Arriving day before we cruise

[misty9960]

For those of you that fly down the day before you cruise what are some things that you have done that you would recommend to our family? Our children are 10 & 7 years old. Where do you stay? Being that we booked our cruise including air and transfers through Disney how is this usually handled? Right now we are scheduled to fly down same day but, due to our arrival time (12:30 p.m.) we are considering flying day before. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

We always love flying in the day before. So much more time to relax. We stay at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral and it has a great pool area and good restaurant for breakfast in the morning.

If your on the 4 day Wonder you can do like we did and go to Grills for dinner and watch the Magic set sail It was very excting....The kids loved it.

It is a little restaurant close to port and you can sit inside or out and there is a little park area outside to sit and watch the cruise ships sail. We saw about 3 leave last time. Everyone waves and the Disney ship sounds its horn for everyone as it goes by!

It was a great way to start our trip! Then in the morning we just take the free shuttle to the port and get in line to board! I would not want to do it any other way. We do use Disney transportation to get back to the Airport.

www.visitgrills.com

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

oops accidently posted twice...

 

[misty9960]

Thanks Michelle. Love the picture of you & your daughter

 

[dharma517]

OK..how do you get from the airport to the radisson?

My DH and I want to stay the night before and can't figure that out..it will just be the two of us. I did understand that you can get the free shuttle to the port...will they take us whenever we want? like 10:30am? We will then purchase disney transfers for the way back...
thanks
Jenn

 

[ksouma]

Wrong thread....... Sorry

 

[Stepharoonie!]

You could always go to Downtown Disney for awhile...it's about 45 minutes away.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

You could rent a car for one day. I believe there is an Avis rental car return right there at the Radisson. If it is not Avis it is one of the others. I do know they have one.

We had 12 in our group and so we rented a big shuttle and split the cost.

You should be able to get a car for $50 or less for one day. That would not be too bad. Plus you can drive around Port Canaveral and out to dinner that evening. We had to call taxi's and that was a pain....

You can set up the shuttle before hand so you get your time you want. We got over to the port around 10:20 and got all checked in and ended up being the first people in line!

We love the Radisson and it has a great pool area. My DD loved it.
We also loved the restaurant for breakfast. They made omelets and it was a good start to our day.

They made everything very conveinient.

 

[prymsu]

we go to a dinner theater show the day we get in if we plan on staying in Orlando. That is always a nice way for us to start off our trip. Or if we stay in Port Canaveral, then we have got together with other DIS folks if they are there too at the Radisson. I must say though, i think the next time we go, we are going to give Ron Jon a try.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by misty9960
For those of you that fly down the day before you cruise what are some things that you have done that you would recommend to our family? Our children are 10 & 7 years old. Where do you stay? Being that we booked our cruise including air and transfers through Disney how is this usually handled? Right now we are scheduled to fly down same day but, due to our arrival time (12:30 p.m.) we are considering flying day before. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!

We are flying down the day before. You can get an awesome price for a hotel either at/near the airport or in Cocoa Beach through Priceline. We're staying at the Doubletree and paying less than $40 for the night. The Radisson is very nice, but for just the few hours that we're there I didn't want to pay that much.

We're renting a car from Budget and driving to Port Canaveral. My husband will return the car while I check in at the port!

 

[dharma517]

I just want to fly in the night before...suddenly I am renting a hotel room and a car..just so I can get there at the same time my morning of the cruise flight would have gotten me there anyway..without the expense of a hotel room and car..UGH. There has to be an easier way. Can I stay at an orlando airport hotel and still use the disney transfers? The way things stand now...I am flying into Orlando nonstop from Philly at like 9:30am...but it is in September. What should I do? I did purchase travel insurance thru travel insured as well. Should I just cross my fingers? I can see if I were taking a 7 night cruise but all this for a 4 night cruise seems a bit much. When we go with the kids we WILL be staying the night before so they can get a good nights rest. HELP!
Jenn

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by dharma517
I just want to fly in the night before...suddenly I am renting a hotel room and a car..just so I can get there at the same time my morning of the cruise flight would have gotten me there anyway..without the expense of a hotel room and car..UGH. There has to be an easier way. Can I stay at an orlando airport hotel and still use the disney transfers? The way things stand now...I am flying into Orlando nonstop from Philly at like 9:30am...but it is in September. What should I do? I did purchase travel insurance thru travel insured as well. Should I just cross my fingers? I can see if I were taking a 7 night cruise but all this for a 4 night cruise seems a bit much. When we go with the kids we WILL be staying the night before so they can get a good nights rest. HELP!
Jenn

Any chance you have an American Express card? I use my rewards points to rent cars...so the rental (which is about $35) isn't really costing me anything.

Yes, you can get a cheap hotel room at the Hyatt MCO (via Priceline) the night before and still use Disney's buses to take you to the port the next day.

 

[CAMICKEY]

You MAY be able to get a cheap room at Priceline. If not, we paid $112 for our room this May (booked it a year ago). We do not feel that this price is exorbitant given the convenience that it will provide us. I know others feel differently. - Mike

 

[samnick]

We just booked the Hyatt MCO for 2/05. It was kind of expensive, but being that far off we won't notice the price difference that much. The info. on these boards is what decided for us. You can still use your DCL transfers the next morning and the hotel will get your luggage to the shuttle for you. We booked a flight arriving around 4:30 p.m. That way we're not rushed and we can have a nice dinner and maybe relax by the pool that evening. So for the money it seems worth it. Good luck!