DCL Bus Pick-Up at Animal Kingdom?

[mshinrockford]

My family and I will be doing our first ever cruise, the 4-Night Wonder, next spring. I'm very excited about the trip and I really appreciate all the tips I've learned from those of you who share your insights on these boards. Thank you! I've recently read a couple of references to a DCL Bus pick-up point at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park. One said that, if you're embarking on a DCL cruise, Disney will provide you with complimentary breakfast and limited park entrance (for a couple hours) at the Animal Kingdom Park before the DCL bus takes you to the port. Has anyone else heard of this? Is it true? This would be awesome, but I can’t seem to confirm that this is still valid. I’m thinking that this may have been a limited-time offer that Disney used to promote the Animal Kingdom.

 

[vicnmickey]

I think most people who do the Animal Kingdom pickup are doing the 7 night land/sea package. Never heard of a complimentary breakfast. Some have done the Animal Kingdom Character Breakfast in the morning!

If I am wrong, someone please quote me

 

[rae519]

On our very first 7 night land/sea vacation in April 2001 - We ate breakfast at Animal Kingdom but it wasn't free! We came over from the Contemporary, and by the time we were finished eating, AK opened up and we had a few hours to walk around and redo/resee things we liked (Bugs Life for one!)
I was unaware of the amount of food waiting for us at the Topsider Buffet upon boarding and would probably NOT eat a heavy breakfast again. Nothing really seems to compare to those HUGE Gulf shrimp just waiting for us!

Rae

 

[two-foxes]

As far as I know all this info is for the land/sea package only!

DCL has some PS slots saved for cruisers at the Resturantourus breakfast on your sail date, but they are from 8:00-8:30...way to early for us! We arrived at the AK at opening on our sail date (Oct 20...we LOVED every second of our cruise!!!) Regardless, you need to reserve a spot at the AK so DCL knows who will be leaving from there by phone, prior to your sail date (You'll be explained all this at your check in on your land portion!) We signed in at the DCL station, where we checked in our carry on. The DCL will also give you "priority seating" to a show of your choice (Tarzan Rocks, Festival of the Lion King, etc.) We then went to breakfast at Resturantourus at about 9:15, and we got right in w/o any PS. The cost of the buffet is the same that they charge everyone else...around $15 for adults.

It was a great way to get one more day in at the parks before you head out to sea. My only worry was that we would miss out on reserving Palo or cabana massages, but we arrived about 30-45 minutes after all the others who opted to leave from the resort, and there were PLENTY of openings for both of those "must haves!"

 

[mshinrockford]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. Since we're only doing the 4-day Cruise (not the land/sea package), this AK Pic-Up option may not be available to us. If anyone has done this pick-up at AK in combination with a Cruise only, please let me know. Thanks again for the insights.