Can you help us figure out this Downtown Disney then Cruise itinerary?

[wrongwayfeldman]

We are flying into Orlando on Saturday before our Sunday 5 day cruise on the Dream in July this summer. I wish we could afford to come in a few days early to experience WDW, but it's just not in the budget. I'd like to sneak in as much of Disney as possible in that little window of time on Saturday, but I'm not sure if there's enough time to do much. Could someone help me figure this out?

We arrive at the airport at 5pm. We don't have a hotel booked yet, so I'm not sure even about transportation, but we'd like to spend the evening looking around at Downtown Disney and getting a bite to eat before we head back to the hotel for the night. Can this work? Would we have enough time to see the Lego store and maybe a few more places before they close and also grab a late dinner? How do we arrange transportation for this?

Thanks!

 

[zealandsmom]

We are flying into Orlando on Saturday before our Sunday 5 day cruise on the Dream in July this summer. I wish we could afford to come in a few days early to experience WDW, but it's just not in the budget. I'd like to sneak in as much of Disney as possible in that little window of time on Saturday, but I'm not sure if there's enough time to do much. Could someone help me figure this out?

We arrive at the airport at 5pm. We don't have a hotel booked yet, so I'm not sure even about transportation, but we'd like to spend the evening looking around at Downtown Disney and getting a bite to eat before we head back to the hotel for the night. Can this work? Would we have enough time to see the Lego store and maybe a few more places before they close and also grab a late dinner? How do we arrange transportation for this?

Thanks!

[[/I]

IF you stay at Port Orleans you can take a personal boat ride right to DD!!
MOST nights DD doesn't close till midnight!!

 

[wrongwayfeldman]

Thank you so much for the quick reply. I'm not sure if that will work...Isn't Port Orleans a WDW resort hotel? I assume that would be pretty pricey since we only need the one night. I'm thinking we'll need a hotel to stash our bags for Saturday night, then to sleep from about midnight til we get up in the morning to head for the port. Any other suggestions?

 

[TDC Nala]

Are you considering going straight there from the airport? You can get a taxi or town car to take you there, but what will you do with your luggage?

Would be helpful to know if you plan to stay at a Disney resort or offsite. I agree that unless you can get a discount from Disney, Port Orleans will be pretty high for just one night pre-cruise in summer.

If you're looking at offsite, check the Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels, which are not Disney resorts but are close to DTD and run shuttles there. Would also help to know what your plans are for transportation to get to the ship. I believe you can only purchase hotel to port transfers through Disney if you are booked at one of their resorts. You may want to see if it will cost you less to stay offsite, rent a car and drop it off at the port.

 

[Niebz]

Yes, I would definitely recommend either Port Orleans resort for the boat ride to Downtown Disney. You could take Magical Express (free) from the Airport to your resort which should leave you plenty of time to explore Downtown Disney as it's usually open pretty late.

 

[carmie3377]

If you land at 5PM, you could be at DTD by 6:30, probably even a little before, if you have your own transportation. A great place to eat that is inexpensive is Earl of Sandwich. Their sandwiches are around $6 each and plenty for the average eater. Then you would have plenty of time to shop and check out DTD.

 

[kcashner]

You have lots of options depending on your budget and what is important to you. Dose of reality--arriving at 5, you won't be thru luggage claim and getting a car till 6:00 or 6:30. Then you have a 30 minute ride to the Disney area.

If you choose to stay at a WDW resort, you can take Magical Express. They will claim your luggage for you, but you may not get it for 4 hours. You would go to the WDW hotel, then head for Downtown Disney or just have a resort dinner. The next day, you could take DCL transfers to the cruise--again pricey at $35 per person. However, this would max your Disney time. You could even opt for a character breakfast before leaving for the port. You can take a WDW bus/boat to Downtown Disney and enjoy several hours there.

It would be less costly to stay at an MCO area hotel or off property in the Lake Buena Vista area. But that involves getting a rental car--again, less costly than DCL transportation, but will take time. Many hotels include breakfast--again, a savings. That gives you a lot of flexibility in the morning, as well as the ability to pick up any items you may have forgotten. It is really just a matter of what matters to you!

 

[Niebz]

Port Orleans is a moderate resort, so not as expensive as the deluxe hotels but a bit pricier than the average offsite hotel I'd imagine. Transportation would be free if you did magical express and they will even retrieve your bags from the airport and transport them to your room for you.

 

[Trekker]

We just did this in January!

Arrived Friday evening - took DME to Pop Century where we had rooms booked for 1 night.

Checked in - caught the bus to DTD checked out a few stores - had a very nive dinner at Paradiso 37

The next day we took DCL transportation to the port

 

[Niebz]

Just wanted to add that you could look into the value resorts as well. They're very affordable and also offer transportation from the airport on magical express for free as well as buses to downtown disney every 20 minutes or so. Out of all of them I'd recommend Pop Century.

 

[wrongwayfeldman]

Wow...so much to think through. We don't have a hotel or any transportation arranged yet. Anyone care to work this out for me

Our priorities are: as budget friendly as possible.
There are 6 of us...2 adults and 4 kids, ages 17, 13, 10, and 7
We arrive at the Airport in Orlando at 5pm and would like to leave for the port at 11am.
We would like to visit Downtown Disney Saturday evening and have an easy dinner.
We need the best/cheapest scenario for getting from the airport to a hotel, then to DD, then back to hotel, then to the port.

 

[zealandsmom]

A disney value will be your least stressful. You should be able to stay for under $100 for the night per room. You will have to get 2 rooms for 6 people (I believe).
Grab a Disney bus from your hotel to DD and back.
Then grab Disney transportation to the port. (I have no idea the cost per person to do this but I believe someone has said $35 pp)

***your only other bet would be to rent a car from the airport and stay at a deeply discounted hotel (some as low at $29 a night) and drive yourself to DD and to the port and drop off. There is some really good avis codes on this board and I have stayed at a $29 hotel that included a great buffet breakfast!

 

[wrongwayfeldman]

Okay, I'm sure this is a crazy question, so please don't laugh too hard, but is there a hotel that offers a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel, then again from the hotel to the port?

 

[KBT35]

Okay, I'm sure this is a crazy question, so please don't laugh too hard, but is there a hotel that offers a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel, then again from the hotel to the port?

Not laughing at all....LOL! Ok so while this does not address the DTD part this is what we are doing. While there are only 2 of us the was the most cost effective way I managed it!
I have Marriott Rewards points...this allowed me 1 night pre cruise and Renaissance (near Airport location). They have a free shuttle from airport to hotel. Then for hotel-port-airport I am using RJ Transportation as suggested by Marriott Concierge. It will cost me $90 for the pair of us round trip with RJ Transportation. Now for you being a larger group it may be more cost effective to do a limo service.
I have yet to decide if we will do DTD we do it everytime we are there so we likely will....and I'll just call a cab for that, not sure if the Marriott has a shuttle that goes that far.
Also for other options of where to stay you may want to look into...I THINK it's Hilton, that has a stay/transportation to port package and it was a good deal for families of your size.

 

[JennyT2]

We are doing this in May. We have rented a car, got a great deal at Avis for about $50. We are picking it up at the airport and driving to the Holiday Inn at Downtown Disney ($89/night). We can then walk to DD. Then we will drive the rental and drop it at the office by the port and catch their shuttle to the port. This was the best price and also the quickest as we didn't want to wait arrant for Magical Express or Disney buses. Good luck!

 

[4butlers]

We are doing this in May. We have rented a car, got a great deal at Avis for about $50. We are picking it up at the airport and driving to the Holiday Inn at Downtown Disney ($89/night). We can then walk to DD. Then we will drive the rental and drop it at the office by the port and catch their shuttle to the port. This was the best price and also the quickest as we didn't want to wait arrant for Magical Express or Disney buses. Good luck!

To me, this sounds like a great plan for your situation.
How does your day look after getting of the ship? If you have a later flight, you could rent a car and visit DTD before you fly out instead. If you could do this, then I would drive directly to the port upon arrival and stay the night at the port.

 

[Jajone]

Rental car from Budget from the airport, stay at Beuna Vista Suites, drop car at the port the next day.

 

[Patrickprincess]

You have lots of options depending on your budget and what is important to you. Dose of reality--arriving at 5, you won't be thru luggage claim and getting a car till 6:00 or 6:30. Then you have a 30 minute ride to the Disney area.

If you choose to stay at a WDW resort, you can take Magical Express. They will claim your luggage for you, but you may not get it for 4 hours. You would go to the WDW hotel, then head for Downtown Disney or just have a resort dinner. The next day, you could take DCL transfers to the cruise--again pricey at $35 per person. However, this would max your Disney time. You could even opt for a character breakfast before leaving for the port. You can take a WDW bus/boat to Downtown Disney and enjoy several hours there.

It would be less costly to stay at an MCO area hotel or off property in the Lake Buena Vista area. But that involves getting a rental car--again, less costly than DCL transportation, but will take time. Many hotels include breakfast--again, a savings. That gives you a lot of flexibility in the morning, as well as the ability to pick up any items you may have forgotten. It is really just a matter of what matters to you!

I don't know if this will help but here's my plan I will be saliing on the fantasy on september 22 of this year. I booked air though disney and i had them change my flight from the 21 to a red eye on the 20th. I will arrive at mco on friday september 21 around 9;30 am. Since i booked with DCL i have a stay at the airport hyatt and trasport to PC. After checking into the hyatt where i will store my bags i will them get on the mears trasport to one of the disney parks more than likley it will be MK. The one day pass for us bigger kids(alduts) is $85.00 and the round trip from mears is $34.00 I don't know if i will make it to DD but i will try. hope this helped. If i had a driver's lic i would rent a car for the one day and be on my time. Have you tryed the vaule resorts i've never stayed there but i hear they are not that expensive and they had a bus that goes to DD

 

[carmie3377]

Wow...so much to think through. We don't have a hotel or any transportation arranged yet. Anyone care to work this out for me

Our priorities are: as budget friendly as possible.
There are 6 of us...2 adults and 4 kids, ages 17, 13, 10, and 7
We arrive at the Airport in Orlando at 5pm and would like to leave for the port at 11am.
We would like to visit Downtown Disney Saturday evening and have an easy dinner.
We need the best/cheapest scenario for getting from the airport to a hotel, then to DD, then back to hotel, then to the port.

I would definitely rent a mini-van since you have 6. I believe Disney transfers are $35 each way. That would be $420 RT We got a van before our PC cruise just around $50 by using Discount rate code Y937800 through Budget. I just looked for a random Sat - Sun July rental and it was $86 including tax/fees to PC and $67 from PC on a Friday. So that's just over $150 RT. I would guess it would be the same or close to the same for the other weekends.

Not only do you save money, you're on your own time, you can stop for breakfast on the way to the port or at the store to pick up anything you forgot or need.

 

[FrogLady23]

A disney value will be your least stressful. You should be able to stay for under $100 for the night per room. You will have to get 2 rooms for 6 people (I believe).
Grab a Disney bus from your hotel to DD and back.
Then grab Disney transportation to the port. (I have no idea the cost per person to do this but I believe someone has said $35 pp)

***your only other bet would be to rent a car from the airport and stay at a deeply discounted hotel (some as low at $29 a night) and drive yourself to DD and to the port and drop off. There is some really good avis codes on this board and I have stayed at a $29 hotel that included a great buffet breakfast!

I apologize in advance for derailing this thread, but I just priced out Pop Century for DD and myself for 1 night (4/6/12) and it was $202. Is there something (else) I don't know? Is there a secret, or just bad timing since it is in the middle of spring break season?!?!?

TIA.