Question on leaving PC

[WINTER]

What are some options for us? we don't fly out of MCO until 3:45 pm on day of debark. Would like to go to Disney Springs for a few hours. Don't want to have to lug luggage around with us. Ideas??

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What are some options for us? we don't fly out of MCO until 3:45 pm on day of debark. Would like to go to Disney Springs for a few hours. Don't want to have to lug luggage around with us. Ideas??

Well, that doesn't give you a whole lot of time. If you don't go directly to the airport, you'll have to handle your own bags. A rental car seems best. Be aware you need to be at the airport about 2 hours ahead of your flight, and I'd probably allow more time than that, as TSA security at MCO can be a bear at times. I've seen the line there be upwards of an hour.

 

[Mommb]

It is an easy drive from Port Canaveral to Walt Disney World, so if you have an early breakfast, you could get a rental car and be at Disney Springs by 10 easily. That would give you over 2 hours before you would need to leave for your flight.

I have rented cars at Port Canaveral and returned them to the Orlando airport several times, with no additional fee. There are other options for transportation, but they would be tricky with luggage.

 

[Rob1872]

Just my opinion: I'd be too stressed to enjoy Disney Springs with a 3:45 flight. For a "normal" airport I'd want to arrive at 1:45; for Orlando I'd want to be there by 1:00 to reflect the potential for significant security lines. It won't be instantaneous to get a rental car to drive over.

I'd explore getting a day room at the Hyatt and relaxing there before I'd try to force in a quick Disney Springs trip. Murphy's Law is that there will be an accident on the freeway that delays you getting back to the airport. (You are just in a bit of a 'no-man's land' with not wanting to hang out at the airport for 4 hours but not having enough time to really go anywhere.)

 

[NAB]

We were so tried after leaving the boat being up late so many nights.

Went the airport explored the stores there , sat in on one of the comfy chairs and napped...lol The kids were happy just to have internet back too. Have lunch at the food court than go though security.

Depending on the airline and when your flight is you have to hang on to your luggage too so your on the other side of security for a bit.

Once we did the day rate at the Hyatt again we napped...lol Thought we would swim etc. But didn’t.

 

[adamki]

Are you flying on one of the airlines that participates in the on-board check-in/luggage transfer service? Currently, that's Delta (Domestic Destinations), American, JetBlue, United and Alaska. To use the service you have to use Disney transportation back to the airport after your cruise.

The advantage of doing this for a late flight is that Disney takes care of your checked luggage and provides your airline boarding passes to you on the ship so that you only have to go through security at the airport and board your plane.

On our last cruise we had a late afternoon flight and had the following timeline on our disembarkation day (times based on photos and text messages):
07:30 - Boarded the DCL Bus to the airport.
08:25 - Arrived at the airport and walked across to the Hertz parking garage
08:40 - Departed MCO with the rental car
09:20 - Arrived at Disney Springs. Wondered around, waited for stores to open, shopped a bit.
11:30 - Lunch at Paddlefish (as soon as it opened, so it was pretty fast service).
12:30 - Return to Airport
1:10 - Arrived back at the airport

The flight was at about 4:00pm so we had plenty of time back at the airport.

The nice thing about this plan is that post-paid rental car reservations have no penalty for no-show. If the ship is delayed coming into port, you just scrap the morning schedule and hang out at the airport. It's certainly not the most cost-effective method, but it's relatively stress free and makes the airport experience nicer IMO.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Are you flying on one of the airlines that participates in the on-board check-in/luggage transfer service? Currently, that's Delta (Domestic Destinations), American, JetBlue, United and Alaska. To use the service you have to use Disney transportation back to the airport after your cruise.

The advantage of doing this for a late flight is that Disney takes care of your checked luggage and provides your airline boarding passes to you on the ship so that you only have to go through security at the airport and board your plane.

On our last cruise we had a late afternoon flight and had the following timeline on our disembarkation day (times based on photos and text messages):
07:30 - Boarded the DCL Bus to the airport.
08:25 - Arrived at the airport and walked across to the Hertz parking garage
08:40 - Departed MCO with the rental car
09:20 - Arrived at Disney Springs. Wondered around, waited for stores to open, shopped a bit.
11:30 - Lunch at Paddlefish (as soon as it opened, so it was pretty fast service).
12:30 - Return to Airport
1:10 - Arrived back at the airport

The flight was at about 4:00pm so we had plenty of time back at the airport.

The nice thing about this plan is that post-paid rental car reservations have no penalty for no-show. If the ship is delayed coming into port, you just scrap the morning schedule and hang out at the airport. It's certainly not the most cost-effective method, but it's relatively stress free and makes the airport experience nicer IMO.

That's a lot of traveling for a short time. Trip from port to MCO is about an hour. Then another hour to get car and travel to Disney Springs. And another hour back to the airport and return car.

 

[adamki]

That's a lot of traveling for a short time. Trip from port to MCO is about an hour. Then another hour to get car and travel to Disney Springs. And another hour back to the airport and return car.

And yet, we did it. For me, that's better than 7 hours at the airport any day! Yes, each ride/drive was about 40 minutes. Rental car pickup and return at MCO doesn't take any time as long as you are registered with the rental car company so you can just walk up to your car and leave.

If the goal is to go to Disney springs, I bet you don't save any time by renting a car at Port Canaveral if you add in:
- the rental car shuttle, which was a hassle last time I used it at Port Canaveral
- extra time at the airport to check your luggage for your flight

Obviously, your comfort level may vary. Points of reference for my level of nuttiness: On long airport layovers I've left airports so that I'm not sitting around ... Heathrow (Heathrow Express to London, another time a taxi Windsor), LAX (rental car to In-n-Out burger), O'Hare (Blue line train downtown), Narita (quick trip to a local mall).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Obviously, your comfort level may vary.

Quite true. My comfort level is to get off the ship as late as I can and not try to cram as much as possible in a short time. So, 2-3 hours at Disney Springs, with added 2-3 hours travel time to/from there before a flight just doesn't do it for me.

If anything, I'd get a day room at the Hyatt and catch a nap before my flight.

 

[adamki]

My comfort level is to get off the ship as late as I can and not try to cram as much as possible in a short time.

but ... but ... we were laying around on a cruise ship for a week! (not really) I guess I can sit down when I get back to the office.

Seriously, we've definitely done day rooms and resort passes as well. That's my current plan for our post-cruise day in San Juan.

 

[christophles]

Has anyone ever tried this situation and had it work?

I'm arriving a day before my cruise in November and staying at Jambo House. I'll use ME to get from MCO to resort and then use DCL transfers to Port on the next day. When the cruise ship returns, can you get a DCL transfer back to Jambo House even though I'm not staying there after the cruise and then use ME back from resort to MCO when it's my return home flight? It would at least save me renting a car for the day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Has anyone ever tried this situation and had it work?

I'm arriving a day before my cruise in November and staying at Jambo House. I'll use ME to get from MCO to resort and then use DCL transfers to Port on the next day. When the cruise ship returns, can you get a DCL transfer back to Jambo House even though I'm not staying there after the cruise and then use ME back from resort to MCO when it's my return home flight? It would at least save me renting a car for the day.

You must have a reservation at a WDW resort to take the DCL transfers to a resort. DCL transfers cost $39 per person each way from resort to port; port to resort; port to MCO.

 

[christophles]

You must have a reservation at a WDW resort to take the DCL transfers to a resort. DCL transfers cost $39 per person each way from resort to port; port to resort; port to MCO.

Thanks for the quick response. Looks like I can utilitze from resort to port; but after the cruise, I'll decide if it's worth spending the day in Disney with a rental or just flying home earlier.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We had a 3:30 flight home with SW on our last cruise. We got a rental car because for 4 of us it was cheaper than the Disney transfers. It allowed us to stop at Disney Springs on the way to the airport for some shopping. It was a quick stop, just a couple of hours, but it passed the time vs. being at the airport at 9am, There is only so much shopping I can do there.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

I would opt for Disney Springs any day over hanging out at MCO for hours because we have done it before. We had a 2pm flight and they couldn't check our bags until after the 11 am flight was gone. We did every shop, hung out in the food court, even got pics and video's of our kids sleeping through a fake fire alarm.
Another cruise we had the rental car and were only leaving the following day but it was a place to keep the luggage out of view and a good opportunity to go shop at the Christmas store and Lego store. Spend a few hours and go back.

 

[FigmentSpark]

As a compromise, Florida Mall is minutes from the airport. You'll still have your luggage, but if you rent a car, you could go there and spend a little more time than you would have at DS, given the travel to/from the airport is minimal, as opposed to the half hour in traffic. It might be less stressful.

 

[Vista20]

There is also Orlando Baggage Storage just 10 minutes from Disney Springs we have used and had our bags delivered to the airport, excellent service!