Calling Transportation Experts!

[shmoogrrrl]

We are sailing on the March 29th Western cruise, and we are trying to make some plans. I was hoping that some of you could give us a bit of advice.

There will be me, my hubby, our wee little baby, our best friends and their wee little one too (who is 5 months older than Katie) We are planning to fly down the day before the cruise and afterward we plan to spend three days at Disney World.

Now, the dilemma is transportation. We've decided to leave late in the afternoon from Virginia and will probably get into Orlando around 6 or 7ish. Do you think we'd be better off renting a Mini Van and driving to the Radisson, or would we be better off staying at the Airport Hyatt and taking Disney transportation the next day? How much are one way and two-way transfers from Disney? What time do the buses start going? We would like to get to the port as early as reasonably possible.

Further, would we be better off renting a Mini Van or taking Disney transportation to Disney World after the cruise? We will more than likely be staying at the All Star, if that makes a difference. Since we will have lots of luggage, a 10 month old and a 15 month old, we'd like to do whatever is the most sensible and the least complicated! Any advice?


Kathy

 

[tstobb]

Check out limo rates as well (we used YourRide )- for that number of people, it may actually be the most economical and you can schedule it for whenever you want. DCL charges $46 per person for round trip bus service.

 

[jel0511]

With that many people and baby gear included, I wouldn't recommend renting a minivan. The storage isnt' that great, and the larger minivans aren't guaranteed anymore. You could end up with a Dodge Caravan, which has about much storage space as my glove compartment!!! I'd look into getting limo transfers, they won't be much more than taking the Disney bus. I say the limo, since when you get off the boat, the bus available back to WDW is a regular Mears shuttle bus, not the nice DCL busses. They also have to stop at EVERY hotel, going and returning to the airport. A big hassle with little ones, so much wasted time!!! With a limo, it's one way transport, with no stops. With the little ones, I'd recommend staying the night at the Airport Hyatt and heading down to the port in the morning, much easier than having to deal with the Radisson shuttle with all that gear!!!

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

You might also want to check www.artsshuttle.com.

 

[hydster]

we just came back in Nov and although our kids are not as small as the ones you are taking it was still SO nice to have our own schedule and not be told when to be there and where to go. We used yourride and it was great! They provided a car seat for my 3 yr old and picked up 4 adults and 3 kids. Mike met us at 11:30pm in Orlando Intl without any hassles. He drove us to the Poly for 3 nights before we went to the ship. Then he picked us up at the AKL after we went to AK on Sunday morning before we went to the port. He then took us from AKL to the Poly to pick up our luggage from the bell services there and then off to the port. He picked us up when we felt it was convenient and we were at the port by 2 pm that day. It was nice because the line wasnt too long and he took care of ALL of the luggage loading and unloading everywhere. After the cruise we went to a Comfort Inn for the inlaws since they were leaving the next morning and he waited until we got a reservation problem straightened out. He then took all of us to POR and waited until we got settled. Then I called Rabbit who allowed us to change the p/u time for the inlaws that night to an hour later. Dave came and picked them up at POR at 10 pm that night and took them back to the Comfort Inn. Then Mike picked us and our 3 kids back at POR and took us to the Airport on Saturday. He helped us unload the luggage with the skycap and everything. It cost us 380 total plus tips to get all of that service and it was worth every penny! We arrived at the same time as some of the Disney busses at the port (dont know where they came from) but we werent all that late. It was nice to just have our own car/van to sit in and not have to listen to other people's kids or crying. Our kids napped on the way to the port which was nice as well.

Hope this helps!
Heidi