Staying at Shades, how to get to airport?

[1m1b]

I am in a little pickle here. We're staying at Shades of Green for our upcoming trip, and my dh just found out he has to return a day early. We have a rental car, but I was not planning on driving. Like I can drive in a big city, but I don't *want* to drive in Orlando. I'll be tired from doing the parks, and I just don't want to drive that. But because we're not staying at a Disney resort, we don't have the Magical Express.

I guess one option would be to see if I could get a room at a Disney resort just for that one night. That would work.

Do I have other options? Like in the sanely affordable category? Or is a shuttle so much (for 3 people) that I ought to just transfer us for that last night? Would that be a pain or would it actually be really nice? Any advice?

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

It's really just expressway driving, not a big deal and not far. I'd drive and not have the extra expense.

 

[1m1b]

And corollary to that, if I changed us to a different resort for the last night, which resort would we want that is close to HS? I wanted us to go out with a bang, watching either Fantasmic or SWG, so being close might be convenient.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Uber or a cab would cost about $50 which would be less than switching resorts, BUT, if you want to go out with a bang, BWI is within walking distance of DHS and is a lot of fun! AND, you would get Magical Express!

 

[1m1b]

Ok, I'm doing the math, and if I condense our two rooms at Shades ($300 total) to the one room for just that one night *and* we return the rental car a day early, basically I am at the same cost as a room at AKL. And since I wanted to eat breakfast Monday morning at Boma, staying at AKL would make a lot of sense! And we'd get the Magical Express.

So it's a wash financially, especially if I can get the military discount for that night. The thing is, is that a total pain in the butt to move our stuff from Shades to AKL? It seems like I never estimate correctly what's involved with Disney for time and distance. Is that sane or is that dumb? My dad will probably be tired Sunday, coming off the wedding, so he'll want to sleep in. My ds will probably want to go, go, go. Thing is, to check out, we'd have to be out by like 10:30 or 11 or whatever it is at Shades. And then we have to get our stuff from Shades to AKL. I don't even know what would be involved to do that.

I know I've read other people going to a different resort for one night of their stay, but what is involved? Is it a pain?

 

[1m1b]

Much as I love the idea of changing resorts, it doesn't seem easy to go from Shades to a Disney resort, the way it is to hop from one Disney resort to another. Guess we'll just stay put and drive to the airport.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

The only pain is packing up, IMHO. Getting from one place to the other in WDW has become super easy with cabs and uber onsite. It will literally cost you $5-$7 to take uber from Shades to AKL.

 

[1m1b]

Gramps decided he wants to go back Sunday too, so ds and I are going to stay and do Pop Century! So now I'm trying to sort out standard vs. preferred vs. preferred with pool view, hehe. My enthusiasm says go for preferred pool view, but it's $30 more. And I don't know if we'll even come back and use the pools, kwim? We'll probably go do the parks that day, stay out late, hit the hay, and go to our Boma reservation in the morning. Unless I change Boma to something more boy-friendly, hmm... There's only $10 difference between standard and plain preferred, so either way works. And if ds wants to konk out early, maybe being closer to the big pool would be nice? I don't think I'd actually like the noise. He *thinks* he would like the energy, but reality is we will do better with a break from it. If he wants to watch the outdoor movie that night instead of SWG at HS, surely it's not that far to walk from a preferred room to the pool, yes??

 

[1m1b]

Oh, and we figured out the baggage hauling! Not having Gramps means no ECV, so that's instantly easier. And we can send my checked bag with dh, if we want, leaving me and ds with just our carry-ons. That shouldn't be too bad. And we'd have the Magical Express. And, to get our bags from Shades to Pop, I can just have dh drop them at bell services of Pop on their way to the airport. At that point, ds and I are free to go on our way and just show up at Pop at bedtime.

At least I think that would work, right?

 

[minniebeth]

You would want to make sure that you do online check-in for Pop and have your magic bands linked for your plan
The preferred pool rooms are super close to everything and are wonderful for tired legs at the end of a trip. We've had preferred pool view rooms on two separate stays and it's a little noisier in the afternoon during the pool parties, but in the evenings it's just fine.
Star Wars Spectacular is awesome! I would definitely pick that over a poolside movie, even if I were tired

 

[1m1b]

Ooo thanks! I'm still tossing the coin, but now I feel good about both. I had forgotten about the paying with magic bands! By staying at Shades, we were missing out on that. Since we'll have that last night at Pop, can we pay with our Magic Bands the whole trip? (ie. the preceding 5-6 days at Shades?) Or can we only pay with our Magic Bands the for the days adjacent to our Pop night?

 

[Hopefully]

Ooo thanks! I'm still tossing the coin, but now I feel good about both. I had forgotten about the paying with magic bands! By staying at Shades, we were missing out on that. Since we'll have that last night at Pop, can we pay with our Magic Bands the whole trip? (ie. the preceding 5-6 days at Shades?) Or can we only pay with our Magic Bands the for the days adjacent to our Pop night?

No
You can not charge to your Shades of Green room using Magic Bands. Why do you think that would work?
You can only use them to charge to your POP room after you are checked in at POP

 

[patty57]

I would just Uber to the airport instead of moving to another resort for one night. I think it would be a lot less of a pain in the neck.

 

[sun_sh1ne]

We used the transportation company recommended by Shades (I think it's call Sunrise transportation). I don't remember the exact cost, but I do recall thinking it was kind of expensive. However the drivers were very courteous and professional.

 

[1m1b]

I would just Uber to the airport instead of moving to another resort for one night. I think it would be a lot less of a pain in the neck.

I totally agree! However because my dad is the military sponsor for us during our stay at Shades, I can't stay there once he leaves. Sniff. So I have to switch resorts or leave early with them.

 

[jen7233]

Hi, we've done a split stay on our last visit a couple years ago. We did not have a rental car though, we used a taxi. Basically we just packed up the morning of changing resorts, and called a taxi to take us over to SOG. It was really easy. Just have to consider check in/out times, can ask for later or earlier if they'll do it for no additional cost. And they held our bags at SOG before our room was ready.

For to/from the airport we had magical express the first time coming in going to WL, and used a shuttle service when leaving SOG. We have yet to try Uber! It seems like you have the situation worked out, so that's good.

 

[terri1001]

Don't forget that Uber can't enter Shades of Green property, there is a guard shack.

 

[minniebeth]

Don't forget that Uber can't enter Shades of Green property, there is a guard shack.

We just stayed at Shades of Green, and we were able to get an Uber pick up there~ We weren't aware that we couldn't? So, maybe that's not the norm, but we were able to do it...just our experience and it was super easy.