re: Disney Pros, is it worth it to stay on site?

If you don't have kids and like to eat/drink, stay in an EPCOT resort. It may be iffy to get one this late but that's what I would do. We did that in early October and will never go back to the values/moderates again. We are in discussions right now about buying DVC. Resale, of course.

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Right? Once you get all that room, the kitchen, the W/D all so close to the parks, it's hard to stay anywhere else.

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Exactly! When we walked into the room my better half went
" Well damn, I guess I know where we will be staying from now on."

Being able to hit EPCOT early then walk back to the resort after lunch to sit back and relax for a while then walk back in the evening, was a total game changer for us. NO sore feet. No more feeling like a worn out rag when we get home. Very little wasted time on the buses. Was amazing.

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ay we wanted to squeeze this in after Christmas pre New Years or in that stretch and possibly be out there for New Years, what would it run us?

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That is by far, the busiest time of the year and it will cost you an arm and a leg. Taking a quick look, the only thing available is club level Boardwalk for $1100 per night or Animal Kingdom Lodge for $688 per night for booking between Christmas and New Year.

We have AP's so I'm not sure if the tickets are tiered for that time of year. The thing with tickets is that the per day cost drops considerably the longer the tickets are for. 10 days looks like $44 per day where as 4 days is $87.50 per day.

I've never stayed off-site, but have looked into often. My feeling is full immersion is the way to go. If you have the cash, stay on the monorail.

We stay offsite with young kids under 6 in a free Marriott condo using points. Washer and dryer is great to have to save on packing too much. Tickets cost about $1100 total for the week and youngest is free being 2. We rent a double jogging stroller for $100 for the week, a rental car from National for about $200 for week using rewards and get a big SUV or van. For food we bring breakfast foods with us into parkvand eat while we wait in ripe drop or share a pre park opening meal to save cost but beat the crows in rides. I never use fast passes on Soarin at Epcot because we eat at Garden Grill and ride before 9:00 and the same at MK for mine train with Be Our Guest. I'm at line for Peter Pan when it opens after riding Mine Train twice and getting child swaps for later in the day. We go offsite for a cheap lunch like Chick-fil-A and then go back to park by 4 with snacks. For dinner we find a quick service or bring food with us into park. I don't wanna waste an hour eating in the park.

So for our last trip we flew and spent about $2500 total. This time we are driving so we will spend about $1800 total.

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What’s the best way to get to where I need to be? Ideally I would like to get a ride to whatever park as I don’t need to go to the room. I see there is some sort of shuttle that the resorts offer but is it necessary to book it?

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Not this late I don't think. You have to setup your ride for the "Magical Express" ahead of time and it only takes you to your resort. From there, you could catch a bus to the park.

Your best bet at this point is to Uber. It's about a 30 minute ride and they should be able to take you wherever you want whether that be your resort or the park.

If you had more time and were taking Southwest, I would have told you to just bring your luggage and get it tagged for the Magical Express. Once you drop it off at the airport, you don't see it again until it gets brought to your room. So no baggage fee and no hauling the bags everywhere.

ETA: Where exactly is your resort? If it's close to the park you wish to go to and you don't have luggage, you may be better off getting a free ride. That's if money is an issue and you call now to setup your ME spot.

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Are you saying it’s too late for the magical express?

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I'm pretty sure it is. Typically, you call up disney and give them your resort confirmation number and flight number and you get a spot on the bus. They'll also send you luggage tags in the mail so they you don't have to worry once about the bags after you drop them off. The bus takes you to your resort and your bags show up to your room an hour or so later.

What I'm not sure about is if you can still catch a ride if you don't have luggage and therefore don't need the tags.

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Yeah we are getting off the plane hopefully at 11:30 ready to go to the park.

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You're looking at about a 40-minute ride from MCO to your park. Different parts of Orlando. Uber should be able to get you up to where the other taxis go, which is works well for all of the parks except Magic Kingdom where you'll need to either take the boat or monorail to the park gates.

You can also Uber to the Contemporary and just walk across the parking lot to Magic Kingdom. Uber costs around $30 from the airport and yes they are allowed at MCO to pickup now. Last I heard, they were planning on having a Social Media pick up spot like MSY has. Not sure if they have yet though. We always go with a limo service with a grocery stop on the way in.

eta: This is from the Uber site about pickups at MCO:
"If you selected uberX or uberXL as your vehicle option, exit via Arrivals on Level 2 and wait for your driver curbside.

If you selected UberSELECT, head to Level 1 and walk to the Express Pickup Tunnel located directly next to the rental car counters."

Hope that helps.