Staying at Disney resort first

[Natasha0b]

Anyone have any experience with staying at a Disney resort for a night or two before their Disney cruise?

We’ll be travelling with my husband and daughter (1.5yrs) and I’m thinking the easiest thing would be to fly in, stay at a Disney resort and the. I assume they’d have transport to port canaveral? Should I book this through a travel agent? Any recommendations?

This will be my 5th Disney cruise but first for my husband and daughter. The last time I was on one I was a kid myself! Really looking forward to sharing this magic with my family.

 

[I Run Long]

Yes, we always stay about 4 days at a Disney resort before a cruise. We like the 4 days just to get used to the time change (we fly from the west coast of Canada). As we had a Dreams Unlimited agent book our cruise we just had her add on the port transfers. They'll send you luggage tags for the transfer. You put them on your bags and leave them in your room when you check out. Someone comes and gets them and they will magically appear outside your stateroom on board. You could also book a towncar for the trip there and back. Either way we found it exceptionally easy.

 

[Peter pan’s shoes]

We like the long cruises but they weren't running last summer so we did a Mon - Fri cruise with a weekend at either end at the resorts and it was really wonderful! It made the trip seem like a real trip and not just a quick get away. I would definitely do it again. We drove so I don't know about transfers but I've certainly see people boarding and getting off the cruise buses at the resorts.

 

[soniam]

DCL transportation needs to be booked, and it costs. They pick up/drop off to any Disney hotel.

 

[meliscan]

We have done a Disney resort before a cruise but now that Disney no longer has the Magical express it isn't as easy and costs more money. I have done the Hyatt MCO several times and it is very convenient. You have to arrange for the transportation to the port no matter where you stay. We take the new Sunshine Flyer in May and it was nice. The beautiful thing about the Hyatt MCO is you don't have to leave the airport. Someone can go grab the luggage while the other person checks in and it easy. There are restaurants and shops in the airport. My son liked sitting on the balcony and people watch at the airport. I have it booked for our 2023 cruise.

 

[Lillebelle]

We did a night at a Disney resort before our last cruise (booked through our Dreams Agent) and then booked private transport from airport to hotel and hotel to port (FL Magical Tours, highly recommend). That gave us the most control over our timing so was what worked best for us. We never went into a park, but did do dinner at the resort. We enjoyed having a fun night in a Disney setting, it helped get the energy up at the start of the vacation.

 

[goofystitch]

We always stay at Disney before a cruise, between 1 and 4 days. We take Lyft from the airport to the Disney resort and then do the DCL transfers to Port Canaveral and back to the airport. It has always worked very well for us.