Disney Transportation/Boarding Group Update - April 2018

[carrielouhoo]

We just got off of the Disney Fantasy on Saturday and I still tear up when thinking about the wonderful experience we had! I wanted to provide a quick update on our experience with Disney transfers.

In the recent weeks/months leading up to our cruise, I read a number of threads here on the boards regarding the use of Disney transfers and the boarding group that people ultimately received upon check-in at the terminal. Experiences seemed to vary pretty significantly, so I was a little worried about our decision to use the transfers, not knowing if the perceived "benefit" would pay off, especially with this being our first Disney cruise.

Instead of trying to get the first bus to port at the risk of being assigned a high boarding group number anyway (and having the wait forever in the terminal with three little kids), my husband and I just decided to take a more relaxed approach and ended up getting on the ~4th bus. Our timeline was as follows:

• At 10:19, we boarded the transfer bus (Captain Hook group). We waited around 30 minutes to board once checked-in with the transfer agent. We were some of the first people on the bus, so we probably waited 5-10 minutes before we departed MCO.
• By 11:47, we had arrived at the terminal, gone through security, checked-in, and were waiting to board. We were assigned boarding group #12. Groups #1-7 were already boarding by the time we checked-in, so we didn't have to wait long.
• At 11:58, they were announcing our name in the atrium. We bypassed the embarkation photo and headed straight to Cabana's, where we had no problem finding a table!

Hope our recent experience is helpful! Of course, I guess this could just be the luck of the draw and others' experiences may vary, but I hope the perspective is helpful nonetheless.

 

[hanscarlet]

Thank you! This is helpful. Saturday will be my first time not having a PAT and so we're hoping we can get one of the first buses out of the terminal.

Do you or anyone else know when the line starts for the first bus? Hoping to get on the ship quickly!

 

[dcassetta]

Thank you! This is helpful. Saturday will be my first time not having a PAT and so we're hoping we can get one of the first buses out of the terminal.

Do you or anyone else know when the line starts for the first bus? Hoping to get on the ship quickly!

I am not sure when they start the official line, but there will probably be people waiting by 8am.

 

[carrielouhoo]

Thank you! This is helpful. Saturday will be my first time not having a PAT and so we're hoping we can get one of the first buses out of the terminal.

Do you or anyone else know when the line starts for the first bus? Hoping to get on the ship quickly!

I am not sure when they start the official line, but there will probably be people waiting by 8am.

Agree with @dcassetta; people were lined up much earlier than 9 am. However, I believe as long as your party all checks in together, you can then leave to get breakfast/do whatever before returning to board the bus. I don't think you have to stay in that immediate area as long as you're back before the bus departs. However, I think that's a lot easier to do when you're on the first bus with a more predefined departure time (versus a later bus that would have a less certain time for boarding/departure).

 

[hanscarlet]

Thank you both. I have gotten there around 9:30 and we found that it was a perfect time for us, the line was just right, we didn't have to wait long to board or leave.... last year we got there around 10:15ish and found the line was kind of long so going to try and hit the line up by 9:15 this time.

 

[amiskell28]

Thanks for the info!

This was for Disney transport from MCO to port, correct? Not from a Disney resort?

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Thanks for the info!

This was for Disney transport from MCO to port, correct? Not from a Disney resort?

Yes. The resort to port busses come later, and they will assign you a time to be out in front of the resort (no options, you get what you get).

 

[JWG]

I'm learning that getting to the port at 11:30 or later isn't a bad idea. That early arrivals just to wait in the crowded port with no seating only to board the ship 20 minutes earlier just isn't worth it.

 

[ljanenel]

On past cruises when we left MCO around 10:30-10:45 we didn’t have any wait to get on the ship and it was easy. I was hoping it would be like that on the Fantasy on April 7, but it was not. This time we got to the busses around 9:15 and left MCO about 10:20. There wasn’t a long line at the port to check in and the cast member told us they were starting to board people, which would go really fast. We were #21. It did not seem to go very fast and our number wasn’t called until about 12:30, but there was a huge line of people waiting to board so it took even longer.

Although this was frustrating, I am not sure this is normal since I think we were on the ship before 12:30 when we left MCO a little later. Also, the person checking the boarding numbers told someone “they have been holding us up all morning” when she was asked about the wait. I am assuming she meant it was unusual to take so long. I could have also just gotten lucky my first two cruises and it went fast. I will have to go on more cruises to figure out the time that works best.