Hitting a Park on Embarkation Day?

[Ksquared]

We are cruising out of Port Canaveral and will be spending a few days in Disney before the cruise. I was trying to decide whether we should hit a park in the am, have an early breakfast and try to do one walk on ride and one FP ride and then leave for the port.

I thought I read somewhere that the Port is about 45 min to 1 hour from Disney, is that correct?

Would you go to the Park in the am and enjoy a few things or would you get up, have breakfast and then leave for the Port right away? We sail from Saturday to Saturday if that makes a difference with morning traffic etc.

Part of me wants to get to the Port as early as possible, get on the ship and start enjoying our cruise and the other part of me thinks we will have a week on the ship and since we only have a few days at Disney and tend to go there every 12-18 months, I may want to enjoy the last few hours at Disney before heading to the Port.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

The port is about an hour away from Disney.

We have always gotten up (from a Disney hotel) at a decent time and headed straight to the port... it's our preferred way to travel. I might worry about missing the ship due to traffic or... an accident on the road... or anything so I might not enjoy myself in the park if we hit the park before making our way to the port. But I am notoriously a worry wart about things - so your mileage may vary. Let us know what you decide! Have a fantastic trip!

 

[DCL_Wonder]

I would skip the parks and go straight to the port in the morning. Try to get the earliest port arrival time as to be one of the first groups on the ship.

 

[clten]

I would guess a lot would have to do with logistics - Where are you staying and which park are you planning on going to? How are you getting to the Port, are you driving yourselves? If not, what are you doing with your luggage while you are in the Park and where do you have to get to for transportation?

We don't try to pack too much into our Disney days anymore so we would not consider doing a Park for a few hours before heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise but that's just us. We also don't rush to the port but if we are driving ourselves, we'll shoot to be there around noon. That's a comfortable time to check-in (after the early crowd but before the Resort buses arrive). Once we get on the ship, we can get lunch and then not have too much time before we can bring our carry-on bags to the room.

 

[Otimon]

We only live about an hour from the Port and would advise you not to attempt the parks on Embarkation morning. You may encounter an accident (Beachline) which could back up traffic for miles. Enjoy a leisurely ride over, perhaps have breakfast at the Port (recommend Grills) and you won't have to worry about anything except having a wonderful cruise. Bon voyage.

 

[jnsma]

I am probably in the minority as I don't like getting to the port too early. I prefer showing up after the initial crowds have died down, usually around noon.

I'm not sure I'd go to the parks and waste a days ticket on it, unless you are an AP holder. We typically schedule a later (character) breakfast somewhere before heading to the port. We have also run into the issue where someone forgot something and stop at Walmart before heading off.

I'm sure you could do a couple of rides, depending on what times the parks open, but it seems like it would take so much time getting into and out of the parks that it wouldn't be worth the time and hassle. But it all depends on you and your priorities.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

It sounds doable and I am sure some do this. But I never would! I worry way too much! What if you are on a ride that breaks down and you have to sit on it for 30-45 mins (have heard of this) or if there is a horrific accident on the freeway?? The chances of something going wrong to severely delay you are slim, but why chance it?

Boarding the ship is SO exciting! I would not want anything to mess it up!

 

[jrabbit]

a LOOOOOONG time ago - First Year of DCL, we were at WDW before the cruise. We had a BIG breakfast and then a snack later in the morning (because boarding didn't' start until 1:00 or 1:30 and there wouldn't be any food until dinner ) Remember this was in the dark ages "before the internet!!" So we ate, rode some rides ate some more and drove to the coast. Guess what, boarding started earlier than posted time (but not as early as now days), there WAS Lunch and Fast Food, and come dinner time, I didn't want to eat again!!!

Yea, this is mostly about eating, but I would not go to the parks to get in that "last ride or two" because it's just not worth the hassle or the time or the money. Yep, I love Space Mountain as much as the next person - and riding the monorail over to the MK, but that's a lot of time getting there and back again.

I would try to get as early of a Port Arrival Time as possible. And get on the ship.

OR if you really want to spend some extra time OFF of the ship, drive to to coast early in the morning, and go for a walk on the beach while waiting for your time to go to the port.

 

[southerngirl528]

I thought I read somewhere that the Port is about 45 min to 1 hour from Disney, is that correct?

As a PP said, it is EASILY an hour from WDW to Port Canaveral depending on many factors, including which resort.

We only live about an hour from the Port and would advise you not to attempt the parks on Embarkation morning. You may encounter an accident (Beachline) which could back up traffic for miles. Enjoy a leisurely ride over, perhaps have breakfast at the Port (recommend Grills) and you won't have to worry about anything except having a wonderful cruise. Bon voyage.

I agree! I live super close to WDW, actually slightly closer to the port than WDW, and I never, ever allow less than an hour. If I am driving over for a cruise? I leave a minimum of 1.5 hours. As Otimom said, all sorts of incidents can and do happen on the 528/Beachline, which is the main artery to the east coast from Orlando. Sure, there are other options like I-95, but there are incidents all the time on that very busy highway as well. Stuff happens.

We once left my house, a number of years ago, for the port and didn't get 10 minutes down the road before we had a flat on my SUV. It was June and hotter than Hades! And AAA was on a minimum of one hour response time.

Okay, all that said for my answer to your question...... I personally would NOT try to do a park the morning of embarkation. It takes a while to get in and out of a theme park. I love the idea of driving over and having a late breakfast or nice snack at the port!

 

[southerngirl528]

I am probably in the minority as I don't like getting to the port too early. I prefer showing up after the initial crowds have died down, usually around noon.

This is an option that lots of folks really like. The port terminal can get super crowded before embarkation actually does start.

 

[lspst8]

My family has done it without any problems — we just needed to get a last ride on Soarin before we cruised. It’s pretty easy to rope drop a park, stay for about 2 hours and then head to the port around 11am.

 

[southerngirl528]

My family has done it without any problems — we just needed to get a last ride on Soarin before we cruised. It’s pretty easy to rope drop a park, stay for about 2 hours and then head to the port around 11am.

Happy that worked for you, Ispst8!!! I think if the OP was DILIGENT to leave for the Port no later than around 11, that would allow more than ample time for any issues that might arise. For me, anything past 12 noon would be risky. JMHO.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The port is about an hour away from Disney.

We have always gotten up (from a Disney hotel) at a decent time and headed straight to the port... it's our preferred way to travel. I might worry about missing the ship due to traffic or... an accident on the road... or anything so I might not enjoy myself in the park if we hit the park before making our way to the port. But I am notoriously a worry wart about things - so your mileage may vary. Let us know what you decide! Have a fantastic trip!

This!

 

[ScooterScott44]

We are going to do the parks before our January cruise. Here are my reasons why it will work for us and they may impact your decision.

The drive - it is about an hour and you should be ok, barring a major accident, if you leave WDW by lunchtime.

PAT - we are platinum so no PAT and don’t have a reason to get there early and fight crowds.

Annual Pass - we have them so no worry about extra charge for a partial day in the parks.

Rooms - stateroom will not be available anyway, unless booked in concierge.

Dinner - we always do late seating so no rush to get ready for early dinner.

 

[southerngirl528]

We are going to do the parks before our January cruise. Here are my reasons why it will work for us and they may impact your decision.

The drive - it is about an hour and you should be ok, barring a major accident, if you leave WDW by lunchtime.

PAT - we are platinum so no PAT and don’t have a reason to get there early and fight crowds.

Annual Pass - we have them so no worry about extra charge for a partial day in the parks.

Rooms - stateroom will not be available anyway, unless booked in concierge.

Dinner - we always do late seating so no rush to get ready for early dinner.

Very good points, scooterscott44! I agree that if you leave WDW by lunchtime you should be okay. But not a LATE lunchtime!

 

[meliscan]

If you are taking the Magical Express from a Disney hotel your transfer might not leave until around 11:30am or noon. This would give you time to the park if you wanted to get a quick visit. It is really up to you. I like a leisurely wake up and breakfast at my hotel and wander. You are on your way to relax so I start early I also don't like to get to the port when it is crowded. We have been getting there about 1pm and we can check in and just stroll onto the ship, no crowds and no stress.

 

[IrishEye]

We did this from BWV. Walked over to EPCOT did the Soarin Back Stage tour, caught a couple other things in the park and then walked back to BWV in time to catch the DCL bus to the port. For the Soarin tour we are into the park about 1 hour before rope drop so the tour ended just about the time of rope drop - we had that much of a head start on the rest of the crowd just coming through the gate. Would have spent a couple more hours if we were not taking DCL transfer.

 

[hpsalb]

We did this once when it was just DH and I, pre kids. We drive down, so we packed our car for the cruise and headed to AK for a bit and then drove to PC around lunch.

I'm not sure if I would do it again, especially at this stage in life. If I were AP and didn't have littles then I might, but otherwise it's probably not worth it.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Traffic can be horrendous, especially if you encounter an accident.

2 years ago, we took the Magic out of NYC, so we got a day at the parks. Disney bused us over and back. All aboard time was midnight, and I think the ship planned on sailing out around 1am.......

That was the plan......

We got on a return bus around 9:45pm. The last park to close was 8pm, and the last buses back to the ship was 10pm. There was a major accident that closed part of the highway. The bus had to get off and detour. Before it got off, we were in standstill or crawling traffic. We got back to the ship at 1:15am and were told they were still waiting on buses to return. They had a small buffet set up for the returning passengers which was nice. We were very tired and hungry. We went to bed, and found out the next morning the last bus returned around 2:30am. Ship pulled out around 3am.

Based on this story alone, I would not chance the parks in the morning. We were fortunate that we were on a Disney excursion. The ship HAD to wait for us. Not so much if it is just you and your family driving to the ship.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The ship HAD to wait for us.

I'll just point out, this isn't totally true.

If the ship had to depart (due to weather, or another ship requiring the dock, for example), it would depart. BUT, if you're on a ship's excursion they will help you catch up with the ship at the next port. Now, if that next port is a foreign port, and you don't have a passport, that's not going to happen.