2017: The Year of All the Disney Trips - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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why dont you just book an airport hotel with a free shuttle then you can come back to the airport the next day and take dme to your wdw resort.
there are many inexpensive hotels with free shuttles near mco
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why dont you just book an airport hotel with a free shuttle then you can come back to the airport the next day and take dme to your wdw resort.
there are many inexpensive hotels with free shuttles near mco
i thought about that, but then i remembered that i hate DME. also uber is super cheap.
however, i DID come up with a budget option! i forgot that i had a bunch of choice hotel points. i found a really cheap choice hotel--a clarion inn--that was only 6k points for that night. so the hotel is free. yay! so around a $50 taxi fare and that's it. it's not a fancy hotel, but it is walkable to a strip mall for dinner. and my only need that night is somewhere to sleep. i'll leave early in the morning via uber for the boardwalk. yay!
also i just now remembered that i needed to book a RETURN FLIGHT. duh. now that that's done, i'm ready to go!
1. renting a car. or not? it seems it would be half useful and half annoying. and likely with taxis and uber, kind of even out money wise. thoughts?
2. which camera to take. i haven't taken my proper nikon to disney in a while, as it is big and heavy and quite frankly i have a lot of photos of disney already. i have a small waterproof point and shoot, and was also given a gopro as a gift that i could try out. we are going parasailing so...do i take just the gopro? the gopro and the point and shoot? the gopro and the nikon? all three? has anyone used a gopro in the parks as mostly a still shot camera?
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I wouldn't bother renting a car. Uber and Disney transportation work well enough. As far as the camera -a small point and shoot would be good enough. I would also vote for a Disney Springs (DTD) food crawl. Many good new places there to do! Sounds like you have an epic trip planned!
blargh. first--i'm having trouble getting excited about this trip. i don't know why. i SHOULD be excited. someone please help me get excited. thanks.
second--i now do not know how i'm even GETTING there, as i just realized/discovered that i can't get to the boardwalk from my offsite hotel on sunday morning because of the marathon. so now i'm starting out my trip...i don't know what. sitting on a bench with my bags for two hours? this makes me very sad.
sorry for the negativity. but i spent all of tonight trying to figure out a way to do what i had planned--take an uber from my free offsite hotel to the boardwalk, drop off my bags and do anything. and it seems i legit can't do that.
What time were you planning on leaving your hotel for the Boardwalk? The races usually start at approximately 5a.m. , and there should be protocols in place that allows you to get to where you want/need to be. You mught try calling your Disney hotel directly and ask them what your options are for arrival at the resort. Good luck and let us know what they say!
Just a thought...I know you don't like DME, but perhaps in this case, maybe you could uber back to the airport & take it to BWI. Surely the drivers will know best alternate routes and how to navigate around the marathon...
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We always rent a car, so that gets my vote. We find it just gives us freedom to do what we want, although I'm not sure what to say about the BoardWalk and the marathon. We were at the Contemporary for the Princess half marathon and annoyingly, there was no information beforehand from Disney. Luckily we knew about it, but we were literally trapped there for a good few hours, which was frustrating.
Which camera to take? I couldn't travel without a "proper" camera. Mine is my Sony HX 400 - love it, and I can't imagine going anywhere without it.
Just a thought...I know you don't like DME, but perhaps in this case, maybe you could uber back to the airport & take it to BWI. Surely the drivers will know best alternate routes and how to navigate around the marathon...
yeah--my offsite hotel was 2 miles from WDW and thus far from MCO. that would be annoying to say the least. see below for how i 'solved' it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
We were at the Contemporary for the Princess half marathon and annoyingly, there was no information beforehand from Disney. Luckily we knew about it, but we were literally trapped there for a good few hours, which was frustrating.
1. as i said before, i changed my hotel reservation on saturday night to the dolphin. it cost me only points which i have a lot of (and which i'm literally earning right now as i'm in a marriott for work as i write this). so marathon: avoided.
except not really avoided, because i'd like to go cheer people on, which i may be able to do depending upon timing. which will be fun. yay.
2. i then decided that the most important thing was me making this trip as stress free as possible. and the end of our trip was stressing me out, as my husband is arriving and we are moving to a moderate resort (in a far away pirate room at CBR) and also he has a stupid early flight home. the thing that would make all of that more hassle free: a car. so i rented a car for him for his four nights. he won't have to take DME, we will be able to move our stuff to CBR without any issues or schlepping through a huge resort carrying our stuff, we will be able to easily get to AK and AKL for dinner on friday night and i don't have to stress about trying to get an uber at 4am on monday morning. all for the low low discount price of $116 for a car rental for four days.
3. speaking of car rentals: i then looked at a cheaper way to get from MCO to the dolphin, as a taxi can be in the area of $70. i was like 'ok, i'll take a shuttle or something'. and i stumbled upon the best tip ever which is: the dolphin has an on site national car rental.
so for $0, i used one of my free rental days (i rent cars for work a lot) to rent a car for exactly 2 hours. i will pick it up at MCO (renting a car at national is as easy as getting a taxi--you just walk onto the lot, get in one, show your ID at the gate and drive away) drive to the dolphin, and hand the keys to the valet who will return it to the on site rental center. i will also use my car-freedom to stop at the grocery store and pick up a few things on the way (mostly wine and breakfast things), thus saving even more money.
even if you don't have free rental days, this is STILL cheaper than taking a taxi, as a car rental is around $30/day and a taxi is around $70. yay.
i am so glad i fixed all of these issues. now i just hope that everything works out as i planned!
So glad it has all worked out for you--And cheering the marathoners on can be a lot of fun! I've a friend doing the Dopey Challenge (which I am so happy to NOT be doing) Be sure to wave for me!
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also uber is super cheap. 
i forgot that i had a bunch of choice hotel points. i found a really cheap choice hotel--a clarion inn--that was only 6k points for that night. so the hotel is free. yay! so around a $50 taxi fare and that's it. it's not a fancy hotel, but it is walkable to a strip mall for dinner. and my only need that night is somewhere to sleep. i'll leave early in the morning via uber for the boardwalk. yay! 
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