Night Before Our Cruise???

[susie & perla's mom]

Which value resort should we stay at? Or should we just stay at the Hyatt in the airport terminal?

[CanadianWDWFan]

We are thinking about the same thing for our Christmas 2014 cruise as well. I have priced out the Hyatt and it was starting at $190 where the Value resorts were starting at $149. No brainer for us, we are staying Disney just based on the cost of the room.

[BrerGnat]

Hyatt. We have done both. First cruise was Art of Animation the night before. Last year, we did the Hyatt. Hyatt was hands down WAY better for several reasons.

1. Staying at the Hyatt gets you complimentary luggage transfer from your room to the ship. You simply leave your bags in the room and they come get them and take them. It's a system they've had in place for years and it works flawlessly.

2. You get to the port earlier if you are taking Disney transfers. It is cheaper to do transfers vs. Renting a car and paying to park it and way less hassle than having to do two "one way" car rentals. If you stay at the Hyatt, you can begin boarding buses to the port as early as 9am. DCL bus pick ups at the resorts don't begin until 11-12pm, so you will arrive to the port much later, around 1pm on average.

3. The trip to the port is shorter from MCO by about 20 minutes.

4. There are lots of ways to get the Hyatt at a discount. We used the Government rate and got a room for $120 and used the "family plan" to get a connected room for $97. It was a steal. They also offer AAA rates and sometimes other discounts.

The rooms were also much, MUCH better than the Disney value rooms. The beds were much more comfy and the room was very quiet. A little bonus is that MCO is actually a pretty fun place to hang out, and it's all indoors so if it is rainy, you are good to go. We spent time browsing the shops, playing in the arcade, and had dinner in the food court. Our kids enjoyed it. We are never actually at MCO long enough to stop in the shops and stuff so it was fun.

[DizneyRox]

We've stayed at the airport Marriott many times. Free transfers to/from the airport, and then did town car over to the port. We always arrive the day before a cruise, I don't want an airline problem ruining a cruise. Never had a problem, but who knows...

[susie & perla's mom]

Thank you so much for your replies. We've stayed both on site and at a nearby MCO hotel during our previous cruises but this time we'll try the Hyatt due to the convenience and the early boarding opportunity. I does cost a little bit more than Disney's value hotel, but I found an offer that includes breakfast and no penalty in case we cancel our reservation. So we'll see....