Departure Time - Flying down the morning of...

[wahoowa]

We (family of 4) will be leaving on Thursday for a 4-day WOnder trip. We are considering flying down the morning of departure. What time do you have to be boarded by? How much time from the time you land in Orlando to board the shuttle and get over to the port? Maybe a better question is what time do you need have landed by to have enought time?

I have seen many people that have stated it's better to take the worry out of it and come down the night before. Just considering our options?

 

[crisi]

Boarding starts usually around noon (11:45ish) and continues until 3ish. It takes an hour to get to the ship from MCO - after you get your luggage.

Arrive the night before. Really. Even if you arrive at MCO at 1am and spend the night at the Hyatt in the airport. Getting stuck on the tarmack for two hours because the plane needs windshield wiper fluid or something can mean literally missing the boat.

If you bought airfare through Disney, they'll do what they can (including holding the ship at least a reasonable amount of time) to get you onboard. If you didn't, you'll be SOL.

 

[depomas]

Could not agree more.. Why wait to arrive the day of... Won't you be full of worry, Even if you are with DCL, and you miss and need to go to the next port to board, you would have an awful time of it...

There are so many different price ranges of hotels near the port, and you also arrive fresh as a daisy, and worryfree the day of your cruise...

There are so man "if" factors on arriving the same day, that Most of us would never attempt it..

 

[Dodie]

I don't think you'll find many people here who will recommend flying in the day of the cruise. This topic has been hashed and rehashed and the general consensus seems to be that it's just too risky.

Lots of good resources about where to stay the night before too. (www.dcltribute.com is one)

Do a search on those two topics and see what you come up with.

 

[mickeyboat]

Don't do it!

I thought going down the night before was just another way for my TA to get me to spend $. We booked air through DCL and were scheduled to arrive at MCO at 1PM.

Our flight was delayed due to fog and crew rest requirements. We made a later flight out of Manchester, NH. We flew on stand-by for our connecting flight out of Atlanta, and had to run through the airport carrying our 3 and 4 year old kids. We arrived at MCO at 4PM and got to the ship at 5PM. We missed the embarkation photo, the ressie rush, the lifeboat drill and the sail away party. All of my careful packing went out the window - our luggage didn't arrive until three days later when we docked at St. Maarten.

It wasn't worth the few dollars we saved to spend the first few days of our cruise searching the gift shop for underwear and listening to DH complain about the dull razor he had to shave with.

Denae

 

[ldb1030]

Don't do it!

I thought going down the night before was just another way for my TA to get me to spend $. We booked air through DCL and were scheduled to arrive at MCO at 1PM.

Denae

See, your TA DID know what she was doing!

 

[mickeyboat]

See, your TA DID know what she was doing!

Let's just say that recommendaiton was a good one. I wish I had selected a TA that knew more about DCL. It's a good thing I found these boards before I went.

Denae

 

[glindamood]

I am another vote fro the day before. Along with the fact that I don't want to miss the ship or have my luggage not show up - I paid for that day and I want to enjoy as much time on the ship as I can.

 

[jrabbit]

I'll second, er... third .. nope already taken, fourth nope, fifth no thats taken too. Well then I'll just join the chorus and say arrive in Orlando the day before.

Here's My reasons.
1) you're only going to be on the Wonder for 4 days which is ONLY 3 nights!!! Remember your first day (Thursday doesn't start until you board the ship and your Sunday on the ship is over by 9am).

2) Is it worth the possibility of missing the ship?? How far away are you comming from? Is the weather the time of year you're traveling good where you are departing from, making connections through and the one you don't know - where is the plane you're catching at home comming from??? Then there's the ubiquitous "Mechanical Failure" of any aircraft at any time.

3) Does the three or four hours on embarkation day make a difference? YES!!! Here's my story. Our first cruise was in '99 when only the Magic was in service. We were at WDW. Our cruise documents said that boarding started at 1pm. I figured that since they didn't start boarding until "after lunch time" that we would need to eat before heading to the port. So we stayed at the resort and had a peaceful morning, swimming and packing and getting ready for the cruise. Then we had lunch. Then we started out for the port around 12:30 (it only takes an hour or so to get there). Well once we were there (after 2pm), there were thousands of people, long lines to get checked in and a long line to board the ship. We finally got on board found out that there was a lunch buffet so we went there and had second lunch ("free food" ). Afterwards went to the stateroom and started to unpack. Went out and explored the ship for a very short time, manditory safety drill, back to the room - our bags were there so did a few minutes of unpacking (clothes for dinner) up to the sail away party, back to the room to get cleaned up for dinner, dinner (wasn't really hungry), show afterward, dancing and partying then back to the room after midnight. Whew. Ok were's our stuff - oh yea, it hasn't been unpacked yet!! Well unpack what we need, toiletry's, pj's then off to bed. Up early next morning for breakfast and excursion - hey where's the swimsuits - oh yea, still in the luggage that we're climbing over. Sometime late that afternoon we were finally unpacked and our room "organized" for the next two days. If we arrived earlier and were closer to the "first in line" we would have had a much more relaxing first and second day on the cruise.

4) The terminal is NOT a boring place to wait. It's a beautiful building. There's the model of the ship inside and the real one outside. There are soft couches and TV's playing Mickey Mouse Cartoons. The characters make an appearance. And like at the parks, it's better to be waiting in line "outside" rather than waiting in line "inside". If you want Palo or spa ressies, there's lines to be waited in inside. The earlier onboard, the less of a queue to be waiting in.

5) The few extra hours onboard by being at the port early will allow you to make ressies (if wanted), enjoy lunch, do a little ship exploring, get to your stateroom and maybe start unpacking (if your checked luggage is there), swim in the uncrowded and clean pools before the manditory safety drill and give you a chance to unwind and enjoy your vacation.

 

[crisi]

To continue jrabbits point #3....our first cruise we got to the ship before the gates opened. We didn't choose to do the "normal" DISBoarder thing - camp in line at the Mickey Ears and wait for the doors to open. But we got ourselves all registered without a wait and took pictures with Snow White and Mickey Mouse. It wasn't a long wait before the line (that we weren't in) to board started moving, and when it was really short, we hopped in line and were on board shortly after 12:00. We didn't bother with the "ressie rush" either, but had a nice lunch in Parrot Cay, got the kids booked into the clubs (you can now do this at the terminal), the kids enjoyed the pool and we had Bahama Mamas in our hands by 2:00. By 3:00 I was unpacking while the kids continued to swim while DH watched them. They returned to the room in time for the safety drill, then the sail away party, then change for dinner. Had we arrived at the last possible boarding time, it would have been room to safety drill, and unpacking much later, since my luggage would have arrived much later.

It was basically an extra three/four hours of vacation - for what was a short cruise anyway. And some of the best three hours of the vacation. My only complaint with early boarding is that you need to haul your carry ons until 1:30 --- I'd recommend packing LIGHT carryons.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Good Points Everyone!!!

 

[HappyLawyer]

oh please do not fly down the day of, go the nght before, get a cheap hotel through priceline or something, but please do not wait until the day of, anything could happen, flight delay and the ship will not wait, don't chance it.

 

[KarenP99]

FWIW, just another experience. We've taken 4 Disney cruises, and have flown in the day of departure each time (arriving at MCO between 11:30-noon). By the time we reached the port, the rush was over and there were no lines at all.

We fly southwest direct from MHT, our cruises have been in Sept & Jan.

Good luck with your decision!

Karen

 

[depomas]

FWIW, just another experience. We've taken 4 Disney cruises, and have flown in the day of departure each time (arriving at MCO between 11:30-noon). By the time we reached the port, the rush was over and there were no lines at all.

We fly southwest direct from MHT, our cruises have been in Sept & Jan.

Good luck with your decision!

Karen

This is the way it should be, in a perfect world. I am so glad all worked out fine for you, but my feelings are, you are playing with fire. We all know what can happen, and usually does only when you are in a time frame..

The cost of spending a night before is so small comparing what you paid for your cruise. In my opinion, it is like sailing without insurance... Fine for some, put if something were to happen, then you are SOL...

 

[Jen in MA]

You guys are scaring me.... we leave in 2.5 weeks for the Magic. I booked my air through DCL out of Boston. It's school vacation week up here in MA and I'm a teacher, so leaving early isn't an option. I did try and book my own flight for the night before, but was unable to get a flight leaving late enough so I could make it after work. So I decided to just go with DCL air figuring that if my flight is delayed at least they are responsible for me. Just got our flight info last week... they booked us on a connecting flight leaving Boston at 6:10am, connecting in Atlanta, arriving at MCO at 11:59am. I'll have to let you all know how everything works out when I get back... Keep your fingers crossed for me!