Dec 5, 2009 -- now traveling to Tortola

[Disney Boys]

Hi mrstbalt. We live in the southwest burbs in the Aurora, Naperville area. Nice to see there will be another Bears fan on the cruise, there was a good size group of us watching in Diversions last year.( My wife thought I was nuts watching football on the cruise).

 

[Tower]

Hello Tower. Last year our youngest was 2.5 years old and potty trained. The first night we brought him to the club with our 5 year old and spoke to one of the counselers for a couple of minutes. She watched him play and interact with some of the other kids and gave the go ahead for him to stay in the club and participate. You should not have any problems.

Hey! Thanks Disney Boys! That's awesome!
(now just to get him ready to pass 'the test')

 

[Tower]

Others like to get to the port early to try to buy a cheaper upgrade.

Another question to the vets out there. Does anybody know how much an upgrade might cost if we do get there early? It would be difficult for us I know because our staterooms are currently adjoining and I don't want to lose that.

 

[Inkmahm]

Another question to the vets out there. Does anybody know how much an upgrade might cost if we do get there early? It would be difficult for us I know because our staterooms are currently adjoining and I don't want to lose that.

From what I've read, to get a chance at an upgrade you have to get to Port REALLY early. Any upgrades are far and few between by sail date. I think most upgrades go to those who book guaranteed cabins but not specific cabins. I can't help you with the cost but my guess is that if you want adjoining rooms, your chance for an upgrade that day are next to none.

 

[ANT2304]

What do plan on doing on embarkation day and what time do you plan on arriving at the port? For example, I hear that some people like to hit a park in the morning or see some things in Cape Canaveral before heading to the port in early afternoon. Others like to get to the port early to try to buy a cheaper upgrade.

We arrive at MCO on Dec. 4 @ 11:30 AM (DH got us free flights, his Sis works at the airport, so we could not complain about the odd times). Our plan as of right now. (ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE HELPFUL).

Arrive @ MCO
Take our luggage over to Hyatt / check to see if our room is ready.
Have lunch at Downtown Disney (not sure how we are doing this, we are scheduled with DCL transportation to the port).
Does disney have transportation or rent a cab.
Spend the afternoon in Downtown Disney (Hopefully not spend all our money before we get on the cruise).
Come back to the Hotel relax.
Have dinner in the vicinity.
Swim and go to bed early. (This will be a challenge).

Dec. 5
Get up early, have a family breakfast at the Hotel or nearby.
Be on the first DCL transportation
Be at the port hopefully around 10 AM.

We are hoping for an early boarding so we have time for lunch and a swim before the Mandatory Boat Drill.

QUESTION: What happens if your child has a bathroom accident at one of the clubs??? Our DD's are 3 but can be a little bit shy or get to induldge in an activity and ask to go at the last minutes, which sometimes leads to an accident.

 

[Tower]

We arrive at MCO on Dec. 4 @ 11:30 AM (DH got us free flights, his Sis works at the airport, so we could not complain about the odd times). Our plan as of right now. (ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE HELPFUL).

Arrive @ MCO - Good Start

Take our luggage over to Hyatt / check to see if our room is ready.
Have lunch at Downtown Disney (not sure how we are doing this, we are scheduled with DCL transportation to the port). - Just a suggestion, if you're going to spend money for the Hyatt, it might be just as cost-effective to stay at a Disney Resort like Port Orleans Riverside/French Quarter. That way you have the free shuttles to get you around to Downtown Disney and they can transport you directly to the port from the resort rather than go back to the airport to catch the bus to the Port. (one reason why we're planning on staying at Caribbean Beach Resort)

Does disney have transportation or rent a cab -Yes, as above, but I don't know if you can pay separately. It would be pricey either way.

Spend the afternoon in Downtown Disney (Hopefully not spend all our money before we get on the cruise). - Stay away from Lego-Land, spent a fortune there last time including Wii games.

Come back to the Hotel relax. - Ya Right! You're going on a Disney Cruise the next day! You think the kids are going to let you relax???????

Have dinner in the vicinity. - Downtown Disney has some nice restaurants.

Swim and go to bed early. (This will be a challenge).

Dec. 5
Get up early, have a family breakfast at the Hotel or nearby. - If you get the meal plan at POR, you'll be set.

Be on the first DCL transportation - Rise and Shine
Be at the port hopefully around 10 AM.

We are hoping for an early boarding so we have time for lunch and a swim before the Mandatory Boat Drill. - We'll see you there!

QUESTION: What happens if your child has a bathroom accident at one of the clubs??? Our DD's are 3 but can be a little bit shy or get to induldge in an activity and ask to go at the last minutes, which sometimes leads to an accident. - I don't know what happens, but it's still more than 4 months away. A lot can happen in progress there. We're hoping our little guy will be fine, especially with his big sister in the same program, but accidents do happen. As much as they have their restrictions, I'm sure they are prepared for accidents. I don't know if they would 'ban' a child for the rest of the cruise, I think it would depend upon an assessent by the staff. - Good Luck!

 

[mrstbalt]

What do plan on doing on embarkation day and what time do you plan on arriving at the port?

Dec 4: We are arriving at MCO around 7pm and staying a few miles away
from the airport. There was free shuttle service.

Dec 5: Leave with private transfers to port. Hopefully arriving around 10am. Don't care about cheap upgrades, want to get the kids in the pool before
it gets too crowded.

Dec 12: Disney World for 2 nights and most of Monday. Then back to the real world

 

[mrstbalt]

I noticed some people on sailings give there trip/group a name, do we have one?
Is someone putting together a list w/names,ages..etc for the FE list?
Have a nice weekend.

 

[Tower]

I noticed some people on sailings give there trip/group a name, do we have one?

Don't think we do. I did notice that on one thread, on a cruise that departs exactly 1 year from ours, they have more pages on that one than on ours! (they call themselves the Chip'n'Dale gang or something like that. Seems like one person has taken control of the ship and organizing lots of events. (I thought that the disney cruise already had a lot of events without that)

Regardless, I'm game for a group name. Maybe that should be the question of the week next week and the following week we vote?

Is someone putting together a list w/names,ages..etc for the FE list?

I believe our American contingent from Germany (Hadley) was working on a list on a separate website, but she had been absent from the board for the past couple of weeks. Hope they're doing well.

 

[ANT2304]

Don't think we do. I did notice that on one thread, on a cruise that departs exactly 1 year from ours, they have more pages on that one than on ours! (they call themselves the Chip'n'Dale gang or something like that. Seems like one person has taken control of the ship and organizing lots of events. (I thought that the disney cruise already had a lot of events without that)

Regardless, I'm game for a group name. Maybe that should be the question of the week next week and the following week we vote?

I like this idea of giving our cruise a group name, but hopefully we don't organize too many events. I have been looking at past navigators, and I already feel like they have too many activities, that we are already going to miss out on so much.

 

[ANT2304]

Arrive @ MCO - Good Start

Take our luggage over to Hyatt / check to see if our room is ready.
Have lunch at Downtown Disney (not sure how we are doing this, we are scheduled with DCL transportation to the port). - Just a suggestion, if you're going to spend money for the Hyatt, it might be just as cost-effective to stay at a Disney Resort like Port Orleans Riverside/French Quarter. That way you have the free shuttles to get you around to Downtown Disney and they can transport you directly to the port from the resort rather than go back to the airport to catch the bus to the Port. (one reason why we're planning on staying at Caribbean Beach Resort)

If I change my hotel reservation to a Disney Resort what kind of transportation options are there for me. We arrive Dec. 4 @ MCO at 11:30 AM (day before cruise) & depart MCO Dec. 13 @ 7:40 PM (day after cruise). I like this idea, just concern about transportation.

 

[Tower]

If I change my hotel reservation to a Disney Resort what kind of transportation options are there for me. We arrive Dec. 4 @ MCO at 11:30 AM (day before cruise) & depart MCO Dec. 13 @ 7:40 PM (day after cruise). I like this idea, just concern about transportation.

If you stay at a Disney Resort, all transportation to/from the airport is covered. Once at the resort, all transportation between any other Disney attraction is also included. (i.e. if you stay at one of the Port Orleans resorts, the closest ones to downtown disney, you get buses everywhere at no extra charge). Again, when you check out of the resort the next day, you do not have to go back to the airport just to hop onto the ship shuttle, you can catch it directly from your resort hotel. I understand that this will work at any Disney resort except for the Value resorts.

Just go to the Disney Resort website and click on 'chat with an agent'. It's free and they can answer your questions directly. Afterwards, you can copy and paste that chat session into a Word document and store it for future reference.

 

[Inkmahm]

If you stay at a Disney Resort, all transportation to/from the airport is covered. Once at the resort, all transportation between any other Disney attraction is also included. (i.e. if you stay at one of the Port Orleans resorts, the closest ones to downtown disney, you get buses everywhere at no extra charge). Again, when you check out of the resort the next day, you do not have to go back to the airport just to hop onto the ship shuttle, you can catch it directly from your resort hotel. I understand that this will work at any Disney resort except for the Value resorts.

Just go to the Disney Resort website and click on 'chat with an agent'. It's free and they can answer your questions directly. Afterwards, you can copy and paste that chat session into a Word document and store it for future reference.

Transportation to and from the airport is free but transfers from WDW to the port and back are NOT free. I think the fee to the ship is something like $69 per person.

We rented a car from Avis for 12/2 to 12/5. I'll drop it off at the Avis office at the port when we get there for the cruise and take their shuttle back to the terminal. After our cruise, I take the Avis shuttle back to their office and pick up a car to drive back to WDW and then to drop it off at MCO when we fly out Sunday night. The cost to do that was about the same as paying for transfers on the bus to the port for DH and me. I always rent a car when we're at WDW to make it easier to get around so this will work for us.

 

[Tower]

Transportation to and from the airport is free but transfers from WDW to the port and back are NOT free. I think the fee to the ship is something like $69 per person.

I'm sorry, you're right Inkmahm. I did not clarify enough that if you're paying for a transfer from the airport, that same transfer would apply for a transfer from the resorts. Of course it's still best to verify directly with Disney.

 

[ANT2304]

Thank you Inkmahm & Tower for the info.

I contacted Disney and they said that we could have DCL transportation pick us up at Port Orleans Resort for $35 a person. Which is cheaper, actually then the $69 that they quoted me from the airport.

My DH loves this idea, so I cancelled our Hyatt Reservation and now staying at the Port Orleans, so EXCITED!!!

 

[carmie3377]

Thank you Inkmahm & Tower for the info.

I contacted Disney and they said that we could have DCL transportation pick us up at Port Orleans Resort for $35 a person. Which is cheaper, actually then the $69 that they quoted me from the airport.

My DH loves this idea, so I cancelled our Hyatt Reservation and now staying at the Port Orleans, so EXCITED!!!

Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.
I think the reason the quote from the airport is so much higher is it is round trip whereas the $35/person is one way.

I do think the idea of staying at a Disney hotel is fantastic though. That way, you don't have to worry about the cab fees for visiting DTD the night before. Just making sure you're prepared for any extra expenses.

 

[Tower]

Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.
I think the reason the quote from the airport is so much higher is it is round trip whereas the $35/person is one way.

I just called DCL after I read these posts. You are 100% correct Carmie. It's actually $1 more per person each way to leave from a Disney resort. Resorts not included for pickup are Value Resorts, Coronado Springs and Contemporary Resorts. Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans are a couple of resorts that they do have pickup from (but not all).

So it's $35 per person, each way from the resort or $69pp return from the airport. I was told that once you make your resort reservation, inform DCL immediately and they will change your reservation and add that extra $1 for the pickup. (that's a fee I'm willing to pay vs returning to the airport with all our gear, only to take the bus from the airport to the ship.)

 

[ANT2304]

Yes, you are right DCL from the resort is one way.

THANK YOU, FOR CLARIFYING.

Disney does not announce the resort pick-up very well, so I am excited that I get a little more of the disney magic on this trip, then staying at the airport.: cool1:

 

[mrstbalt]

Booking excursions and Palo. Does full payment have to be received
before you can book anything?

 

[Tower]

Booking excursions and Palo. Does full payment have to be received
before you can book anything?

Double check your welcome package, but I believe that's true. I believe I read that.