Booked a shore excursion to Disney from an NCL cruise - which park?

[pookel]

Hi! So I've never been on a cruise before and I've never been to Disney, but I'm on a cruise through Norwegian that stops in Port Canaveral on Sunday, Jan 22, 2023, from 7 am to 1 am., and we decided we might as well go to Disney since we're already in the area. We signed up for the shore excursion transportation to Disney because it's much cheaper than other options, but it lists the trip as "7 hours" so I'm afraid it may end earlier in the afternoon than I was hoping. (If necessary we might ditch the excursion for the return trip so we can stay longer.)

Anyway, I'm looking for advice on which park to go to, because I'm pretty sure we're limited to one for such a short visit.

Considerations -
We're two adults in our 40s with no kids along, and we're not very interested in attractions geared toward kids/kids' cartoon characters
I get bad motion sickness on rollercoaster-type rides so I can only do very gentle rides
We both appreciate food/culture so leaning toward Epcot, BUT I get shin splints sometimes if I walk too much in one day (a 15K step day on my Fitbit is fine, but 20K is pushing it) and I hear Epcot is larger
I'm autistic and can't handle too much noise or dense crowds

I know very little about the parks except I've heard Magic Kingdom is more for kids/Disney character stuff, and I know Epcot has the various country pavilions, and I guess Animal Kingdom has animals? I'm a complete noob here so I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give!

P.S. Our friends we're traveling with are leaning toward Magic Kingdom but are mostly concerned about being able to buy branded merch - is the selection very different across parks? Or if they go to Epcot will they still be able to buy Disney character stuff?

 

[Anna131517]

Epcot. However, I personally would do Kennedy Space Center. It’s closer and cheaper and you won’t waste as much time traveling. The exhibits are really interesting, and include some very cool movies.

 

[SkyGuy]

Festival of the Arts will be going on at Epcot during your excursion. While it’s not one of the bigger festivals, any festival at Epcot brings out the locals in droves on the weekends, so you can expect the World Showcase to have a fair number of people even though it’s a slower time of year.

 

[Eastern]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/shops/epcot/#/sort=alpha/ They will both have character merchandise. Merchandise may be more Epcot-oriented but plenty to buy. If they are looking for something specific, I would look at ShopDisney first. There is never any guarantee that a specific item will be available once you get there.

Either park would be fine but you will probably not have time to wait for the more popular rides. In this case, Epcot might be better because you can stroll through WS eating and drinking, do some shopping, and probably get on Spaceship Earth, Soarin' and Imagination.

 

[shafke]

If the excursion/trip is listed as 7 hours that is not going to give you much time in any park. It is about 1 hour or so travel time. Allowing time to get off the bus and get to the front gate of whichever park you choose plus you need to get back to the bus before departure time back to the ship and you will have less than 5 hours actual time in the park.
I read a review on reddit and it seems they drop you off at the TTC. Now figure 15-30 minutes travel time to either MK or Epcot... each way. I think you would be lucky to have 4 hours in a park.

 

[pookel]

If the excursion/trip is listed as 7 hours that is not going to give you much time in any park. It is about 1 hour or so travel time. Allowing time to get off the bus and get to the front gate of whichever park you choose plus you need to get back to the bus before departure time back to the ship and you will have less than 5 hours actual time in the park.
I read a review on reddit and it seems they drop you off at the TTC. Now figure 15-30 minutes travel time to either MK or Epcot... each way. I think you would be lucky to have 4 hours in a park.

Do you think it's feasible to take the shore excursion bus to Disney but then take an Uber back to the port later in the evening? Since the ship doesn't leave until 1 am there should be plenty of time, it's just an extra expense (plus I assume we'd need to make arrangements to let the cruise line know we're skipping the bus back).

 

[shafke]

Do you think it's feasible to take the shore excursion bus to Disney but then take an Uber back to the port later in the evening? Since the ship doesn't leave until 1 am there should be plenty of time, it's just an extra expense (plus I assume we'd need to make arrangements to let the cruise line know we're skipping the bus back).

do uber both ways... it may even be cheaper than through the ship. That way you also won't be tied down to the excursion departure time and you may even be able to get there at park opening or close to it.

 

[cfox612]

Epcot is definitely manageable if you're just leisurely strolling around the world. You can also take the ferry from the back to the front. Ride wise you won't get much. Because it's so spread out you should be able to avoid the crowds.

Animal Kingdom is also on the larger size, but have many more show options (including some outdoors). It also can be fully done in a half day and has great food and photo spots.

 

[pookel]

do uber both ways... it may even be cheaper than through the ship. That way you also won't be tied down to the excursion departure time and you may even be able to get there at park opening or close to it.

I saw people talking about Uber prices around $300 each way .... the shore excursion cost is $68 for both of us, round trip.

ETA: I just looked up some fare estimators and am seeing prices more like $100 each way with Uber .... still more expensive than the excursion though.

 

[lugnut33]

Personally, if you've never been to WDW, I would recommend the Magic Kingdom as it's classic Disney. Plus, there are so many attractions that you shouldn't have any problem getting in some of the classic rides like Haunted Mansion, It's A Small World, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many others. You won't have time to get on the major attractions like Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, or probably even Peter Pan. However, if you go ahead and purchase your one day ticket now, it includes a park reservation. Once you've secured a park reservation you can link it to your Disney World app account. Once you've done that, you can purchase Genie+ the day of your trip and start stacking lightning lanes for your arrival. You'll avoid many of the long lines and the MK is about the only park that has enough attractions to make Genie+ a good purchase.

 

[jimmymc]

Starting with a quick summary of what each park has:

Magic Kingdon: the classic Disney park with the castle, princess meet n greets, character parades, and a lot of rides themed around both old and new movies. This is an attraction-heavy park

Epcot: Split between Future World and World Showcase. Future World is mostly a construction site when you'll be there but has a few great rides. World Showcase only has a few rides but has all the country pavilions, with decently authentic food and shopping, plus a lot of theater shows with movies and/or animatronics.

Hollywood Studios: Home to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, and a larger area based on Hollywood. This park has a few of the best rides on property, but they tend to be more thrilling. For you, I would only do this park if you're die-hard Star Wars fans.

Animal Kingdom: This park has animal exhibits, a safari, a few good rides, and Pandora (from the Avatar movies). In additional to the animals, it's also the most artistic park in my opinion.

If you get dropped off at the TTC, it's a long bus-ride to Studios or Animal Kingdom, and a shorter monorail ride to Epcot or Magic Kingdom, in case time is an issue.

I pretty much always recommend Magic Kingdom for new visitors because that is what the original Disney parks were like, and the others weren't added until later. But if you're not interested in story-themed attractions, I would say Epcot or Animal Kingdom for you.

You can definitely get Epcot done in less than 15k steps if you plan your route. The bus or monorail will drop you off at the front of Future World, do one lap around the world showcase, and back out the front gate. Epcot has a few gentle rides and plenty of merch and food opportunities.

 

[FeliciaB23]

I'd definitely recommend Epcot or Animal Kingdom based on what your concerns are. I'd also Uber to and from, though, it may be difficult finding someone willing to drive as far as Port Canaveral / Orlando as it's about 60+ miles between the two.

 

[DLgal]

You may run into problems getting a rideshare driver to accept a ride out to Port Canaveral from WDW late at night. That's a LONG ride to Port with essentialy NO chance at someone needing a ride back to Orlando at that time. So the driver would be making a long round trip for basically only your fare. No one will want to do that.

Renting a car from Port for one day will likely be cheaper and give you more flexibility.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You can't go wrong with either Magic Kingdom or Epcot.

If you truly want to be immersed in Disney I would recommend MK. Disney offers 'experiences' more so than your typical rides and I think you'd have a great day!

Epcot is also wonderful with the exception that it does involve walking. You may wish to consider an ECV or wheelchair as 15,000 isn't a lot of steps at Disney.

I second using Uber both ways if the shore excursion is only 7 hours. That amount of time will only leave you wishing you had more time to enjoy whichever park you go to!

 

[pookel]

You may run into problems getting a rideshare driver to accept a ride out to Port Canaveral from WDW late at night. That's a LONG ride to Port with essentialy NO chance at someone needing a ride back to Orlando at that time. So the driver would be making a long round trip for basically only your fare. No one will want to do that.

Renting a car from Port for one day will likely be cheaper and give you more flexibility.

I had not considered renting a car, ty for the suggestion!

 

[Jerseyprincess317]

Hi! So I've never been on a cruise before and I've never been to Disney, but I'm on a cruise through Norwegian that stops in Port Canaveral on Sunday, Jan 22, 2023, from 7 am to 1 am., and we decided we might as well go to Disney since we're already in the area. We signed up for the shore excursion transportation to Disney because it's much cheaper than other options, but it lists the trip as "7 hours" so I'm afraid it may end earlier in the afternoon than I was hoping. (If necessary we might ditch the excursion for the return trip so we can stay longer.)

Anyway, I'm looking for advice on which park to go to, because I'm pretty sure we're limited to one for such a short visit.

Considerations -
We're two adults in our 40s with no kids along, and we're not very interested in attractions geared toward kids/kids' cartoon characters
I get bad motion sickness on rollercoaster-type rides so I can only do very gentle rides
We both appreciate food/culture so leaning toward Epcot, BUT I get shin splints sometimes if I walk too much in one day (a 15K step day on my Fitbit is fine, but 20K is pushing it) and I hear Epcot is larger
I'm autistic and can't handle too much noise or dense crowds

I know very little about the parks except I've heard Magic Kingdom is more for kids/Disney character stuff, and I know Epcot has the various country pavilions, and I guess Animal Kingdom has animals? I'm a complete noob here so I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give!

P.S. Our friends we're traveling with are leaning toward Magic Kingdom but are mostly concerned about being able to buy branded merch - is the selection very different across parks? Or if they go to Epcot will they still be able to buy Disney character stuff?

You should look into getting a DAS pass. People with autism are eligible. It will help with the long lines and the crowds.

 

[DonnaPeach]

I say don't do it at all. Not worth the time or money. The $68 just gets you the ride to/from the port. You'll also then have to buy a ticket to whichever park you want to go to, which on that day is $150/person (with taxes). An uber ride back will be hard to get late at night and like somebody else said, they may not do it for that distance. Last time I cruised out of Port Canaveral, the Uber drive complained the whole way from the airport to there about not having a return trip, and that is half the distance you are talking about. Just my opinion, though.

 

[pookel]

Just in case anyone was curious -

Norwegian's excursion got updated to 10 hours from 7 hours shortly before the cruise started. We had a shuttle bus that left the port at 9 am sharp and left the Disney bus parking lot at 6 pm sharp. Overall we had about 7.5 hours at EPCOT and it was fabulous and plenty of time to do things. We did Spaceship Earth, Living With the Land, Soarin', and the Nemo ride (which I did not realize had massive aquariums in the building, that was awesome!!) plus the video in the China pavilion, and we walked through all the country pavilions and bought some souvenirs. No time for a sit down meal but we snacked a couple times throughout the day.

Festival of the Arts was a bit of a letdown as there didn't seem to be much going on except a few extra vendors with food and art, but that's OK as the regular EPCOT stuff was completely worth it.

FWIW I'm pretty susceptible to motion sickness and had no issues with any of the above rides, but having spent a week on a cruise ship prior to the park might have acclimated me (is that a thing).

 

[pookel]

ps I got 21,500 steps in and my shins survived, but I was pretty sore for a few days afterwards.