Arriving 1 day before cruise, Hyatt vs WDW resort

[mike314]

I've got an itinerary planned for 2020 and I know for a fact we'll want to arrive the day prior to embarkation. My wife wants to arrive morning/midday and stay at a WDW resort. While we wont be able to do a park we can head to Disney Springs and enjoy the day that way. Then get the DCL bus the next morning. I thought arriving later in the afternoon/evening and staying at the Hyatt was a better option (less moving parts) and then getting the bus out of MCO the next morning.

For those that took DCL bus transfer using Hyatt are you given a specific time to get on the bus or anytime in the morning. I know with WDW resort transfers you have to be at the bus stop at a specific time. Any thoughts or pros/cons on either option? We will be traveling with our new born infant son and grand parents and the grand parents have never seen Disney Springs it will be a good opportunity to show it to them.

 

[allears]

We have done both. On our last cruise we arrived early evening and stayed at the Hyatt. There is not a specific "pick up" time for them, you go right down to Magical Express/DCL Buses and you can get on one of the first buses if you so desire. We did that and were among the first folks at the port, which we like. Others like to arrive a bit later and have less of a wait before boarding.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Buses from MCO leave for the port as they fill up, with the first departures shortly after 9 am. Cruisers who want an early bus will start lining up by 8:30 am. The bus costs $39 per person for either MCO to port or WDW resort to port, so no real difference in that regard. Bus pickups at the resorts start later, so you will not get to port until some time between noon and 1:30 pm.

 

[Marc D]

The busses from MCO run continuously from 9AM until around 1:30PM. It is first-come, first-served. We usually get breakfast at the buffet in the Hyatt then walk down around 8:45. We usually end up on bus 1 or 2 and get inside the terminal around 10:15. If you book the Hyatt through DCL (or call DCL in advance), they’ll handle the luggage from the Hyatt room to the stateroom for free.

Even when we arrive early, we stay there and use Lyft to go to Disney Springs. If our flight would be delayed, we wouldn’t have to get on the Magical Express for an hour+ to get to our room, or book a private transport to arrive early at port, which is what we prefer.

 

[pixiedustedme]

After spending the night at the Hyatt, you get on the next available transfer bus from MCO to the port. You can get onto the ship much earlier that way than by staying at a Disney resort. You also get to avoid the trip to WDW, followed by a longer trip to the port the next morning. Unless you'll be hitting the parks, or swimming at a deluxe resort with an amazing pool, I don't see the point of going to WDW just for part of the day before the cruise.

On the other hand, if your loved one really wants to, then you should do it just to please her.

 

[SamFaniam]

Even when we arrive early, we stay there and use Lyft to go to Disney Springs. If our flight would be delayed, we wouldn’t have to get on the Magical Express for an hour+ to get to our room, or book a private transport to arrive early at port, which is what we prefer.

I agree with this approach. It get you a better transfer experience, in my opinion, and you can easily taxi over to Disney Springs for the afternoon or evening if you want to. The Hyatt is really convenient.

 

[mike314]

Thanks all for the tips!

 

[MomOTwins]

I'm going to cast a vote for a WDW hotel. It's such a fun way to get in the disney spirit! You can get a nice dinner on property or a brunch the morning of. We like to do a character breakfast before the bus to the port and tell Mickey we'll see him on Castaway Cay.

 

[SarahSnow]

We stayed at the Hyatt last December for the night before our cruise. It was so convenient for us to fly in and not have to do much after that. In the morning we got down to the desk around 8:30ish and were on the 2nd bus out and were boarding group 2, great ride to the port and easy to find.

 

[Meriweather]

We've done both......prefer Disney resort.
Hyatt was expensive and it was a mad house getting on the bus and waiting.

 

[drnp]

I'll throw out another option just in case you didnt think of it. Since there are 4 adults have you priced out what a one way rental car would be? IMO car rental rates out of MCO are pretty reasonable. It usually prices out better than shuttle once you get over 2 adults. Having your own transportation would give you the flexibility of landing in morning in MCO, driving grand parents to Disney Springs, then driving to Port Canaveral and staying over night in a hotel there, where they have Homewood Suites and Residence Inn which would be big enough for your group with the home amenities you would need for the baby. This would also greatly reduce the potential wait times for shuttle with your newborn. We did this on our last trip and found the flexibility well worth it. We only had a 3 night cruise and the Residence Inn gave us discounted parking so we just kept our rental car at the hotel and took their shuttle to port. After doing the math, the costs for shuttle and ride shares would have been more than we paid for rental, parking, and the gas with the added flexibility to boot.

 

[pixiedustedme]

We've done both......prefer Disney resort.
Hyatt was expensive and it was a mad house getting on the bus and waiting.

Pop Century, a value resort, is going to be $200+ per night next year in regular season. The Hyatt, which is a much nicer hotel (room quality is better than a Disney deluxe, minus the theming), costs about $230 per night year-round when booked via DCL. So I don't think it's expensive when compared to a typical Disney resort. You can get cheaper deals in town, certainly, but not so much at Disney from now on, except at an All Star resort, which is the very bottom rung of hotel that Disney offers.

I also never found the transfer bus boarding process at MCO to be chaotic in any way. There were plenty of people, sure, but it is quite orderly. We never had a hard time finding a place to sit during the brief wait for our bus.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We did a day room at the Hyatt and the hotel was fine. If you want convenient, this is the place. Personally I’d choose a Disney hotel - hit up a resort or nice restaurant at Disney springs for dinner. We had so much fun in December just hanging around Beach club, walking around the boardwalk area and going mini golfing.

Also, when you say newborn, I hope you mean 6 month+ infant, since any younger isn’t allowed...

 

[Christina McKenna]

Also have done both...Hyatt a few times...and WDW is much more fun. The airport doesn't have the same magic. We hit up Disney Springs last time for dinner and woke up at Disney World...mood set. With that said, I don't care when we board. We've been on more than 10 cruises...just need to be on the ship before it leaves, but that's us. Also, all the "kids" are now adults, so the amount of sleep everyone gets matters less and traveling with them is a breeze. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kiford]

Two nights prior to the cruise and it's WDW all the way. The night before - generally MCO Hyatt unless I'm arriving in earlier morning in which case I might go to WDW just because there's nothing to do at the airport. If I'm arriving after noon, I'll just stay at MCO Hyatt and go to the pool, read in the room or watch TV and maybe browse through the shops. We're going to do MCO Hyatt in January of next year before our cruise. We even decided to take a later flight so that we don't have to spend a lot of time in the airport. It just didn't seem like it was worth it to go all the way out to WDW for basically an afternoon and part of the evening. The earlier flights still didn't get us to WDW until 1-2 pm and I didn't feel like doing two bus trips in two days. I will admit that part of what pushed us over was that we have a $200 travel credit for the Hyatt.

 

[Dug720]

I will just point out that there are some very nice hotels within 5-10 minutes of the airport - I have stayed at both Hampton Inn Gateway and the closest Embassy Suites as well as Hampton Inn Orlando Airport - that are super easy to get to and from via shuttle and are generally less than either WDW or the in-airport Hyatt.

 

[tvguy]

I will just point out that there are some very nice hotels within 5-10 minutes of the airport - I have stayed at both Hampton Inn Gateway and the closest Embassy Suites as well as Hampton Inn Orlando Airport - that are super easy to get to and from via shuttle and are generally less than either WDW or the in-airport Hyatt.

Yup. About a dozen nice hotels on Augusta National Drive right off the airport. They have shuttles, some throw in free breakfast, and most of their shuttles will drop right off at the DCL bus stop at the airport.

 

[hcox31]

We stayed at the Hyatt after flying in in the evening. Mega convenient. We booked it through DCL and paid around $230USD which is pretty much equivalent to a WDW resort for one night. Plenty of food options in the terminal/hotel too. Taking the bus the next morning was super easy... they pick up your bags in the hotel room around 8/8:30. You head down to the bus and you're on vacation.

 

[hnthomps]

We travel with kids, so the idea of taking a bus to a resort from the airport, to then not go into the parks, to then go to the port the next day...not worth it for us. We love staying at the Hyatt. The rooms are comfortable, there's plenty of dining, the pool is fine, the breakfast buffet is better than average (and better than most resort quick serve restaurants), and you can't beat the convenience of having your luggage transferred for you in the morning. So we'd never consider heading to a resort instead of the Hyatt. But, obviously, different strokes for different folks, etc etc. Oh, and the Hyatt is cheaper than any of the resorts we've ever stayed at, though we've gotten deals at the Hyatt, and certainly haven't researched all the resorts.

 

[dumbo12]

We have done both. On our last cruise we arrived early evening and stayed at the Hyatt. There is not a specific "pick up" time for them, you go right down to Magical Express/DCL Buses and you can get on one of the first buses if you so desire. We did that and were among the first folks at the port, which we like. Others like to arrive a bit later and have less of a wait before boarding.

Is there a fee for using the DCL Buses?