PAT question

If I have a 10:45 PAT, what time should I plan to get to the parking garage at the port?

If I have a 10:45 PAT, what time should I plan to get to the parking garage at the port?

The port opens to new arrivals(actual entry into the port area, including the parking facility) , typically, around 10:15-10:30. That's probably when you should arrive.

Thanks for the quick response!

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If you have a 10:45 PAT, that is the time you should arrive. Plan on dropping off luggage curbside before proceeding to the garage.

PAT stands for Port Arrival Time. It is not your time to enter the terminal, check in, or board the ship. It is the time that you and DCL have agreed that you are arriving. And unless things have changed, it is not a time; there is a window. It says something like 10:45-11:00, although everyone focuses on the earlier time.

Arriving earlier than your PAT will not get you onto the ship any earlier. What you are going to hit is the line of "earlybirds" who want to be there as soon as the terminal opens, even though that will not get them on board earlier. The terminal opens at 10:30 or just a few minutes earlier. The first guests inside are those on the first bus from MCO, When those people have cleared security, they will start screening people from the "non-DCL transportation" line. If you get to the port area about 10:30, you can drop your luggage at the curbside check in, park, and then proceed to the security line. You'll be in line right about your PAT, which is perfect. Arriving earlier will only increase your waiting time, either inside or outside the terminal. Your boarding card number is tied to your PAT. It will not change whether you arrive on time or an hour before the PAT. So you will board at the same time, whether you get in the security screening line at 10:15 or at 10:55.

Thanks for the helpful responses.

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we were on the 8-25 dream sailing..

we had the first PAT (is that 10:30?)...

i'd intended on being there early in that group Moki's Mommy refers to, but we took longer than planned packing up our stuff from WDW...

i think we arrived at the port late - at about 11:00 or 11:15...

i was sure i'd be faced with a massive line of cars....but no....there was only one car in front of me and since there are several car check in positions, i was in right away, then off to the luggage drop....which took a minute or two longer since we'd not received our cruise documents (they arrived after we'd already left for WDW!!)

so the porter had to manually write up some tags for us..

then across the street to park...

grabbed our carry ons and went through security - there was not a soul in sight...we were the only ones...

i saw there were a lot of people down below where people are dropped off at the terminal but we went through security in the parking garage..

then into line to check in....again no wait...they have a zillion positions open..

there were already a lot of people in the terminal but they'd already checked in..

as it turned out, they just began boarding as we walked up to check in..

the moment she handed us our key cards, we went straight to boarding..

by that point they'd gotten to group 6 and we were group 2....so no wait at all...

it was the best boarding we'd ever had..

in the past i've always gotten there too early and we've had to sit around the terminal waiting to board..

this was actually perfect....no wait at all !!! perfectly perfect in every way - as was the cruise itself..

we were on the 8-25 dream sailing..

we had the first PAT (is that 10:30?)...

i'd intended on being there early in that group Moki's Mommy refers to, but we took longer than planned packing up our stuff from WDW...

 

i think we arrived at the port late - at about 11:00 or 11:15...

 

i was sure i'd be faced with a massive line of cars....but no....there was only one car in front of me and since there are several car check in positions, i was in right away, then off to the luggage drop....which took a minute or two longer since we'd not received our cruise documents (they arrived after we'd already left for WDW!!)

so the porter had to manually write up some tags for us..

 

then across the street to park...

 

grabbed our carry ons and went through security - there was not a soul in sight...we were the only ones...

i saw there were a lot of people down below where people are dropped off at the terminal but we went through security in the parking garage..

 

then into line to check in....again no wait...they have a zillion positions open..

 

there were already a lot of people in the terminal but they'd already checked in..

 

as it turned out, they just began boarding as we walked up to check in..

 

the moment she handed us our key cards, we went straight to boarding..

by that point they'd gotten to group 6 and we were group 2....so no wait at all...

 

it was the best boarding we'd ever had..

 

in the past i've always gotten there too early and we've had to sit around the terminal waiting to board..

 

this was actually perfect....no wait at all !!! perfectly perfect in every way - as was the cruise itself..

I get that in this case you did not tend to arrive late, so I'm not referring to *this* time when I say this...

If someone knows that they do not plan to arrive until later, they really should not grab an early PAT just because they can. That takes a slot away from someone who really does want to be there that early and plans to be there early.

Obviously accidents and unexpected delays happen day of, but it's simple courtesy to leave the early slots if your plan is not to be there early.

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I get that in this case you did not tend to arrive late, so I'm not referring to *this* time when I say this...

 

If someone knows that they do not plan to arrive until later, they really should not grab an early PAT just because they can. That takes a slot away from someone who really does want to be there that early and plans to be there early.

 

Obviously accidents and unexpected delays happen day of, but it's simple courtesy to leave the early slots if your plan is not to be there early.

 

 

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i totally agree...we'd intended on arriving at 10:00 AM as we always have in the past...

but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men....

in the past we've always been concierge, so we were automatically in the first group..

always got there crazy early and had to sit in the concierge area for what seemed to be quite a while..

i really enjoyed just walking up and in as it happened for us this time....(we weren't concierge this time, herego group 2 not 1 for the early PAT)..

not only did we leave SSR much later than i'd planned, but i was so tired, i drove much slower than i usually do...

i was fighting sleep the entire drive to port canaveral...

i totally agree...we'd intended on arriving at 10:00 AM as we always have in the past...

 

but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men....

 

 

 

in the past we've always been concierge, so we were automatically in the first group..

 

always got there crazy early and had to sit in the concierge area for what seemed to be quite a while..

 

 

 

i really enjoyed just walking up and in as it happened for us this time....(we weren't concierge this time, herego group 2 not 1 for the early PAT)..

 

 

 

not only did we leave SSR much later than i'd planned, but i was so tired, i drove much slower than i usually do...

 

i was fighting sleep the entire drive to port canaveral...

Yep! That's why I specified that I get sometimes things happen. :)

I've just seen too many people say "Oh I grab the earliest time and then don't worry about it since I don't plan to get there until later." Ugh!

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No, it is rude an inappropriate to grab a time that you know you can't make. And you can't be at the terminal at the same time your flight is supposed to land!

Take the earliest realistic time. If you are flying in on the day of the cruise (which I do not recommend) that would be at least an hour after landing; 75-90 minutes is more realistic. Driving from WDW is at least an hour.

No' date=' it is rude an inappropriate to grab a time that you know you can't make. And you can't be at the terminal at the same time your flight is supposed to land!

 

Take the earliest realistic time. If you are flying in on the day of the cruise (which I do not recommend) that would be at least an hour after landing; 75-90 minutes is more realistic. Driving from WDW is at least an hour.[/quote']

 

Exactly.

 

Obviously unforeseen things happen, but it is 100% rude to take an early PAT when you know with 100% certainty that there is no way you'll be making it.

No' date=' it is rude an inappropriate to grab a time that you know you can't make. And you can't be at the terminal at the same time your flight is supposed to land!

 

Take the earliest realistic time. If you are flying in on the day of the cruise (which I do not recommend) that would be at least an hour after landing; 75-90 minutes is more realistic. Driving from WDW is at least an hour.[/quote']

 

 

driving from WDW is USUALLY 1 hour...

not for us that day...

 

there was an accident on route 528 that morning..

we use waze - according to waze, our usual route from WDW to PC would have taken us 2 hours!!!! (I-4 to 528)..

that section of 528 was where the accident was...

 

so waze took us a route that i hate - on the greenway then over to 528 further down past the accident....

and even that route was longer than normal...

 

i'd forgotten about having to go a different way than normal..

and had i not been using waze, i would have been stuck on the wrong side of the accident for what seemed like forever that morning...so yeah...best laid plans...

 

.

driving from WDW is USUALLY 1 hour...

not for us that day...

 

there was an accident on route 528 that morning..

we use waze - according to waze, our usual route from WDW to PC would have taken us 2 hours!!!! (I-4 to 528)..

that section of 528 was where the accident was...

 

so waze took us a route that i hate - on the greenway then over to 528 further down past the accident....

and even that route was longer than normal...

 

i'd forgotten about having to go a different way than normal..

and had i not been using waze, i would have been stuck on the wrong side of the accident for what seemed like forever that morning...so yeah...best laid plans...

 

.

And that's a situation that you can't help or control. No one is saying that accidents that delay you getting there until after your PAT is rude as you had every intention of making that PAT.

What moki's mommy was referring to was there are often people who (still for whatever reason fly in day-of) and will grab a 10:30 PAT when their flight doesn't even land until 11. Or people who might be in the area early who will grab a 10:30 PAT and flat out state that they aren't planning to get there until noon or so but want to be able to waltz right on.

THAT is what is rude - selecting a time that you know you have no way or intention of making.

oh i understood that and agree that if you're not planning on being there early you shouldn't take an early PAT.

off topic, does anyone know what the other terminals at PC look like? do they also have very little sitting room?

one of the things that bothers me about the disney terminal is the lack of places to sit down.

We cruised on allure of the seas out of fort lauderdale and were amazed to see the vast ocean of chairs available - there really was room for everyone to sit. At the time, i thought that disney could learn a thing or two. :)

by the way, i just noticed your past cruises - are you the person who was on the same radiance cruise that i was on? southbound alaska, i think july 31, 2015?

The other terminals we've been in, whether for DCL cruises (Dover, Barcelona,) and other cruise lines (Houston, Yokohama, Seattle, Vancouver) all had tons of chairs. I honestly don't remember what the situation was on DCL cruises out of LA or Ft. Lauderdale. I know that at Port Everglades we walked in, checked in, and boarded with no waiting, but that was a weird cruise. The other thing that I find odd at DCL's PC terminal is that there is essentially no HA seating. In part, that's a non-issue as we use a wheelchair for boarding even if she is using braces and/or canes for normal purposes. My guess is that they'd find HA seating too cumbersome to enforce, although other lines have no problem with it.

But no, I've never seen another terminal with as little seating a DCL's PC. On the other hand, I've never seen such an attractive terminal either!

And yes, the problem with the 528 is that an accident can mess up everything for everyone, and if you have to get off, so does everyone else! The only positive is that if you can't get thru, neither can the DCL bus traffic!

i didn't pay attention to the seating available in seward alaska when we boarded the radiance of the seas, as we arrived at 1:00 PM.

That was our plan that day - to arrive just for stateroom opening, so we wouldn't have to shlep our carry ons around the ship.

so when we arrived there, we walked right up to the HA desk for check in - they have a wheelchair high check in desk at the terminal they use in alaska - actually they had two, side by side. Really convenient.

I've written about it before - how amazing the radiance of the seas was to my legally blind mom....

anyway, i agree the disney terminal is beautiful - i just wish it had more seating :)

We need a "like" button!

oh i understood that and agree that if you're not planning on being there early you shouldn't take an early PAT.

 

off topic, does anyone know what the other terminals at PC look like? do they also have very little sitting room?

 

one of the things that bothers me about the disney terminal is the lack of places to sit down.

 

We cruised on allure of the seas out of fort lauderdale and were amazed to see the vast ocean of chairs available - there really was room for everyone to sit. At the time, i thought that disney could learn a thing or two. :)

 

by the way, i just noticed your past cruises - are you the person who was on the same radiance cruise that i was on? southbound alaska, i think july 31, 2015?

If you arrive at your PAT, you shouldn't need to sit down. Unless something happens with the ship.

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If you arrive at your PAT, you shouldn't need to sit down. Unless something happens with the ship.

 

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That depends. Usually boarding doesn't start until 11 or 11:30, so those with early PATs would have some time to wait.

That depends. Usually boarding doesn't start until 11 or 11:30, so those with early PATs would have some time to wait.

It takes about an hour to park, go thru security and processing.

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That can vary a lot. We've gone from arrival to KTTW in hand in a little as 15 minutes or as much as over an hour. DCL typically takes longer than other lines, probably because the lines tend to be longer (translation: people show up when they wish, not when their PAT would imply). But, as noted, they have about 30 check in stations and if you show up with all your paperwork in order it doesn't take long.

It takes about an hour to park, go thru security and processing.

 

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Most people I know aim to be entering the terminal at their PAT. NOT parking and doing all that.

Most people I know aim to be entering the terminal at their PAT. NOT parking and doing all that.

That may be true for the people you know, but I can tell you first hand that an extremely high number of people show up as soon as they can get into the terminal regardless of their PAT. We had the earliest PAT and showed up on time for the Fantasy 2 years ago. We were packed like sardines because the terminal was slammed full with people that shouldn't have been there for hours. So much for going by your PAT.

Yes a lot of people go really to wait. But if you show up on your scheduled time, you can sail right into the boat.

It's just like the Fast pass system. Show up on your time and you can walk right on, show up early and the CM (cast member) makes you wait for your time.

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