Fantasy February 16, 2013 - 7 Night Western Cruise Meet

[FREEZIN]

Me and the wife wil be staying at Saratoga Springs Resort the night before the cruise. We will be using ME to the port. Does anyone know about the time when you are picked up at the resort and about what time you arrive at PC. I asked this question when I made the reservations but the CM didn't know.

We stayed at Saratoga Springs last Feb for our cruise Prestay.
We were dissapointed when we were told the ME would pick us
up at approx 12pm and didn't actually arrive until closer to 1pm.
When the bus arrived it had already picked up passengers at
other resorts and was close to full at that point.Our family of 4
had to sit in different areas of the bus.
By the time we boarded the ship,parrot cay had already finished
the Welcome aboard buffet.We had to go up to Topsiders on deck 9
(the magic).
This year we are staying at a condo off property,we will not rely on
the not so ME again,we lost 4 hours of ship time.I hope they have
gotten thier act together,but I wont chance it again.
I would say be persistant until you get a direct answer regarding
your port arrival time,we wish we had known.Good Luck.

 

[MatthewsMommy]

We stayed at Saratoga Springs last Feb for our cruise Prestay.
We were dissapointed when we were told the ME would pick us
up at approx 12pm and didn't actually arrive until closer to 1pm.
When the bus arrived it had already picked up passengers at
other resorts and was close to full at that point.Our family of 4
had to sit in different areas of the bus.
By the time we boarded the ship,parrot cay had already finished
the Welcome aboard buffet.We had to go up to Topsiders on deck 9
(the magic).
This year we are staying at a condo off property,we will not rely on
the not so ME again,we lost 4 hours of ship time.I hope they have
gotten thier act together,but I wont chance it again.
I would say be persistant until you get a direct answer regarding
your port arrival time,we wish we had known.Good Luck.

I don't know where exactly I read it, but I also heard the ME pick up at resorts is rather late and it picks up at several resorts. We're staying at Wilderness Lodge pre-cruise and I am arranging private transportation to the port.

 

[Mom3NY]

Oh no we are staying at beach club resort, and didn't arrange private transportation. Hope we don't have late pick up.

 

[Mom3NY]

I just called they said pickup time isn't available until the night before, but that pick up time is between 11-1pm.

 

[silmarg]

Considering the cost ME, it should be more magical.

We are renting a car from MCO driving to Boardwalk Villas. Gonna do Epcot (PM EMH on friday nite). Then drive to port in AM (w stop ato check out the Dreams Unlimited Welcome Center) drop off car at agency. All for $65. Can't beat that.

 

[Mom3NY]

Sounds good! Can I have the info?

 

[kshark1958]

I just called DVC they said I could cancel my ME to the port and get a refund. She then gave me some names of car rental companies at the port which I will look for on my own. I checked the car prices some of them are lower then the price of taking ME. \I am definitely cancelling ME from the resort to the port but keeping the one from port to airport.

 

[Mom3NY]

Yep just did same thing. Renting SUV from airport to Disney resort then to port and taking shuttle only 3miles away to ship. Keeping ME for return from ship to Disney resort and ME again next day to airport.

 

[kshark1958]

Just canceled my ME and rented a car from Budget. If anyone else is doing this be careful some car rentals like Dollar and Thrifty wanted to charge an extra 50 dollars for a drop off fee since it was one way.

 

[Mom3NY]

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

 

[kshark1958]

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

I went through Budget got the smallest car I could get since its only the two of us. The car is a Hyundai Accent. The total was 112.48 total. I did get the loss damage waiver (extra insurance) since I had a bad experience before when I got into an accident and didn't have it so I had to pay the deductible. Minus the extra insurance 25.99 it would have been 86.49
I am very glad I did this. We will be at the port by 11 and get on the ship with plenty of time to explore. Budget also has a shuttle to drop us off at the port. As you can tell by the posts before the ME from the resorts may not get there till as late as between 2 and 3. It's a few extra dollars but well worth it to me

 

[kshark1958]

I figure ME was gonna cost me 70 dollars so for another 40 dollars could have been 16 my choice because of insurance. I have piece of mind and I control what time I get to the port. The CM from DVC said pick up would between 11 and 1 depending on how many other stops at the other DW resorts. Two hours is a too big of a window I am a first time cruiser and do not want to deal with too many uncertainties if I don't have to. The few extra dollars for the rental compared to the cost of the trip is pennies. But piece of mind and not having to rush is priceless.

 

[Mom3NY]

Perfect! So happy I read this thread this morning. After I called enterprise and made my reservations they now appear sold out. Got it just in time!!! With my family of 5 it comes out to the same for a Suv (ford escape etc) $175.49 one way. We are staying at the Disney beach club Feb 15. Flight gets in at 10am it's nice to have the flexibility and not worry about getting late to port. Super excited!

 

[FREEZIN]

I don't know where exactly I read it, but I also heard the ME pick up at resorts is rather late and it picks up at several resorts. We're staying at Wilderness Lodge pre-cruise and I am arranging private transportation to the port.

Hi MatthewsMommy,
The Wilderness Lodge is our favorite on property stay,especially
the boat shuttle right to Magic Kingdom.
If you have enough time right next to you is the Wilderness campground
and in the eve they have marshmellow toasting around a campfire with
Disney movies playing on an outdoor screen.I think we watched the
Apple Dumpling Gang with Don Knotts.It was a nice time for our kids.

 

[FREEZIN]

Perfect! So happy I read this thread this morning. After I called enterprise and made my reservations they now appear sold out. Got it just in time!!! With my family of 5 it comes out to the same for a Suv (ford escape etc) $175.49 one way. We are staying at the Disney beach club Feb 15. Flight gets in at 10am it's nice to have the flexibility and not worry about getting late to port. Super excited!

Glad things worked out for everyone,so much planning goes into these
Surf & Turf vacations.Last minute surprises such as "we're not getting you to the ship until 3pm",when you are packed and ready to leave the resort by 9
is not the way of rewarding Discruisers for spending thier prestay on property.

 

[kshark1958]

Glad things worked out for everyone,so much planning goes into these
Surf & Turf vacations.Last minute surprises such as "we're not getting you to the ship until 3pm",when you are packed and ready to leave the resort by 9
is not the way of rewarding Discruisers for spending thier prestay on property.

Definitely the best planning tool We had for this first time cruise was this DIS forum especially this particular thread. A big thanks to all of you for all the help and answers you have given. If we meet up with any of you on the cruise the first drink is on me.

 

[jcarwash]

Definitely the best planning tool We had for this first time cruise was this DIS forum especially this particular thread. A big thanks to all of you for all the help and answers you have given. If we meet up with any of you on the cruise the first drink is on me.

We can discuss a cruise meet if/when/where.

On my first cruise (on the Magic) we all met briefly on boarding day in the Promenade Lounge on deck 4.

 

[robhawk]

Boarding day would probably be best. We get to recognize everyone's face right away. Right after muster drill maybe???

 

[MatthewsMommy]

Hi MatthewsMommy,
The Wilderness Lodge is our favorite on property stay,especially
the boat shuttle right to Magic Kingdom.
If you have enough time right next to you is the Wilderness campground
and in the eve they have marshmellow toasting around a campfire with
Disney movies playing on an outdoor screen.I think we watched the
Apple Dumpling Gang with Don Knotts.It was a nice time for our kids.

That's great to hear! We've been to WDW a couple of times but this will be the first time in a Deluxe Resort. We really liked it there after dining at Whispering Canyon, and since it's only 3 nights, we thought we'd go for it. We might have time for that campfire on the 2nd night but we do want to make it an early night because we have an early ADR at Chef Mickey's for DS' birthday breakfast

And I agree about how helpful this board has been! Just wish I had more time to read through it more, maybe after the holidays.

And I booked our transport from the resort to the port today, we're using Happy Limo. It costs more than the ME but we're on our own schedule, and it will be a special trip since we're hoping at that point, the cruise will still be a surprise for DS. We're using DCL transport from port to airport. Now I need to call Disney to let them know we changed our flight time for arrival. Getting there by 2 pm is a lot better than 6:30 pm!

 

[silmarg]

We have an intermediate SUV (Ford Escape or similar) for $50 ($64.94 w all the fees tacked on) from Budget using offer code: BCD Y937800

We are doing Alamo on the return trip. Port to WDW Car Care Center. $55.99 ($59.18 incl taxes) for an intermediate car. I cant find the offer code I used there.