Getting to the port

I like Tiffany Town Car - that's a personal endorsement, not a WDWFG endorsement.

We used Disney's Cruise line transfers. They picked us up from the BWI and took us to port and then picked us up at port and took us to Airport. You're guaranteed to make your flight if you disembark at the correct time. I think it was $65 pp. I didn't trust a random company, but that's just me. Plus, riding the Disney cruise bus is awesome and you get to watch a cool video! haha

If they stay at a Disney resort before the cruise, they will get picked up at the resort. That's what I'm doing when I go on a Disney cruise.

You still have to pay for it, even if it's one way. Well, CM's may get a discount or for free, but the general public has to pay.

For the bus transport?

Absolutely - the DCL bus to port for a regular guest is not free.

Oh. I didn't know that but I should of since that's more of a trip. I've never looked into it, just know it's a service I want to use.

Off the top of my head, I think the DCL bus is $75-80 per person round trip. That's not too bad when you're talking about 1 or 2 people, but for a family of 6 that's $480 and arranging for a limo is about the same amount of money and sometimes less.

The added benefit of hiring a car is that you get to the port on your own schedule.

The cheapest way is a one day one way car hire. We used a company to pick us up rather than drive, we used Florida magical tours who were great.

Can also recommend Happy Limo - much less expensive for a large family.

Reviving this thread ...

I'd love to hear from folks who have used the DCL Shuttle from a WDW hotel to Port Canaveral. Tori and I have opted for that in February and I'm wondering how our schedule for that day is going to go. What time does the shuttle usually pick up and when should we expect it to get us to the Port?

How did the DCL shuttle go for you, Kristen? We are thinking about using this if/when we go on a cruise next year.

I used it from Hyatt Orlando to CC. Very convenient.

Did you feel like you got to to the port early enough, Colonel. I know one of the biggest disadvantages to using Disney's shuttle is that you're on their schedule, not yours.

Don't. Unless you find it to be your only option.

Sure by the time we got there everyone else was on the ship and we sailed through check-in, but by the time we got there EVERYONE ELSE WAS ON THE SHIP. We missed pictures with Minnie Mouse in the terminal, the DVC kick off party, our options in changing our dinner seating were almost nil, there was no chance at all for Princess meet and greet tickets, and by the time I got through the Guest Services line to set up our cash on board account (3pm) all of the dining options had closed and my blood sugar was in a free fall for an hour and a half as we waited in our room for the lifeboat drill. Thank goodness I had stuffed a little bag of dried cranberries in my camera bag. It was good to do once, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

That being said, the bus was lovely and comfortable. The film was great for first time cruisers. The ride was somewhat comfortable. We left our hotel at about 12:45, and we picked up more people at Art of Animation after us. We were 100% capacity. There was nothing *wrong* with taking the bus. It's just so much better when you get to port early.

I got the first DCL shuttle out of MCO and was at the ship before noon. Then sat in the concierge lounge for at least an hour. We were literally the first ones on the ship. In fact, we caught them by surprise and didn't get announced. So for fun we boarded again.

Great information, Kristen! This applies to taking the shuttle from WDW to Port Canaveral, right? Was there only one DCL shuttle for the day or did you have different times to choose from? From the Colonel's experience, we can say that DCL shuttle is great from MCO, but less great from WDW? If there's only one WDW-->DLC shuttle per day, would it be a reasonable plan to take Magical Express to MCO and then transfer to an earlier DCL shuttle?

Great info, thanks Kristen and Colonel! I think our tentative plan is to go down a night or two early and stay at a Value resort so I think we'll probably just end up forking over the extra $100 or so to do a car hire so we can plan on being some of the first on the ship.

Yes, my experience was from Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort to the Port. There was only one bus per day from the hotel, and they tell you when it's going to be there the night before. I have heard of them leaving as early as 10:30, but ours had a meet up in the lobby at 12:45, and we didn't actually leave the resort until about 1:00, then we went over to another resort to pick up folks there.

Yes, I think the Colonel and I had very different experiences leaving from the different pick-up locations.

In theory Taking DME back to the airport and then transferring to a DCL bus could work. You would have to handle your own luggage, I'm not sure if there are any other down points though.

Yeah, it was pretty fun sleeping right at the airport. And very convenient. I was able to work a full day and catch a late flight and still get a full nights sleep. If I ever do it again, I'll know to ask for a runway view. BTW the Hyatt MCO works with DCL. You can make your reservation through DCL.

Nice!