Universal/cruise/Disney - have I got my plans right?

[Philip Colmer]

I'm planning a 3-week vacation for next year. We'll be staying at Universal for 4 nights, then taking a 4 night cruise, then spending 8 nights at Disney.

Flying from the UK, we arrive at Orlando International, so my thinking is to hire a car from there to cover the first leg of the holiday.

We'd then return the car to the airport on the Sunday and catch Disney transportation from the airport to Port Canaveral for the cruise.

When the cruise is over, my hope is that there will be Disney transportation from Port Canaveral to the Disney hotels so that we can then use Disney buses for the remainder of our holiday and then Magical Express to get back to the airport on the last day.

Is all of the above possible? I've been able to dig out enough information around what the offerings are between the airport and Port Canaveral, and Port Canaveral and the hotels.

Any thoughts or suggestions I should be aware of?

Thanks.

--Philip

 

[Darcy03231]

I would change the order around. We did a cruise and then WDW and really regretted it. The cruise was so relaxing and WDW was so busy that we felt we needed another vacation when we got home I would do Universal Studios, WDW and then the cruise.

 

[Missytara]

I did the 4/3 cruise the same year my boss did it.

I did the 4 days in the parks first; he did the four day cruise part first.

They regretted it because they tried to fit so much into the cruise part, they were exhausted by the time they got to the parks.

I loved it because I did commando for four days in the parks and then just did the cruise in relaxation mode.

We agreed I did it the right way. Switch your cruise to the end.....

 

[Philip Colmer]

I appreciate the feedback given so far.

I'm actually pretty happy with the order. One of the reasons for doing it this way around was scheduling of flights home. It is easier to be in Orlando and arrange to fly home than get back from Port Canaveral and spend hours at Orlando airport.

My main concern is around the transportation side of things as I haven't been able to find out too much detail on routes etc for Cruise Line coaches, etc.

Thanks.

--Philip

 

[Missytara]

The last time I did the land/sea package was in 2004, so I am not sure what it is now - but I did see Disney Cruise Line Buses coming up to the resorts.

Back when I traveled, you had a ride from MCO to your resort, your resort to the Port, and from the Port to your airport - but you had to book the package through Disney Cruise lines. But that was before the whole ME thing.

I would go to their link and find out if you can book it that way and then you would only have to worry about getting from Universal......

 

[mareed]

I think there's a cruise board where you might get better response about the transportation options around the Disney cruise...

But, similar to others, I have a recommendation regarding the Universal & Disney portion of your trip... I have combined a Universal & Disney trip before, and if you're staying on-site at Universal (which it sounds like you are), it is such a relaxing trip compared to Disney! You'll have unlimited Front-of-the-line access to almost all rides/attractions and it's just not necessary to get up early to be there at park opening unless you wish to. Disney is great, and we love it (obviously we keep going back!), but we also loved Universal - especially when staying onsite there!

Perhaps start with Disney first, then cruise, and then end with Universal, which still puts you in Orlando for your flight home. You won't need a rental car if staying onsite at Universal (& would have to pay for parking at the resort if you had one anyway), so just save the money you'd pay for the car and parking and take a cab back to the airport when you leave. Cab fare is very reasonable from there (I'm thinking less than $50 when we did it).

Good luck planning your trip. Sounds like fun!

 

[dthogue]

Personally, I like the order of your trip - I like the cruise in the middle. I find that I am always slightly depressed when the cruise ends - having Disney booked at the end will give you something to look forward to.

There are many transportation options for your trip. The first thing we need to know is how many people are traveling. Transfers and such are cheaper when you only have one or two people traveling versus a family of 4-5 or more.

Are you looking for the cheapest way, fastest way, most convenient way? Those answers will factor into your choices.

When you say "hire" a car, do you mean rent or get a service to pick you up? Since you are going to Universal first, you can either rent a car, then drive to the port, return the car and take their shuttle to the port or you can get a towncar or limo service to pick you up at the airport, take you to Universal, then pick you up at Universal and take you to the port. Then on the return you can either have another towncar/limo pick you up at the terminal and take you to Disney, then take Magical Express Back to the airport. You can rent a car at the port, drive to Disney, return the car and take ME to the airport. Or you can rent the car, keep it the whole time, then drive back to the airport.

It all depends on what you are looking for - personally there is no need to go back to the airport after your Universal stay - cost wise and time wise, it doesn't make sense to me.

Hopefully that helps - let me know if you need an other info.

Tammy