From WDW to DL With Love - January 06, 2011 part 3

[JenKatt]

We've never done the cruise bus. One day we will, but living in Florida means we don't have to. It also doesn't appeal to me. I hate (HATE) disney buses and the mad hoard of people the get dumped with them. Yes they are convienent. But we'd rather get to the port on our time and not have to deal with 60 or so people getting off at the same time as us. It's a personal decision (I hate disney buses at WDW too, only use them if I have to, obviously I could NEVER feel this way about monorails - Jeff would kill me)
Having said that, it would have been easy to take the bus for this cruise. But cost wise, it was stupid to. With all of us, it's cheaper to take a limo. We can have breakfast in the room and take our time (with 10 of us, we'll need it). And the limo company provides a car seat for Jack, something that Disney doesn't do (unless something has changed).

 

[TDC Nala]

Jen, carseats aren't required on buses or motorcoaches, so no, Disney won't supply one.

I don't have any problems with buses or motorcoaches but I do public transportation daily.

 

[JenKatt]

Jen, carseats aren't required on buses or motorcoaches, so no, Disney won't supply one.

I don't have any problems with buses or motorcoaches but I do public transportation daily.

Yean, they aren't required, but how stupid is that? It's a moving vehicle on a road. And with how cruddy people drive in Central Florida it scares the crud out of me. It's one thing on propery where you can't drive fast (although that's getting scarier with the increased stupidity of driving on property) but on the interstate? Holy cow!

 

[TDC Nala]

It's a big moving vehicle, much bigger than a car, and a collision won't affect it the way it would affect a car. (And if it's a collision of a sufficient force to do so, then a car seat won't make that much difference.) I'm not local so I've been on lots of the Disney motorcoaches (actually Mears motorcoaches) and they don't have seat belts, so there's no way to anchor a carseat anyway. Seat belts are also not required on large buses.

 

[CruznLexi]

Transport is $30 to DL. When we went to Hawaii we used Prime Time big Mistake. It took him over 2 1/2 hours to get to DL he kept getting lost even with a GPS. Taxi to DL was $80. We added the transfers which was a total $65 per person. I think I am going to send a box to the BCV. I like the buses. I hate to drive anywhere. I used to compete in jumper shows and would drive 14 hours some times to get to the shows. So for somone to drive for me is great. We love the Disney Busses and ME too. We are never in a hurry on vacation.

 

[danfromca]

The only place crazier to drive than Southern California is New Orleans. We won't be doing Disney transfers in LA either, but we also won't be renting a car. We've driven in SoCal a few times in and around LA and Anaheim. Having grown up driving outside NYC, I have never seen such driving and traffic. Midtown Manhatten has NOTHING on traffic in California. It makes me crazy. At least in NYC you have an option of ferry ot subway to get off the roads. No such expansive public transportation in California. So while it *should* take a half hour from the port to DL, you can easily double or triple that time!

I've never driven in LA but DH spent 2 months at UCLA working on a research project 7 years ago. He was actually impressed w/the courtesy of the other drivers. He said all he'd have to do is put the blinker on and someone would slow down for him. Other than the insane number of vehicles, he said the actually driving wasn't bad at all. Unfortunatley, it was a lot of sitting too!


We lived outside of NO for 3.5 years. I hated driving in the city! It was so easy to get turned around so I usually left the city driving in NO to DH. Thankfully, there weren't too many times I had to go to the city by myself. As far as those driving on the highway, you leave any amount of following distance and someone will find a way in. I hated that!

That's the first time I've heard Manhattan traffic compared favorabily to L.A. traffic. I can't speak from personal experience as I've never had the guts to try driving in NY. I am an exile from L.A. however, and in fact just came back from a week there.

I had no problems with the L.A. drivers in terms of driving manners - on the contrary, I found them quite courteous when it came to merging, etc.
The problem with L.A. is twofold: first, there is just too much traffic - you never know how long it will take you to get somewhere. Second, the freeway system was designed by M.C. Escher - finding the right path through a freeway interchange consisting of six levels, 28 lanes, and at least 5 dimensions in space and time is stressful - even with a GPS you're never quite sure where you'll end up.

 

[JenKatt]

Traffic in Manahatten isn't bad as long as you understand one thing. It's an island. a small one at that with a ton of people on it. It's easier to take mass transit than drive. It baffles me when people drive in NYC (Manhattan anyway).
We had no issues with the drivers in LA, it's the traffic. It's INSANE. There's so much space (compared to most urban areas) and yet it takes forever to get somewhere. A decent mass transit system that doesn't rely on roads would make LA completely different!

 

[granmaz]

Transport is $30 to DL. When we went to Hawaii we used Prime Time big Mistake. It took him over 2 1/2 hours to get to DL he kept getting lost even with a GPS. Taxi to DL was $80. We added the transfers which was a total $65 per person. I think I am going to send a box to the BCV. I like the buses. I hate to drive anywhere. I used to compete in jumper shows and would drive 14 hours some times to get to the shows. So for somone to drive for me is great. We love the Disney Busses and ME too. We are never in a hurry on vacation.

Thanks for the answer about transfer costs. We don't need a car for 4 days, so might take the DCL bus. After the last PC cruise we booked a limo, but this would be cheaper.

 

[danfromca]

On the car rental/DCL transfer comments... we have taken the DCL transfers and there is nothing wrong with them but this time we decided to rent a car for a couple of reasons.

We rented with Thrifty. We will pick up at MCO and return at Port Canaveral (it's about 2 miles away from the ship). We decided to do this so we could stop and get the beverages we wanted as well as get to the ship a little earlier then the bus will. Also, we only have one day at the parks so we decided we would rather drive to them then wait for the Disney bus. Again, we have taken the bus at the resort several trimes and have no problems but we don't have the time to wait each time we want to change parks and we plan on hitting our favorite rides at each park) so we decided to go with the car.

We will drive to the port and drop off our bags, myself and DD and then DH will return the car to Thrifty and they will shuttle him back.

We've never done the cruise bus. One day we will, but living in Florida means we don't have to. It also doesn't appeal to me. I hate (HATE) disney buses and the mad hoard of people the get dumped with them. Yes they are convienent. But we'd rather get to the port on our time and not have to deal with 60 or so people getting off at the same time as us. It's a personal decision (I hate disney buses at WDW too, only use them if I have to, obviously I could NEVER feel this way about monorails - Jeff would kill me)
Having said that, it would have been easy to take the bus for this cruise. But cost wise, it was stupid to. With all of us, it's cheaper to take a limo. We can have breakfast in the room and take our time (with 10 of us, we'll need it). And the limo company provides a car seat for Jack, something that Disney doesn't do (unless something has changed).

I've taken the bus a couple of times, and enjoyed it - that "vacation" feeling starts when you get on the bus.

Most of the time I've used rental cars. For the 3 night cruises we just left the car parked at the lot (was cheaper at the time than two one-way rentals).
But the real reason we've used rentals (including this time) is that we like to visit Kennedy Space Center the day before the cruise and spend the night at Port Canaveral. I can't think of a better option than car rental for that scenario.

By the way - I learned something interesting about car rental yesterday. As you probably know, different organizations offer different discounts (AAA, AARP, etc). It turns out that the AARP discount has a bonus benefit - if you decline the rental company insurance, using their discount code caps your maximum liability for damage to the vehicle (varies from company to company - $5,000 for Hertz). This, combined with using a credit card that offers primary coverage, offers pretty good protection.

 

[RRBB]

For those of you who have done the past PC cruises and/or other "special" longer than 7 night DCL cruises, do they still have only one character meal for the whole cruise (Mickey's breakfast) or are there other character meals since its a longer cruise? Just curious...

As already stated, you only get one character breakfast. But if I remember correctly, there's a ticket left in your cabin with the date/time so you know when it is.

I'm try8iig to be back now, other than the couple little things i've posted. It's been a bad few weeks. My father went down hill really fast and i lost him 2 weeks ago tomorrow.

Sherri, I'm so sorry to hear this.
It is a sad time. DH lost his father 2 weeks ago, too.

Second, the freeway system was designed by M.C. Escher - finding the right path through a freeway interchange consisting of six levels, 28 lanes, and at least 5 dimensions in space and time is stressful - even with a GPS you're never quite sure where you'll end up.

I can so totally picture this! I think I remember seeing it hanging on the wall of a friend's dorm room several years back, just didn't realize it was the LA highway system.

A decent mass transit system that doesn't rely on roads would make LA completely different!

Yeah, but the state is broke, so it's not gonna happen anytime soon.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Edinburgh is kinda mental
I love driving anywhere in USA

 

[LindaBabe]

I would take Disney Transport in CA, but Staying off property, it's not available. (Candy Cane Inn)

 

[sak0526]

RRBB (Robin I think?), thanks so much for the sympathy. And to your DH too. I see you have a young child so your FIL must have been young. It's hard and sad.

Looking so forward to my next vacation - the Panama Canal with DH and getting to see DD perform! Yeah!

 

[RRBB]

RRBB (Robin I think?), thanks so much for the sympathy. And to your DH too. I see you have a young child so your FIL must have been young. It's hard and sad.

Looking so forward to my next vacation - the Panama Canal with DH and getting to see DD perform! Yeah!

Thanks. (Actually FIL just turned 80 in May. As a Holocaust survivor he led a very eventful life. I'm saddest that my kids won't get to know him better since both my parents passed long ago.)

 

[aan1701]

Hello all. I had a idea for all of you that are the late night drinkers. I think, without getting to crazy, devote a night to shots.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Hello all. I had a idea for all of you that are the late night drinkers. I think, without getting to crazy, devote a night to shots.

Seriously, you can count me out of that
. Probably pretty much in that order, If I drink shots its unleash the beast.

 

[LindaBabe]

Hello, Happy Cruisers! (And if Alan has his way apparently some of you will be REALLY happy lol.

Uneventful here. Got a little work done. Now, I need to go write a petition for our neighborhood revolution.

 

[glindamood]

Hello all. I had a idea for all of you that are the late night drinkers. I think, without getting to crazy, devote a night to shots.

I would volunteer to be anyone's 'designated driver' and get you back to your cabin.

Seriously, you can count me out of that
. Probably pretty much in that order, If I drink shots its unleash the beast.

I almost said above - it would be fun just to watch....

Hello, Happy Cruisers! (And if Alan has his way apparently some of you will be REALLY happy lol.

Uneventful here. Got a little work done. Now, I need to go write a petition for our neighborhood revolution.

A revolution?? Do tell please.

Hot here but today is supposed to be the last of it. They are predicting mid 40's tomorrow night and just in the 70's through the weekend. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

I hope no one is affected by any of the fires in CA nor the floodding that is going on in other places. I just can't imagine - any of it.

 

[tinkryansmom]

So sorry to hear of the loss of 2 fathers. My prayers go out to you for strength.

 

[tinkryansmom]

Linda - how is the revolt going?? Or is it a revolution??

Question - anyone booked with SmallWorld Vacations? Anyone know how to get in touch with the owner directly?? I need to try to internet research it but thought I would ask here first. I want to deal directly with the owner and not any agents.