where to stay at Port canaveral? and universal city walk parking help

[tinkerpea]

Hi all,
We're two weeks away from our disney trip that we decided to take after all without the boys, ( you only live once)

Anyways were doing a disney cruise, and after our disney friends came to dinner today we realised we haven't actually booked a hotel for the night we land, which is the day before the cruise!!
This is our first cruise and I don't know the area at all, so was hoping we could get some advice,
I'd like to pop to walmart the night before and grab some alcohol to take on with us,
We also would like to be quite close,to the area it doesn't have to be fancy as it's just for the night, and after the cruise were at Akl for 9 nights But Id like somewhere clean...and any good places to Eat that you would recommend? We're not fussy eaters but we like good food, so not a Dennys or Wendy's etc

Also another quick question is if We Want To eat At bubba gumps ( a Favourite of ours) Where is best to park? Or Is the only place the main universal carpark? We've only ever taken A Taxi or parked at the hotel when staying,but it Seems expensive for a couple of hours....

Thanks again

 

[Kath2003]

The only place is the Universal Studios parking lot and it's $17. It is expensive for a couple of hours - we still took the bus, despite having a car, on our recent trip because of this.

They used to offer 2 hours free parking at lunch if you could show you'd dined at City Walk, but there's no mention of that on their website now. Likewise, they used to offer a reduced parking fee after 6pm but this is now only available to Florida residents.

 

[Pegasus928]

Have you looked on the DCL section of these boards? There is a lot of information on there, including the best options for parking and overnight stays in the PC area. Its a question that seems to come up quite regularly.

 

[Elise79]

What about booking the Hyatt at MCO? Then heading to the port the next morning?

We are looking a cruise later in the year and looking at that option with a one day car rental to the port as it's cheaper than the DCL transfers!

 

[Woodview]

A Couple of questions

So you land in MCO after 5pm ....... Are you hiring a car at the airport ?

If Yes then , as you are already halfway to Port Canaveral , head there and find a hotel ( Keep reading )

If NO to car hire .... How are you going to Port Canaveral ? It is approx 65 miles away .

...........

If you have a car then drive to CoCoa Beach , Passing the entrance to Port Canaveral , ( about 5 miles from CoCoa Beach )

AND you will Pass a Budget Car Rental agency on your Right. AND also on your RIGHT will be a Publix Supermarket.

There is a 24 Hr Walmart on Merritt Island ( With your back to Ron Jons Go up the road in front of you,, Past Cape Canaveral Hospital & it is again on your Right )

There are plenty of Hotels in and around Ron Jons Surf shop .

...............

There are Car Parking areas , at a very good price , near the Port Canaveral , most have free shuttle busses to the Ships.

 

[tinkerpea]

What about booking the Hyatt at MCO? Then heading to the port the next morning?

We are looking a cruise later in the year and looking at that option with a one day car rental to the port as it's cheaper than the DCL transfers!

We did think of that, but I wanted to be closer instead of doing the drive in the morning, that way we could settle and see the ship docked the night before

 

[tinkerpea]

H

A Couple of questions

So you land in MCO after 5pm ....... Are you hiring a car at the airport ?

If Yes then , as you are already halfway to Port Canaveral , head there and find a hotel ( Keep reading )

If NO to car hire .... How are you going to Port Canaveral ? It is approx 65 miles away .

...........

If you have a car then drive to CoCoa Beach , Passing the entrance to Port Canaveral , ( about 5 miles from CoCoa Beach )

AND you will Pass a Budget Car Rental agency on your Right. AND also on your RIGHT will be a Publix Supermarket.

There is a 24 Hr Walmart on Merritt Island ( With your back to Ron Jons Go up the road in front of you,, Past Cape Canaveral Hospital & it is again on your Right )

There are plenty of Hotels in and around Ron Jons Surf shop .

...............

There are Car Parking areas , at a very good price , near the Port Canaveral , most have free shuttle busses to the Ships.

Hi thanks for the reply,
Yes we will hire a car, ( already have it booked)
we should land just after 3 I believe as our flight is at 11am
We will drop the car to alamo at the port morning of,as we're hiring a different car for the last 10 days of the trip for our disney stay.so no need for port parking.

 

[Elise79]

We did think of that, but I wanted to be closer instead of doing the drive in the morning, that way we could settle and see the ship docked the night before

The ship won't be in port until the morning - they come in early morning of the day of disembarkation and embarkation so you won't see it the night before.

Also it's only an hour drive from MCO and as you can't board till mid morning it's not an issue to drive in the morning. I would probably stay in the Orlando area of not at the Hyatt.

 

[wilma-bride]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites at Port canaveral. It was really nice and very close to the Hertz car rental office. So if you rented from Hertz, you could return the car in the morning and take their shuttle to the port. Last time we stayed at Port canaveral, we ate at Grills but I wasn't overly impressed with either the food or the service so can't recommend anywhere to eat.

As far as parking at Citywalk to eat at Bubba Gump's, it used to be the case that you could park for free after 6pm but it looks like that is only the case for Florida residents now.

 

[tinkerpea]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites at Port canaveral. It was really nice and very close to the Hertz car rental office. So if you rented from Hertz, you could return the car in the morning and take their shuttle to the port. Last time we stayed at Port canaveral, we ate at Grills but I wasn't overly impressed with either the food or the service so can't recommend anywhere to eat.

As far as parking at Citywalk to eat at Bubba Gump's, it used to be the case that you could park for free after 6pm but it looks like that is only the case for Florida residents now.

My dad's a florida resident, so I'll get him to pick us up and drive us to bubba instead.

 

[tinkerpea]

The ship won't be in port until the morning - they come in early morning of the day of disembarkation and embarkation so you won't see it the night before.

Also it's only an hour drive from MCO and as you can't board till mid morning it's not an issue to drive in the morning. I would probably stay in the Orlando area of not at the Hyatt.

Sorry I meant to say the ships docked at night, as I read that some ( not disney) are in, I just kind of feel the Hyatt isn't where I want to start my trip, I feel I can't wait to get out the airport so staying there just isn't what I feel the start of the trip should be ( for us)
We may just stay at a dtd hotel or even cabana bay so we can go to city walk and eat, if we don't find somewhere nr the port.