has anyone spent the before their cruise at a WDW resort?

[kitchenfairy]

HI everyone, my family and I are cruising on the 4 day wonder leaving Nov.7. Just curious to know, everyone talks about staying at a hotel either close to port or MCOthe night before, does anyone ever spend the night before at a disney resort instead???

 

[jkovick]

We stayed at Wyndham Palace @ DTD before out 11/29 cruise. We got a great rate of around $50. on hotwire.

 

[Cruisin]

We are going on the Jan 29 3Day Wonder Cruise and spending the two nights before at the POP Century.

 

[CamColt]

We did a couple years ago. DH and I did the 3 day cruise without the kids and flew in a day early. We decided to spend that day at the Poly, where we had spent our honeymoon. We relaxed on the beach, had a quiet dinner, then went to the bars on the BW. We had a great time and it gave us our WDW fix before the cruise.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Our first cruise was a 7-day and we didn't do the parks first. We wanted to stay the night before at a WDW resort. We booked it thru DCL and they said the only place we could stay was at the Dolphin, and they gave us a special rate. It was fun staying there, but next time I would book the one night on my own and stay where I wanted.

 

[kitchenfairy]

Hey Thanks again eveyone. Am I correct in thinking that You can take a DCL shuttle bus from MCO to your resort of choice and then a DCL shuttle bus the next morning to the port? What about transportation form the port when you return back to MCO??

 

[hayesktrm]

We are going on the 7 day land/sea, but arriving 2 days before to do Universal. When we looked into it, the DCL shuttle didn't run when we were getting in. They only run at certain times. We had our TA take that off and we are renting a car instead. We also want to visit Cape Canaveral after the cruise, so we would need a car for that, too. They are quite expensive and you might arrive a little late if you want to make Palo or spa reservations. Not sure, but they might only stop at certain hotels (the ones in the package). DCL does take you to MCO after the cruise. I would look into other shuttle options. I hope this helps.

Karen

 

[kb111570]

We will be on the Magic's March 6th sailing and will be staying at the Pop Century for 2 nights before hand. We are paying $79 a night.

 

[kcashner]

If you are staying at a WDW resort, you can take the DCL transport from MCO to WDW, WDW to Port Canaveral, and Port to MCO. If you are not booking as a package, be sure they know what you are doing when you book your transfers.

If you have time to do something Disney, staying at a WDW resort is great. If you are flying in mid to late evening and cruising the next morning, I don't think it's worth the time or expense to stay at WDW. Translation--if what you want is a place to sleep, stay at an MCO hotel. You will save $, you will save time. You can get MCO hotles (3*) cheap thru Priceline, and they have free shuttles to/from the airport, so you will save on hotel cost and on shuttle cost. If you are looking for something fun to do and have the time, a WDW resort is great.

If you are at a WDW resort other than a "cruise" resort, the bellmen will transport you to the nearest "cruise" resort with your luggage. Again, you need to let the cruise reservation people know which hotel you will be catching the bus from.

Example...when we stayed at Old Key West (not a cruise hotel), we caught the DCL bus from Port Orleans.

 

[sk8ingmom]

Haven't done it yet, but we are doing 2 night WDW - 4 night cruise - 2 night WDW in March. The land and sea Thurs-Wed schedule didn't work for us since we have to go during a 1 week spring break, so we created our own land and sea. I found a rental car for less $$ than it would have cost us in transfers for the 4 of us.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

When we do the 4-day cruises, we usually spend a night or two in WDW with one full day at the parks. It makes for a nice vacation!

 

[mouseclick1]

We arrived a day early for our 4 day cruise two years ago, and stayed at AKL. We arrived arrived around noon, and spent the day by the pool and checking out the resort. It was a very nice, relaxing day; what a beautiful resort!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Kitchenfairy, we're leaving on the Magic, the day before you board the Wonder. We drive our van down and we have a 4 night stay at OKW booked prior to boarding the Magic on Nov 6. We plan to check out of OKW around 9 am on Nov 6 and drive to the port.
If it were just 1 night at OKW I'd still do it, but only if I was arriving in the morning the day of check-in. I'd want to make a full day out of it.
In 2002, when we did the 4 day Wonder, we stayed at the Radisson at the port. We knew we were getting in later (6 pm) and it was ok because it's so close. I don't know if I'd stay at a WDW resort if I was arriving there at 6 pm ?
Have a fantastic time on the Wonder in November---we loved our cruise in 2002.

 

[MiaSRN62]

BTW.....meant to say "love the pic" sk8ingmom !

 

[sk8ingmom]

Thanks! Its my most favorite-est Disney moment ever!
Here it is again...

 

[Tanya]

I sort of had the same questions as you. Hubby, myself and 3 1/2 year old are going on the May 22nd Western cruise... the baby is staying with my mom. We are flying down the day before and spending the one night at the Boardwalk. The flight the day of was early which wouldn't have been bad for me but I figured it would be too hectic to get my daughter ready. We are getting transfers -- we will be picked up at the hotel and after the cruise they will bring us to the airport. (I know someone already mentioned this).. sorry. Hey -- is anyone going to be on this sailing...?... we tried for the May 8 but it was sold out.

Tanya

 

[goingbacksoon]

We have done Downtown Disney before and that was a nice rest before the cruise.

If you come from the west coast, you have little choice as to coming in the night before. We got a great rate on the DD Courtyard Marriott, about $40 and going for a little dinner and shopping beforehand is relaxing.

goingbacksoon

 

[gduvall]

We always spend the night before our cruise at WDW. We usually throw in a day at Typhoon Laghoon.

 

[RKB]

We just did the 1-3-04 Magic. We stayed at Pop Century (cheap!) the night before. Pop Century shuttled us over to the Swan in the morning to catch the Disney Bus. We had paid for the DCL transportation. It all went very smoothly. Hope this helps.

 

[kitchenfairy]

Thanks everyone, it does help. I just want the easiest, least confusing way of getting there and back as possible. My mother will be with me and she tends to panic if things don't go smoothly,I think she thinks we will get lost in some black hole or something!.I figured if we were staying at disney,that should be easy! However some have said that you may not get to the port that early,and other than missing out on signing up for things is there any other reason why getting there at say 12:30 or 1:00pm would be worse than 10:am?? Thanks everyone you all have been very helpful!!! Off to work I go, Have A Great Day!!