Is this a dumb idea?

[Benay127]

Hello everyone - I'm looking for a little advice on cruise transportation. My son and I are going on the Wish in April 2023 and I'm trying to figure out the best form of transport. Some info: We're flying to MCO on a Sunday, spending Monday through Friday on the ship, and then spending Friday through Sunday at Pop Century - doing 3 park days at WDW.

How would you arrange transportation for this?

Option 1) Stay at MCO Hyatt the night before, take Lyft to port, take Lyft to Pop Century after the cruise, and then Lyft to the airport to go home.
Option 2) Rent at car at MCO, drive and stay in port Sunday night, park rental car for the week, drive to Pop Century, return car to airport.
Option 3) Use DCL transfer to and from cruise, take Lyft to airport Sunday to go home.
Option 4 and beyond) Other things I haven't even considered??

I like the idea of being more in control of when we can leave the ship and go straight to a car so we can get to WDW faster but is that really dumb to just leave a rental car at port all week and not use it? If I used DCL transfer service - does it take a long time to get off the boat and get to WDW? Is driving in Orlando a complete nightmare and I should just take Lyfts for the whole trip? CAN YOU TELL THIS IS STRESSING ME OUT.

Thank you for all the help you've already given me on this forum!

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'd do #1.

 

[tidefan]

Check with some of the Limo companies. Depending on how may are in your group, it may be a better ride for not much more $$ (or maybe even less)...

 

[auntlynne]

I only read negative things about taking a rideshare to/from Port Canaveral. It is just too far - with no guarantee for the driver that they will have a return fare.

 

[meremac]

I would not do a rideshare to and from the port (it's not always reliable). I would also not rent a car (it's really a hassle IMO).

I would actually do a private transfer to the port so you can better control your port arrival time.

Are you doing a park on the day you disembark? If so, I would probably do a private transfer to WDW. If not, I'd probably just do DCL transfers (they're pretty smoothly run, and you wouldn't have to worry about communicating with a private driver ~ I personally want to think as LITTLE as possible on disembarkation day lol).

I would just do a rideshare back to the airport. We've done it lots and lots of times, it's easy and not terribly expensive, and we've never had any issues.

 

[auntlynne]

I would do a booking for a rental car to determine the cost, Especially if you want a vehicle at WDW.

And parking at a WDW resort has a daily fee of $15-25 depending on the resort.

And add on cruise parking. Official parking - directly across from the cruise terminal - “Parking is $17.00 per day (Vehicles & RVs), including day of arrival and day of departure.“

Driving in Orlando is not horrible, but can be heavy.

 

[Whisker]

I will tell you that we had similar questions and stress for our upcoming vacation. We are staying at Universal a couple nights before our cruise and spending one day at the park there. Then the cruise, then half our party needs to fly out the evening after getting off the ship and hubs and I are staying at Universal for a few more nights. We ultimately decided on renting a vehicle at mco and will return it at the port before we board. When we disembark, we are renting another vehicle at the port and will return it when we fly out last at mco. I would imagine this is likely more expensive than if we had done your choice #1. But I'm hoping the flexibility of having a vehicle when we want it will be worth it. I just wanted to share the option that you don't have to have your rental sitting unused at the port while you are on your cruise.

 

[auntlynne]

There is something to be said about “leave the driving to us.”

I prefer self-drive, but in some situations, it is more relaxing to be driven around.

And I‘d make a cost chart.

There’s a Hampton Inn across the interstate that offers a room + cruise transportation offer. Or Hyatt at MCO + DCL bus. (That would give you an early Port Arrival Time for ship boarding).

You could then take DCL bus to your resort after cruise.

Use Disney transport at WDW

Disney bus or rideshare to the airport.

It would be less hands-on control, but no dealing with parking and driving.

 

[Benay127]

I would not do a rideshare to and from the port (it's not always reliable). I would also not rent a car (it's really a hassle IMO).

I would actually do a private transfer to the port so you can better control your port arrival time.

Are you doing a park on the day you disembark? If so, I would probably do a private transfer to WDW. If not, I'd probably just do DCL transfers (they're pretty smoothly run, and you wouldn't have to worry about communicating with a private driver ~ I personally want to think as LITTLE as possible on disembarkation day lol).

I would just do a rideshare back to the airport. We've done it lots and lots of times, it's easy and not terribly expensive, and we've never had any issues.

I'm leaning toward private transfer TO the port and probably DCL back to Disney World. Do you have a private company you like?

There’s a Hampton Inn across the interstate that offers a room + cruise transportation offer. Or Hyatt at MCO + DCL bus. (That would give you an early Port Arrival Time for ship boarding).

You could then take DCL bus to your resort after cruise.

Can you get off the boat pretty quickly with DCL bus? We will be pretty anxious to get to Pop and then on to Epcot.

 

[Travel60]

Last time we cruised out of CC we took a rental car from MCO to port and turned it in. Took DH about 15 minutes, there's a shuttle. Then at end of cruise we took another rental to WDW and turned it in. DH went to get car while I claimed luggage and was back about the time I had it. This was before covid and I know prices for rentals have gone wacky but it was about $50 each way.

 

[Calantha]

This was before covid and I know prices for rentals have gone wacky but it was about $50 each way.

A few weeks ago it was about $115-130 each way (we did one Budget (kept the car over night) and one National (same day return)).

 

[PurplePencil]

If you want a car on property, you could do a DCL bus to the port, and the. pick up the rental car after the cruise in Port Canaveral

 

[Cruising Girl]

We used DCL transport for the MV both to and from the port. I will say I will NEVER use it from the port again!! I remembered from years ago that when one bus filled up it left pretty quickly. Well not now!! We were off boat by 8 ish because we were hoping to catch an early bus and get to DW quickly!! We finally pulled out of PC around 9:45!! We usually drive and pay to park at the port but had family meeting us at DW. We have also used John from Sunrise Florida Transportation quite a few times. He is FANTASTIC!! Have a great time and try not to stress!!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Can you get off the boat pretty quickly with DCL bus? We will be pretty anxious to get to Pop and then on to Epcot.

We just returned from our cruise (July 21-30) using the DCL bus system. We hand carry and did the self walk-off .... we were off the ship at 0720, zipped thru customs, and were pointed to our bus (follow the red line) for MCO in about ten minutes total. The resorts were probably the blue and yellow lines. Lots of buses are prepositioned early in the morning.

 

[Lillebelle]

I'm leaning toward private transfer TO the port and probably DCL back to Disney World. Do you have a private company you like?

We had a great experience with https://www.flmagicaltours.com/. It was a recommendation from our Dreams agent and the drivers were very friendly and easy to work with.

 

[MichelleCanada]

We just finished a big Disney trip (myself, DH and DS11):
- Landed MCO
- 5 days at non-Disney resort (Sheraton Vistana) with four park days
- Cruise out of Port Canaveral
- 2 days at hotel near port
- another cruise
- one night at hotel near MCO

We used Uber and Lyft the entire time - no car rental at all. We only had one problem getting a ride share - the trip from the port to to local hotel. We later found out that there was a local shuttle and it was $8/person to our hotel. The rideshares at the port didn’t want to pick up a short ride - they wanted the trips back into Orlando.

Trip costs were as follows:
MCO to Sheraton Vistana - $36
Daily trips to parks $11-13 each way
Sheraton to Port $80
Port to Airport hotel $72

So under $400 (tips not listed above) for all our travelling with no gas, parking, tolls or rentals to pay for. We were good with this.

 

[auntlynne]

Great info, @MichelleCanada

 

[Benay127]

We just finished a big Disney trip (myself, DH and DS11):
- Landed MCO
- 5 days at non-Disney resort (Sheraton Vistana) with four park days
- Cruise out of Port Canaveral
- 2 days at hotel near port
- another cruise
- one night at hotel near MCO

We used Uber and Lyft the entire time - no car rental at all. We only had one problem getting a ride share - the trip from the port to to local hotel. We later found out that there was a local shuttle and it was $8/person to our hotel. The rideshares at the port didn’t want to pick up a short ride - they wanted the trips back into Orlando.

Trip costs were as follows:
MCO to Sheraton Vistana - $36
Daily trips to parks $11-13 each way
Sheraton to Port $80
Port to Airport hotel $72

So under $400 (tips not listed above) for all our travelling with no gas, parking, tolls or rentals to pay for. We were good with this.

Seriously @MichelleCanada, this is gold. Thanks so much! Also your trip sounded amazing! Did your 11 year old son have fun on the cruises? My son will be 12 when we go and I'm hoping he'll meet some other kids or hang out in the kids club.

 

[Benay127]

We used DCL transport for the MV both to and from the port. I will say I will NEVER use it from the port again!! I remembered from years ago that when one bus filled up it left pretty quickly. Well not now!! We were off boat by 8 ish because we were hoping to catch an early bus and get to DW quickly!! We finally pulled out of PC around 9:45!! We usually drive and pay to park at the port but had family meeting us at DW. We have also used John from Sunrise Florida Transportation quite a few times. He is FANTASTIC!! Have a great time and try not to stress!!

@Cruising Girl That is good to know! I will research that company.

 

[MichelleCanada]

Seriously @MichelleCanada, this is gold. Thanks so much! Also your trip sounded amazing! Did your 11 year old son have fun on the cruises? My son will be 12 when we go and I'm hoping he'll meet some other kids or hang out in the kids club.

My son had an amazing time! He’s an only child and kind of shy - the cruise was great for him. We gave him an older iPhone and we were able to iMessage while on the ship (the app doesn’t always send notifications). He enjoyed his independence. He started at the Oceaners Club and by the end was only going to Edge.

Note- we did find Uber better than Lyft - it seemed like there were more rides available that way. The prices varied depending on time. When we first got off the cruise we could get a ride cheaper than as time went on. When the demand goes up so does the price - when there are a lot of drivers available the price seems to be lower. We had never used Uber or Lyft before our spring trip to California and found success there and in Orlando.