First Cruise..Where to Stay the night before?

[MrPTato]

What time does the DCL bus leave MCO vs. leaving a resort at WDW? Not sure what we want to do the night before. First cruise so I don't want to miss anything. Do I want to be at the port very early?

Debating on staying a night at a DVC resort and then taking a bus or would it be better to stay at the Airport (we have an annual stay at the Hyatt) and take the bus to the port.

Advantages of getting to port early?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What time does the DCL bus leave MCO vs. leaving a resort at WDW? Not sure what we want to do the night before. First cruise so I don't want to miss anything. Do I want to be at the port very early?

Debating on staying a night at a DVC resort and then taking a bus or would it be better to stay at the Airport (we have an annual stay at the Hyatt) and take the bus to the port.

Advantages of getting to port early?

Busses from WDW resorts depart anytime in the 10:45-12:30 window (sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later), arriving at the port between 12:00-3:00. Busses from MCO begin running at 9:00, departing beginning round 9:10 and then every 20 minutes or when full, whichever is first, arriving at the port approximately an hour later. DCL transfers cost $35.00 per person each way.

While you may arrive at the port around 10:15 via DCL transfers, the terminal doesn't open until 10:30, with boarding starting around 11:15-11:30. So, early arrival means you will be waiting in the terminal (with bunches of other people), until your boarding number is called. Your boarding number is tied to the Port Arrival Time you select during your online checkin process.

We prefer DCL transfers from the resorts. Sure, it gets you to the terminal a bit later, but there's typically no line for check in or boarding at that time. So we can go directly onboard, and, many times, it's close to when the rooms are available for dropping off carry on stuff. Then we go eat lunch.

 

[mdb07]

This is very helpful information, thank you. We are doing out first cruise on 10/31 and I have booked a night at the MCO Hyatt for the night before. My plan had been to take the DCL buses, but I wasn't sure when they started leaving. Do you know if there is usually a long line to get on one that early in the morning?

Also, when we put our bags on the bus, will they be taken through to our rooms automatically, or is that a separate service? I think I read that the Hyatt can check your bags through to your stateroom, but that makes me a bit nervous. But if that is the only way to get them to go straight through to your stateroom we may end up doing that.

 

[over50visits]

What time does the DCL bus leave MCO vs. leaving a resort at WDW? Not sure what we want to do the night before. First cruise so I don't want to miss anything. Do I want to be at the port very early?

Debating on staying a night at a DVC resort and then taking a bus or would it be better to stay at the Airport (we have an annual stay at the Hyatt) and take the bus to the port.

Advantages of getting to port early?

If you come on the bus from MCO they arrive a lot earlier than the ones from WDW. Advantage is getting to the port earlier, disadvantage of course is you don't get the previous afternoon/evening at Disney (something we always do!).

Since it is your first cruise, there's no question I would want to get the earlier port arrival time (PAT) I could and be on the ship as early as I can. The line in the terminal can be long for early arrivals, but that's a small price to pay for precious hours getting on earlier and exploring the beautiful ship. Coming in later to avoid any line is nice for repeat cruisers, but I can't imagine a first time cruiser choosing to arrive later in the day, if they have a choice.

Not to worry about the bags, they will be loaded on the bus and magically appear at your stateroom door sometime the first afternoon.

So my advice for a first timer is to take the bus from MCO with as early a PAT as you can get online, turn the port crowd into a positive (absorb the excitement from everyone), board and see everything there is to see onboard. And there is a LOT to see!!

 

[MinnieGolfer]

I agree with staying at the Hyatt and arriving early. We did this for our first cruise this past June. We also have younger children, so the DCL transfer made the most sense to us.

We went down to the bus area a little before 9, and there was a line. But we were probably on the 2nd or 3rd bus and it was a very efficient process. It was nice not to have to worry about the luggage. We were still in the room when they came to pick it up, so that was a bit more reassuring, but they seem to have a very good system in place.

We hardly waited to check in - we found a place to sit, checked in for the kids club, DH got us set up with the app and I was able to peruse the Navigator. It did start to get crowded by the time they started letting people on the ship, though that did add to the excitement of our first cruise. Once on the ship, we were able to get lunch and explore before seeing our room. We were also able to get our tickets for the Princess and Anna/Elsa meets.

All in all, I'm glad we were there early, even if it meant dealing with some extra people.

One additional piece of advice: you may want to bring snacks/drinks to have while waiting (especially if you have young ones). There are vending machines, but they seemed to either keep more money then they should or not work at all.

 

[MUN]

What time does the DCL bus leave MCO vs. leaving a resort at WDW? Not sure what we want to do the night before. First cruise so I don't want to miss anything. Do I want to be at the port very early?

Debating on staying a night at a DVC resort and then taking a bus or would it be better to stay at the Airport (we have an annual stay at the Hyatt) and take the bus to the port.

Advantages of getting to port early?

What time are you arriving in Orlando?

 

[MrPTato]

What time are you arriving in Orlando?

Southwest hasn't announced their flights for May yet. It would be the afternoon direct flight probably landing before 6pm. I don't want to get their too late so we can relax for the evening before the adventure starts that next morning.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We are also taking our first cruise in April. We have booked Art of Animation for 2 nights prior to the cruise. We will get some park time in. We are doing AKL for 2 nights after the cruise.

 

[truck1]

Something else to consider since its your first cruise, is to stay the night before at one of the Port Canaveral hotels, like Country Inn Suite, Radisson or Residence Inn. The closest is the Country Inn and it has the added advantage of port view rooms. All 3 have shuttle options to and from the ship, and some have a comp breakfast.The advantage is that on the night before you can take a ride over to the port and have dinner by the water and watch the ships leave, and be that much closer to the port in the morning. This was the view we had in July at CIS when we woke up.

 

[thumpie's mom]

Southwest hasn't announced their flights for May yet. It would be the afternoon direct flight probably landing before 6pm. I don't want to get their too late so we can relax for the evening before the adventure starts that next morning.

If you aren't getting there until around 6 pm, it might make more sense to stay at the Hyatt, especially with a little one. It is very easy to pick up your luggage and simply walk over to the hotel and check in for the night. Disney makes the transfer process very easy the next day to get to the port. We have stayed there 3 times now and have enjoyed it. There are several places to eat, a pool, etc. Have a wonderful time!

 

[chimo2u]

We're also cruising first time 10/31! Must be on the same cruise we chose to stay at the Hyatt in MCO , despite the higher cost I think it's worth it for us as we are arriving so late due to flying from Alberta, Canada! We don't land until 11:25 pm. We are sailing concierge so by getting to the port early, we will be able to board whenever we want, I'm looking forward to getting onboard and exploring a bit!

 

[daisyx3]

We have decided to stay at the Hyatt the night before. We haven't cruised since 2004 but I remember enjoying our time in the terminal, so if we get there early it is OK. And with my luck, the WDW resort I chose would be the last one loaded up on the DCL busses.
Southwest releases their next dates next Tuesday! Can't wait to put that piece of the puzzle into place for our spring break trip!
Daisyx3

 

[jrabbit]

Does Port Arrival Time matter if you are taking DCL transportation from the Airport or WDW? If it does not, then by all means try to be there as early as possible. But if your PAT is the over riding determination of when you can get on the ship, AND as a first time cruiser, getting an early PAT I assume is pretty difficult, WDW should be your hotel of choice.

I'm not to sure about the "Rules" since I have not sailed out of PC for several years and I've been CC-Platinum for a while now.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I have an annual free night from Hyatt and we used it at the MCO Hyatt Regency for a night before our cruise this past May. It was great! We flew in at 3pm the day before and just took the faux monorail to the main terminal, took the escalator/elevator up to the Hyatt lobby and checked in. It was about 15 minutes from when we get off the plane to when we checked into the Hyatt. We spent some time exploring the airport Disney shops and hanging at the pool and watching the planes take off and land. It was relaxing. I can't imagine going to a park for one day because I'd honestly be too tired!

The next day we (group of 8 of us) had a private van transfer that picked us up from MCO at 11am. It would have been earlier but a few in our party got delayed and didn't arrive until that morning. We had a grocery stop along the way that allowed us to pick up some wine. We got to port at noon. We did online check-in so we were immediately handed our KTTWC and told our boarding number (think it was 15). We realized that they had already called it so we got on line to board! So we barely spent any time at Port Canaveral. It might have been nice to just spend an extra half hour there to do the meet n greet (Mickey was in the terminal, and his line was about 20 mins long) and to admire the scaled down model of the Disney ship.

If we weren't delayed we'd be on the ship earlier. It was our first cruise too and I wanted to explore every part of the ship and take pictures when there aren't too many people around. You will love the cruise! (You can read my TR in my siggy.)

 

[truck1]

Does Port Arrival Time matter if you are taking DCL transportation from the Airport or WDW? If it does not, then by all means try to be there as early as possible. But if your PAT is the over riding determination of when you can get on the ship, AND as a first time cruiser, getting an early PAT I assume is pretty difficult, WDW should be your hotel of choice.

I'm not to sure about the "Rules" since I have not sailed out of PC for several years and I've been CC-Platinum for a while now.

No. The PAT is for people that travel to the port on their own. If you take DCL transport from a resort or the airport, its basically a non issue.

 

[MrPTato]

I have an annual free night from Hyatt and we used it at the MCO Hyatt Regency for a night before our cruise this past May. It was great! We flew in at 3pm the day before and just took the faux monorail to the main terminal, took the escalator/elevator up to the Hyatt lobby and checked in. It was about 15 minutes from when we get off the plane to when we checked into the Hyatt. We spent some time exploring the airport Disney shops and hanging at the pool and watching the planes take off and land. It was relaxing. I can't imagine going to a park for one day because I'd honestly be too tired!

The next day we (group of 8 of us) had a private van transfer that picked us up from MCO at 11am. It would have been earlier but a few in our party got delayed and didn't arrive until that morning. We had a grocery stop along the way that allowed us to pick up some wine. We got to port at noon. We did online check-in so we were immediately handed our KTTWC and told our boarding number (think it was 15). We realized that they had already called it so we got on line to board! So we barely spent any time at Port Canaveral. It might have been nice to just spend an extra half hour there to do the meet n greet (Mickey was in the terminal, and his line was about 20 mins long) and to admire the scaled down model of the Disney ship.

If we weren't delayed we'd be on the ship earlier. It was our first cruise too and I wanted to explore every part of the ship and take pictures when there aren't too many people around. You will love the cruise! (You can read my TR in my siggy.)

I think we are going to do this. Hyatt Credit card? That's how we get the free annual room and I think I will use it for this. Always admire walking through the terminal and seeing the inside of this place. Makes sense and it is right there for the next morning.

Thanks all for the ideas!