Hotel need advice

Flying in to Orlando a day early. Where is a good place to stay with small children yet easy enough to get to port the next day.

You can either stay by the airport (I like the Embassy suites for extra room) and go to port next AM, or there are a good 10-15 hotels near the Port, so you can land, take transport there and a cab in the AM right to the ship.

Given the choice I prefer to stay as close to port as possible, but for Orlando, if I am getting in early enough will stay at the airport and go to Disney Springs or maybe a park if there is a special event ticket avail like Halloween or Xmas parties (single day tickets overall are not worth it)

As Loonbeam said, you can choose to stay near MCO or near the cruise terminal. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. One big thing to consider is how you intend to get to the cruise terminal from either location.

All of the hotels in the MCO area offer complimentary transportation between the hotel and the airport. It is easy to claim your luggage, call the hotel, and go to the pick up slot number that they will give you. The drivers we've had have been wonderful, and several have offered to take us to a restaurant or shopping area IF they are not busy with airport runs. My favorite hotel in the MCO area is the Hyatt Place NW (this is different from the Hyatt MCO, which is inside the airport). It has a pool, great breakfast, and is walking distance (across a not-busy street) to TGI Friday's. You can also have pizza delivered to the hotel. There are TONS of hotels in this area--you can pick your favorite brand. We've stayed at the Comfort Inn and the Hampton as well as the Country Inn and Suites. There is nothing wrong with any of them, but I prefer the Hyatt Place.

There are several hotels in the MCO area that offer a bus transfer to the cruise terminals for a fee. You can also return to MCO on the free hotel shuttle and take the DCL bus, or you can rent a car one way, drive to the terminal to drop passengers and luggage, and return the car near the terminal (free shuttle from car drop off to cruise terminal).

If you stay near the cruise terminal, you'll need to rent a car or arrange a shuttle from MCO. If you use a shuttle, you'll also need to arrange transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal--many hotels offer this, either as part of the stay or for an extra fee.

Our choice usually depends on our arrival time. If we arrive in the late afternoon or evening, we generally just stay in the MCO area as we have plenty of time to drive the next morning. If we arrive early enough in the day to enjoy the facilities at either WDW or the Cocoa Beach area, we'll go to one of those locations. In general, the hotels in the MCO area cost less than at the port area.

Good hotels near the port are the Renaissance Inn, Comfort Inn and Suites, and Radisson (assuming their remodel is finished).

Check out Go Port Canaveral. They offer hotel and shuttle packages either in the MCO area OR in the Cocoa Beach area - shuttle from MCO to the hotel (yes, even to those in Cocoa Beach), shuttle to the port, shuttle back to MCO.

Thank you for all your help.