1st nighter, no rooms, where to stay?

[January-2007]

Hi all! Like always, I'm curious about extending the already long vacation coming up next week... Both DH and I have off on Friday and our check in for the Free Dining Package at Pop Century isn't until Sunday. If we left on Friday, driving down from Maryland, we would get there by Saturday night, so where to stay? The cheapest place to stay on property is a King room at CBR for around $180 I think, and I'm just a big cheapskate who doesn't want to fork over that much for one night... So, where off site do you recommend that's safe and cheap? Is that an oxymoron? Maybe we'll just leave on Saturday as originally scheduled... I'm just so ready to be there!

[#1donaldfan]

This year we did the same thing coming from WV......the night prior we stayed at Holiday INN Express.....exit 68 (on US 4) .. We really liked it and their pool was very nice, waterfall and slide. We ate at Olive Garden that night, which was almost next door....you should like it very well....AAA discount room cost us 100.00. Ph # 407-239-8400.....happy hunting....

[DDuck66]

When I used to live in Destin, (7 hour trip) we would always drive down the night before and stay at the Comfort Inn on Highway 92. There are tons of motels up and down Hyw 92 and in Kissimee. Most of them are located within 10 minutes of the main gate and range in price from $49 to $129.

[EPCOT84]

Offsite there are a number of hotels and motels at Exit 68 off the 4, like the earlier poster wrote.

My preference is to be onsite. Try the Downtown Disney hotels. There are around eight of them. Many are affordable, onsite, have park transportation, may fit your one day need and under $180. Also, you'll have a shorter drive to get to Pop Century once you check out. If you're lucky, you may be able to get closer to $100 or under at some of them, even the nicest ones !

Check their websites individually. Good deals may be available online at their own sites (instead of an agent or online agent).

Hint: Keep the website addresses even if you don't book in advance. Then, even once you are there, if you don't have Internet access, if they have a business center, pay the few dollars to go online, find the room with the rate in your budget, book it, and walk to the front desk with your confirmation number.

[Lynn J Mc]

We stayed at Comfort Inn Suites on 192 this past May. It was very clean and cost about $85. Included continental breakfast.

[garymacd]

On this past trip we also drove down. On our first and last nights, we stayed on Palm Parkway. It is within spitting distance to the entrance to DTD. We like the Hampton Inns. They have large rooms, the smallest bed at this one was a Queen bed. Rooms had two queen beds or one King bed. The room cost less than $100 per night with AAA discounts.

We left the hotel and were at CBR in less than 15 minutes. That was great, especially after a long last day at the parks.

[mudpuppysmom]

We've never stayed at the Master's Inn, but my cousin stays all the time......SHE INSISTS that the places be clean and safe, since they have three girls that are with them. If it was not clean -- she would never stay there. Normally they stay at the one in Kissimmee (beside the giant orange). It's close and they say it's fine for them. They are FL residents and visit the parks very frequently, so saving money on a hotel room is key for them. The rooms are typically around $50 per night and it's about a five minute drive to the parks. For one night just to sleep it may be worth a try if you are game.

Another place I would stay myself is the Fairfield Inn Marriott Village on Vineland Road -- stayed there before and it was a good deal and a decent place too.

[January-2007]

Thanks for all the replies! We're back from our trip now. We ended up just driving down Saturday early, and getting all the way to Palm Coast, Florida before stopping for the night. We stayed at a Sleep Inn, and in the morning it was only about an hour and forty minutes further to get to Pop Century. Then the wait was on. Next time we plan to just leave a little earlier in the morning and driving the whole way through so that we can rest at the resort we'll be staying at during our entire vacation that first day after the long drive. On the way home? I'm not so sure we'll ever be able to make it in one day, but we're thinking about trying!

Thanks for all the great suggestions!!

[Momof2boys]

A few trips ago we got in late to MCO & had to find a place to sleep for the night. We stayed at a Ramada Maingate at a whopping cost of $49 a night. It was clean & safe and since we were only there for 8 hours or so it was worth it.

[emerzmom]

We are renting a vacation home for 7 nights in November, however, when I checked the MVMCP schedule I found that it was going on the day before our scheduled arrival. So, I am using hotel points to stay at the Embassy Suites near DDD for one night before we move to our vacation home. I travel a lot for work so I accumulate points to use for fun and vacation. What better way to use them than for MVMCP? If you are a Hilton Honors member the Embassy Suites or Hilton near DDD is a great option. Or "Starwood" is the Westin/Sheraton hotel points program. It cost 10,000 points for the Swan or Dolphin but it might be fun.
Not sure if that will help or not but I just thought I would throw it in as an option to think about.