Parking question - "off-site" parking

[cheribelle]

Hi all! If we decide to use a different parking option other than the port (like park n cruise), can my DH still drop the luggage off (and me and the kiddies) at the terminal prior to parking?

Also, when we return, can he go pick up the car first and then pick us and the luggage up from the terminal?

Just trying to finalize where to park. I don't mind the wait for him if we are allowed to do this, but I really don't want to carry on a family of five and all the luggage onto a shuttle bus!

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[su_A_ve]

Hi all! If we decide to use a different parking option other than the port (like park n cruise), can my DH still drop the luggage off (and me and the kiddies) at the terminal prior to parking?

Also, when we return, can he go pick up the car first and then pick us and the luggage up from the terminal?

Just trying to finalize where to park. I don't mind the wait for him if we are allowed to do this, but I really don't want to carry on a family of five and all the luggage onto a shuttle bus!

Thanks for any help!!!

Beware that many have had issues with waiting for the shuttle. Not uncommon to wait a decent amount of time for the shuttle to come and take you back - can easily be an hour wait for the rest of the family. You won't be able to wait inside the terminal either on your return, from what I know... Dropping off is no problem - you'll just drop them off and the family will be able to go in, potentially check in and then take picture with the characters and such until you get back.

If you are staying in PC the night before, you might want to consider the local hotels participating in the 40% off port parking promotion. Then you park at the port (in the garage) but at 40% off...

 

[IrishCowboy]

YES!!!

This is exactly what we do. I drop wife and family off at Port and return rental car. Much easier to get on shuttle with just one persona and no luggage vs family of 4 and 6 bags

 

[cheribelle]

Beware that many have had issues with waiting for the shuttle. Not uncommon to wait a decent amount of time for the shuttle to come and take you back - can easily be an hour wait for the rest of the family. You won't be able to wait inside the terminal either, from what I know...

If you are staying in PC the night before, you might want to consider the local hotels participating in the 40% off port parking promotion. Then you park at the port (in the garage) but at 40% off...

Ouch, one hour? Not good.

I am trying to budget things, and find areas to "cut back costs". We are planning to stay in Orlando, visit Legoland and maybe the Disney Hotels. But after checking out Legoland's admission prices , I really need to cut back in other areas. I know the parking prices are minimal compared to other costs of this trip, but any $ counts!

Vacations are not easy on a family of five anymore. Need more meals, bigger rooms, more tickets, etc. UGH!

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[cheribelle]

YES!!!

This is exactly what we do. I drop wife and family off at Port and return rental car. Much easier to get on shuttle with just one persona and no luggage vs family of 4 and 6 bags

How was the timing? Did your family ever have a really long wait? This would work out perfectly then! Thanks!

 

[kistner5]

As far as Legoland is concerned there are many discounts available. Do a quick google search and you will find options. When I was looking a few months ago I found buy adult admission get kids free. We used parkncruise and it was super convenient. We parked our car, paid and immediately boarded a shuttle to port. We did wait about 20 minutes for a return shuttle but it wasn't horrible. Having the hubby drop off and pick up is a great idea!

 

[su_A_ve]

Ouch, one hour? Not good.

I am trying to budget things, and find areas to "cut back costs". We are planning to stay in Orlando, visit Legoland and maybe the Disney Hotels. But after checking out Legoland's admission prices , I really need to cut back in other areas. I know the parking prices are minimal compared to other costs of this trip, but any $ counts!

Vacations are not easy on a family of five anymore. Need more meals, bigger rooms, more tickets, etc. UGH!

Thanks for your help!!!

You may want to consider staying in Cocoa Beach the night before. Remember there's a nice ride with traffic from Orlando to PC. And if you have an early PAT, you would need to check out of the hotel early, specially if you plan on parking off site.

The concern is the return. Basically it goes like this:

You disembark
You pick your luggage
You do immigration
You exit the terminal
You wait 15-30min for the shuttle
You hope the shuttle is not already full - most families jump on it with all the luggage
Your family would wait outside the terminal for the one person to go back and get the car
The person drives back and picks you up

Drive to the off-site parking is a good 15 minutes.

The Fairfield Inn near Kennedy space center participates in the 40% promo. Other hotels in Cocoa Beach are the La Quinta (not oceanfront), Days Inn and Best Western.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

How was the timing? Did your family ever have a really long wait? This would work out perfectly then! Thanks!

We too are a family that drops off and DH parks at park 'n cruise. When the cruise is over he hops on the shuttle (never a long wait) and then comes to get the family at the port. You will wait at the same place you were dropped off which is in front of the termainal and outside the gate. Park 'n cruise is less than 10 minutes from the port.

 

[cheribelle]

Thanks for all the tips! It may work out to park at one of these off site places after all. 20 minutes is not that long to wait. We are in no rush to get home!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Hi all! If we decide to use a different parking option other than the port (like park n cruise), can my DH still drop the luggage off (and me and the kiddies) at the terminal prior to parking?

Also, when we return, can he go pick up the car first and then pick us and the luggage up from the terminal?

Just trying to finalize where to park. I don't mind the wait for him if we are allowed to do this, but I really don't want to carry on a family of five and all the luggage onto a shuttle bus!

Thanks for any help!!!

We have personally parked twice with parkportcanaveral.com this year by the Radisson. The first time, we paid $5.95/day and the second time it was only $3.95 a day! We had no problems, they loaded all the luggage for us and took it to the terminal. It was much easier than last year's New Orleans cruise when we parked at the cruise terminal and then had to roll/heft/three bags on a shoulder all the way to the check in. My parents are getting older, so having the shuttles guys be able to take care of theirs was a big help.

The first time we got back, there was a shuttle already there and we literally walked right on to it and made it to our car at 9:30 (our fault, we could have left ship earlier) and to EPCOT at 10:20. The second time, we waited less than 10 min for the shuttle but we didn't care cuz we only had 14 hrs of driving to look forward to.

I would park it again in a minute. I guess a few people have had security concerns, that is always something you have to consider. I can't stand the idea of spending $120 a week like our friends did vs our $55... its just a huge savings. It would be one thing if it wasn't much of a savings.

I only have good things to say about it, and that is my personal experience but others may have a different experience.

 

[Glfnjoe]

On our May 26 cruise there were ten of us (including a 4 year old and a 9 year old) and three cars. We made online reservations at Cruise Parking of Port Canaveral. We decided to drop everyone off with luggage and just the drivers take the cars to parking. When we got to the lot the lady said that if only the drivers come back on the shuttle without luggage we could park for $15 total. We had planned on doing that anyway so that's what we did. When we returned to port I called for the shuttle and it was there in about 15 minutes. Granted it's much more convenient to park at the port but to save some money we felt it was worth it.

 

[cheribelle]

On our May 26 cruise there were ten of us (including a 4 year old and a 9 year old) and three cars. We made online reservations at Cruise Parking of Port Canaveral. We decided to drop everyone off with luggage and just the drivers take the cars to parking. When we got to the lot the lady said that if only the drivers come back on the shuttle without luggage we could park for $15 total. We had planned on doing that anyway so that's what we did. When we returned to port I called for the shuttle and it was there in about 15 minutes. Granted it's much more convenient to park at the port but to save some money we felt it was worth it.

I just checked their site and there is a facebook coupon for 15% off. Thank you for your reply!

 

[Glfnjoe]

I just checked their site and there is a facebook coupon for 15% off. Thank you for your reply!

Enjoy your cruise. We are all still suffering from the "Post Cruise Blues".

 

[dpuck1998]

Ouch, one hour? Not good.

I am trying to budget things, and find areas to "cut back costs". We are planning to stay in Orlando, visit Legoland and maybe the Disney Hotels. But after checking out Legoland's admission prices , I really need to cut back in other areas. I know the parking prices are minimal compared to other costs of this trip, but any $ counts!

Vacations are not easy on a family of five anymore. Need more meals, bigger rooms, more tickets, etc. UGH!

Thanks for your help!!!

Park at the port and skip LegoLand....YUK!!

 

[neg58]

Another option at debarkation is to have the driver do 'walk off' with no luggage or kids and go get the car while the rest of you get off and go through customs and by then he could be back to pick you up.

Nancy

 

[bumbershoot]

As far as Legoland is concerned there are many discounts available. Do a quick google search and you will find options.

Yep. some lego sets we've bought have included "buy one get one" coupons, and almost every Lego magazine DS gets (Lego jr and the catalog) has a coupon of the same kind.

 

[SnowWhite2]

We used cruise and park during our NYE cruise. It was only about 10 minutes before the shuttle arrived. About 20 more until DH came back to get us. Not bad given NYE is one of the busiest weeks of the year.

We'll be using them again.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

We used Cruise Parking of PC and were happy with the service. I highly recommend them but honestly, we will probably just park at the port next time. Our disembark day was unusually cold for the time of the year and we weren't well prepared for the wait.

 

[poohssmum]

Another option at debarkation is to have the driver do 'walk off' with no luggage or kids and go get the car while the rest of you get off and go through customs and by then he could be back to pick you up.

Nancy

I don't think this will actually work. When going through Customs, you fill out one declaration form per family ... which means the whole family has to go through Customs together (with all the luggage). When leaving the Magic last summer, we saw a Dad trying to collect all luggage and go through Customs while Mom and kiddo's lingered on the ship. Dad was stuck waiting in Customs, and couldn't use his cell phone to call Mom and tell her to hurry-up.

 

[Buckeye218]

We used Park ‘N Cruise the last two times and we went straight there. You unload the family and luggage as you drive though the building, which kind of resembles a mini airplane hangar. They actually unload your luggage from your car and then the driver will load your luggage onto the shuttle for you.

So it’s really hassle-free. You just stand (under cover) with your luggage until the shuttle arrives. It would have taken longer for me to drop my family at the port and then drive back to drop off the car.

Shuttle waits are variable. After we disembarked from our last cruise in April, we didn’t wait more than 10 minutes before a shuttle arrived.