WWYD re late night/early AM flight arrival?

[bas71873]

I can book a flight that would put us into MCO at 11:30 PM. I figure by the time I fetch our luggage and grab either a cab or shuttle to RPR, it's going to be well after midnight...which technically is my check-in day, however I'm about 14 hours earlier than the usual "check in" time.

So, wondering if I should take my chances and hope my room is ready at 1/2 AM (club level room if that matters), book an extra night at RPR so I know I have a room or just grab a room at the hotel at the airport and head to RPR in the morning after we get some sleep?

I will be traveling with a 5 1/2 year old, but she is a really great traveler and since she'll probably sleep the whole flight, the power nap will have her up & going when we land.

Thoughts or experiences?

 

[macraven]

I can book a flight that would put us into MCO at 11:30 PM. I figure by the time I fetch our luggage and grab either a cab or shuttle to RPR, it's going to be well after midnight...which technically is my check-in day, however I'm about 14 hours earlier than the usual "check in" time.

So, wondering if I should take my chances and hope my room is ready at 1/2 AM (club level room if that matters), book an extra night at RPR so I know I have a room or just grab a room at the hotel at the airport and head to RPR in the morning after we get some sleep?

I will be traveling with a 5 1/2 year old, but she is a really great traveler and since she'll probably sleep the whole flight, the power nap will have her up & going when we land.

Thoughts or experiences?

if you book the room (for the date you are landing at 11:30 pm) for the date you are arriving, it will be held for you and you will be able to check in when you reach the hotel after midnight.

if you don't book it for that night, i might be already booked which would mean you couldn't have that room until the people checked out at 11am and the room was cleaned. since you have a child with you, i would not take a chance that the room was not available until the next afternoon.

club rooms won't always be set aside for someone arriving in the early morning hours.
if they can fill that room, they will.

i would suggest you either book the room for the day you land at 11:30 pm and have it held for you when you arrive after midnight, or spend the night at a room in the airport and arrive after you have had a nights sleep.

the earliest i have ever checked in was 7 am.
i don't get the room at that time, but i will have it before 4:00 that afternoon.

i would go for booking the room at rph/club and just arrive at the hotel after midnight.
you will have a place to sleep right away and a place for all your belongings.

if you stay that night at the airport hotel, you have to then leave in the morning and move to another hotel.

rooms are not always available when you check in at the universal hotels.
you can store your luggage and get your room keys when you check in and then go to the park.
for me, i would rather have my stuff in the room before i hit the parks.

 

[bas71873]

i would go for booking the room at rph/club and just arrive at the hotel after midnight.
you will have a place to sleep right away and a place for all your belongings.

Thanks. I just added a night to my ressie.....figure we'll just sleep in on Sat after our late arrival and wing it for the day!

 

[macraven]

i know it is a lot of money to book the room and not get there until after midnight, but on one hand, you would be completely situated when you arrived at the universal hotel.

the room would be held for you if you booked a late arrival.
you would need to call in advance to let them know you are still arriving after midnight so the room would not be released at the front desk.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not sure where you're flying to MCO from but you may want to think about what happens if your flight is delayed. We had the same arrival time back in Sept and a huge Tstorm hit the east coast and everything was delayed.
Instead of arriving at 11:50pm, we departed Philly and 12:20am, arriving at MCO around 3am.
We were soooo dog tired. It was a Fri night and had been up since 5:30am for work. We were so happy to have a room at the Hyatt and didn't have any checked bags. We were in bed asap.

I even considered a room at the Hyatt for our upcoming trip arriving at 10:50pm. Especially in winter, who knows what the weather will be like that day?

Not trying to be a downer but just thinking of all possibilities.

 

[bas71873]

I'm coming from New Orleans, so hopefully no weather issues, however, husband lives & works in NYC during the week and he's flying down to meet us from there....we'll just see what happens. I booked an extra night at RPR and reserved a towncar for transportation. Hubby arrives about an hour before we do and he flies direct.....I hold my breath any time I have to layover in ATL???? Just wish me lots of good luck!

Not sure where you're flying to MCO from but you may want to think about what happens if your flight is delayed. We had the same arrival time back in Sept and a huge Tstorm hit the east coast and everything was delayed.
Instead of arriving at 11:50pm, we departed Philly and 12:20am, arriving at MCO around 3am.
We were soooo dog tired. It was a Fri night and had been up since 5:30am for work. We were so happy to have a room at the Hyatt and didn't have any checked bags. We were in bed asap.

I even considered a room at the Hyatt for our upcoming trip arriving at 10:50pm. Especially in winter, who knows what the weather will be like that day?

Not trying to be a downer but just thinking of all possibilities.