Doing Disney World before Miami Cruise - any experiences to share?

[b2k1121]

Ok. Just saying that it is really not a cheap area. On several groups I'm seeing people struggling to find anything in Jan/Feb for less than $200-$250 a night.

For our night there are several options right by the port for under $200, a Holiday Inn for $160. We may stay by the airport since we have to go there anyways and there are plenty to choose from between $120-$175

 

[Dug720]

For our night there are several options right by the port for under $200, a Holiday Inn for $160. We may stay by the airport since we have to go there anyways and there are plenty to choose from between $120-$175

You got lucky based on what others are seeing.

 

[remlap]

not your specific question, we sailed on the Fantasy, then to WDW, and then drove to Miami for a few days, and then onto Key West for a few days. You could easily make the drive down the day of, assuming you left early morning. That said, if you're getting up and leaving early, I wouldn't want to pay WDW prices for hotel rooms to just get up and leave. Also if you like to be on the ship first thing, you want would want to drive down or most of the way the day prior.

 

[party-of-five]

When I looked at it the extra fee to pick up in MCO and drop off in MIA seemed to be enough it made sense to just park at the port and then not worry about a shuttle or anything. Parking didn’t seem unreasonable from what I saw. I think I’m leaning that way to not stress about getting the car on the return. I’m curious if you found it would be cheaper to return and rent again vs port parking.

yes, for us it‘s about $300 cheaper to return the car and rent again.

 

[b2k1121]

Just bumping this because I've found some early morning flights from MCO-MIA that would actually be about $100 cheaper than renting a car and driving down.

The only issue is the flight arrives into MIA at 7:55 am. Does anyone know how early the Disney transfers from MIA to the Port start? Would prefer not sitting at the airport for 3 hours. Haven't been able to find this info with a search.