Pondering for January (minor) - WWYD?

Heading to Disney Jan 6-11. I’m currently booked into CSR Standard View for the whole trip with my flight arriving at 10:38 (scheduled).

I looked out of curiosity for options if I stayed near the airport (I could literally stay at the Hampton Inn super close for less than $15 with points) arrival night since I’ll just be going to the room and crashing, then caught DME first thing in the morning and headed over, and I could stay in a GDT Standard View for the 7-11 - even with the hotel near MCO it would literally be the same price.

I’m torn. On the one hand, it would be great to wake up and just be able to head to the park (Animal Kingdom). On the other hand, it’s not THAT much of a pain to get back to MCO for DME (or I could even splurge on a Lyft if I wanted I guess…though not sure how that would affect DME back to MCO if I didn’t take it going) and I’m typically an early riser, so in theory I could get there and get on an early if not the first bus to AK - and it would be staying in the Tower.

WWYD?

It won’t. You don’t have to take DME round trip. It can be one way either arrival or departure.

A Lyft is going to cost about $35, if that helps you plan.

Personally, when I on vacation I’m more about convenience than anything else. I would rather just get there and be settled. Then start my vacation first thing rather than hoping all the buses, hotel front desk & etc… run smoothly the next day. (plus having to go to drop everything off before going to DAK)

However, I’m also a “every hotel room is basically the same” person - as I spent years as a business traveler. So, that factors into why I would prefer just being settled than getting into an “upgraded” hotel room

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Personally I would keep CSR if those are your two choices. I agree it would be nice to stick to one hotel the entire trip and to be settled in that first night. You will save a lot of time packing, unpacking, driving, bussing, etc. etc. If you’re going to AK in the morning, that extra morning time will seem huge.

However, I guess it depends on how much you value GDT or regular CSR.

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We thought of this when we went. In the end decided it would be more convenient just to get to our Disney hotel. I’m
Glad we did, exciting to get there that night.

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In the interest of helping you justify the extra expense …

How much more is it to stay at GDT the extra night? Can you use your points at the airport hotel for a different trip? You should really consider those points to be cash for purposes of budgeting, so if you save $100 in points that you can use later, you should take credit. If it’s only another $100 or so beyond that … well, maybe it’s worth it to you.

A man after my own heart.

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If I keep Memory Maker (I am solo, so it helps get shots), it is 206.71 more. If I don’t keep Memory Maker it is only 37.71 more.

Question about Memory Maker… If I do not get it, I could still get pictures taken but would have to pay individually if I wanted to download them? Is it something I could add partway through or would I need to make that call before the trip starts? My last trips I had an AP so I didn’t have to worry about it.

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Have you thought about joining one of those FB groups that shares a Memory Maker? Or just joining with another party?

If masks are still a thing by then, I’d drop Memory Maker. Although then again being solo, you really need someone else to take your pics.

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I really don’t want to deal with having to sort through pictures of other people to get to mine and other people having random access to my pictures. That has always made me scratch my head - there is no guarantee that others in the group are 100% honest and won’t abuse access.

I shall ponder. Lol.

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I totally get it! I always buy my own for similar reasons, if I get it at all.

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