Transfers between Airport/WDW/Port Canaveral Question.

[Clee68]

Hello cruisers! I am planning my very first Disney cruise, which is also my first ever cruise of any type. I’m so excited!! It will be my mom (81) and me (54) and we are doing the 3 night Very Merrytime Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral Nov 10-13. Since it is hard for me to imagine being so close to Walt Disney World and not visiting, we are adding a day there at the beginning and at the end. This is also my first time flying and don’t know what to expect there. So the question is about timing.

What amount of time should I average in my plans from touchdown to arriving at our Disney resort? I realize there are lots of variables here and am just trying to get an idea of how much park time we will have.

Also, I have the same question but from Port Canaveral to Walt Disney World at the end of the cruise. Is it just one DCL bus doing transfers at one specific time or are there several scheduled at different times? We are going to attend MVMCP that night and again, curious about what time we will have.

Thanks for any information. It will help me make decisions about which park tickets to purchase!

 

[ChuckElias]

Hi Clee. Welcome to the forum.

What amount of time should I average in my plans from touchdown to arriving at our Disney resort? I realize there are lots of variables here and am just trying to get an idea of how much park time we will have.

Depending on traffic, it's probably 35-45 minutes from Orlando Int'l Airport to Disney property. Add a half hour from your plane's touchdown to deboarding. Add another half hour for picking up your luggage. If you're renting a car at the airport, add another 15-30 minutes (could be a lot longer if they're short of staff at the rental counter); OR if you're renting a car from a location off of airport property, add 45 minutes for the shuttle and car pick-up.

Also, I have the same question but from Port Canaveral to Walt Disney World at the end of the cruise. Is it just one DCL bus doing transfers at one specific time or are there several scheduled at different times? We are going to attend MVMCP that night and again, curious about what time we will have.

Travel time from Port Canaveral to WDW property is about 65-75 minutes in good traffic. If you're taking Disney transfers, they run multiple busses through the morning. I've never used the Disney transfers from Port Canaveral, but somebody else may be able to help you with how often they run and how they get assigned.

Since you're attending the MVMCP, your ticket won't get you into the Magic Kingdom until 4 pm, I believe. So you will have NO trouble getting there in time.

 

[Phonedave]

Unless things have changed, as far as DCL transfers back to WDW are concerned, they have a number of busses lined up.

As each bus fills up, it leaves.

So it all really depends on what debarkation group you are in, how quickly you find your luggage, and how lucky you are at picking a fast customs line.

 

[Clee68]

Thanks for the replies. Both were very helpful in my decision making process!

My *goal* with the WDW days on each end of the cruise is to pop into each park, hit a key attraction (or 2 or 3…) and move on. The cruise leaves Port Canaveral Nov 10 and the plan was to fly in on the morning of the 9th and spend that day at WDW. I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to do 2 parks like I’m hoping. Then my mom said she didn’t want to get up so early to go the airport or bother anyone to drop us off. We decided to stay overnight at a hotel by the airport. THEN, it occurred to me that if I wasn’t going to be home with my husband & son on that night, I might as well be at Disney, not some blah and boring hotel in Charlotte! So now we are going to fly out late evening Nov 8, sleep in a beautiful room at Port Orleans Riverside, wake up to the magic of a 1 day park hopper (which will be Epcot and probably Studios, but possibly Animal Kingdom, we’ll see.

As for the stay at the end of the cruise, we will be at the Wilderness Lodge, which I really wanted to snag because my mom loves it but has never stayed there. We have the MVMCP tickets, but from the advice it looks like we’ll be there early enough to do a 1 day ticket as well and hit whatever park we’re missing from the beginning of the trip. The only decision left is whether to make it a hopper so we can head to MK at 2pm instead of 4pm.

I’m so excited I could scream!! I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions as the planning continues…thanks for being such a helpful community!