One more question - arriving at port

[Fly me with Balloons]

I hate waiting in the middle of crowds. I'd rather be very early, and set up in line towards the very front. yeah, i'm a bit mental.

How early is too early to arrive at the port? I don't mind waiting if i don't feel like i'm in the middle of an ocean of people. I was thinking 9:00 am. (too early?) What's the earliest they let people board?

Thanks again!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

They don't let people into the port to drop luggage or to park until 10:30am. Boarding doesn't generally start until Noon. Sometimes a few minutes earlier and sometimes a few minutes later.

I personally wouldn't get there at 9am. Just leads to a lot of waiting around for everything to open up. Plus you'd have to find an out of the way place to wait until the port opens and allows you to get into park etc.

Earliest I'd get there is maybe 10:15-10:30 in case they open earlier for some reason but at least you'd be there at opening.

Or you could do the opposite and wait until around 1pm and get there when most of the early birds have boarded and avoid the rush.

 

[PorterBob]

10 is when we open curbside up. Too early and you will just be in the way of the folks trying to get off of the ship

 

[disneystick]

2 weeks ago, we took the DCL transportation and did not get to the port until 1:15 and there was no line at all checking in. Walked right up, got our ID check and gave them our credit card info. Then walked right on the ship with no wait either, unless you want to count the 1 couple in front of us taking pictures prior to boarding before our turn. I was nervous at first about arriving so late....but I would do it again in the same way. Got plenty of time to eat lunch and our cabin was already ready for us when we first got on the ship. Loved it!!!

Just another point of view.

 

[zurekgirl]

Disneystick - Thanks for that point of view!

So often we hear the 'get there early' advice it sends those type a's out there (My husband says I'm AAAAA type person!) into a bit of a panic about timelines...

I love the relaxed feel your advice describes! What a great way to start your trip!

 

[Silverfox97]

They don't let people into the port to drop luggage or to park until 10:30am. Boarding doesn't generally start until Noon. Sometimes a few minutes earlier and sometimes a few minutes later.

I personally wouldn't get there at 9am. Just leads to a lot of waiting around for everything to open up. Plus you'd have to find an out of the way place to wait until the port opens and allows you to get into park etc.

Earliest I'd get there is maybe 10:15-10:30 in case they open earlier for some reason but at least you'd be there at opening.

Or you could do the opposite and wait until around 1pm and get there when most of the early birds have boarded and avoid the rush.

We will never get there that "late" again! We got there in Aug at that time, and were boarding group 5 Luckilly, we were "pixie dusted" into Group 3. In Jan and from now on, we will be there by 9:45am! Shouldn't be a problem for us, as we drive from Tampa. Also, we don't use the curbside drop off -- too much of a cluster. We just haul it over from the parking lot -- no big deal -- not far at all.

On the other side, in 2005, when we had our DFTW and honeymoon, we took DCL transfers to the port. Arrived at 2pm. No lines, but hated it. Just our opinion. We prefer to start our vacation that AM right off the bat - board the ship at Noon, eat a nice lunch, roam around, then go to our room.