Hotel for night before Disney? About This Page:

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

I apologize if this is a repeat question. I've done some searching & can not find an answer but I am sure that people here have an answer for me.

We would like to possibly fly in a night before our Disney vacation starts. That way we can get a full day in the parks on our first day in Orlando.

Can anyone recommend a hotel that we could stay in for a single night after we fly into Orlando?

Also, how could I handle trasportation? We usually just take the magical express to our hotel in Disney World so we don't have to worry about transportation & luggage. So, any advice on a nearby hotel & then how to get to WDW from there?

Thanks in advance for such great ideas!

[MollyB]

Why wouldn't you stay at a Disney resort that first night? That seems to be the easiest and most convenient. That way when you wake up the next morning you will be ready to hit the parks! Plus you can use magical express and take the worry out of how to get there and dragging the luggage around! Good luck!

[Mom of three 1971]

In the past we have always flown in late in the afternoon and checked into the Hyatt International right there in the airport. Very nice hotel. Then we have dinner in the airport, (we like Chili's), then look in the shops. Get to bed at a decent hour and start fresh at WDW the next day. I don't like to waste a package day with a 1/2 day. We actually do this at the check out end to. This way we can stay late at the park on our last day then just head over to the airport. No rushing the next morning because we're right there!

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

In the past we have always flown in late in the afternoon and checked into the Hyatt International right there in the airport. Very nice hotel. Then we have dinner in the airport, (we like Chili's), then look in the shops. Get to bed at a decent hour and start fresh at WDW the next day. I don't like to waste a package day with a 1/2 day. We actually do this at the check out end to. This way we can stay late at the park on our last day then just head over to the airport. No rushing the next morning because we're right there!

Thanks for the advice. That was exactly my thinking. I don't want to waste a 1/2 day of our vacation package, when I might be able to stay at a much cheaper hotel than $230. a night for the Disney moderate that we booked. Then we will get a full day in the parks on our first day.

After you stay at the Hyatt, do you take the Magical Express to your Disney resort the next day?

THANKS!!!!

[Mom of three 1971]

Originally Posted by DisneyOrBustColorado

Thanks for the advice. That was exactly my thinking. I don't want to waste a 1/2 day of our vacation package, when I might be able to stay at a much cheaper hotel than $230. a night for the Disney moderate that we booked. Then we will get a full day in the parks on our first day.

After you stay at the Hyatt, do you take the Magical Express to your Disney resort the next day?

THANKS!!!!

Actually, we usually do town car/limo to the hotel in order to save time. We get picked up by 9am and are in the parks by 10:30. I've never used ME to know how much time that takes. It's my understanding, though I could be wrong, that ME waits for a full bus and goes to several hotels, so that could waste the time you saved by staying at the Hyatt. What about taking a cab?

[MollyB]

Interesting! It has never occurred to me to have it be a waste of a half day to spend the first night of our vacation at a Disney Resort. We much prefer to check in, un-pack and have a dinner at EPCOT and then be right there and ready to start our first full Disney Day but to each his own

[Mom of three 1971]

Originally Posted by MollyB

Interesting! It has never occurred to me to have it be a waste of a half day to spend the first night of our vacation at a Disney Resort. We much prefer to check in, un-pack and have a dinner at EPCOT and then be right there and ready to start our first full Disney Day but to each his own

I think for us it has to do with travel time. Most of the direct flights out of here have been cut, so we are looking at a lot of travel before we even get there and not arriving before late afternoon. It would depend on our package too. This trip we are using MYW Deluxe dining, but when we travel on the Platinum plan it's a huge waste of money to pay for a day we really can't use to the fullest.

[srsatkowiak]

You could look into doing room only at a value resort the night before. Go to DTD for dinner and shopping then hang out at the pool. This way you can do DME for transportation and utilize bell services for your luggage between resorts. That is what we do in situations like this. The next morning we will take a cab to our package resort (dropping luggage at Bell Services) to check in and get our KTTWC that will have our park tickets. If you already have your park tickets, you can have Bell Services transfer your luggage and you can check in later.

[Sue M.]

No, DME dosen't wait for a full bus. We've left with only 4 families on the bus. I've never had to wait more then 15 min for a DME bus. There are a few drop offs- they go by area. MK area services the 4 MK resorts- WL, Poly, GF & CR. But you may not have to go to all, depending on drop off order, and there may not be people going to all the resorts either.

We've done a room only at Pop our first night, to aviod the big package charge for our first night. This way we still get DME & luggage pick up/delivery. Then next morning we just get a cab and take us & our luggage to our resort. WDW will transfer your luggage free, but we just prefer to do our own luggage.

[sjh801]

Originally Posted by srsatkowiak

You could look into doing room only at a value resort the night before. Go to DTD for dinner and shopping then hang out at the pool. This way you can do DME for transportation and utilize bell services for your luggage between resorts. That is what we do in situations like this. The next morning we will take a cab to our package resort (dropping luggage at Bell Services) to check in and get our KTTWC that will have our park tickets. If you already have your park tickets, you can have Bell Services transfer your luggage and you can check in later.

That's what we've done! We do Room Only,so a package is not a problem. We've done first night at POP and then move over to our resort of choice. ME works and the resorts transfer the luggage. Works very well this way.

[JKB]

Originally Posted by sjh801

That's what we've done! We do Room Only,so a package is not a problem. We've done first night at POP and then move over to our resort of choice. ME works and the resorts transfer the luggage. Works very well this way.

I have also done this and it does work well!!

[coasties]

Originally Posted by srsatkowiak

You could look into doing room only at a value resort the night before. Go to DTD for dinner and shopping then hang out at the pool. This way you can do DME for transportation and utilize bell services for your luggage between resorts. That is what we do in situations like this. The next morning we will take a cab to our package resort (dropping luggage at Bell Services) to check in and get our KTTWC that will have our park tickets. If you already have your park tickets, you can have Bell Services transfer your luggage and you can check in later.

This is what we do. Value resort room only the arrival day.

[Katara81]

Another nod for the Value Resort/DTD on the arrival day. You can take Magical Express, and Disney will transfer your luggage the next morning. Easy peasy.

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

Thanks all for all of your wonderful insight everyone!!! I really do love these boards & I hope that I can contribute to them as much as I take away.

I do like the idea of possibly staying at a value resort the night before our package & then taking a cab to our resort the next day. Can anyone give me an estimate on cab fare from a value resort to POFQ?

In the past we have taken the DME from the airport to our resort & have not had any problems waiting for the bus to fill up. The best part is not having to stop at baggage claim. On our last trip the bus only had about 15-20 people total on it. We will be taking a town car from our resort to our cruise & back to the airport so I just don't want to add that extra $$ of another car into the whole equation.

It all adds up quickly. DH always says that buying a trip to Disney is like buying a new car. You look at the base price & then they are like "Would you like seats, tires & a stearing wheel with that?" Of course you do, so then you have to add that to the price.

[oldmom]

last time we let disney move the luggage and we took the resort bus to somewhere (first bus that arrived) and then took the bus to POFQ. however, i will also say that it seems every time we take a taxi anywhere in disney, the cost is around $18.