Has anyone had luck with very last minute bookings?

[dolewhipdreams]

I am travelling to Charleston for work in October for 2 weeks and am playing around with taking a solo road trip to Orlando for a weekend to catch some of the Halloween/F&W happenings.

However, due to the nature of the work trip, I probably won't know until a few days before that weekend whether or not I'll have time to leave. And yes, I realize that it's a very short trip but if I can swing it then I would love to go.

Has anyone ever had success booking a room near WDW the week of travel? I'm not picky and I like Air BnB or 2-3 star hotels. Obviously the closer to WDW, the better. I've pretty much given up being onsite but I'll have a car and an AP for free parking so I don't mind too much.

 

[Upatnoon]

There are plenty of places to stay. Why are you giving up on onsite? They may have availability as well. When your plans are locked, start looking. The hard part will be deciding where you want to stay, not if anything will be available.

There is a ton of hotel inventory at Disney and around it. You are not going during a peak time and will have no issues.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We’ve come to prefer staying offsite. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to find a hotel near WDW no problem. Have a great time!

 

[writerguyfl]

Most of my trips (80%) are both short and last minute. By short I mean 3 or 4 nights. By last minute I mean booked the day prior or even same day.

With the exception of Spring Break, Christmas/New Year's, and holiday weekends, you shouldn't have a problem finding an acceptable hotel. That's especially true since you'll have a car and won't have to worry about whether a hotel has a good shuttle.

Despite what some people on this website believe, tons of people make last minute trips to Disney World. It's not unusual for Floridians to decide head to Disney World for the weekend. When I used to work at the Disney Reservations Center, a decent portion of calls on Friday evenings were people looking for a hotel room for that weekend.

 

[NH-to-FL]

That time of year I don't think you'll have any trouble finding a room even with the short notice.

I agree with previous posters that as soon as you know the dates you should contact Disney and check for on site possibilities. I would also call Disney and take the time to talk to a live person and not rely on checking availability via the web.
Wishing you a trip!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Thanks everyone! I'm usually a "planned 8-10 months in advance" kind of person so it's really stressing me out thinking that I'll have to book within days of arrival.

But you have calmed my fears, so thanks!

 

[dlavender]

Most of my trips (80%) are both short and last minute. By short I mean 3 or 4 nights. By last minute I mean booked the day prior or even same day.

With the exception of Spring Break, Christmas/New Year's, and holiday weekends, you shouldn't have a problem finding an acceptable hotel. That's especially true since you'll have a car and won't have to worry about whether a hotel has a good shuttle.

Despite what some people on this website believe, tons of people make last minute trips to Disney World. It's not unusual for Floridians to decide head to Disney World for the weekend. When I used to work at the Disney Reservations Center, a decent portion of calls on Friday evenings were people looking for a hotel room for that weekend.

Your last paragraph sums up most of my WDW trips!

 

[Penmac]

When we drive from the Northeast, we sometimes arrive in Orlando the day before our condo rental. It all depends on timing and we can’t always plan for that on a long distance drive. One year we arrived at 12:30am, the night before check-in, and I was searching for hotel rooms on booking.com when we were about 2 hours north of Orlando. We ended up at Buena Vista Suites because it had the extra space for our family & was affordable, but I remember seeing tons of availability popping up at a bunch of onsite resorts, and offsite as well. And we were arriving end of June w/ July 4th crowd. You will be fine!!