AOA right from ship

[ibcrazie4dizney]

just wondering if anyone can help me understand how this is going to work. we will be staying at AOA and using Disney transfer right from the ship. I understand we will be getting off the ship early. by the time we arrive at the hotel, I am assuming it will be well before the check in time. will they let us check in early since we are coming right from the ship? will our bags be taken right to the room or do we claim them from the bus? if they do go right to our room, do we have to be there or will they leave them for us? we are hoping to spend as much time as we can in a park that day instead of hanging around the hotel.

 

[clten]

You will claim your bags from under the bus. (It does not work like Magical Express where once it's on the bus it magically shows up in your room -- unless they've made a very recent change) But you can leave them with Bell Services to take to your room. We are about 50/50 on our WDW room being ready when we arrive from our cruise. If it isn't ready, they will check you in anyway (to get park tickets esp. if they are part of your package) and leave the luggage w/ Bell Services. When you get back to your room later, you will have to have them deliver your luggage. Or if we can get in our room right away, we check in get bags settled and then head out to the parks. You can get off the ship at your own convenience to catch the bus. Just one piece of advice - don't be on the last bus. That one sits there and waits until they confirm all people are off the ship and that may make more stops than just 3 resorts.

 

[ibcrazie4dizney]

how do the buses work? does each resort, or a few, have their own bus? are the buses jam packed before they leave? actually, this was another question as we will get on at the airport to head to ship, how often do they depart and are you packed in tight?

we have late dining, I think that means we have late breakfast that morning, will it be easy not to be on last bus?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

how do the buses work? does each resort, or a few, have their own bus? are the buses jam packed before they leave? actually, this was another question as we will get on at the airport to head to ship, how often do they depart and are you packed in tight?

we have late dining, I think that means we have late breakfast that morning, will it be easy not to be on last bus?

When disembarking from the ship, you will tell the person directing the bus loading the resort you are heading to. You will be directed to a specific bus. Early on most busses will be going to just one resort, later on they may double up (with a maximum of 3 resorts, from what I understand) being visited by the bus.

Are you asking about the bus from MCO when you ask how often do they depart?

The bus checkin opens at 9:00 am at MCO. The busses start departing about 9:30 and depart every 20 minutes or when full, whichever is first.

There will only be the maximum number of people on the bus that there are seats for, no standing or lap sitting.

 

[mmouse37]

There is no special consideration at WDW given to guests who are coming from the ship. If your room is ready by luck of the draw it is ready, if not, then you would leave your bags with bell services and do something else until your room is ready.

Also, for anyone having late breakfast on the last morning...you do not have to dine in the MDR...you can go and have breakfast earlier up at buffet on the pool deck. We do this all the time. We have breakfast at Cabanas or Topsiders/BBB depending on the ship and are back to our room by 8 to collect our bags and then leave the ship.

MJ

 

[MsGrandma]

We cruised in March and went to AoA on Disney transport after. Our room was ready when we arrived at about 1030. One word of warning though- I had bell services deliver our luggage and it took over 2 hours- even though when they took it off bus from me they assured me it would be delivered immediately. Aside from that AoA was great- we were in LM bldg 7 and the walk was not bad.

 

[ibcrazie4dizney]

thanks for replies. I think if we are lucky enough to get right in a room, I may opt to carry our bags ourselves. we will be in the parks for a week before the cruise but have one last day there before our flight home the next morning, so I don't want to spend a lot of time waiting for bags, we want to get into mk for one final magical day.

 

[dpswift]

We drove to AOA from Syracuse and arrived at 9:30 am. Our room was ready. They begin getting rooms ready for new guests right away.