Atlantis on your own

[Turtlemom]

We are doing a 3 night cruise on the Dream in August and would like to see Atlantis (and play in the water) without paying the DCL excursion fee. How do I go about getting access to the Atlantis resort and water parks on my own without paying a fortune???? I know this is probably answered somewhere on these threads, but any help/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[travelfanatic]

We booked a room at the comfort suites at Atlantis which gave us full access for use of the resort. The cost for the 4 of us was substantially lower than paying DCL's fee. You just book a room, check in, get your wristbands and that's it! Pretty easy access. Give it a shot!

 

[Turtlemom]

Thanks! We'll give it a try.
Do you know if the Comfort Inn is walking distance from the Atlantis water parks???? I assume you would just take a taxi from the ship to the hotel, but wondering what you would do from there.

 

[callieskye]

just walk out the back door at comfort suites & you are on the resort, walk to Royal tower, signs posted, to obtain the braclets, the booth is down the stairs by the aquarium which you can't miss.

 

[lark]

Right -- taxi from the port to Comfort Suites then about a 5 to 10 minute walk to the place where you get your wrist bands.

They've changed the procedure a bit now and it requires an extra step. It used to be that you could take your comfort suite keys to any towel hut and get your wrist bands. Now you need to stop in the bottom floor of the Royal tower, sign a waiver form, and get your wrist bands before you go out to the pools.

All in all, there is a good amount of transaction time. We really wanted to be at the slides at 10:00 when they opened. We were one of the first groups off the ship, just behind the excursion group, after it cleared customs. We were in the first taxi to leave the port, and when we got to comfort suites, there was virtually no line. We walked quickly to the Royal Tower to get our wristbands. Even so, we did not make it to our first slide until 10:05 -- still pretty good.

 

[wrpfctr7]

I just came back from our Disney cruise abord the Dream (7/10-15) and the replies here are just about right. The taxi ride from the ship to Comfort Inn and Suites is $4 per person. Make sure that you let the desk clerk know that you WILL NOT be using the room. If you do, your rate will be cheaper. They will give you a voucher that you have to take to the AquaAdventure desk to get your wristbands. Be advised: They will only give you wristbands for the number of people that is shown on your voucher. (The person at the AquaAdventure desk made sure to count the number of people that were supposed to get wristbands) Once you have your wristbands, walk through "The Dig" (Atlantis' aquarium) and you exit in the waterpark! I would take heed to the last post about getting off the ship AS SOON as they allow you to. It takes a bit of time to get all of that stuff (as well as some walking). We got off the ship around 10am (They allowed people off around 9-9:15am) and by the time we got to the waterpark it was slightly past 12 noon. The ship leaves at 7pm, but you should be heading back before 5:30pm because traffic tends to pick up around that time.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Make sure that you let the desk clerk know that you WILL NOT be using the room. If you do, your rate will be cheaper. .

S

So how did you book your room? Did you book ahead (and the desk clerk adjusted your bill) or did you just wait until you got there hoping they would have availability?

 

[Fltwin]

I just came back from our Disney cruise abord the Dream (7/10-15) and the replies here are just about right. The taxi ride from the ship to Comfort Inn and Suites is $4 per person. Make sure that you let the desk clerk know that you WILL NOT be using the room. If you do, your rate will be cheaper. They will give you a voucher that you have to take to the AquaAdventure desk to get your wristbands. Be advised: They will only give you wristbands for the number of people that is shown on your voucher. (The person at the AquaAdventure desk made sure to count the number of people that were supposed to get wristbands) Once you have your wristbands, walk through "The Dig" (Atlantis' aquarium) and you exit in the waterpark! I would take heed to the last post about getting off the ship AS SOON as they allow you to. It takes a bit of time to get all of that stuff (as well as some walking). We got off the ship around 10am (They allowed people off around 9-9:15am) and by the time we got to the waterpark it was slightly past 12 noon. The ship leaves at 7pm, but you should be heading back before 5:30pm
because traffic tends to pick up around that time.

Are there many things for a three year old there?

 

[jfis1020]

S

So how did you book your room? Did you book ahead (and the desk clerk adjusted your bill) or did you just wait until you got there hoping they would have availability?

Do tell!

 

[travelfanatic]

S

So how did you book your room? Did you book ahead (and the desk clerk adjusted your bill) or did you just wait until you got there hoping they would have availability?

You book on the comfort suites website and you definitely want to book ahead of time. I certainly would not want to walk up hoping they had a room. No telling how much they would charge you!

 

[scootch]

I booked via the choice hotels site. They even take points if you are a member. We have done it twice with the second time being FREE since I had enough choice privilege points. It is very quick and easy. You can check in and out at the same time. Just do a search here on disboards of Comfort Suites and you fill find a ton of info. I take my girls alone and it has been very easy.... and much, much cheaper.

 

[Fltwin]

I booked via the choice hotels site. They even take points if you are a member. We have done it twice with the second time being FREE since I had enough choice privilege points. It is very quick and easy. You can check in and out at the same time. Just do a search here on disboards of Comfort Suites and you fill find a ton of info. I take my girls alone and it has been very easy.... and much, much cheaper.

Am I seeing it correcty on their website that the room for myself, dh, and ds would only be 169.00 for the night? That would give us full access to aqauventure right? Seems very reasonable. Booking it thru DCL would be 125.00 for one adult alone,,,,,,,,

 

[smeecanada]

Thinking about doing Atlantis next July. Couple of questions.
If you are not using the room at Comfort Inn - are there lockers available for your stuff at Atlantis? Also, are towels available or should we bring them from the ship?

 

[lark]

Thinking about doing Atlantis next July. Couple of questions.
If you are not using the room at Comfort Inn - are there lockers available for your stuff at Atlantis? Also, are towels available or should we bring them from the ship?

Yes to both. Towels are handed out at huts around the property. Lockers are in the pink structure behind and to the right of the pyramid slides. Lockers are pricey -- up to $20 for a large one.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Are there many things for a three year old there?

Yes.

Three kid pool areas, with slides, dump bucket, and interactive features. And kids can ride the Aquventure river system with parents in double tubes....there's no height requirement for the Rapids and the wavy Current portions, or the truly lazy river on the other side of the resort.

 

[Fltwin]

Yes.

Three kid pool areas, with slides, dump bucket, and interactive features. And kids can ride the Aquventure river system with parents in double tubes....there's no height requirement for the Rapids and the wavy Current portions, or the truly lazy river on the other side of the resort.

very good to know. You just sold me. I appreciate the reply

 

[piglet33]

Make sure that you let the desk clerk know that you WILL NOT be using the room. If you do, your rate will be cheaper.

I didn't know this! About how much cheaper was your room? Thanks for the info.

 

[Mickeygolf]

The general information is if you check in and check out all at the same time you will not be charged the Energy fee which is approximately $13.00 per adult and I believe you do not pay the $5.00/pp mandatory gratuity. Others can correct me if this is wrong.

I made my reservation for 1 adult and 3 kids. It was $166.00 plus tax which came to $231.68. If I check in and out all at the same time that's what I should expect to pay. If I decided to use the room I'll add an additional $33.00 to that amount. My DW or I will just purchase a one day pass at Atlantis. You can cancel these reservations 4 days in advance of your stay. I'll contact Atlantis to make sure they'll have day passes that day and I'll check the weather to make sure it will be a nice day. I know those two things are not gauranteed, but it will give me a good enough idea to decide if I want to keep the reservation or cancel. Hope this helps.

 

[lark]

The general information is if you check in and check out all at the same time you will not be charged the Energy fee which is approximately $13.00 per adult and I believe you do not pay the $5.00/pp mandatory gratuity. Others can correct me if this is wrong.

I made my reservation for 1 adult and 3 kids. It was $166.00 plus tax which came to $231.68. If I check in and out all at the same time that's what I should expect to pay. If I decided to use the room I'll add an additional $33.00 to that amount. My DW or I will just purchase a one day pass at Atlantis. You can cancel these reservations 4 days in advance of your stay. I'll contact Atlantis to make sure they'll have day passes that day and I'll check the weather to make sure it will be a nice day. I know those two things are not gauranteed, but it will give me a good enough idea to decide if I want to keep the reservation or cancel. Hope this helps.

We were charged $38 extra for the add ons when we checked in (and told them we didn't need the room). Not sure if that's more or less or the same as what we would have been charged if we had taken the room.

 

[mom_rules]

Wow! Cheapest room I could find in the winter is $279!