Questions about Disney World and Disney Cruise Vacation

[BMDisney]

Hello,

I've been a long time lurker of this website and usually I find the questions I am looking for already asked by someone else. But I finally decided to create an account and ask some questions of my own that I hadn't seen in the forums.

Anyways, my questions involve going to Disney World and then a Disney Cruise. We have saved up for our second Disney cruise in June and are playing around with the idea of going to Disney World for a few days before the cruise. It looks like we would arrive either late Wednesday or in the morning Thursday, we are driving from Georgia. So likely two park days (Thursday and Friday).

My questions are as follows:
1. If we take Disney transportation to Port Canaveral, will Disney allow us to keep our car parked at the hotel, and would the charge increase, decrease, or be the same?
2. We have been to Disney before in 2014, so we have been to every major park. That being said there has been a lot of changes if you only had two days at Disney what parks would you do?
3. Is it feasible to squeeze in a day at the parks on Saturday? I think it wouldn't be worth it given the time most buses leave the hotels.
4. Is a one way car rental worth it? (to avoid parking fees at Disney/ wear and tear on personal vehicles)

Thank you for your input.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

1. It would be cheaper to drive and park at the port. DCL transfer from WDW is not free and they don't have park n fly at the Disney resorts.

2. Depends on ages of kids. I would do AK, DHS and MK personally.

3. No. It is dodgy even driving to port.

4. I wouldn't. I would drive to WDW, then drive to port. It will be more flexible. Keep in mind that DCL transfers will be $35pp each way as well.

 

[jrabbit]

1. Leave Car @ WDW while on cruise: I doubt that Disney will let you do that, but it's worth a call. And this is Disney we are talking about ... if they allow it, there WILL be an additional charge!!
2. Which Parks: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom with the Studios a very close third - but wow, two one day tickets or a two day ticket = pretty spendy!!
3. Visit a park before heading to the port: possible, but probably frustrating ... but a three day ticket brings your per day costs down. Would visit the park with early entry that day. Remember Rule #1 about cruising ... Do NOT Miss The Ship!!! Yes the drive to the port is only about an hour and 10 minutes ... but stuff happens and there really are not any alternate routes. Be careful in cutting it too close.
4. Renting a car for the trip: I know people that do this. DS worked for a major car rental company and during the summer, people rented vehicles for vacations all of the time. And sometimes it's fun driving a newer car with many bells and whistles. Check Mouse Savers website for discount codes. Renting a car from NOT an airport location saves a LOT of daily fees and taxes (but not all). And week or longer rentals are usually less expensive. You should price out keeping the car for the entire time (including parking at the port) vs. one way coming down and another going back home.

 

[GPaLarry]

Can't help with above questions much. We spent a week at the park then a week on the Fantasy a couple of years ago. DCL arranged all the transportation, from Portland, OR to Orlando/ship and back. I know you are trying to cut costs and I don't blame you. We leave it to the Mouse to insure we get where we want to go at the time we want to be there. As stated above, you miss the ship, you miss the ship. I would not mess with the day you board, just concentrate on getting to the ship on time. It is a bit over an hour to get to the port and traffic can be an issue. Best of luck!!

 

[mmouse37]

Well, since the resorts now charge a parking fee to stay there you would probably incur a nightly parking fee for the days you left your car there (if they let you. Some people have had success leaving their car there). Plus you would have the DCL bus fee which is $35 pp each way.

Since you are driving to Florida anyway, just drive to the port and park there. It is a very easy drive from WDW. 417 to the Beachline (528) right into Port Canaveral. We have done the drive tons of times, most recently a week ago today when the Magic was in PC for their WDW day on our NYC cruise. We rented a car instead of taking DCL transfers to the parks.

Anyway, the drive is very easy and you could leave at your own schedule. It is about 60 or so miles to the port from WDW.

MJ

 

[Weedy]

So much easier and more convenient to park at the port and may cost less or about the same.
Disney Transportation is $35pp each way and then you will be paying parking at two locations
It’s an easy drive from WDW to the port it takes about an hour. So convenient to have your car right there. Only Disney cruises park in the garage. You drop your luggage off with the porters (you should tip a a few $$ per bag) then pull into the garage. It’s great to have your car at the end of the cruise (again porters available will help all the way to car tip please) then you can hit the road
In this photo garage is on the right terminal on the left. There is a bridge on the third floor connecting the garage and terminal or you can enter from the ground floor

 

[apathetic]

Agree with everyone, it's more sensible to drive to the port. The drive is easy, maybe about $5 in tolls. Leaving your car car at WDW (if they let you) will cost at least as much as parking at the port. But, you will also have to pay the bus fee, $35 per person per direction. If there are 2 people, even on a 7 day cruise, it is cheaper to park than take the bus. And driving is infinitely more convenient.

Right now probably the most popular things are Avatar (AK) and Toy Story Land (Studios). If you can't fast pass the stuff there, expect to spend all day on just a couple of rides. However, they are worth a visit.

I wouldn't plan on going to the park on the same day you depart on the cruise, unless you plan to embark at the very last minute. Time flies at WDW and it's afternoon before you know it. It's about an hour drive to the port. To me not worth a day admission price for only a few hours. Also, if you do the DCL bus don't plan to go to the park. They leave around noon, so you won't have much time at all.

I'm not sure what wear and tear you expect on your car. We've driven there numerous times and had no problems with our vehicles. Probably a bit of traffic around WDW, but the drive to the port is very calm once you get past Orlando. Taking I95 (going north to Georgia) when you get off the ship is also not a bad drive. I wouldn't pay for a rental or the DCL buses. Drive to the port and you will save money. You will also find it a lot more convenient.

 

[BMDisney]

Thank you for all of your responses. I did not intend to disappear after my original question.
I agree that the transfer does not seem to be worth the cost.
I ran some numbers on one way rentals versus renting for the entire trip, and with the added cost of it being one way and the transfer costs its higher than paying the nightly parking at the hotel and the parking at the port with a week long and a few days rental it came out to about $100 more to do the first option. Weekly rates on cars are cheaper than I thought. If we rent, it won't be one way.

Also to give more information to the first response, It's just my wife and I, we have no kids.

The idea was to add WDW to the already Cruise we paid for as just extra vacation, assuming we can afford it, I'm crunching numbers right now to see if that is the case.

After reviewing your input, I agree that #3 is not an option because I don't want to miss the boat.

The other option instead of tacking on WDW would be to put the money saved up into extra OBC. Does anyone know on average how much OBC you potentially use up on a 7 night cruise? Or a recommended amount if you are pre-paying? We have already prepaid tip, but plan on doing excursions (eastern Itinerary) and either Palo or Remy, if that helps.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

My questions are as follows:
1. If we take Disney transportation to Port Canaveral, will Disney allow us to keep our car parked at the hotel, and would the charge increase, decrease, or be the same?
Probably not.

2. We have been to Disney before in 2014, so we have been to every major park. That being said there has been a lot of changes if you only had two days at Disney what parks would you do?
I'd do Animal Kingdom (Avatar) and Magic Kingdom (Seven Dwarves)

3. Is it feasible to squeeze in a day at the parks on Saturday? I think it wouldn't be worth it given the time most buses leave the hotels.
We did, but only because we were doing a land-sea-land vacation, and with the new pricing structure, it was cheaper to do a 5 day pass instead of two separate two day passes. Since you're talking about turning a 2 day into a 3 day, I'd say it's probably not worth it. We were picked up around 1130 a.m. to head to port, so it was basically just enough time to walk around Epcot once and walk back to the hotel. Since you probably will have a car with you, why not see if you can get an early PAT and drive yourself so you can get on the boat earlier.

4. Is a one way car rental worth it? (to avoid parking fees at Disney/ wear and tear on personal vehicles)
If you have a large party, then yes. For us it was basically the same price to take Disney transportation to and from port, but we only paid for two people (we have a lap infant).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello,

I've been a long time lurker of this website and usually I find the questions I am looking for already asked by someone else. But I finally decided to create an account and ask some questions of my own that I hadn't seen in the forums.

Anyways, my questions involve going to Disney World and then a Disney Cruise. We have saved up for our second Disney cruise in June and are playing around with the idea of going to Disney World for a few days before the cruise. It looks like we would arrive either late Wednesday or in the morning Thursday, we are driving from Georgia. So likely two park days (Thursday and Friday).

My questions are as follows:
1. If we take Disney transportation to Port Canaveral, will Disney allow us to keep our car parked at the hotel, and would the charge increase, decrease, or be the same?
2. We have been to Disney before in 2014, so we have been to every major park. That being said there has been a lot of changes if you only had two days at Disney what parks would you do?
3. Is it feasible to squeeze in a day at the parks on Saturday? I think it wouldn't be worth it given the time most buses leave the hotels.
4. Is a one way car rental worth it? (to avoid parking fees at Disney/ wear and tear on personal vehicles)

Thank you for your input.

1. You have to ask if they will let you keep your car there. There is a charge to park your car there. Plus DCL transfers cost $35.00 per person, each way. You need to figure out whether it's monitarily "worth it" to leave your car there or just drive to the port.
2. Of course there are changes to the parks - it's ongoing. With only 2 days, I'd split one day between two parks (preferably two that are fairly close to each other or your resort) and spend a whole day at another. But you'd have to figure out which ones would work for you.
3. I wouldn't plan on spending the morning at a park.
4. As I said, WDW resorts charge a parking fee now, so you're not going to avoid parking fees.

 

[g_ppetto]

Have you considered doing the cruise first, then the parks? We did that last September - get to Cocoa Beach / Port Canaveral the day before the cruise, check into the Radisson, a little sight seeing at Ron Jon, early dinner at Fishlips to watch the cruise ships depart. We wanted to make sure we were in the port area the day before the cruise. After we got off of the ship, we had a leisurely drive to WDW, checked into the hotel and then lunch at Olivias. (Po' Boy, yum!) We did a couple of days at WDW but never visited a park. We liked the schedule enough we're going to do it again for our next cruise.