Where to stay the night before?

[tchalene]

We have reservations to stay in Orlando after arriving around 6 p.m. the night before the cruise. I'm reading a lot about people staying in the hotels near the port. If we use a hotel near the port, can we take a Disney transfer bus there the night before the ship departs? (We've already bought the transfers). We just figured we'd take our luggage off of the plane, and take it with us to the hotel and then take it back and put it on the Disney transfer bus. Will this work well?...or will there be problems?

 

[inkkognito]

If you decide to stay in the Orlando area instead of the port, I recommend getting an MCO area hotel via Priceline. We always do this...we typically get in rather late, so we like to have a good night's sleep and then have Happy Limo take us to the port in the morning (usually 9:30 a.m. pickup). We pay between $28 and $43 for a three-star hotel, which has been anything from the Renaissance to the Marriott to the Holiday Inn Select. They have a free shuttle to take us from the airport to the hotel.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

If you decide to stay near the port, you'd probably want to rent a car. You can do that, return the car near the cruise terminal so you don't have to pay for the rental or for parking while you're on your cruise, and then rent another car after your cruise, returning it to the airport at the end of your vacation. I have details about this option at my web site...

www.dcltribute.com/carhire

It doesn't really matter that you've already paid for transfers. You can call DCL (or your travel agent) and cancel them. Depending on the number of people in your party, you may save money with the rental car option.

Getting in at 6pm, I'd <i><b>much</b></i> rather head out to the port area because there's much more character there than that hotel wasteland near the airport.

I have a list of port-area lodging options at my web site...

www.dcltribute.com/lodging