Quick weekend getaway

Shacka1

Hakuna Matata
Joined
Nov 6, 2019
Hello!

I am hoping to pull off a trip for the very last weekend in Feb. Just me and 2 kids. But since its last minute and the only thing I care about is being in the parks, I am willing to (dare I say it) stay off property 😲

So my questions are, do any of the non Disney hotels transport you to and from the airport. Also what about getting to the parks? How do the shuttles work, when do I know they are coming and how do I know where they are going?

Is it worth it to just stay at a value resort instead?

Thank you!
 
Honestly, I've thought of this myself, and if I was only doing Disney for say 1 or 2 nights, I'd be more likely to just do a value resort for the convenience. However, I think some of the Good Neighbor Hotels might be a good choice as well. And probably are closer to the parks than the values. I wouldn't stay too far away though to maximize your time in parks.
 
I dont know anything about staying off property what is a goodn neighbor hotel? And what about the shuttles?

The all star music hotel is cheap but would be it better or worse as apposed to staying off property?
 
If you want to stay off site near Disney, you are most likely going to be responsible for your own transportation to and from the airport. Many hotels have shuttles to the parks but they have limited hours and may only go to one park or the TTC. The Disney Springs hotels do have regularly scheduled transportation to the parks and have access to EMH.
 


There are no other resorts that provide free transportation to/from the airport. Disney is able to bundle the cost into their resort stay because they have so many hotels with so many rooms that DME can work with economy of scale. WDW is just too far from the airport for it to be economical to any other hotel.

That said, it's probably about $40 to take an Uber to or from MCO. Last trip, we started at Pop, so Disney picked up from the airport, but then we moved to the Swan, which is technically off property, so we just took an Uber back to MCO. It was very easy, fast, and reasonably priced. Moreover, it meant more park time on our departure day because we didn't have to be back at the hotel 3 hours before our flight to catch ME.

As for shuttles to the park, there are a few good options. The Disney Springs hotels have a shuttle that departs on a schedule every 30 minutes. They are reliable and free. The schedule is published. I like that you know when one is coming, whereas with Disney you might wait 10 minutes or you might wait 40 minutes; there's no telling when the next bus will arrive. The downside is that they usually go to two parks each, so the ride might be longer than if you were staying on property, and the drop off for MK is at TTC. Depending on where you stay in DS, you could potentially walk over to SSR and take Disney transportation from there. These select DS hotels also have EMH access and 60-day FP booking windows.

The Hilton Bonnet Creek/Waldorf Astoria also have reliable frequent shuttle service in coach buses. You can often snag a good deal on Hotwire or Priceline for one of those properties. Same goes for the Wyndham Grand Bonnet Creek (but the timeshares of WBC do not have free access to the shuttle).

There are other hotels that offer more limited shuttles. Even some of the cheap ones near the souvenir shops may have one or two runs to the TTC a day. Some people make it work by taking the shuttle one way if it fits with their schedule, and utilizing Uber/Lyft the other way.

Most hotels close to Disney are probably around $10 each way via Uber/Lyft.

Honestly, for a one-weekend trip, you're probably better off with a Value. You might pay a bit more for the hotel rate, but MDE will save you about $80 in Uber/Lyft fare from MCO. For a longer trip, you can often find rates in DS that are low enough over several days to offset the airport transportation costs.
 
Thank you so much guys for detailed info!

We ended up booking Port Orleans FQ hahaha after all that, why I even do this to myself idk haha

I appreciate all of the info!
 
Hello!

I am hoping to pull off a trip for the very last weekend in Feb. Just me and 2 kids. But since its last minute and the only thing I care about is being in the parks, I am willing to (dare I say it) stay off property 😲

So my questions are, do any of the non Disney hotels transport you to and from the airport. Also what about getting to the parks? How do the shuttles work, when do I know they are coming and how do I know where they are going?

Is it worth it to just stay at a value resort instead?


Thank you!

I have over 150 on property stays and probably close to 100 off property. My rule of thumb would be if I were flying with no car, I would stay on property. The only consideration I would give would be the Disney Springs hotels for their bus service to parks, maybe the Bonnet Creek Hiltons since their bus is fairly regular BUT you have to figure in cost of taxi/uber/lyft to and from airport. And that may just put you back in Disney hotel rates.

I think you made a good choice.
 


I have over 150 on property stays and probably close to 100 off property. My rule of thumb would be if I were flying with no car, I would stay on property. The only consideration I would give would be the Disney Springs hotels for their bus service to parks, maybe the Bonnet Creek Hiltons since their bus is fairly regular BUT you have to figure in cost of taxi/uber/lyft to and from airport. And that may just put you back in Disney hotel rates.

I think you made a good choice.
And that is EXACTLY what happened. Adding in the $30+ resort fee per night, plus travel while I'm there. It was about the same for a moderate hotel
 

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