stay at mco or near port?

[FLmomof2]

Does DCL transportation pick up from the Walt Disney World resorts?

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

Does DCL transportation pick up from the Walt Disney World resorts?

Yes

 

[diznymom]

We stay on WDW property. He have stayed at AS Sports. We are staying at AKL this next time. We arrive the day before our cruise. We do not go to the parks.
We use ME to get from MCO to the resort. Then we use DCL transport from our resort to PC, then from PC to MCO.

The ultimate vacation for DH is (1) he doesn't have to drive and (2) he doesn't have to schlep the luggage.

So, for us, this is the best option.

 

[Lonegalathome]

Is there a preferred hotel between the Country Inn and Suites and the Radisson by the port?

 

[Capt_BJ]

a brand new Homewood suites just opened across the street from these two

Radisson has a 'popular' pool area but is an older property ... not WAY older but a little and some do comment on it.

And I believe the R' does not offer 'free' breakfast, Country Inn does .... there are several options walking distance however from McD' to a "Greek Diner" which ALWAYS has great breakfast.

 

[rwcmath]

Taking DCL transportation to the cruise was so great. We bypassed the long line at the port, and entered via side door.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

Are we assigned a time to board so that its staggered and not everyone is trying to get on at once? What's the earliest you can board? If you show up before your assigned time do you have to wait until your time?

 

[mcd2745]

I have done both and really liked both experiences. My two cents....if you get in early in the day....say before 4pm or so I would head down to the port and enjoy hanging out by the pool. We used Happy Limo to take us down and it worked great. Very nice to get up the next morning and already be there! If getting in later in the day/evening I would stay at MCO personally. It's just nice after all that travel to get your bags and go straight to your room. Next morning we get up and head to the port.....easy peasy.

Completely agree with this. For us it also depends on arrival time. Although our cut-off time would probably be a little earlier than 4pm. More like 2pm. If arriving before that...stay in Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area. Arriving after 2pm? Then just stay at the MCO Hyatt.

 

[Weedy]

Are we assigned a time to board so that its staggered and not everyone is trying to get on at once? What's the earliest you can board? If you show up before your assigned time do you have to wait until your time?

When your booking window opens (75 days prior if 1st cruise) you will pick a PAT -port arrival time. When you arrive at the port and do your check in you will be assigned a boarding #. Your boarding # is is tied to your PAT. So if you arrive early someone arriving after you but with an earlier PAT will receive a lower boarding#
Disney staggers the PAT's. On the Fantasy and Dream the 1st PAT is 10:30-10:45

 

[lbus42]

Me thinks it would be easier to either completely go with Disney when it comes to the flights and shuttles or completely do it on your own. No in between.

It's not that bad. I booked my own flights and my stay at the MCO Hyatt the day before the cruise and the day of disembarkation. I used Disney transportation to get to the cruise terminal. Everything went pretty smooth. My flight landed at Orlando. We claimed our bags and took them to the hotel. We told the desk clerk we were going on a Disney Cruise and were taking the DCL bus to the terminal. They gave us an instruction sheet that explained what to do with our bags and where to catch the bus. The next morning we placed the DCL luggage tags on our bags and left them in the room. We walked down to the bus terminal and caught the bus to the port.

When we disembarked the ship, a porter took our bags to the cruise line bus for our trip back to the airport. When we got off the bus, a porter transported our bags to the Hyatt. We expected to have to wait until 4pm to get our room. It was only about 9:45am. I asked the clerk if there was someplace we could leave our bags. To my surprise, they gave us our room immediately. The next morning, a hotel porter, transported our bags to the airline check-in counter. He checked in our bags for us, got our boarding passes, and got us TSA pre-approved, which was fantastic since the security lines were VERY long and we got to bypass all of that.

We have another cruise booked for September of 2017 and we will repeat our MCO Hyatt stay and using the DCL bus to the port.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

It's not that bad. I booked my own flights and my stay at the MCO Hyatt the day before the cruise and the day of disembarkation. I used Disney transportation to get to the cruise terminal. Everything went pretty smooth. My flight landed at Orlando. We claimed our bags and took them to the hotel. We told the desk clerk we were going on a Disney Cruise and were taking the DCL bus to the terminal. They gave us an instruction sheet that explained what to do with our bags and where to catch the bus. The next morning we placed the DCL luggage tags on our bags and left them in the room. We walked down to the bus terminal and caught the bus to the port.

When we disembarked the ship, a porter took our bags to the cruise line bus for our trip back to the airport. When we got off the bus, a porter transported our bags to the Hyatt. We expected to have to wait until 4pm to get our room. It was only about 9:45am. I asked the clerk if there was someplace we could leave our bags. To my surprise, they gave us our room immediately. The next morning, a hotel porter, transported our bags to the airline check-in counter. He checked in our bags for us, got our boarding passes, and got us TSA pre-approved, which was fantastic since the security lines were VERY long and we got to bypass all of that.

We have another cruise booked for September of 2017 and we will repeat our MCO Hyatt stay and using the DCL bus to the port.

This is what we finally decided and I let the TA know today. Hoping to catch an early flight then shuttle to Country Inn and Suites at Port Canaveral a day early. Hiring shuttle next morning to ship. On debarkation using DCL transportation and an approved airline so we don't see our luggage til we get home.

 

[FigmentSpark]

It's not that bad. I booked my own flights and my stay at the MCO Hyatt the day before the cruise and the day of disembarkation. I used Disney transportation to get to the cruise terminal. Everything went pretty smooth. My flight landed at Orlando. We claimed our bags and took them to the hotel. We told the desk clerk we were going on a Disney Cruise and were taking the DCL bus to the terminal. They gave us an instruction sheet that explained what to do with our bags and where to catch the bus. The next morning we placed the DCL luggage tags on our bags and left them in the room. We walked down to the bus terminal and caught the bus to the port.

When we disembarked the ship, a porter took our bags to the cruise line bus for our trip back to the airport. When we got off the bus, a porter transported our bags to the Hyatt. We expected to have to wait until 4pm to get our room. It was only about 9:45am. I asked the clerk if there was someplace we could leave our bags. To my surprise, they gave us our room immediately. The next morning, a hotel porter, transported our bags to the airline check-in counter. He checked in our bags for us, got our boarding passes, and got us TSA pre-approved, which was fantastic since the security lines were VERY long and we got to bypass all of that.

We have another cruise booked for September of 2017 and we will repeat our MCO Hyatt stay and using the DCL bus to the port.

Was the baggage check and TSA pre-approval part of your Hyatt package or did you have to ask for a special service? We are probably doing a lot of driving, but I was thinking of staying at the Hyatt the night before our morning flight, so that's why I asked.

 

[Momof2inCT]

We have done both and there are pros and cons to each.

For the one time we stayed at the port, we had Happy Limo (they are great and they do a stop at a grocery store if you request it) drive us to the Port. We had SO MUCH fun listening to a live band and watching the cruise ships come in and out at Rusty's. Tons of fun (and we had our very little kids with us at the time). We took the complimentary hotel shuttle to the cruise terminal the next day. PROS: fun evening out prior to cruise, like our vacation had already started! CONS: hotels by the port are dated and not awesome. the shuttle took a long time to load/unload.

We've also opted to stay at MCO - the Hyatt - and take Happy Limo down the day of. We like this one if we are flying in late/around dinner. PROS: rest after your flight, EASY. CONS: Like your vacation hasn't quiiiiite started until the next day.

For a third choice, we have on two occasions come down in the morning the day before and spent one night at a Disney resort hotel. This is by FAR my favorite option.

 

[lbus42]

Was the baggage check and TSA pre-approval part of your Hyatt package or did you have to ask for a special service? We are probably doing a lot of driving, but I was thinking of staying at the Hyatt the night before our morning flight, so that's why I asked.

No it was not a part of a package. When I checked in, I asked if a porter (the hotel called them bellcaps) could come get my bags the next morning. They asked me what time I would need one and I told them 10:15 am. One showed up exactly at that time. He transported my bags to baggage check-in. When we got to the check-in counter, an airline employee came over and the bellcap asked for my passports. He gave them to the airline person. A few minutes later he gave the passports back to me with all of my gate passes. I asked him where I needed to go for security and he showed me that the gate pass said that we were TSA pre-approved. Needless to say, he got a large tip.

I don't know if this is standard procedure for the Hyatt bellcaps or if he just did all that on his own. You might want to ask about that if you stay at that hotel. BTW, I thought the Hyatt was great.

 

[ceecee]

What are the "approved" airlines?

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

Alaska
American
Delta
Jet Blue
United

 

[bumbershoot]

There's no way a hotel employee could get you Precheck. That would have happened by chance. Pre is given randomly to people quite often (I'm one who sometimes gets it). The employee could not have had anything to do with it.

 

[lbus42]

There's no way a hotel employee could get you Precheck. That would have happened by chance. Pre is given randomly to people quite often (I'm one who sometimes gets it). The employee could not have had anything to do with it.

Do you work for the TSA? I think that I was there and saw what transpired.

 

[Churchladychurchlady]

Please slap my hand if I'm hijacking... Newbie here. For those folks who have stayed at hotels in PC, if you've taken the shuttle to the Port and left your car at the hotel - How do you get back to the hotel to retrieve your car?