One night off property - opinions please

[Shannon G]

We are headed back to WDW next month, and are veterans at this, but I am waffling on one issue. We decided to fly down a day before our package at CSR starts, to get the travel out of the way. We arrive in Orlando late on a Thursday afternoon. Currently the plan is to pick up a rental car at MCO (I have a free day available with National), make a grocery store stop, and then stay offsite one night at a Springhill Suites using Marriott points. The next day we are planning on a late breakfast at Kona Cafe, followed by DAK in the afternoon, so the plan is to drop our luggage at CSR, drive to the Poly for breakfast, return the car at the CCC and take a shuttle to DAK.

I am now considering an alternative. I could use about 26k SW RR points to stay at the Swan the first night. We could still pick up the car & do the grocery stop, but then after we check in at the Swan I could return the car at the Dolphin, so we don't have to return it the next morning. In the morning we could leave our bags with bell services to be transferred to CSR for us, take the bus to MK then monorail to Poly (or just uber to Poly), then take the bus from the Poly directly to DAK.

I know that using SW RR points for things other than flights isn't very economical, and I will be getting much less value out of them than if I saved them for flights. But, I am tempted by the convenience of it, as well as the idea that we will be on property from the first night, and could enjoy an evening at the Boardwalk rather than sitting at some offsite hotel. What do you think - is it worth "wasting" some of the value of the SW RR points? (I don't have enough Marriott points to cover a night at the Swan or Dolphin.)

 

[writerguyfl]

Personally, I'd stick with the off-site Springhill Suites plan. I wouldn't want to waste points at a resort like the Walt Disney World Swan unless I was there long enough to enjoy the amenities.

I'm not sure how the Southwest points redemption process works. Make sure you check whether you'd have to pay the $30 plus tax resort fee for the night. If you're "free" night doesn't include that fee, I'd certainly choose to go with the Springhill Suites.

Note: You still might want to return the car to the Walt Disney World Dolphin instead of the Car Care Center. It's not really out of the way between Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and Disney's Animal Kingdom. If you return to the Dolphin, you can just hop on the next Disney bus to the theme park instead of waiting for the Alamo/National shuttle. That might be slightly quicker if the shuttle isn't available immediately.

 

[ScubaCat]

Do you have *close* to enough Marriott points for the Swolfin? Maybe you could buy the extra you need?

Or check the points+cash rate as well. (I think Marriott offers those now.)

 

[bcuinohio]

We are driving down but staying the night before at the Sheraton Vistana, I reserved a 2BR 2 bath unit for $216. There is even a washer and dryer in the unit so I am going to do all of the laundry we accumulated on our way down. I do have a Marriot Visa so the rate was a special rate for cardholders. Otherwise I saw rates of $231 for AAA.

 

[Shannon G]

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately cash plus points doesn't appear to be an option for the Swolphin. I'm going to keep watching to see if I can snag a good last minute rate, otherwise I will stick with my Springhill Suites reservation. I'm not interested in paying for something else offsite, since I got Springhill with points (and prior to recent point rate increases after the Marriott/Starwood points merger). But, I'm going to keep watching and if I can snag a good last minute rate I may consider paying out of pocket for the Swolphin, just to be on-site the entire trip.

 

[loriwvu]

The Hilton is quite affordable too. We are staying there one night before checking into Art Of Animation. This will give us a day to enjoy Disney Springs.

 

[Shannon G]

The Hilton is quite affordable too. We are staying there one night before checking into Art Of Animation. This will give us a day to enjoy Disney Springs.

Thanks, but the reasoning behind staying at the Swolphin would be to be able to get the rental car return taken care of on our arrival night, and to have our luggage transferred the next day, and just head off to enjoy the day. If we don't do that, we'll just stick with Springhill Suites, since it's booked on points & so not costing me real money.

 

[jmpurdy]

We're flying in late on a Friday, going to Typhoon the next day and checking in to OKW on Sunday. We, too, searched for something nice, but reasonable before WDW. Decided on Springhill Suites - no resort or parking fee that adds so much more $$ onto the daily rate. I think we both made great choices!