Disney Resort Transfer

[lynzi2004]

We are first time cruisers and I’m looking at booking the 3 day Wish cruise over Memorial Day to kind of test the waters. We are avid WDW fans. We would be flying in on Thursday night before, landing around 5pm. Cruise leaves on Friday. What would you all suggest we do for a stay on Thursday night? Uber to WDW and enjoy the Skyliner, etc on Thursday night and then taken a transfer to the port on Friday? Or just Uber to PC on Thursday and stay in a hotel there. I’m not sure what my best bet is as for as a Port Arrival time? Thanks!

 

[NothingClever]

We are first time cruisers and I’m looking at booking the 3 day Wish cruise over Memorial Day to kind of test the waters. We are avid WDW fans. We would be flying in on Thursday night before, landing around 5pm. Cruise leaves on Friday. What would you all suggest we do for a stay on Thursday night? Uber to WDW and enjoy the Skyliner, etc on Thursday night and then taken a transfer to the port on Friday? Or just Uber to PC on Thursday and stay in a hotel there. I’m not sure what my best bet is as for as a Port Arrival time? Thanks!

As an initial matter, you may consider a 4 night cruise if it's your first time. We were just on the Wish for the first time last week and it took us about 3 days just to learn the ship and get into the swing of things - if it's a 3 night cruise, you may find yourself spending most of the time getting used to it. As for where to stay the night before your cruise, personally I would just get a room near the port and enjoy some of the local beach towns (such as Cocoa Beach). Whatever your choice, you can't go wrong with a cruise - you'll love it.

 

[lynzi2004]

As an initial matter, you may consider a 4 night cruise if it's your first time. We were just on the Wish for the first time last week and it took us about 3 days just to learn the ship and get into the swing of things - if it's a 3 night cruise, you may find yourself spending most of the time getting used to it. As for where to stay the night before your cruise, personally I would just get a room near the port and enjoy some of the local beach towns (such as Cocoa Beach). Whatever your choice, you can't go wrong with a cruise - you'll love it.

Thank you! We would love to do a
4 night (or longer) but we already have 2 other large vacations planned so this is just a quick trip since DH won’t have to take time off of work over Memorial Day (he’s already off on Friday, we are self employed). I’m worried that the 3 day might not be long enough but if it goes well, we are planning a longer one next year.

 

[Marc D]

In our mind, when landing so late at MCO, the best option is to get a room at the MCO Hyatt, inside the terminal, eat at McCoy’s that evening (try the crawfish chowder) and jump on the DCL shuttle the next morning.

 

[kiford]

I second the suggestion to stay at the MCO Hyatt if you are just coming in the day before especially if it’s in the afternoon. So glad we did that for our last cruise. We were scheduled to arrive at 8 pm and ended up landing at near midnight. I just wanted to drop everything and get a good night’s rest. Absolutely no appetite for travelling. Takes just a few minutes to get there, leisurely breakfast (love the avocado eggs!), walk on down 5 minutes away to get on the bus. We didn’t get to have dinner at McCoy’s that time but did on a previous trip. I’m not a big fan of burgers and wasn’t very hungry that but the server recommended their burger. Too tired to think so I ordered it. Messiest burger I’ve ever eaten but so delicious. I was a bit sad to have missed it last time. I still think about that burger and the avocado eggs; mine just don’t come out as good.

 

[MrMagoo]

I would opt for a night at WDW and then use the Disney transfer to the cruise terminal.
The reason is because when you use the Disney transfer your port arrival time is set by Disney
so it is one less thing you have to worry about.
You can also stay at the Hyatt in the airport with the same results but arriving at 5pm you would have a
long night there. At least if you stay at WDW you could go to Disney Springs and kill some time and still
get a little of the Disney feeling!
As a first time cruiser, you will want to get on the ship as soon as you can and using the Disney transfer
from WDW, or even the airport, will help get you get a good boarding group number.

If you used uber/lyft or other transportation for port arrival, you have to get a port arrival time which could be anytime after noon and then have a high number for a boarding group. On one cruise we were originally going to have private
transportation and the earliest port arrival time we could get was 1:30 which meant we probably wouldn't have gotten on the ship until at least 2:30. We cancelled the private transportation and used Disney, getting us to the port about
10:30 and on the ship before noon!
But you would need to stay at a Disney resort or the Hyatt airport to use the Disney bus transfer.

 

[Alicatt]

We are doing a 3 day on Wish next month and we are staying at POR the night before for the reasons that MrMagoo mentions above. We want to get into the spirit. Go to Disney Springs. Get a little swiming/jacuzzi time in. Get the Disney Transfer. We checked in this morning and had an automatic PAT of 11-11:15, boarding group 3. Can't get much better that that. With such a short cruise, every minute counts!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Double post, see below

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

We are doing a 3 day on Wish next month and we are staying at POR the night before for the reasons that MrMagoo mentions above. We want to get into the spirit. Go to Disney Springs. Get a little swiming/jacuzzi time in. Get the Disney Transfer. We checked in this morning and had an automatic PAT of 11-11:15, boarding group 3. Can't get much better that that. With such a short cruise, every minute counts!

Was just curious about your experience. We have POR booked for an upcoming cruise with a transfer. We are in a garden royal room. What time was luggage pick up? What time did you have to meet? Did the make any other resort stops? Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Was just curious about your experience. We have POR booked for an upcoming cruise with a transfer. We are in a garden royal room. What time was luggage pick up? What time did you have to meet? Did the make any other resort stops? Thanks!

All those questions have different answers. Typically your bags need to be ready for pick up around 8:00 am. When you meet and whether you make other resorts stops from there depends on how many resorts require pickups and how many at each resort. The schedule is set up about 2 days prior, and you receive a letter in your room telling you what the schedule is.