Time of first bus from MCO to Port Canaveral

[DisneyDream2B]

We will be cruising DCL from Port Canaveral soon, after several years away from Port Canaveral.

We will stay one night at the Hyatt MCO and take Disney transportation.

We can board the ship in the first group. Does anyone know what time we need to check in for the DCL bus at MCO, to get on the first bus to Port Canaveral?
Thanks

 

[dcassetta]

We will be cruising DCL from Port Canaveral soon, after several years away from Port Canaveral.

We will stay one night at the Hyatt MCO and take Disney transportation.

We can board the ship in the first group. Does anyone know what time we need to check in for the DCL bus at MCO, to get on the first bus to Port Canaveral?
Thanks

The first bus leaves at 9am. I am sure people are waiting as early as 8am and maybe even earlier.

 

[Weedy]

Just to warn you so you won’t be frustrated the day you board. When you take Disney transportation you can no longer pick a Port Arrival Time and people arriving on the bus from MCO have said they are getting High boarding numbers 14 and higher

 

[Dug720]

Just to warn you so you won’t be frustrated the day you board. When you take Disney transportation you can no longer pick a Port Arrival Time and people arriving on the bus from MCO have said they are getting High boarding numbers 14 and higher

It seems that if you purchase the transfers AFTER you have checked in you are able to keep the PAT you selected. The no time selection seems to only apply if you purchase the transfers BEFORE checking in online.

 

[Marc D]

Since OP mentioned he can board first, I’m guessing he’s either Concierge or Platinum. In my experience, the first bus leaves at 9:30 and arrives at 10:15, giving you a 15 min head start on other guests arriving independently.

If you are Concierge, you can arrive around 9:15 to guarantee you have a spot on the first two busses. You’ll board first on the bus. If Platinum, you can arrive around 9. No priority at MCO.

 

[Donna M]

And for people who may not know, boarding the ship doesn't start till late morning, not exactly sure of the time, so you don't have to get to the port early unless you are excited like me.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and maybe even earlier.

This

And for people who may not know, boarding the ship doesn't start till late morning, not exactly sure of the time, so you don't have to get to the port early unless you are excited like me.

Boarding typically begins around 11:15-11:30 with the Family of the Day, followed by Concierge and Platinum Castaway Club members. Then they start calling boarding numbers.

 

[Megster67]

Does anyone know how early you can check in for the busses? Due to work constraints, we are flying in to Orlando on a red eye flight that lands at about 6:00 am the day of the cruise. Fortunately we selected a 10:30 PAT before we added the ground transfers, so I’m hopeful that we will have a low boarding group number. I know we will want to get something to eat when we get off the plane, and don’t know what time we should plan to head over to the bus area to give us the best shot of being on the first bus.

 

[dcassetta]

Does anyone know how early you can check in for the busses? Due to work constraints, we are flying in to Orlando on a red eye flight that lands at about 6:00 am the day of the cruise. Fortunately we selected a 10:30 PAT before we added the ground transfers, so I’m hopeful that we will have a low boarding group number. I know we will want to get something to eat when we get off the plane, and don’t know what time we should plan to head over to the bus area to give us the best shot of being on the first bus.

There are some seating areas downstairs on the B side where the Disney buses are. If you wanted, you could certainly get your breakfast to go and take it downstairs to stake a little area for yourselves to wait until check in. I've never arrived before 9 AM to check in for the buses, so not sure what time they start check-in.

 

[Marc D]

They usually start checking people in around 9AM. People line up before that.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

There are some seating areas downstairs on the B side where the Disney buses are. If you wanted, you could certainly get your breakfast to go and take it downstairs to stake a little area for yourselves to wait until check in. I've never arrived before 9 AM to check in for the buses, so not sure what time they start check-in.

That's what we did. We arrived just before 6:00 am. Headed over to get some breakfast items, and then down to the seating area.

There's typically no one (CM-wise) in/at the check in area until around 8:30ish.



Then they start setting up the poles/ropes to contain all us overly enthusiastic people.


At that point, there are two ways they handle the crowd. They will either tell those people who jump right up and try to start forming the line before 9:00 "Go back and sit down, there's no line until 9:00." Or the people who were setting up the line arrived early enough to see who's already there and will point to those people and say "You, get in line here", to each of those who were there "first".



THEN, everyone joins the line

 

[tlprice]

Does anyone know what time the buses get back to MCO AFTER the cruise?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Does anyone know what time the buses get back to MCO AFTER the cruise?

The buses back to MCO begin running when the ship is cleared for debarkation (1st bus leave as soon as it's filled up). They run until about 9:15-9:30 for the last bus (it's held until DCL is sure everyone who requires transfers are off the ship), arriving around 10:30 or so at the airport.