Leaving park merchandise, etc in car parked for cruise

[kmaria]

My fiance and I will likely be having some days at WDW before our cruise. I thought a plus side to us driving ourselves down there would be that we can stash unnecessary baggage in the car to save room in our luggage on the cruise.

Haven't looked into where we would park for the week yet, but would you feel safe leaving some merchandise you bought at parks hidden in the trunk of your car while you're gone on a week long cruise? I don't know if there are multiple parking opportunities or if it's one big lot at Port Canaveral, or how any of that works. Are some lots safer than others?

I would think we'd be okay, but I'm just curious to hear some other opinions.

Thanks for any input

 

[kcashner]

It sort of depends on where you park and whether your stuff will be seen from the outside. Park and Cruise is gated and lighted. It would take some effort for someone to scale the fence to break into a car. On the other hand, some of the hotel lots are not secure and there have been reports of vandalism at some of these. Most secure is probably the parking at the terminal since both the port area itself and the parking garage have security, but at $15 per day they are pricey.

If you are talking about shoving a bag under a car seat where it won't be seen and parking in a secure lot, you're probably ok. At an unsecured lot or where I had to leave my keys with someone--no way. But I wouldn't do one of those places where you leave keys.

 

[lbgraves]

No I would not. Our car was broken into while at the "secured" parking at the Radisson for a 3-night cruise. Most of these hotel lots are not fenced, guarded or really watched at all. There are cameras, but it does no good for them to be able to say yes we can look back and see that there was someone in the lot going from car to car that night. The GPS that was taken was on the back seat of the van under a pile of pillows and winter coats that we didn't need on the cruise [it was January. With a cooler on the floor, it was all packed up and nothing of any value could be seen. The vandals didn't seem to care though since they just went from car to car popping the lock out and rumaging through to see what they could find.

 

[kcashner]

Yeah, the Radisson was the one I was not going to name as a "bad" hotel lot. This is nothing more than a huge paved area behind the hotel--no fence, no lights, no nothing. That's not my idea of secure.

Another thought--is it worth shipping a box home before you leave WDW?

 

[Meredisney]

I'm not sure if you plan on parking at a WDW resort and taking the DCL bus or if you were planning on driving to Port Canaveral and parking at the port or one of the hotels in the area.

I would only feel safe leaving things in my car if I parked at the terminal. Like a previous poster said, the port area itself and the parking garage have security. $15 per day is not such a big deal to me. I wouldn't feel safe leaving my car in one fo the cocoa beach hotel parking lots like the Radisson.

 

[kmaria]

It sort of depends on where you park and whether your stuff will be seen from the outside. Park and Cruise is gated and lighted. It would take some effort for someone to scale the fence to break into a car. On the other hand, some of the hotel lots are not secure and there have been reports of vandalism at some of these. Most secure is probably the parking at the terminal since both the port area itself and the parking garage have security, but at $15 per day they are pricey.

If you are talking about shoving a bag under a car seat where it won't be seen and parking in a secure lot, you're probably ok. At an unsecured lot or where I had to leave my keys with someone--no way. But I wouldn't do one of those places where you leave keys.

Glad I asked this question then, I thought it was silly at first. Thank you for that info. I will make sure if we stash anything that it will be out of sight. I hadn't thought about parking somewhere that we'd need to leave our keys behind. Thanks for pointing that out, I definitely want to hang onto those!

No I would not. Our car was broken into while at the "secured" parking at the Raddison for a 3-night cruise. Most of these hotel lots are not fenced, guarded or really watched at all. There are cameras, but it does no good for them to be able to say yes we can look back and see that there was someone in the lot going from car to car that night. The GPS that was taken was on the back seat of the van under a pile of pillows and winter coats that we didn't need on the cruise [it was January. With a cooler on the floor, it was all packed up and nothing of any value could be seen. The vandals didn't seem to care though since they just went from car to car popping the lock out and rumaging through to see what they could find.

Yikes, sorry about your experience. Guess I'll avoid the hotel parking deals... I'd actually been considering staying our last night before the cruise at one of those places for the parking and shuttle deal, but not anymore!

I know I will want to go crazy in the Christmas Shop in DTD and well, everywhere else too.. since it will be our first Christmas living together and all that. I'd hate to bring a lot of breakables on the cruise with me just because.

Maybe we can have them ship the stuff home to us instead of keeping it in our car?

 

[kmaria]

I'm not sure if you plan on parking at a WDW resort and taking the DCL bus or if you were planning on driving to Port Canaveral and parking at the port or one of the hotels in the area.

I would only feel safe leaving things in my car if I parked at the terminal. Like a previous poster said, the port area itself and the parking garage have security. $15 per day is not such a big deal to me. I wouldn't feel safe leaving my car in one fo the cocoa beach hotel parking lots like the Radisson.

I was planning on driving to the port and parking in one of those areas/port. I definitely think $15 a day is worth it, especially when you consider what we are saving by not flying down it was going to be like 1200 for us to go through Disney, and flying cheaper on our own wouldn't have been as worth it to me, since the trip insurance wouldn't have covered it, dealing with all our own luggage and bag checks etc spoiled. lol

 

[kmaria]

Yeah, the Radisson was the one I was not going to name as a "bad" hotel lot. This is nothing more than a huge paved area behind the hotel--no fence, no lights, no nothing. That's not my idea of secure.

Another thought--is it worth shipping a box home before you leave WDW?

Just thought of that responding to previous poster! It really may be. I was under the impression they did offer those services but I didn't know if it was specific to certain shops/resorts. Only time I've experienced that was with larger expensive purchases or personalized things in the Christmas store.

I will really have to look into that!

 

[kcashner]

Just thought of that responding to previous poster! It really may be. I was under the impression they did offer those services but I didn't know if it was specific to certain shops/resorts. Only time I've experienced that was with larger expensive purchases or personalized things in the Christmas store.

I will really have to look into that!

WDW will ship home single purchases for you, but I don't know if they will put stuff together and ship it....but a stop at Kinkos or UPS/FEDEX could result in a box being shipped home on the way to the port or whatever. I think the resorts will handle this too, but it's been a long time since I looked into it.

One dumb thing...I drive a van now (no trunk). I keep a cooler in the "wayback" which provides me with a place to put groceries on warm days as well as a place to stash something I don't want to have seen. It may be a false sense of security, but between that and tinted windows, never had a problem.

 

[kmaria]

WDW will ship home single purchases for you, but I don't know if they will put stuff together and ship it....but a stop at Kinkos or UPS/FEDEX could result in a box being shipped home on the way to the port or whatever. I think the resorts will handle this too, but it's been a long time since I looked into it.

One dumb thing...I drive a van now (no trunk). I keep a cooler in the "wayback" which provides me with a place to put groceries on warm days as well as a place to stash something I don't want to have seen. It may be a false sense of security, but between that and tinted windows, never had a problem.

That doesn't sound dumb to me Sounds like a good idea! I think I'll play it by ear and see how many things we end up with and let that decide whether I pay a visit to a Fedex on the way to the port (if Disney can't help) or gamble with stashing in the trunk! But either way I will likely be paying the $15/night to stay parked at the port!

Thanks for the help!

 

[Kim&Chris]

We did a family cruise last year. Five days at WDW prior to a 3-day cruise.

We parked four cars at Port Canaveral's lot with lots of toys & souvenirs in the trunks....and everything was fine when we got back to our cars, post-cruise.

 

[lbgraves]

We park at the port now. Secured and guarded lot. No problems there in 7 cruises parking at the port.

 

[lanejudy]

Just tossing this out...since you are driving, could you stop at DTD to shop AFTER the cruise? You can easily be there by 9:00 or 9:30am, which is before many of the shops even open. Scope it out before the cruise, know what you want to pick up, and then go back to specific shops for those items after the cruise before you head home.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kmaria]

Just tossing this out...since you are driving, could you stop at DTD to shop AFTER the cruise? You can easily be there by 9:00 or 9:30am, which is before many of the shops even open. Scope it out before the cruise, know what you want to pick up, and then go back to specific shops for those items after the cruise before you head home.

Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, very true! Especially for the more fragile things like ornaments. But to be honest, not sure I could convince my fiance to go that route, he will probably want to hit the road back home first thing! 16 hour drive Then again, we may have been successful in moving to North Carolina by that time. Which would shave some misery off the return

Now if I'm being honest with MYSELF... I am pretty bad at doing the "walk away, buy it later" thing

Thank you for the suggestion, I really should consider that option. It's probably the smartest one. For the merch AND the "do i really want it" test. And I'm sure anything I can only find in parks wouldn't be too hard to carry along with us, either that or it could also be found in DTD.

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe we can have them ship the stuff home to us instead of keeping it in our car?

I would do that.

I don't know how Disney cruise insurance works (they don't sell it to WA residents b/c WA requires travel insurance to cover preexisting conditions and Disney doesn't), but you could, in the future, use outside trip insurance. Then you just add in whatever expenses you would want to be covered in the case of cancellation/interruption.

 

[lanejudy]

...And I'm sure anything I can only find in parks wouldn't be too hard to carry along with us, either that or it could also be found in DTD.

Most things found in the parks can also be found at DTD. Did you also know that if you get home and decide you REALLY wish you had purchased "x" but then couldn't find it again outside the parks - you can call Disney Merchandising? As long as you can accurately describe the item and where you saw it, they will ship it to you.

I should add this pertains to WDW - not sure it's true of DCL or DLR.