Night before at WDW or at Port Canaveral?

[Fall1]

I'd love some feedback about staying at the port and using a hotel shuttle or staying at WDW and parking at the port lot. We are coming in the day before the cruise and debating between the 2. Thanks!!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

If you can WDW or Downtown Disney there is far more to do there.

 

[Crystal O_o]

We decided to book a room close to the port so we don't have to make the drive across.

 

[Meriweather]

We always stay at WDW....nice way to start a vacation.
Use DCL shuttle....we don't mind getting to the ship a bit later.

 

[Fall1]

If you've stayed at WDW, was it a pain to get to the port in the am if you had a car?

 

[tankin]

When are you arriving? We always stay at MCO because we arrive after dinner. Not much left to do by the time you drive out to WDW. No advantage to going out to the port.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We tried to stay off site at Port Canaveral last time we cruised, Disney Fantasy Christmas 2015. Had reservations for a hotel, looking for our options to get to the cruise terminal. And we just couldn't do it! And cancelled our PC hotel reservation and stayed one night at Disney's All Star Music.

This is us, not saying this is the only way to go; but we LOVE all things Disney when we cruise. All past cruises we stayed at least one night at a WDW resort the night before. We take the Magical Express to our resort, take the Disney Cruise Line bus from resort to PC, and DCL bus from cruise terminal to airport. We make a dining reservation at one of our favorite Disney restaurants, hit Down Town Disney, do one of the Mini-golf courses and explore the resort we chose because it has always been a new resort. If we spend more than one night at WDW we purchase park tickets.

We know we can do it CHEAPER by not doing it all Disney but we would really miss it if we didn't.

So the moral of this story is, what do you feel would make this vacation most special for you and your family? But my guess is what ever you decide you will have a great time. You're on a Disney Cruise

 

[thumpie's mom]

It depends on when you arrive the day before. Since we fly in from the West Coast, we don't get there till late afternoon. Not really worth making the trip out to WDW (as much as we would love too!) We stay at the hotel at the airport and catch the DCL bus the next day to the port. They make it very easy to do. Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

If you've stayed at WDW, was it a pain to get to the port in the am if you had a car?

We've stayed at WDW and the drive in the morning is incredibly easy and lasts ~ 1 hour. Plus, you see tons of DCL buses both going there and coming back the other way that really helps to get you psyched for the cruise.

 

[IAMASTITCHER]

For each of our cruises, we fly in the day before (in morning), pick up a rental car and head over to WDW for the afternoon shopping/mini-golf. We then return late to Cape Canaveral for our hotel room. This time we are doing the same but adding in the Mickey Christmas party. It will be a late night driving to Port Canaveral but this way we can sleep in a bit in the morning, drop off the rental car and cruise away. Note, we do not have children so with two adults its a bit easier.

 

[The Sasquatch]

The answer is always Stay at WDW!

 

[emilyann415]

We have done every combination....and have enjoyed each one for entirely different reasons. I think, for us, the least stressful was to stay at Hyatt in the airport and use Disney transfers. But I only do this if we are getting in late in the afternoon/evening. Our kids get a kick out of swimming in the pool with airplanes taking off.

Staying a Disneyworld...I love everything about Disney and so always enjoy this....but usually only do this option if we can stay at least two nights prior to sailing or coming back. With our kids, at least, it's trying to squeeze in so much into one day, go to bed late, up early, and it makes the first day heading to the port kind of a crabby day for most of us. Every once in a while though, I just get the itch to do it, and even though I know it's a lot of hauling luggage and dealing with a rental car, lack of sleep, it just feels like I going home when I go to Disney. It's not logical, it's just a feeling you get.

Stay at the port. I recently did this one this last summer for the first time. We had a car service pick us up at the port and stayed at Residence Inn....it was very nice with a fabulous breakfast in the morning. We enjoyed swimming in the pool and it wasn't crowded at all. That was nice because it's a bit harder to get swim time on the ships for us. We walked a few blocks to a nice place for supper, got to bed early and were ready to go in the AM....no fighting with each other, no one was crabby.....I really think this was more fun than I anticipated.

I guess I can be happy with any of the three options.....enjoyed them all.

 

[hoffman1]

We have stayed near and at WDW. We prefer WDW. It really gets us in the mood for the cruise. Plus we can usually get a room at a value resort cheaper than staying near the port (we go in Sept). The drive isn't bad over to the port. I think it is a little over an hour.

 

[ludari]

I have done both and I prefer to stay near WDW if I am several days before my cruise (which I typically do). If it's just the night before I would suggest staying near the port just for convenience sake.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Since you will have a car and can leave early for the port I'd go to wdw.

If you were flying I'd say stay at the airport and take the first DcL bus out in the a.m.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

We had a very large and active cruise group last month and I couldn't help but notice so many complaints about the hotel rooms at the port (everything from bedbugs to cigarette smells to soaking wet carpet), but no one at wdw had any complaints. In fact, my group got a pixie dust upgrade to club level

 

[texas disney mom]

We stayed at WDW for three nights before a cruise last year and it was stressful and exhausting. I don't know if we just had a difficult trip, but WDW was very, very crowded and it was too much before the cruise. We have kids so that might have made the difference, but we will not be going back to WDW for a while because of it. It was also stressful getting to the ship the next morning. I would recommend staying near the port the night before or taking the Disney cruise buses.