Disney bus to Port

[maryeabq]

Is the Disney transportation a good way to get from the Polynesian to the port or would a private towncar be better?

 

[LAMPSKIES]

We've used the bus three years in a row........no complaints here.

 

[TheTexasKid]

I've only done it once from the Polynesian, but, I have no complaints neither.

 

[kcashner]

The DCL bus is a totally reasonable way. However, you travel on their schedule.

If there are more than 3 people travelling, a private limo service may be cheaper (if that matters), and will pick you up when YOU want, not when DCL tells you.

No complaints either way....

 

[LoveMickey]

And if you are anxious about getting reservations, you may want to get there earlier than the bus.

 

[jlp651]

ok this might be silly but I got a limo for BF-even though he likes kids I dont see him dealing with the excited shrills etc...so I got him a limo...however, I kept my bus travel-just in case we have a bad limo experience...plus we are using bus service from MCO to the Poly...Shhhh! its a surprise (the limo that is!)

 

[jjgarv]

Does anyone know, is there a charge for the bus for children under 2?

 

[Rence]

Cruised in December and we took Disney Transportation and would not do it again.

You do travel on their schedule. They tell you when they will pick you up and when you get to port.

We had a large family group (12) and as soon as we got on the ship everyone headed off to make reservations and found that EVERYTHING was all booked up.

No Palos -- I got the just about the last dinner reservation, others in our party were shut out, no brunch, no high tea.

No Tea with Wendy -- We had 5 girls ages 3 to 7 and Tea with Wendy gone.

Almost all Spa Treatements gone -- Those in our party who were interested had slim pickings of a few leftover appointments.


It doesn't seem right that you stay with Disney at the resort, trust Disney to transport you to the boat and then get shut out of everything.

If you have any interest in doing anything that requires a reservation, do not take Disney Transport.

 

[DIZZNY]

Originally posted by Rence
Cruised in December and we took Disney Transportation and would not do it again.

You do travel on their schedule. They tell you when they will pick you up and when you get to port.

What time do you arrive at the Ship when you take the Disney Transportation?

 

[kcashner]

Disney staggers the bus times so that they don't all arrive at the port at the same time. When we stayed at the Poly, we left at 11:30. When we stayed at Old Key West, we left from Port Orleans at 12:30.

I'm surprised about the Tea with Wendy....we've always gotten tickets for that later in the cruise (the place and time are in the Navigator.) It is possible that things have changed, but that wasn't a "first day" reservations thing.

 

[westjones]

No Tea with Wendy -- We had 5 girls ages 3 to 7 and Tea with Wendy gone.

Oh! Did they change this? On the 7 night cruise that we were on you got the tickets for the tea with Wendy on Monday morning of the cruise. Do you have to do this first thing now?

DJ

 

[Rence]

Tea with Wendy was on the list of reservations to make the first day.

Brother in law tried to get the tickets first thing and was told that they were all gone.

Brother in law is a lawyer and he had a talk with the manager of Guest Relations regarding this. How it did nto seem right that we had been staying at Disney for a week, paid to use Disney transport. Disney told us the time our bus would pick us up. We did not have an option for an earlier bus. And after relying on Disney we were shut out out everything.

Well it took a bit of persuading on the part of BIL but they did come through with some Tea with Wendy tickets for the girls and did manage to come up with a Palo reservation for BIL and wife.

We got off to a bad start with all of this, not the way you want to start your cruise, complaining to guest services etc. We had a great time after all this, but I think that Disney has to handle things differently, this is one area where you are better off not relying on Disney. Normally Disney focuses on giving their guests priority treatment (stay at the resort get into the parks an hour early etc.) but this is one case where if you are a guest of Disney you get poorer treatment than if you go non-Disney.

 

[westjones]

I'm so glad you let us know that the Tea with Wendy process has changed! We are going in September and my girls want to do Tea with Wendy and I probably wouldn't have even gone to make reservations because we do not go to Palo, so I have never been in that process.

I guess this time I will get to experience the 'line'. Maybe I will look into a Limo service. We have never used that before, but there ar 4 of us and our girls have ALWAYS wanted to see what it was like to get in a limo. That way we will be at port early enough to get the reservations we want (thinking of trying High Tea this time).

Thanks!
DJ

 

[maryeabq]

Thanks for the info.

Do the shore excursions fill up pretty quickly too? I read that you can book them ahead of time now. Is that a better option or should you wait until you get to the ship?

 

[makaylee]

maryeabq, shore excursions can now be booked over the phone 60 before your sail. I would recommend doing this if you want to do one of the more popular excursions because they can fill up quick.

 

[goingbacksoon]

Here's a link to the bus schedules, if you are trying to get there earlier.



http://www.disneycruiser.info/ground.htm

I think next time we're taking a towncar ourselves. The buses were convienent, but I'd rather spend a little more to get a lot more out of the cruise.

goingbacksoon