What to do after red-eye flight?

[lindkaye]

We will be going to WDW in September this year for a great 17 days - cant wait! We have 2 rooms booked at POR for our family of 5 (me,dh and kids 26,22 and 11). Question I have for everyone - if you have taken a red-eye flight - what do you do when you arrive? We will be on a non-stop from Seattle (got such a deal on tickets - $180 roundtrip!) - departing late evening and arriving around 7:30 am next morning in Orlando. I believe we will be renting a van at the airport. Part of the problem is I have MS, get tired easily and hate flying. I will not be sleeping too much on the flight as I will be keeping track of the wings on the plane -hehe. We cannot be guaranteed what time we can have our 2 rooms, which we understand. We will be packing our swim suits in our carry on's, but not sure how long we will want to hang at the pool. My husband has thought about booking an additional day to the front of our reservations for just 1 room so we could at least have a room to rest -but we dont want to pay for tickets for that day - it would be a waste since we plan on just visiting DT Disney and maybe resort hop for this day. If we booked a seperate reservation of 1 room only - not sure what time is check out time - would it be worth it? We also thought about off site hotel , but its such a hassel and would not be close DT Disney. Or maybe I can handle no room, but hate to take the chance of starting a flare, I don't want to mess up our vacation. Sorry this is so long - just hoping any of your ideas will help on this! Thanks :mickey:

[Strmchsr]

You talked about adding a day to your tickets, you would probably be best getting an AP if you're going to be there 17 days. If I remember correctly, after doing the math, 11 or 12 days is the point where AP's save you money, even if it's only for 1 trip. Might be worth checking into.

As for an off-site hotel, we often do that for arrival day. Priceline has enabled me to get a nice room for about $30+tax for that first night. That might be worth it for you. Or look at doing 1 room at a value instead of POR if you're looking to save a little money. Starting off your vacation tired is never a good way to begin. Check-out at Disney resorts is 11 am.

[BrerGnat]

The airport Hyatt. They have "day rates" where you check in early morning and can have the room right away so you can rest. You check out mid day, I believe. You can then head over to Disney around 3pm, which is check in time. Your room at POR should be immediately available.

The Hyatt also has a pool, so if the kids are not tired, they can swim or else hang out at the various airport shops, museums, and restaurants.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I think your husband has it right.

If you book an extra night at POR you can check in (at least to one room) right away and start getting settled.

If you have the dining plan, this would give that room an extra set of credits, which you would most likely use anyways, since you're there for the day.

You don't have to add extra tickets, just because you add a night. We've had varying # of days on our tickets, depending on when we were arriving, etc. However, as you add more days to the ticket, it gets to be very cost effective to add another day, so you might consider hanging around the resort for the day, and then catching fireworks at one of the parks. Especially with the time change, you might not be ready for bed right away.

[Alaska Disney Fan]

I have taken that red eye flight every time I have visited DW add that to a 3 hour flight from Anchorage to Seattle, I feel your pain! Amazingly we have never had a problem getting into our room at arrival in either September or April/May, but won't guarantee anything. On a few occasions we checked in, went to DTD, had lunch and walked around, went back to the hotel and took a nap and just hung around the hotel. Other times we have went straight to the room and slept, then got up and hit a park in the late afternoon. You could always call POR and let them know you need early check-in and see what they tell you. We'll be at POFQ in September too :mickey:

[BrerGnat]

Adding an extra night won't help. You can't check in remotely, and the Disney computer systems reset overnight. So, if you don't arrive by about midnight or slightly later, that night's reservation cannot be accessed anymore. Check in time for the resorts is 3pm. If you arrive early morning, you can only do a check in for THAT calendar date, not the day prior.

[E-OR]

We have taken that very same flight once. Two years ago in September. Our thought was that we would sleep on the plane and be ready to go as soon as we got to WDW. Unfortuantely our youngest son, age 20, takes meds so he can fly and they ended up wiping him out. When we checked in we explained to the front desk what was going on and asked if there was a room that was ready that we could have for our first night, anywhere in the resort, and then we would switch to the preferred room the next day. They were so great about accomodating us. We know that is not always going to happen but I give Disney credit for helping us out. We have also been to WDW many times and this is the first time we asked for anything out of the norm. We now know that we have to take the morning flight from Seattle get our room and spend the first evening/night sleeping off the meds. We are going again this September (our 4th time in September), with our kids, ages 20 & 26. Can't wait! Hope you have a great trip!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Adding an extra night won't help. You can't check in remotely, and the Disney computer systems reset overnight. So, if you don't arrive by about midnight or slightly later, that night's reservation cannot be accessed anymore. Check in time for the resorts is 3pm. If you arrive early morning, you can only do a check in for THAT calendar date, not the day prior.

This is good to know. Would online check-in help with this situation at all? Since you've really "checked in" for the night before, before the computers re-set?

[5MemphisTiggers]

You've got a 7 - 8 hour flight, so I would suggest taking something like a Tylenol PM shortly before takeoff and sleeping on the flight. (You worry less about the wings when you are asleep. :D) I've done this on flights to the UK, and hit the ground running at 9 a.m. It will catch up with you and you will need to hit the sack a little early the next night, but at least you've not been up for 20 hours by the time you touchdown at Orlando.

I would think on-line check in would help. You can just leave your bags at the desk and hit the parks. :thumbsup:

[BrerGnat]

No, Online Checkin will not make a difference. The check in time for the Disney resorts is 3pm, meaning that they don't promise you a room PRIOR to that. There might be one available, and if so, that's great. But, online checkin is really just a pre-registering, similar to what you do in person when you arrive prior to 3pm.

I would just hope for the best. You will be staying at a fairly large resort with a lot of rooms. I would think that there would be ONE ready when you arrive.

The worst I have ever experienced (and it wasn't that bad) was at WL. I took a red eye from CA, and like you, I do NOT sleep on planes, even if I take meds. I just can't get comfortable enough to fall asleep at all, ever. I arrived at WL at around 7am and BEGGED for a room, but there literally were none available. The resort was booked solid. I had to wait until about 10:30 am, so I just lounged around the lodge, trying to at least rest. I never ended up sleeping until that night, but a nap would have been great...

Another time, my mom and I took a red eye and stayed at WL, and we got lucky and got a room that was ready at 6:30am, so it's really a toss up. Depends on how booked the resort is.

[Alaska Disney Fan]

You've got a 7 - 8 hour flight, so I would suggest taking something like a Tylenol PM shortly before takeoff and sleeping on the flight. (You worry less about the wings when you are asleep. :D) I've done this on flights to the UK, and hit the ground running at 9 a.m. It will catch up with you and you will need to hit the sack a little early the next night, but at least you've not been up for 20 hours by the time you touchdown at Orlando.

I would think on-line check in would help. You can just leave your bags at the desk and hit the parks. :thumbsup:

It's actually only a 5 hour flight, you loose 3 hours due to time zone changes, I wouldn't suggest the Tylenol pm, you might have trouble getting going when your flight lands.

[BrerGnat]

This is good to know. Would online check-in help with this situation at all? Since you've really "checked in" for the night before, before the computers re-set?

No, because you still have to show up in person on the date your reservation begins. Online checkin can be done up to ten days in advance, but that doesn't mean they set aside your room and it sits empty until you arrive.

[Fastpasssteve]

There are lot of different ideas floating around. Here's what I would do if I was you:

Don't fret. Anxiety exacerbates sleeplessness and that can give way to a flare-up. Let it all go. When you get there at the crack of dawn, perhaps others in your group will want to go to Downtown Disney or one of the parks to explore. Let them. You be the sensible one. The main building in which you check-in has benches and couches in air-conditioning. Take advantage of them. Make sure you have a book into which you can disappear and not feel as if you need to make conversation an be 'on.'

Nobody will shoo you away, you're a guest. You can wait right there until a room becomes available, in which case, you'll be the first one to take a nap on your bed in the entire party!

But, can we revisit the 'rent a van from the airport to the resort' thing...
Why aren't you using the Disney's Magical Express which is FREE. They take you directly from the Orlando Airport to your resort...and at the conclusion of your trip, take you back to the airport. They even take care of the luggage. Look into it.

[lindkaye]

Thanks everyone for all your ideas. I think we will all just try to sleep on the plane (haha) and I will take my prescription little flying pill and hopefully sleep. We leave at 10:30 pm and arrive 7:30 am Florida time, so it seems like a long enough tme for a nap! Think we will just ask the desk if they have a room, and if not, we will just hang around. Hubby also reminded me we could change and go to one of the quiet pools and find a lounge chair in the shade (if possible) and nap there if need be untill room is ready.
Fastpassteve - reason we are opting to rent at the airport vs MExpress is that I have a scooter due to my MS and we thought it would be easier and faster to go from place to place vs Disney transportation. I wish renting was free like DExpress! Thanks again for everyones ideas - we cant wait to go!

[Lizzie]

We are from Seattle and have taken that red eye flight twice. First time we were staying off site in a house that half the group was already there. Second time it was us and our twin girls not quite a year and a half. We got to all star music they upgraded us to a family suite and it was available we got our luggage and pack n plays for the girls in less than half an hour. We napped for a couple of hours and than headed out to blizzard beach for a couple of hours. Not wanting to use one of our park days on just half a day. But if the room wasn't ready we had our swim stuff in our carry on and were going to go to Blizzard Beach for a afew hours.

[VWL Mom]

Adding an extra night won't help. You can't check in remotely, and the Disney computer systems reset overnight. So, if you don't arrive by about midnight or slightly later, that night's reservation cannot be accessed anymore. Check in time for the resorts is 3pm. If you arrive early morning, you can only do a check in for THAT calendar date, not the day prior.

I'm not quite sure on this. One trip we arrived at 3AM. I called the hotel and let them know we were arriving late and it was not a problem. We were not on a prepaid package so I just gave them my AX number to guarantee.

[BrerGnat]

I'm not quite sure on this. One trip we arrived at 3AM. I called the hotel and let them know we were arriving late and it was not a problem. We were not on a prepaid package so I just gave them my AX number to guarantee.

I think the computer "reset" happens closer to 5am, so a 3am arrival would still be okay for the "night before" reservation. But, a flight that lands at 7:30am, plus transit time is closer to arriving at the resort at 8:30-9am. That is way too late to get into a previous night's reservation.

[5MemphisTiggers]

Best of luck with it all. Here's hoping you can rest a little on the way and get that room pronto upon arrival!