Arrival late evening at resort -or- stay off site and arrive the next day in the AM

[pooh2001]

Arrival late evening at resort or stay off site and arrive the next day in the AM
Jambo house - AKL - standard room - request high floor, nice view

Better room if we check in Monday late - about 9 or 10 pm from MCO
Or stay off site for less, and arrive about 10 am on Tuesday ?

Do we get a better room on a Tuesday AM - the resort could hold our bags and food store stop stuff from our car service to the Jambo house ? Would we have a better chance of a free upgrade to pool view or Savannah view, if er arrive at 10 am in a Tuesday ?

Or just take DME to the Jambo house resort late Monday night - and do Garden Grocer sometime have it delivered on Tuesday, and get our room about 10 PM at Jambo house AKL standard room ?
Any chance of a better room ?

Thanks for your advice

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I’m not sure what the best chances of better rooms or upgrades are because they depend more on the ability of the resort to offer them than what time you arrive. Getting a better/ upgraded room largely depends on whether or not better/ upgraded rooms are already occupied, and there’s no way to know who’s checking out of what room on your arrival date and if that same room would be available for your stay. I wouldn’t count on having a free upgrade as a strategy.

That said, my preference is whichever option gets me the most rest after a day of travel.

 

[ncc1701]

I’m not sure what the best chances of better rooms or upgrades are because they depend more on the ability of the resort to offer them than what time you arrive. Getting a better/ upgraded room largely depends on whether or not better/ upgraded rooms are already occupied, and there’s no way to know who’s checking out of what room on your arrival date and if that same room would be available for your stay. I wouldn’t count on having a free upgrade as a strategy.

Agreed. My vote would be stay at AKL the whole time. That way if your flight gets delayed you can sleep in and not have to deal with checking out of the other hotel.

 

[pooh2001]

Thank you - we will do Garden Grocer for a Tuesday AM delivery and leave MCO on DME to JAMBO house AKL standard view room

 

[jhoannam]

For our last trip we stayed at the Hyatt at MCO. Our flight landed at 11pm, wanted to get in bed ASAP. We slept in until 8AM, then took the ME at around 9am. We used points to stay at the Hyatt, which saved us $$. Would do it again.

 

[MainMom]

We are arriving on a Saturday evening and spending one night in a Little Mermaid room at AOA before our BWV stay starting Sunday. We will have bell services transfer our luggage for us, grab breakfast at the food court and head to a park. We will also place a grocery order with Amazon Prime Now to be delivered on Sunday at BWV. This is our first time starting our vacation this way and I’m excited for it!

 

[Wild4Walt]

If I could get a good rate at the Hyatt at the Orlando airport then I'd do that and take the ME the next morning. If you can't get a decent rate there, then I'd stay at AKL for the extra evening.

 

[trixiedust23]

Went in Dec 2017, stayed at Hyatt at the airport and checked into AOA next morning. Disney told us because our flights weren't same day as check-in, they would not deliver bags directly from the airport to hotel - we didn't even get the yellow ME luggage tags. We had to pick up our baggage after our flight, lug it to the Hyatt and then back down to ME in the morning. Not sure if there's a workaround, but it was very annoying since we had a good bit of luggage (we were staying at Disney a week and second week in Orlando with family). Not sure of your particular situation whether this would be a deal breaker but wanted to mention it!

 

[Hoosier John]

I was gonna say arriving around 9pm is only about 5 hours after official check-in (I think check-in is late afternoon). But then I liked this:

For our last trip we stayed at the Hyatt at MCO. Our flight landed at 11pm, wanted to get in bed ASAP. We slept in until 8AM, then took the ME at around 9am. We used points to stay at the Hyatt, which saved us $$. Would do it again.

And my question about how the checked bags were handled were answered by trixiedust23:

Went in Dec 2017, stayed at Hyatt at the airport and checked into AOA next morning. Disney told us because our flights weren't same day as check-in, they would not deliver bags directly from the airport to hotel - we didn't even get the yellow ME luggage tags. We had to pick up our baggage after our flight, lug it to the Hyatt and then back down to ME in the morning. ... Not sure of your particular situation whether this would be a deal breaker but wanted to mention it!

Knowing that it could easily be any hotel near MCO with an airport shuttle, my only question would be was there any problem arranging for people and all the bags on the Magical Express?

 

[jhoannam]

I was gonna say arriving around 9pm is only about 5 hours after official check-in (I think check-in is late afternoon). But then I liked this:



And my question about how the checked bags were handled were answered by trixiedust23:



Knowing that it could easily be any hotel near MCO with an airport shuttle, my only question would be was there any problem arranging for people and all the bags on the Magical Express?

We picked up our bags took them up to our room at MCO, I did have our carryon with first night and morning items. No problem taking them on ME, we left our stuff with Bell Services and headed to Ak.

Also, if you have Chase Ultimate Reward points you can transfer 12,000 points to Hyatt, that’s $120 in rewards. Sweet deal.

 

[JLCDisMom]

HI! Your trip sounds so fun!
I just got back from a quick last minute trip. I landed at MCO at midnight and used ME to get me to All-Star Movies. While I was staying there, several people got off the bus with me for a 1 night place to crash before checking into their "home" hotel. Concierge arranged transfer of luggage and they were quickly off to bed. I don't know the rates at the airport, but I do know that rack rates at All-Star Movies were very affordable and the refurbished rooms were clean and had super comfy beds.

 

[Joe Brig]

Having to travel the second day kind of delays the vacation, in my opinion. Most resorts have online check-in, so it doesn't matter if you get there late, you will get a text telling you when your room is ready.

 

[Lacoccinelle]

It would be easier to just stay on property the whole time and less stress. Wake up there and have coffee over looking the animals or in the lobby.
We always book standard and have been upgraded a few times over the years. One of our favorite non upgrades was at AKL though. We were in 3544 and we saw animals constantly and it was great. It overlooks the area where you use the viewing glasses.

A while back we were upgraded to what is a great room at WL right under a suite with a pool view and light parade from balcony, but our standard view the next year there in the main lobby had a Magic Kingdom fireworks view and was so close to everything. So the upgrade is not always better.

 

[kiford]

Would we have a better chance of a free upgrade to pool view or Savannah view, if er arrive at 10 am in a Tuesday ?

Your chance of a free upgrade is the same whenever you arrive - probably zero. We flip flopped for a while on our last trip in Feb trying to decide whether to go to WL the night we arrived or stay at MCO Hyatt and go the next morning. We had decided to stay at MCO because our flight was scheduled for 11:40 pm arrival. But when I went to book the price was less than $100 less for MCO than for WL so we decided to go straight to WL; the price savings didn't seem worth the hassle. Our flight ended up getting in after 1 am because of weather so we didn't get to WL until 2:30-ish and didn't get to bed until 3 am. So while it would have been nice to just grab our bags and go almost right away to sleep I think I'm glad we decided to go straight to WL even though it was quite late. We just slept in until 9:30, had breakfast at the hotel and headed to the parks. We had already unpacked the night before so I think it worked out better for us. We're doing the same late night arrival time for our next three trips and I gave up even bothering to check the prices at MCO and dealing with the hassle of repacking and getting to our hotel late morning (or getting up early - not gonna happen). It still makes some sense to me to crash at the MCO Hyatt, especially if you have kids and/or the price differential is substantial but we've decided to just suck it up and sleep in late.

 

[nkereina]

Having worked in a hotel, the earlier you arrive and check-in, the better your chances are of getting your request. This is simply because CMs have a larger pool of available rooms to move things around in for the earlier arrivals, if need be. But, requests are not always granted so this is not something I'd base the decision around.

If it were me, I'd go straight to the resort on Monday even though you're arriving late. Your room will be ready and you can take care of business when you get there, so you can have a fresh start the next morning ready for the parks. I've never understood the logic of staying at the Hyatt or anywhere else the night before. Either way, you still have to go through the hassle and time of taking DME, so wouldn't it be better to do it upon arrival when you're not wasting park time? You either arrive at your resort late Monday night and sleep in Tuesday. Or you arrive at an off-site hotel early Monday night, and wake up early Tuesday, and then you have to pack back up and head over to WDW, where your room may not be ready at that time. And often, the Hyatt isn't any cheaper than just paying for another night at your resort.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

The earlier in the day you arrive the better your chance for an upgrade because people are checking out and there’s more inventory to chose from. That being said, of course there’s no guarantee of an upgrade so don’t go in expecting one. And if it were me I’d save the (considerable) money of a night at AKL and stay at a cheap hotel on arrival. You’ll just be sleeping anyway, why pay premium Disney prices for that. Take the savings and put it towards something else.

 

[pooh2001]

We could stay near MCO at a hotel, take a car service with a food store stop from the hotel near MCO, about 9:30 AM
Then get to AKL about 11 am (including the food store stop)
See what rooms are available, store or stuff, and go to EPCOT or AK
Thank you for all the suggestions

 

[fla4fun]

Personally I think there are two issues being mixed together here.

There are actual upgrades, and there is getting the best room in the category you booked.

For actual upgrades, those decisions are made in advance by the resort because it fills a need the resort has, not a need the guest has. I have only been on the receiving end of a true upgrade one time in decades of multiple trips per year vacations. We had a standard wing room booked at CR and were upgraded to a one bedroom suite. We figured it was because the day we were checking out was a big anniversary with lots of press and VIPs, so they were using us to block the room. We arrived about six pm and it was a total surprise.

Then there is getting the best room in your booked category-those elusive partial savannah or partial theme park views that are coded as standard view, or getting a top floor room, or the building with the short cut to the lobby. In this case arriving early CAN work to your advantage, because if you don’t like the first room you are assigned, you can work with the front desk to find one that better meets your needs. The earlier in the day it is, the larger the available pool of rooms in each category to work with.

So it depends on what you are really looking for. If you are just trying to maximize your room within its own category, the earlier the better. If you are hoping for a real upgrade, book a room you are happy with, and then just hope for some pixie dust.