hang out with a book. And if the kids are along and you are a Hilton guest, there is a pool (although I think it would be really loud out there).

Personally, we only go for a few days - we go in early, spend half a day in the park, stay about four or five days, leave late, and then don't go back to Disney for two years or more. So we commando and an extra few hours of park time is absolutely worth it. But that is because we only spend a few days every couple years at Disney. If I were using an AP, had been there recently or was going back again soon, then I'd probably save the $300 for the next trip.

I know what you mean. We have killed a few hours post cruise also but if OP ends up buying stuff, paying for taxis for other entertainment, then it cuts into her $300 savings. Then she may as well get the flight she really wants. For a 1:30pm flight, I think I'd just head to our resort. We like Hyatt MCO for really late arrivals, like after 9pm, or maybe 6pm for pre-cruise stays. JMHO.
The rooftop pool isn't loud; we visited for a pre-cruise stay. You can watch planes land but they don't really roar right over your head and after 30 mins you hardly notice them.

 

[bridgetbriarrose]

It depends on how long your stay is but overall all OP I say go ahead and save the money if you have APs and don't have to worry about spending money on park tickets by the day

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Since you have AP's and clearly go to the parks often, I'd save the money and take the later flight. That way you could use the savings toward a better hotel, an exclusive experience, a grand meal, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We are going in Aug and usually take the first flight at 6AM. If we wait to fly out till 1:30PM, its about $330 less (total) for our outbound flight. We would lose most of the day at the parks as we would only be landing at 4:30, but its not like this is our first or last trip. We also have APs bought for last Aug trip, so we could go to the park just for dinner or a few rides. I'm tempted to save the $ even though I've always been willing to spend much more for just a few hours in the past...

Since you have APs sure.

If you didn't and were counting on arrival day being one of your park days no I wouldn't OR I would consider looking at coming in a day early and staying somewhere less expensive for the night (if you're staying onsite).

It obviously depends on flights and airlines for cost of coming in a day early.

 

[frannn]

Ummmmm...you guys sooooo ROCK! I took the advice to save the $ and booked the later flight. Then saw the next few posts that suggested adding a day and going late the night before. I was kicking myself not having seen that before I booked last night....but called WDW today and was able to add the day PLUS was able to change the flight cause it was less than 24 hrs since I booked. So happy cause the extra $ we are spending for the room is actually covered by the dining credits we will have for meals we would've paid OOP for. We usually go once a year, so we are lucky either way. Yayyyyyyy and a great big THANKS!

 

[Ensusieasm]

We are going in Aug and usually take the first flight at 6AM. If we wait to fly out till 1:30PM, its about $330 less (total) for our outbound flight. We would lose most of the day at the parks as we would only be landing at 4:30, but its not like this is our first or last trip. We also have APs bought for last Aug trip, so we could go to the park just for dinner or a few rides. I'm tempted to save the $ even though I've always been willing to spend much more for just a few hours in the past...

Sometimes when I can save that much money by taking a later flight, I use the savings to add an extra night at the beginning of the trip, and wake up already there and ready to head straight to the parks.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I say take the early flight. When we go, I always book us on the 6 AM flight out and the 7 PM flight home so that we can maximize every minute of Disney time even though it does generally cost a couple hundred dollars more for those flights.

 

[Minnesota!]

We prefer the early flights, too - typically look to leave no later than 8am. However, I would take the later one. $300+ is a lot of money to save

 

[tvguy]

For $300 yes I would take a later flight. On our only trip to WDW they just wrote off the first day as far as the parks, but we are West coasters so we had to take a 6 am flight otherwise with the distance involved and the time change it would have been 10pm by the time we got to Orlando. DL is much closer, easier and cheaper for us.

 

[motherof5]

We are going in Aug and usually take the first flight at 6AM. If we wait to fly out till 1:30PM, its about $330 less (total) for our outbound flight. We would lose most of the day at the parks as we would only be landing at 4:30, but its not like this is our first or last trip. We also have APs bought for last Aug trip, so we could go to the park just for dinner or a few rides. I'm tempted to save the $ even though I've always been willing to spend much more for just a few hours in the past...

I am going in August and did the later flight to save both money and to be sane. The early flight was 6am and no way was I getting to the airport with my 5 kids at that time. I used to take those flights because I hated to pay for a hotel just to sleep and waste the day but the money you save in flights outweights the cost of the hotel for 1 night. I also use to stay at a cheap hotel near Disney Springs or airport that first night with free breakfast since we would get in at 9pm and check out next day. But I hate repacking even just 1 luggage so in August I am going to only 1 hotel I will use that night to do grocery shopping and unpack and be relaxed for the rest of the days. Hope this helps.

 

[McKelly]

I always book the early flights. We'ere too excited to sleep anyway! Plus, our experience has been we get stuck in more delays at the airport with later flights. We don't seem to run into them as much with the early flights.

 

[Auroraborealis18]

I would take the later flight. To get our flights so cheap, we are flying out of another airport and we leave at night. I wanted a few hours in the park day 1 but I don't mind losing a day instead of 1,500 for rt fare.