DH does not want to drive-lots of flight ?'s

[princesslondon]

My husband really does not want to drive to our upcoming Sept cruise, so we were thinking of flying but have a few questions. How far is the drive from the airport to the port? We can get a flight that arrives at around 10am at MCO would that put us at the port too early? What is the earliest return flight you would suggest? Also is it better to take Disney transportation or get your own, as far as not standing around waiting on the Disney bus or does it come often?
Sorry for all the questions. We are only a 6 hour drive so I've never really considered flying before.

 

[vassello]

IMHO flying is the way to go. You get there quickly and not as tired and most importantly after your relaxing week you don't have to make that long drive home. The Orlando airport is about 45 minutes away from Pt. Canaveral. We flew in the day before so we wouldn't be stressed about delays, etc. We stayed at the Radisson at the Port and they have a free shuttle from the hotel to the Disney Terminal. From the airport to the Radisson we took a limo since there were 8 of us.

We took a 6 am flight from Raleigh that put us at the MCO airport around 8:30 am. The Disney terminal opens at 10 am so an early flight is fine and will get you there with plenty of time. The DCL transportation is large comfortable busses that leave regularly from MCO to the port. They even have a video playing about the cruise to get you excited. The nice thing about the DCL busses is that your luggage is tagged and will be sent directly thru to the ship from your home airport. The busses can be more expensive thou so research your options.

 

[TiggerKing]

I would caution you on one thing about the plans you described. It is risky taking a same day flight for the cruise start. If you have any delays, it could cause a great deal of trouble in making it to the ship. I would heavily suggest flying in the night before at a minimum and staying at the Hyatt at the airport (especially if you are using Disney Transportation). You could always rent a car from Budget and return it to the Budget near the port as well. Another alternative if you rent the car is flying in the night before and staying at one of the hotels near the port. Then you aren't as rushed the next day.

I make this observation based on extensive business travel. I would hate for your cruise to start off on a sour note, or not start at all, because of airline delays!

 

[geffric]

what TiggerKing said.. we fly in the night before, and rent a car. Then stay anywhere and drop the car off at a rental car site near the port. ( We use Budget)_. It costs about $ 40 each way. Plus we are able to stop at the store on the way, so we can bring wine etc on board with us.

 

[princesslondon]

Thanks for all the great info!!
One more thing - How early of a flight can we book for our departure?

 

[Johnna_Story]

Thanks for all the great info!!
One more thing - How early of a flight can we book for our departure?

Lots of options here: I think Disney suggests not before noon and I pretty much agree. When we left last week, I think the ship cleared customs around 8:15ish, so that's when then they started letting people off. I think we were off the ship around 8:45, got our bags and cleared customs by 9:00, and took DCL transport to the airport and were there around 9:45. Our flight was at noon (which we changed from 1:00 due to the impending snowstorm in DC!) The security line wasn't too long - maybe 12-15 mins to get through. So even if we had a 11:00 flight, we would have been fine. I think that would be the earliest I would go, just in case there was a delay in clearing customs, delay in the airport security line, or other unpredictable problem.

I remember last year we were among the later group to get off the ship (probably around 9:00), and by the time we got to the airport, the security line was much longer - at least 35-45 minutes. So you always want to plan for that.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[HappyLawyer]

i would not be at ease flying in the day of my cruise, but different strokes for different folks, i have been delayed, missed flights, so now i am extra careful

 

["Ginger"]

We decided to fly in one time on the day of, biggest mistake I ever made in my whole life. First of all I forgot my photo I.D (this happened before 9/11) discovered it missing at the airport(DC) which was an hours drive from home, they took my DH's word of who I am, the good old days. Our flight times had changed 4 times but the airlines neglected to inform us of the last change. It took DH 45 minutes to park our vehicle and get the shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal. Once he got there he couldn't find us, the baggage guy told us to go to the gate and wait for him and they would send him there, didn't happen. Apparently the bag guys changed shift and DH didn't get the message to meet us at the gate. DH goes into the terminal looking everywhere for us, even asked strange ladies to go into the ladies room looking for us, bless his heart. When he finally makes his way to the gate I was standing at the window crying my eyes out while watching our plane take off with our luggage. Oh! we weren't the only ones watching our plane take off without us, there was a few other upset passengers that the airlines didn't inform of that last time change.
Now we all got lucky and the airlines got us on another flight with another airlines and DCL held their last bus at MCO for us to go to the cruise ship. But needless to say I was a basket case the whole day. BTW, we had no insurance.
We never flew from Maryland to Florida again.

We now drive 17 hours only stopping for fuel, food and a few bathroom breaks. We make sure we are there 2 days before the cruise, staying at the Radisson where we can park for free while on the cruise., love it there.
First day there we rest up, second day DH goes over to The Grill early in the morn gets on a head boat for a day of fun fishin. DD and I go shopping and do some sight seeing on our own before heading over to meet DH's boat. We look eagerly at my DH's catch of the day giving him that good old "at a boy" pat on the back. Grab some dinner at The Grill or have the lady at the seafood store by The Grill steam us up some good fresh shrimp go back to the Radisson for a little swim, maybe meet up with some other DIS'ER staying there. Chat around the pool till bedtime. Next morning you're all relax and in that good ole cruise mood.

Got that trip down to a science now.

 

[unger5]

Hi "Ginger", Sounds like you've been on a lot of Magic cruises. We are going on our first in March from Baltimore, too. Me, hubby, 3 kids. We are leaving the day before and staying at the Radisson. Any more pointers?

 

[Queen2]

I had to make a difficult dission. We are flying from Philly, Pa there were no more direct flights to MCO. I called in October for an April cruise. From Philly we had 1 hour layover in Atlanta, . I went back & forth with DS, DH agreed with me to fly in the day before. We had to be in Florida By 1 to get the shuttle. If for some unknown reason we were delayed the next flight out of Atlanta was after 3 pm. No way was I going to miss the boat after $$$$ we spent. We are afamily of 7 DS & DIL in one cabin DH, me, another DS, Dgodd & DGS, in a family veranda. It was worth the money to come in a day early. OBTW we are staying POFQ. A little $$, at the time I didn't know all my options.

This board is great. I have found alot of good DISers & good info

 

[tvguy]

Lots of options here: I think Disney suggests not before noon and I pretty much agree. When we left last week, I think the ship cleared customs around 8:15ish, so that's when then they started letting people off. I think we were off the ship around 8:45, got our bags and cleared customs by 9:00, and took DCL transport to the airport and were there around 9:45. Our flight was at noon (which we changed from 1:00 due to the impending snowstorm in DC!) The security line wasn't too long - maybe 12-15 mins to get through. So even if we had a 11:00 flight, we would have been fine. I think that would be the earliest I would go, just in case there was a delay in clearing customs, delay in the airport security line, or other unpredictable problem.

I remember last year we were among the later group to get off the ship (probably around 9:00), and by the time we got to the airport, the security line was much longer - at least 35-45 minutes. So you always want to plan for that.

Have a great trip!!!

Disney recommends nothing before 12:30 pm. We barely made our 12:35 flight despite being off the ship by 9:15 and at the airport by 10 am. Took 30 minutes to get checked in, there was a 90 minute line at security at Orlando airport. We got to our gate at 12:10, and walked right on the plane because boarding had already started. So much for the lunch we had planned at the airport.