Late Flight into MCO

[Jarthur]

Hello good people. I’m having a bit of a dilemma for an upcoming trip to WDW for my wife and I and could use some advice on what we should do. Our flight is scheduled to get into MCO shortly after midnight the day before our first day over at CBR and I’m contemplating either staying at the Hyatt MCO or taking an Uber whenever we land and just book a night at a value resort for a night and move over sometime in the morning.

Hyatt MCO: $306 (with a discount after taxes and fees)
Pop Century: $213
All stars (Mo/Sports/Music): ~$170

Any advice on what we should do here? My gut tells me I should just book the Hyatt because of the possibility of delays with the flight being that late. Sounds way easier than possibly landing after 1am and taking a 30+ minute Uber that late. But, $300 for a room that we’ll be in for a relatively short amount of time is a bit steep. I’ve also looked into the Disney Springs area hotels which are about the same price as the cheapest Values but I think at that point I might as well pick a Disney resort so we can utilize the luggage transfer service.

If anyone has better suggestions please let me know as well. Thank you


Edit: I ended up calling the reservation line and getting another night added to our stay at CBR. Thanks everybody!

 

[Ann-CA]

Honestly, I’d choose a value resort and just get an Uber/Lyft that time of night and save that $100, unless you really don’t want to be walking in the resort that time of evening. Of course, only you know whether you’d want to do that at 1am. The way I’d see it, I’m gonna lose sleep on one end or the other anyways, so I might as well stay up late and sleep an extra half hour in morning to save that $100. But I also flex pretty easily with sleep. If it’s hard for you, that $100 could be worth it.

I think with online check-in it should be easy to get into your room and then doing luggage transfer next morning makes it easier.

Do you happen to have any travel credit cards? The Hyatt at MCO is a great value to use points on. I think it’s usually 16,000 points for a $300 room. That would be the way I’d choose Hyatt over the Value. Or if you’re open to opening one, you might have time to easily get enough points. A bunch of credit cards have great bonuses right now (including 60k bonus for Sapphire Preferred). If I had credit card points, I’d book at Hyatt at MCO over the value.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I would have added a night at CBR in the front to extend your stay so I could go to the resort that already had a room for me for the week so I didn’t have to move and could sleep.

 

[Lewisc]

Will you have checked luggage? My understanding is you can give Hyatt bell services your airline claim ticket and they'll grab your luggage.

I'll second the CBR suggestion.

 

[jimmymc]

I usually do an All Star resort and take Mears. The bus ride is definitely longer than an Uber, but it's cheaper and they'll still bring you even if your flight is delayed.

 

[rlk]

I prefer to be on Disney property, even if arriving past midnight. The two times we decided to fly in the night before, we booked the extra night at an All Stars resort. Both times we experienced flight delays that caused us to arrive at the resort around 2:30 - 3:00 am, but we were happy to wake up the next day on property.

 

[Lewisc]

If I have a flight scheduled to land late evening, 8 - 11p, I book a hotel in the airport zone. I find it's a good use of hotel loyalty points. I take advantage of the free breakfast then ride share to Disney.

Most of the free hotel shuttles stop at midnight.

The OP is willing to pay for the airport Hyatt. How much more to book the extra night at CBR? Much simpler and convenient.

I'm comparing free with $500+ at a deluxe.

 

[starry_solo]

I’d fork over the extra $100 and stay at the airport Hyatt. that late at night, I would want to go to sleep as soon as possible, and wake up later that morning refreshed and showered before heading to resort.

 

[BostonEd]

If I have a flight scheduled to land late evening, 8 - 11p, I book a hotel in the airport zone. I find it's a good use of hotel loyalty points. I take advantage of the free breakfast then ride share to Disney.

This is the way. I don't know why OP thinks the Hyatt is the only game in town. Sure, being right in the airport is nice, but so what? It takes 5 minutes to get to the airport hotels. And you'll probably get a bigger room for less than the All Stars rate.

I would have added a night at CBR in the front to extend your stay so I could go to the resort that already had a room for me for the week so I didn’t have to move and could sleep.

Hard disagree on this. At 1AM you will basically be given the last room available. You might have to move anyway, because the room you got sucks, and you don't want to stay in it the rest of the week. And you're paying a lot for really not much of a benefit.

Follow Lewisc's advice.

 

[Lewisc]

This is the way. I don't know why OP thinks the Hyatt is the only game in town. Sure, being right in the airport is nice, but so what? It takes 5 minutes to get to the airport hotels. And you'll probably get a bigger room for less than the All Stars rate.

The OPs flight is after midnight. That means paying $10 for a ridebshare, hotel shuttle stop between 10p and midnight, and waiting for luggage. I think Hyatt bell services will claim your bags. If not most of the group can check in and go to the room while someone waits for the luggage

 

[BostonEd]

The OPs flight is after midnight. That means paying $10 for a ridebshare, hotel shuttle stop between 10p and midnight, and waiting for luggage. I think Hyatt bell services will claim your bags. If not most of the group can check in and go to the room while someone waits for the luggage

If you're willing to spend the dough, sure, it's definitely the most convenient plan.

But my point (and I thought yours) is there is another option OP didn't even mention. Even with rideshare fees, you're going to be in a nicer room, a lot sooner, for a lot less, if you stay at an airport hotel, rather than a Disney hotel.

 

[Lewisc]

If you're willing to spend the dough, sure, it's definitely the most convenient plan.

But my point (and I thought yours) is there is another option OP didn't even mention. Even with rideshare fees, you're going to be in a nicer room, a lot sooner, for a lot less, if you stay at an airport hotel, rather than a Disney hotel.

I agree, to a point. Once the arrival gets late enough getting some of the family to bed a half hour or more earlier, while one person gets the luggage starts to make sense.

 

[RunDisney Matriarch]

We routinely take late flights to MCO and stay at the airport Hyatt before heading to our Disney hotel the next morning. We started this practice during the wild west of post-pandemic flight delays but it still works well for us. We get up the next morning, shower, and then take our bags with us to the food court for breakfast before hopping the elevator to get an Uber. Everything is very close together and convenient. The interior rooms at the Hyatt can still be quite loud (even at 1am, etc.), so we usually book an exterior room. It costs a little more but it's worth starting the trip with better sleep.

The tradeoff we keep in mind is that while it's nice to grab our luggage and be at our bed 15 minutes later, when we get to Disney the next morning we know it will likely be many (many!) hours before our Disney room is ready. We have no problem leaving our gear with bell services and hitting the parks but some people prefer to get settled right away. Whatever you decide, have a great trip!

 

[HeatherC]

There are hotels right near the airport that would probably be half the price of the Hyatt. I would probably do that or even just call CBR and book an extra night at the beginning of your trip and explain that you will be arriving after midnight. That way your room is ready and you don’t have to move hotels.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I would add a night at the CBR and do online check in and then you can go right to your room when you arrive without stopping at the front desk. I have done this a few times when I arrived on a late flight.

 

[Jarthur]

I would have added a night at CBR in the front to extend your stay so I could go to the resort that already had a room for me for the week so I didn’t have to move and could sleep.

This is exactly what I ended up doing!

 

[meremac]

Hard disagree on this. At 1AM you will basically be given the last room available. You might have to move anyway, because the room you got sucks, and you don't want to stay in it the rest of the week. And you're paying a lot for really not much of a benefit.

That's really not how it works though. Disney assigns rooms 2-3 days prior. Sure, there might be a little tweaking here and there, but arriving late does not automatically translate into getting the last room available. I have lots of clients who take the redeye (there's a really popular Friday night flight out of our airport), and it's never been an issue with room quality. I tell them to check in online and I call room requests in about a week prior, so they often get their room assignment on their app before they even head to the airport.

 

[buzzrelly]

I always opt for whatever gets me in bed soonest when I arrive that late. The Hyatt MCO is costly but worth the price of not having to travel anywhere at 1am, and then checking into a hotel.

 

[BostonEd]

so they often get their room assignment on their app before they even head to the airport.

Yes, I forgot about that.

And I realized that if @Jarthur was willing to pay the price of the Hyatt, then yeah, maybe just going to CBR directly, even late, would be the most overall frictionless choice. Good to see that is what they decided.

I, however, am cheap, so I would have gone with the airport hotel.

 

[softballmom3]

We have done this 2 times. Once we stayed at the Hyatt and once we travelled on over to a Disney resort. I am team Hyatt at the airport lol. It was much more convenient and felt better. If you choose to head on over to Disney I would definitely stay at the same resort rather than have to move resorts with no vehicle. I know you can Uber, but I wouldn't want the hassle myself. Sometimes luggage transfer takes forever and a day. I edited the post because I thought they had stopped that, but a simple Google search I found out I was mistaken .