WDW before cruise out of Miami

[czmom]

We are sailing on RCCL out of Miami in January. I'd love to add park days before the cruise to get my Disney fix! Has anyone driven from WDW to the Port of Miami the morning of the cruise? It'll be a Saturday, so no traffic, and google maps is showing roughly 3.5 hour drive.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are sailing on RCCL out of Miami in January. I'd love to add park days before the cruise to get my Disney fix! Has anyone driven from WDW to the Port of Miami the morning of the cruise? It'll be a Saturday, so no traffic, and google maps is showing roughly 3.5 hour drive.

Well, it can be a 3.5 hour drive. More often it's at least 4 hours. Plus whatever extra time you'll need to turn in a rental car (if you have one).

For me driving 4 hours to catch a ship that afternoon isn't really something I'd like to do. I'd probably go down the day before and stay at a hotel near the port.

Nothing worse than an accident or road repair work to mess up your plans for a smooth trip to the port.

 

[czmom]

Well, it can be a 3.5 hour drive. More often it's at least 4 hours. Plus whatever extra time you'll need to turn in a rental car (if you have one).

For me driving 4 hours to catch a ship that afternoon isn't really something I'd like to do. I'd probably go down the day before and stay at a hotel near the port.

Nothing worse than an accident or road repair work to mess up your plans for a smooth trip to the port.

What makes it over 4 hours usually?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What makes it over 4 hours usually?

Stupid drivers. Just general traffic. Many of the places that tell you how long a drive will take tell you how long it will take with no traffic/road closure issues. They don't take into account that there will other vehicles besides yours on the road.

 

[YawningDodo]

I drove from Miami to Orlando after my cruise to make a stop in WDW, and quite honestly I would not choose to do that again. I disembarked on a Friday but was on the road midday, well ahead of when I'd expect rush hour traffic, and the roads were already absolutely packed with cars. At multiple points other drivers deliberately prevented me from changing lanes or making turns, and there were points at which I thought I was going to be forced off the road and onto the shoulder. I was amazed that I got out of there without any damage to the rental car.

The tollway between Miami and Orlando wasn't bad in comparison, but once you reach Miami itself you should be prepared for a complete and utter nightmare. If you're from an area with dense traffic and aggressive drivers you can probably handle it, but I'm not used to that kind of thing and it was an incredibly unpleasant experience for me.

 

[monarchsfan16]

We did this last month, prior to a Disney Cruise. We drove down to Miami the day before. We used the FL Turnpike and it was very straightforward, albeit mind-numbingly boring. The very few miles you have to drive in Miami are a bit intense, and getting to the FL Turnpike from WDW is a mess because of construction, but other than that, straightforward trip. With a stop for bathrooms and lunch at one of the rest areas, it did take us about 4 hours. We also encountered a couple typical insane FL thunderstorms along the way, which slowed us down a bit. I, personally, would not drive down the day of, because of all that can go wrong when traveling, but if you do, just make sure to leave VERY early, so that if you encounter thunderstorms or traffic you have time. There was a couple in our mixology class that had driven down the day of. I think they left Orlando about 6 am, for safety sake. In their case, all worked out fine.

 

[czmom]

I drove from Miami to Orlando after my cruise to make a stop in WDW, and quite honestly I would not choose to do that again. I disembarked on a Friday but was on the road midday, well ahead of when I'd expect rush hour traffic, and the roads were already absolutely packed with cars. At multiple points other drivers deliberately prevented me from changing lanes or making turns, and there were points at which I thought I was going to be forced off the road and onto the shoulder. I was amazed that I got out of there without any damage to the rental car.

The tollway between Miami and Orlando wasn't bad in comparison, but once you reach Miami itself you should be prepared for a complete and utter nightmare. If you're from an area with dense traffic and aggressive drivers you can probably handle it, but I'm not used to that kind of thing and it was an incredibly unpleasant experience for me.

We are from Houston. Always traffic and always rude drivers. My guess is Saturday AM will be better!