Transportation to Port Canaveral

[wacowgirl]

Hi everyone,

I'll be dropping off our rental car at MCO on the morning of the 23rd of March (we will be at DW for 4 days prior) and then catching the bus to the Port for our cruise on the Dream. Does anyone know what type of bus this will be? Is it like the ME to the resorts? Is there a set time for pick up from MCO or is it like ME?

Just curious and would like to know what to expect.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi everyone,

I'll be dropping off our rental car at MCO on the morning of the 23rd of March (we will be at DW for 4 days prior) and then catching the bus to the Port for our cruise on the Dream. Does anyone know what type of bus this will be? Is it like the ME to the resorts? Is there a set time for pick up from MCO or is it like ME?

Just curious and would like to know what to expect.

*Deleted because I didn't read the question properly.

It's a "regular" bus.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

You will receive a letter in your room the night before going to the ship telling you what time and where to meet your transportation. There is only one pick up at each resort. It could be as early as 10:45 or as late as 1:30.

It's a "regular" bus.
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I think OP is dropping off a rental car at MCO and then catching the MCO to port bus, not the resort to port bus.

For OP, these buses are similar to the DME buses, with luggage storage beneath, a video playing during the drive, etc. in fact, we have had DCL-liveried buses on DME from MCO to a WDW resort on a couple of trips, since the same contractor operates both DME and DCL transportation. Buses start departing on the MCO to port runs about 9 am and continue as they fill up with cruise passengers.

 

[Pixarfans]

Is there a reason you don’t want to drive the rental to Port Canaveral? The Disney transfers are pricey and it might be easier not to have to switch luggage, etc.
If you do want to do the Disney transfer, be sure to book it before that day (I think it needs to be at least 48 hours, but you should check). Once you and your luggage are on it, the vacation begins!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I think OP is dropping off a rental car at MCO and then catching the MCO to port bus, not the resort to port bus.

For OP, these buses are similar to the DME buses, with luggage storage beneath, a video playing during the drive, etc. in fact, we have had DCL-liveried buses on DME from MCO to a WDW resort on a couple of trips, since the same contractor operates both DME and DCL transportation. Buses start departing on the MCO to port runs about 9 am and continue as they fill up with cruise passengers.

Oops. Right

 

[MichelleCanada]

Is there a reason you don’t want to drive the rental to Port Canaveral? The Disney transfers are pricey and it might be easier not to have to switch luggage, etc.
If you do want to do the Disney transfer, be sure to book it before that day (I think it needs to be at least 48 hours, but you should check). Once you and your luggage are on it, the vacation begins!

I agree with Pixarfans - we dropped off rental near the port and took their shuttle over because it worked out cheaper than taking Disney transfers.

 

[auntlynne]

Ditto to the question about switching from car to bus. I don’t think I have ever paid a one-way drop off when doing MCO to PC or reverse. Not sure the extra cost is worth it, even for a birthday and anniversary. (How do you get a 50th anniversary and a 46th birthday? Taking parents?). AVIS and Hertz will take you to the PC Disney Terminal. Sometimes we drop off luggage and people at the ship first.

And, yes, this didn’t answer your question; somebody else did - you notice the buses are used interchangeably - only the video and destination change.

Bon Voyage. Hope your first Disney Cruise is great.

 

[wacowgirl]

Is there a reason you don’t want to drive the rental to Port Canaveral? The Disney transfers are pricey and it might be easier not to have to switch luggage, etc.
If you do want to do the Disney transfer, be sure to book it before that day (I think it needs to be at least 48 hours, but you should check). Once you and your luggage are on it, the vacation begins!

It's about $350 more to drop off at the Port vs. MCO. When I booked the car, I didn't even know there was a rental car drop off at the port (my bad!). I'll be watching the rates to see if they drop. We already have transfers to the port as we didn't plan on doing Disney World, it just sorta happened a few weeks after booking the cruise. We are renting from Alamo.

Ditto to the question about switching from car to bus. I don’t think I have ever paid a one-way drop off when doing MCO to PC or reverse. Not sure the extra cost is worth it, even for a birthday and anniversary. (How do you get a 50th anniversary and a 46th birthday? Taking parents?).

Yes! It's my parents' 50th as well as my birthday. This probably will be our last family vacation as they live in Seattle and are elderly and I live in Denver. We haven't had a family vacation since 1984 when we moved to Colorado. The last Disney trip together was probably 1983.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

Just curious but does it cost you the other arm and leg if you cancel the rental and make a new one? We used to rent only from Budget and now we use Alamo exclusively and always rent a one way and drop the car at the rental in PC then take the shuttle. We found the best way is drop everyone off at the port, return the car and take the shuttle back alone. Sometimes the shuttle can have a lot of dads doing the exact same thing. Being alone helps from the people trying to push ahead of the line.

 

[LizGirl]

Keep checking on that rental car cost. I've done the one way rental a couple times and never noticed a penalty for it. If there was one, it was small. FWIW, my rentals are typically National Emerald Aisle reservations.

 

[wacowgirl]

Just curious but does it cost you the other arm and leg if you cancel the rental and make a new one? We used to rent only from Budget and now we use Alamo exclusively and always rent a one way and drop the car at the rental in PC then take the shuttle. We found the best way is drop everyone off at the port, return the car and take the shuttle back alone. Sometimes the shuttle can have a lot of dads doing the exact same thing. Being alone helps from the people trying to push ahead of the line.

I'm usually an Alamo girl myself. The cost is almost $800 for a SUV (need a large vehicle for scooter & walker) to bring it to PC. I checked Budget this morning and it's only $50 more to drop it off at PC compared to the Alamo rate I have dropping it off at MCo so I reserved that one. I'm keeping the Alamo one just in case. I've never rented from Budget before.

Keep checking on that rental car cost. I've done the one way rental a couple times and never noticed a penalty for it. If there was one, it was small. FWIW, my rentals are typically National Emerald Aisle reservations.

I always check rates right up till the day before I leave. I check a couple of times a day- same with my SW flight, I've saved myself $200 once! Your tip is such an incredible one!!

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

I had to ask because it seemed to be an astronomical rate but at least you know you have some options. It's odd to have a rate that high though since there is competition to PC and a lot of people do one way rentals. Did you try calling them to ask to verify out of curiosity?
We never had any issues with Budget. If anything they have very good customer service in PC. Last time we rented a 6 hour or something like that as we were arriving, just wanted to do some quick shopping before getting to the port. We got there they just closed. The girl drove up to me and met me at the car and knew my name. I ask how she knew this. She looked at me and laughed and said it's 4 pm and the last car to come back is a black Camry and look at the time and what you are driving, its you. Then she told us it doesn't matter what time you booked it you still have it for 24 hours, come back in the morning and take the shuttle to the port. Nice thing about budget in PC is the Racetrack gas station is very close so you can tank up about 1 minute away.
Now the only thing we have ever noticed is what the total is when you book it and the final bill will never match. We would rent like misdized cars and the final was always different by 1 or 2 dollars. It's not much and they never had any real answers as to why but it did happen every time we rented with them.

 

[wacowgirl]

That's what I thought too about it being so high. I would think they would have been competitive since it's spring break. Like I said, I'm a loyal Alamo girl and I feel like I'm cheating but saving $300 on a larger vehicle only makes sense to me. Thanks for the tip about the gas station! I'll have to make note of that! Alamo is always off by a few dollars too when returning. It's all based on when you pick up and return. I try to drop off before my pick up time so it's less. It doesn't always work but it is what it is.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

That's strange now because our rate has never changed with Alamo.
If you google map PC and look at the satellite image you can zoom in the area and see where everything is. We do that for pretty much everything we do and also lets us know if we can walk to certain planes or not.