park for the day-Magic?

[koryandleslie]

Interested in the Magic from Galveston, which includes a day in Port Canaveral. Tickets and transportation to the parks are included? Can someone please tell me about this.

Arrive is 6:15a and departs around midnight.

I would like to be in the parks at opening, so
(a) do I need to rent a car instead of taking the bus?
(b) Is the Extra Magic Hour included?
(c) can I park hop?
(d) the last bus is at 3:30 but if I have a rental car, I can stay out as late as the car company is open?
(e) how will I get my park ticket?
(f) is it a little over an hour drive?
(g) how long would it take to clear customs in PC? Could I be at rope drop at DHS by 8:40a?
Any info would be great

 

[Bear3412]

I'm clueless about the Magic and it's schedule. However, I'm not sure how much info you can gather until the ship sails said itinerary. Having said that, you could rent a car. You would take a shuttle to car, then on return do the same. That alone sounds like at least 30 minutes each way to me. Is it worth it ..... possibly?
Tolls -- won't go there.
WDW, barring no traffic / accidents, less than an hour, with toll pass - generally forced upon you by the rental cars.
On DCL bus, at touch over an hour is my guess, depending on how long you have to wait to fill a bus. Of course at that port, for that ship, there should be plenty of buses, considering they are handing out WDW passes.
That's all I got.
HTH

ETA; I wonder if the DCL ship will be sharing Port Canaveral with a variety of visiting ships, and the DCL buses will be hauling not only DCL customers, but several others? Likely.

 

[Bear3412]

It's ironic. Well ... perhaps not. These are the best port times I have ever heard of for a DCL cruise. Even rivals crew leave in Costa Maya.

I did not notice the port times initially in PC. If I was in port this long in FL, I would rent a car. YMMV.
The rental companies should be all over this with added help. Just leave extra time. Don't miss the boat, oh wait, no biggie, no passport needed.

Something to consider personally, the SunPass.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

However most rentals have this toll system available for an inflated price, albeit convenient, especially for short term rentals.
Included in rentals for .. say $ 15.00 for the day using Beeline to and fro ship. IMO

 

[KristiMc]

I was on one of the NYC cruises this summer that included a day at the parks.

A. When you sign up for excursions you will need to sign up for a bus time. They will have times to get you there for opening. No need to rent a car.

B . Yes, cruise guests are able to do EMH. We were on the first bus and got to MK at 7:45.

C. Yes you can hop.

D. The busses start going back to the ship at 3:30. I think the last one for our cruise was 10:30. You can stay all day. You do not pick a bus time to go back - just show up.

E. Your ticket will be on your ship key card.

F. Yes it is about an hour drive.

G. It did not take us very long to get through customs. Maybe 10 minutes.

 

[MinnieGg4]

On the Magic out of NY over the summer, they had us at the parks for park opening. You will have to pick a bus time when you can book you port adventures. See other notes below.

Interested in the Magic from Galveston, which includes a day in Port Canaveral. Tickets and transportation to the parks are included? Can someone please tell me about this.

Arrive is 6:15a and departs around midnight.

I would like to be in the parks at opening, so
(a) do I need to rent a car instead of taking the bus? Take bus
(b) Is the Extra Magic Hour included? Depends on the park hours when you are there. We could do extra hours in MK the day we were there.
(c) can I park hop? yes
(d) the last bus is at 3:30 but if I have a rental car, I can stay out as late as the car company is open? The bus back to Port Carnaveral started at 3:30pm the last bus was 10:30pm from MK.
(e) how will I get my park ticket? It will be on you Key to the world card.
(f) is it a little over an hour drive? Don't remember how long the bus took.
(g) how long would it take to clear customs in PC? Could I be at rope drop at DHS by 8:40a? Customs was quick.
Any info would be great

 

[sambycat]

We are seasoned cruisers and park goers. Even though this stop is in the US, I wouldn't be able to relax fully worrying about getting everyone together, busy pàrks or parking lots, returning a rental ..... If i'm on a DCL bus and am appropriate in my efforts to return on time, the ship waits for me (and I have recourse). I would really doubt you would be "sharing" a bus with other cruise lines. You may not be always in a fancy DCL themed bus, but Mears/DCL runs busses all day.

 

[NancyIL]

The rental car companies in Cape Canaveral will not be open early or late enough for you to rent a car. Just take the scheduled transportation from DCL.

 

[mmouse37]

The rental car companies in Cape Canaveral will not be open early or late enough for you to rent a car. Just take the scheduled transportation from DCL.

Ditto this....just take the DCL offered transportation...it is easy, efficient and included in the price of your cruise.

We also did one of the NYC cruises that included a stop at the parks. It was a great day. We opted to stay at one park all day because we did not feel like park hopping but you certainly can. You pick a bus departure time when you do your online check in (like an excursion). You pick which park you want to start out at.

The morning you dock in PC they make annoucements and have queues set up in the atrium for each bus to each park. You line up in the park you are going to and they lead you to the bus when it is time to go. Customs was quick and easy.

They handed out bus times for the return buses from all the parks so you knew when the last bus was leaving at what time from each of parks so you could plan your day.

When we got back to the bus they had bottled water for us. It was a very enjoyable day all around. You will not be sharing a bus with any other cruiseline. DCL dedicates buses for this excursion. There were not even other shisp in port at PC when we were there that I can remember.

They alter the dining room times this day to accomodate people returning at different times.

Hope this helps.

MJ