Opinions wanted

[UCJen]

We are booked from Sunday to Sunday at BCV. However, we found it significantly cheaper to fly out Saturday night.

Here are our options. Stay at Pop Saturday night. I'm little worried about that because I keep reading it's kind of loud (but it's only one night). But I figure we'll be on property, so we'll just take our luggage down to Bell Services and have them drop it off at BCV.

Or

Stay at the Hyatt at MCO and line up for the Magical Express for BCV in the morning. It's a little cheaper, but not significantly so. Has anyone done this? What has been your experience?

We had ADRs at Kona Cafe that morning, but I can always swap them out for something like the Captain's Grill.

Any feedback is appreciated. :)

[faline]

We've added on an extra night at the beginning of our trip for exactly the same reason you cite. On that trip, we stayed at Pop. I didn't find Pop to be at all noisy. Our biggest issue was the size of the beds (we prefer king sized)but we knew that when we made the reservation.

[Kairi_7378]

I think I'd go with POP. I think it would be logistically easier.

[Checkers]

:mickey:We have done this as well. I would prefer to stay at POP and have my bags transferred the next day. It has always worked out well for us.

[SBETigg]

I've stayed at the Hyatt at MCO at the end of a trip with an early flight the next morning. We booked the extra night to maximize our stay at the parks the previous day. It worked out really well. We arrived at 11 pm after a day at Epcot and the MK and were ready for our flight without the dread and sadness of leaving early the next morning. It was a decent room, good place to stay. But coming in, I would be eager to get to the magic and would probably choose the Pop option just to be on property.

Or, actually, check into the price of rooms at the Hilton, Downtown Disney. We did that for a first night before, and being able to enjoy Downtown Disney (with a great view overlooking it) made it all that much more magical for not a lot of money. We had dinner at the Benihana in the hotel, which was also pretty good. The next morning, we took a cab to our other hotel (the GF) and then just headed right over to the MK in time for opening.

[DAWS]

Another vote for Pop! I like visiting this resort just for great photos - the huge displays all over the property are just too fun. Plus, it helps your vacation start sooner - once you are on Disney property, vacation starts!

[sorcerer fan]

we had a flight mixup and had to go down a day early. we stayed at the hyatt at night and just walked down to ME in the morning and made it to POFQ where we were staying early and got to go into the parks right away. the hyatt room was very nice and they had a nice breakfast too, not free, but waht is? we would do this again if it came up.

[gerald72]

One vote for Pop Century

[caryrae]

I would say since you say you will fly Saturday night just stay at the airport and use ME in morning. If you would have been arriving in the morning I would've said stay at POP.

[Jillirose]

Or, the Dolphin is right next door and often has special rates. It would be close to catch the magical express and you would have transport to Kona.

[Disney-4-Me]

I've had the same issue and chose to stay at Pop just so I could explore a new resort and get started with the magic!:mickey:

[brownie]

We didn't have any problems with noise at Pop Century when we stayed there at the end of November/beginning of December last year. I would go with Pop Century.

[caryrae]

We are booked from Sunday to Sunday at BCV. However, we found it significantly cheaper to fly out Saturday night.

What time are you suppose to arrive at the airport Saturday night?

[UCJen]

What time are you suppose to arrive at the airport Saturday night?

Our flight gets in at 9:45. I think by the time we disembark the plane, line up for ME, load the bus, we could be checking in at Pop at 11-12--at the earliest.

With a AAA discount, the Hyatt is cheaper than Pop, is a better standard of accomodation, and we get free breakfast, too. I know it's not as fun or magical as Pop, but with what we will be saving, it will be a QS meal that week.

We were only going to use Pop as a place to put our heads until the morning, so a lot that of fun theming would not be fully appreciated in the dark. ;)

Also my son is an Aspie, so I think he will love "plane spotting" and getting to sleep at a reasonable time--which will make life easier for me the following day. :)

[renecat]

We staye at POP back in 2008 before we went to the GF the next day. It was also during Pop Warner but we really didn't have a problem. Next morning we let them transfer our luggage and we went over checked in got our park tickets and off we went.

[nfrustaci]

sounds to me that u made your decision already.... if it were me i would stay at the airport hotel. you are getting in late and you could get up at the crack of dawn and be on you way to disney !!!! free breakfast sounds good to me too. and it is cheaper than the value, good as well. why put more travel on to an already long day. wake up refreshed and ready to have fun.:thumbsup:

[moe513]

since you are getting in so late I would stay at the airport. You can get settle for bed earlier than if you go to POP and then get up early to start your WDW vacation.

[teambricker04]

Is that am or pm? I would say if it's late, stay at MCO. We did the same thing, but stayed at ASMu the first night. We waited so long to get the bus, so long to get into the room, and forever for our luggage. It was about 2am before we got to bed (we arrived at 9pm). It made the next day hard. Our next trip we will be staying at MCO :)

[darthmacho]

I can see why you sought advice because it's a tough question. Both options seem like they'd work pretty well. My first instinct is to say stay at Pop, for the same reasons others have stated, luggage issues, it's a WDW resort, etc. I'm thinking your other option would work too, however, so I don't think you'll lose either way.

I guess my opinion would be go for Pop, especially if you've never stayed or visited there, if only to check it out for future reference. :mickey:

[CuteAsMinnie]

Would def stay at the PoP that first nite!:mickey:

[Disney_Barbie]

Personally, for me the big factor would be: what time will you be landing on Saturday night.
Like, for example if you're going to be landing at 11:30pm or something crazy late like that, it seems easier to just stay in the airport and get to disney asap in the morning.
But if you we're talking like 6pm on saturday night... (enough time to start enjoying your trip before bedtime that night) get your butt on todo disney property by any means possible.
That's what I'd do atleast

[Tink1]

Personally, for me the big factor would be: what time will you be landing on Saturday night.
Like, for example if you're going to be landing at 11:30pm or something crazy late like that, it seems easier to just stay in the airport and get to disney asap in the morning.
But if you we're talking like 6pm on saturday night... (enough time to start enjoying your trip before bedtime that night) get your butt on todo disney property by any means possible.
That's what I'd do atleast

Ditto!

Nanc

[caryrae]

They did say their plane gets in at 9:45pm so by the time the plane gets to the gate, get off plane, walk to the ME, then get to the Resort and check-in it would be kinda late IMHO to make it worth it to stay at POP just to sleep pretty much. They also said it would be cheaper to stay at the airport and would get free breakfast and better accommodations.

[BrerGnat]

With a special needs child, go with the Hyatt! Keep it simple! Since you land at MCO so late, you'll have to collect your own bags anyway, so really, there is no benefit to staying at POP the night before. In fact, I'd caution against staying there because it IS loud! My kids would never sleep there, because they are both ASD kids with supersonic hearing. They'd be up all night over there...because you will hear every sound your neighbor makes.