Pre-Cruise Options

[ntoeman]

I'm looking for some advice for pre-cruise options for February 2014. My girlfriend and I have booked a 4-night Bahamian cruise on the newly re-imagined Magic cruise ship departing Monday, February 10. We have never been to WDW together and neither of us have been on a cruise. Her last visit was about 10 years ago and I am Disney CP Alum (2010) with my last visit to the World in March 2012. I would love to tour her all over the parks for a week, but she already gets to hear all about the parks from me daily, and she preferred to be a beach bum...so we decided a Disney Cruise would be the best of both worlds!

As much as I would like to spend a couple of days in the parks prior to the cruise, something like that may push us out of budget. I have several free nights at La Quinta hotels, so I'm hoping to include those into our plan for 2 or 3 nights before the cruise. As of right now, my potential ideas are as follows:

• Idea 1: Rent a car; stay in the Cocoa Beach area; spend Saturday or Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center; take the hotel's shuttle to Port Canaveral Monday morning.
• Idea 2: Rent a car; stay in the International Drive area (one of the La Quintas there); spend Saturday and/or Sunday at the Disney Parks, Universal, or Sea World. Alternatively, I wouldn't mind just introducing my girlfriend to the resorts and Downtown Disney and other things to do in the area. With this idea, we would then take the Disney shuttle from the airport Monday morning.
• Idea 3: Your thoughts?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[ChuckElias]

My personal preference is Idea 2, although Idea 1 would fit more with your girlfriend's beach preferences. I don't really have an Idea 3 for you.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I think I'd go with idea 2 also. Although if you're a beach person, go with 1!

 

[Phonedave]

Keep in mind that unless you and your girlfriend have AP's, park admission for one or two days is pretty pricey. Of course as you said, you could just do DTD and the resorts.

KSC has some really nice stuff, or so I have heard. I haven't been there in years.

You can also just return your rental car in the AM and take the rental agency shuttle to the port - that may be easier (it was for me)

-dave

 

[bow0303]

I would prefer #2 but if life has taught me anything I would go with #1 and keep her happy.

 

[jme]

What about best of both?
Rent a car that can be returned at Port Canaveral area (one-way rental) - Stay Saturday near WDW, visit DTD/resorts. Enjoy a nice meal at one of the resort restaurants (Cali Grill? or if you are on a smaller budget Kona Cafe can be very nice) - Sunday Morning drive down to Cocoa beach, visit KSC/the beach. Monday morning return your rental (early) and get a shuttle to the terminal.

 

[FlyTriPacer]

KSC has some really nice stuff, or so I have heard. I haven't been there in years.

-dave

If you contact your U.S. Representative far enough out, they should be able to get you complementary passes to the KSC. You need to call their D.C. Office and check, not their local office. We got 4 passes for our trip last month. The passes include parking and are good for the Astronaut Hall of Fame (AHoF) too.

My daughter (almost 16) wasn't too thrilled with that part of the trip, but the rest of the family enjoyed it. The Apollo building is cool and there's a Saturn V rocket laying on its side...separated into its stages. The Shuttle Atlantis is also on display now and is a great exhibit.

Between the KSC and AHoF you can easily spend a day if you're only mildly interested, or multiple days if really interested.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Chad

 

[ntoeman]

Thanks so much for the advice!

So I think we will definitely be staying in the Orlando area for a night or two prior to the cruise after all...My girlfriends parents came across some tickets from 1998 that they are confident has extra days on them to use!! I have emailed Disney to check on this, but I think we will be able to spend a couple days in the parks for sure now!