Port Canaveral to Disney for the day... Rent a car??

[pursediva]

We are on the Pride in Feb, and I want to go to Disney for the day.. There are 5 in our family and booking through Carnival would be way more expensive than just renting a car ourselves... Has anyone done this and how long does it take for drive time???

[firefly333]

Its about an hour each way, plus it takes a lot of time to get from the parking lot, buy tickets and get into the park.

 

WOW on doing it as a excursion. Id want a FULL day for Disney prices.

[vkramer]

I have annual passes and was thinking of doing the same when we sail in a couple of weeks. I would probably choose to park at the BW Villas using valet and then either use their transportation to another park or just walk into Epcot at the World Showcase entrance instead of trying to park at any of the parks. The only one that I would venture to park at is Animal Kingdom.

 

I just need to look into rental car prices.

 

Vicki

[gometros]

A rental is going to be cheaper than a car service and there are a number of agencies in Port Canaveral that have shuttle service.

[matj2000]

I still can't believe that "Port Canaveral" is a cruise stop. My inlaws live there and I go as little as possible. It is one of the most boring beach towns in FL.

As for renting a car, thats a pain because you need to get off the ship and get to the rental store(its probably about 5 miles away from the dock), wait in line, then do paperwork. It will probably take 1-2 hrs before you hit the road.

Just take a shuttle, but not from Carnival...

[keishashadow]

I have annual passes and was thinking of doing the same when we sail in a couple of weeks. I would probably choose to park at the BW Villas using valet and then either use their transportation to another park or just walk into Epcot at the World Showcase entrance instead of trying to park at any of the parks. The only one that I would venture to park at is Animal Kingdom.

 

I just need to look into rental car prices.

 

Vicki

 

def a YMMV type of idea imo, i've seen cars being towed from the Contemporary before while a guest there, just not worth the chance to me

 

fyi, valet both mentioned the 3 hour maximum time frame (and it was written on the claim tag) when we used it for dinner at narcosse/grand floridian a couple of weeks ago during our resort stay

 

to the OP, just allow plenty of time to travel back to the ship. Suggest the greenway (more southern route) that loops past MCO rather than the beeline that can really get backed up with traffic.

[Crusin6]

We are on the Pride in Feb, and I want to go to Disney for the day.. There are 5 in our family and booking through Carnival would be way more expensive than just renting a car ourselves... Has anyone done this and how long does it take for drive time???

get a car service...but a town car won't work for a family of 5 so you will need an suv/van car service...which costs more of course....but by all means do Disney...unfortunately the Magic Kingdom will be very busy and you will not get to do as much as you expect...however, it is the best Disney experience...the parades...the rides...etc

 

second choice of park would be Animal Kingdom..not as crowed and fun rides. Loads of characters and easy to see them and get autographs

[vkramer]

I am not valet parking at the Contemporary or at the Grand Floridian. I am talking about valet parking at the Boardwalk area. It is paid valet and I should have no problems parking there for several hours.

 

Vicki

[bumbles]

We are on the Pride in Feb, and I want to go to Disney for the day.. There are 5 in our family and booking through Carnival would be way more expensive than just renting a car ourselves... Has anyone done this and how long does it take for drive time???

 

Just be aware that that week is President's Week and a busy time at Disney. The Daytona 500 also brings crowds to Disney & Universal that week (the race is the 14th), and Mardi Gras falls during that week (the 16th) and some Louisiana and Alabama schools have that week off. I'm not sure that if you don't get there right at opening that it would be worth going at all. You'd be waiting more in lines than actually enjoying the park.

[Max Circus]

We are on the Pride in Feb, and I want to go to Disney for the day.. There are 5 in our family and booking through Carnival would be way more expensive than just renting a car ourselves... Has anyone done this and how long does it take for drive time???

 

Can't tell from your post if you are doing this pre or post cruise. Pre cruise wouldn't give you hardly anytime at the parks so I assume you are doing this post cruise. You'll want to get the most out of the ticket price. Think it is roughly $70/adult for a one park pass.

 

My wife and I have resident seasonal passes and go about 5 times a year. It will be busy the week you are talking about so be patient. Drive time is probably an hour from where you will be, but then factor parking, shuttling to the entrance and waiting in line for your passes (unless you already have them). I'd say at least 90 minutes total.

[pursediva]

Can't tell from your post if you are doing this pre or post cruise. Pre cruise wouldn't give you hardly anytime at the parks so I assume you are doing this post cruise. You'll want to get the most out of the ticket price. Think it is roughly $70/adult for a one park pass.

 

My wife and I have resident seasonal passes and go about 5 times a year. It will be busy the week you are talking about so be patient. Drive time is probably an hour from where you will be, but then factor parking, shuttling to the entrance and waiting in line for your passes (unless you already have them). I'd say at least 90 minutes total.

 

 

I will be on the Pride and Port Canaveral is one of the port stops.. We have done Disney before.. But was thinking of doing Animal Kingdom, one we have never been too... I understand it is vacation week, hense the reason we will be on the cruise.. Was wondering if anyone has done this on there own without going through the cruise line.. They offer it for $158 each and tickets to Animal Kingdom are Only $79, I could def rent a car for cheaper than $395.. that is the difference in the cost times 5...

HAs anyone attempted this and is there enough time to do it??

[doudou1963]

Hello,

 

We will be on Pride the following week (Feb 21). We are not doing Disney but we will try Universal Studio.

 

Since we are a party of 8 people, we have decided to rent 2 cars (one for each family) and go there by ourselves. As you have mentionned it is way to expensive to book thru Carnival.

 

Our plan is to ask at what time the Carnival excursion is planned to come back from Universal studio and we will try to leave at about the same time. But in anycase, I think that 4 PM is the latest we will leave, to make sure that we will get back on time.

 

After reading all the posts, it make me wonder if the week of Feb 21 will be a busy week at the park. We are from Quebec (Canada) and we assumed that it should not be a busy week, but we may have missed some US holidays.

 

Is there a special holliday during that week?

 

Thanks.

[pursediva]

Hello,

 

We will be on Pride the following week (Feb 21). We are not doing Disney but we will try Universal Studio.

 

Since we are a party of 8 people, we have decided to rent 2 cars (one for each family) and go there by ourselves. As you have mentionned it is way to expensive to book thru Carnival.

 

Our plan is to ask at what time the Carnival excursion is planned to come back from Universal studio and we will try to leave at about the same time. But in anycase, I think that 4 PM is the latest we will leave, to make sure that we will get back on time.

 

After reading all the posts, it make me wonder if the week of Feb 21 will be a busy week at the park. We are from Quebec (Canada) and we assumed that it should not be a busy week, but we may have missed some US holidays.

 

Is there a special holliday during that week?

 

Thanks.

 

 

No the holiday is the week before.. Presidents week.. the cruise is almost double expensive.. Hate how they do that, but it is life. We did Universal (not Island of adventure) last year it was great, we were able to do it all in about 7 hours, so you should be able to see everything, based on the lines of course!

[gometros]

I am not valet parking at the Contemporary or at the Grand Floridian. I am talking about valet parking at the Boardwalk area. It is paid valet and I should have no problems parking there for several hours.

 

Vicki

 

Also, if you happen to be a DVC member, using the valet at BWV is a privelege of membership.

[DMRick]

Kids are off in the northeast (and many other areas) the 15th - 19th for presidents week. It is much more crowded than other times (we have come this week a few times). We'll be in Disney the 17th for the day and then will drive over to Cape Canaveral. We got a car for the day from Avis and used the j991952 code from the Oregon Travel magazine for the best rate for us. We are also renting from avis after the cruise. I personally wouldn't spend the money to go to Disney for that short of a day. Of course Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park so that plays into in. They have the least amount of rides, and can have the longest lines because of that. The shows hold more people, so the lines aren't as bad for those. It takes awhile to park, get in, walk to the back and the rides though. It really does make for a short day, and I don't think I'd want to take a chance of a break down or a stop in traffic (which happens a lot in Orlando) and have the ship not wait for us. Perhaps, if you haven't done it recently and have an interest, Kennedy Space Center would be better to do on your own?

[keishashadow]

Also, if you happen to be a DVC member, using the valet at BWV is a privelege of membership.

 

fyi, the privledge is now $12 daily for members (except vehicles with disabled tags), plus tip. It changed in early October. The parking is now run by a 3rd party vendor. Jim Lewis indicated at the annual meeting that they are attempting to negotiate a discount for members, but free valet parking is a thing of the past.:mad:

 

If you call Member Services, the party line is: All parking is designated for resort guests. However, non-resort guests are allowed to park there for the purpose of visiting the resorts and its shops and restaurants. There is similar signage at other resorts as well. In other words... resort parking is not intended to be a parking option for people going to the parks.

 

doudou - Universal is an excellent idea! closer to port & easier to navigate imo. btw, u might want to do a search for towncar services in MCO that handle port transfers, many handle larger groups. I've used a couple in the past, not sure if okay to mention vendor here though.;)Here's a link with lots of info:

http://www.portcanaveral.com/cruising/groundtransport.php

[Blessedcruiser]

Hi Everyone! We are sailing on RCCL Freedom of the Seas last week in Feb! Thinking of doing a POST day at Universal. The plan is .. leave ship early as possible, get a shuttle over to a hotel near the airport... (6 of us)drop off luggage and have the shuttle van then drive us over to universal ? Is this do able and do you think there will be enough time and worth the money? We fly out early the next morning! Thanks for all of your help!

 

Joyce