what time should we get to the pier?

[lindym]

Arriving a day early and staying at All Star Movies. What time should we get to the pier and how long does it take from the All Star Movies? Thank you.

 

[jrabbit]

It takes about an hour and 15 minutes (maybe just a bit longer).

When to arrive at the port. It depends upon what you want to do. We always arrive early at the port (around 11am) because thats just us. We would rather wait outside the ship than in lines inside the ship. The only things we have to do is make our Palo brunch ressie and register the kids in the clubs.

We like to get on board and start enjoying the vacation. We like to wander around the ship or take a dip in the pools after our embarkation lunch. Once we're allowed in the stateroom we start getting organized for the week.

Other people say to arrive around 1:30 to avoid the line in the terminal.

If its your first trip I would try and arrive on the early side to get yourself checked in, check out the terminal, walk outside and look at the ship, enjoy the characters inside the terminal, check out the model of the Magic that is in the terminal, and for the smaller ones that don't like waiting in line, there are plenty of TV's with Mickey cartoons.

 

[Zandy595]

I've read that the terminal opens at or around 10:30 AM. That's the time we will be arriving. I want to spend everyone single second I can on the ship.

 

[kcashner]

I agree that it totally depends on what you want to do. We have never had any trouble getting any desired reservations as long as we were at the terminal by about 1 pm.

There is no DCL transportation from the All Star resorts...so you will either have a car, use private limo, or have the bellman take you to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to catch DCL transportation. The busses from WDW don't leave till about 12:30, getting you to the port about 1:30-1:45. This is too late for my taste.

The port opens at 10, the terminal counters open for check in at 10:30. Boarding the ship begins at about 11:45. We usually arrive at the terminal about 11. This puts us in the first 100 or so people on the ship, as my teen daughter gets in the boarding line while I go to the check in line.

After we board, she goes to dining changes to be sure we got our favorite server and request the change if we didn't, I go to make Palo and spa ressies. Then I go to guest services for Tea with Wendy tickets.
Usually, we meet up and go to lunch...then do kid program registration after lunch. We've never found much wait for kid registration no matter which age group we were in....the line is usually shorter at the lab.

By the time lunch is over, we usually can go to our cabin and drop bags. After that, I unpack and get my act together while the others swim....so that by the time lifeboat drill is over, I'm unpacked, have pressed anything that needs it, and am totally ready to kick back and enjoy the week.