pre-cruise stay in Orlando

[MWBearFan]

Hi, we booked a cruise from Oct 1st-5th, leaving out of Port Miami. We'll be driving to Florida and have booked a hotel in orlando to stay two nights Sept 29th and 30th, and plan on driving from the hotel to the port of Miami for our cruise. We'll likely arrive at our hotel late evening on the 29th but will have all of the 30th to explore. Looking for some good fun things to do or experience in the area. Being that our hotel is fairly close to Universal and such, the though had crossed our mind but we want to make that a separate vacation. Looking for simple fun things to do. We like beaches, mini golf, attractions, etc. We aren't drinkers so bars/party scene doesn't appeal to us. Also any advice on making the trip from Orlando to the port as smooth as possible?

[Clarea]

You may also want to post this on the Florida Departures forum.

[Essiesmom]

You might ask on the Florida Departures board here, under North American Homeports. You do realize that it is not a short drive to Miami...nearly 4 hours? EM

[Kamloops50]

I would personally just drive to Miami or Fort Lauderdale to reduce the chance of missing the cruise .

[Sauer-kraut]

Its a long drive to Miami, it took us 3 hours one year. Just factor that in to your driving.

 

Kissimmee FLA has a ton of touristy things to do, there's a Congo River mini golf. Downtown Disney is now called something else but it has all the stores and fun stuff there too. Parking Garages are free there.

[mikesyl27]

Yes, I agree about the long drive. Depending on the the day and time leave for Miami it could be up to a 5 hour drive.You might want to change either the timing of your arrival in Orlando or just skip Orlando all together and head straight to Miami. The last thing you want is to be tired for your Cruise.

We have lived most of our lives here so as for what to do to do in Orlando there is too much to do. Disney parks take at least a week to see, if you want to go to all of them. There are 4- Magic Kingdom for the kids and kids of heart, Epcot for more the teen plus age, Hollywood Studios for the teens and adults, Animal Kingdom for all ages, plus Disney Springs a shopping district, 2 water parks and 2 golf courses. Universal has 2 parks and you need at least 3 days to see both plus a water park and City Walk another shopping area for Universal. Sea World you probably could do in one day and it is close to Universal. Gatorland is also an option but it is in Kissimmee 30 mins away from Universal but it would be only a day to do. There is more than gators to see there.

At that time of year the lines for the parks are fairly short, sometimes. But if you have never been to the area you will quickly understand when you get here the parks are not small and there is a lot to do. Traffic no matter when can be very overwhelming.

Many of our beaches are are at least an hour away. Daytona being to most popular 1 1/2 hours away and South Melbourn about the same time away, being the most relaxing. But you must understand Sept and Oct is our peak part of Hurricane season. So watch the weather.

As for going straight to Miami instead there are the beaches there, as well as a Sea park.

If we have a cruise going out of Miami we always stay the night before in Miami and we live in the Orlando area. Its more relaxing that way and less stressful. Most cruises require you to be boarded 2 hours before ship leaving port. So that might as well be a factor into your timing.

I hope this helps.

 

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[cb at sea]

Mikes127 is right. 1 day is NOT enough time to see/do any of the theme parks....you really need an entire week...if not 10 days! I agree that heading straight to Miami is your best bet. Save Orlando for an actual land vacation!

[MWBearFan]

We'll go to the theme parks but that will be a separate trip just for them so we can take our time and enjoy them and not feel rushed to see as much as we can in a day.

 

The drive the morning of doesn't bother us too much we are fairly early risers so we plan on grabbing a quick breakfast and then heading off early the morning of the cruise. We do realize that the trip to the Port may be long. Our cruise boards at 12pm. We have Faster to the Fun so we'll be able to board quickly. We generally plan for the over on travel time. If we leave the hotel around 6/7 that morning we should be fine making it to the port. Part of the reason we chose Orlando was a specific hotel chain that we really like. They don't have a Miami location. Other reasons were safety, we've heard horror stories of Miami being sketchy. But that was also when we were looking at hotels where we could park and cruise and didn't feel good leaving our car parked for a week at a hotel. We'll be parking at the port where it's far safer. The other factor was the initial drive to Florida. It'll take us around 16 hours or so to get to Orlando, closer to 20 to Miami.

 

Our thinking was let's drive the 16 to Orlando stay two nights to use the 30th to recoup, then drive the last leg to Miami the morning of the 1st. I do understand that there is a risk in driving that far the day of. I could take another look at hotel options in Miami. We could even stay in Orlando the initial night and Miami the night of the 30th.

[MWBearFan]

We have lived most of our lives here so as for what to do to do in Orlando there is too much to do.

 

Since you live in that area, if you were to make that drive from Orlando what route would you take? Our hotel is near where Interstate 4 and 482 intersect. So we're on the SW side of Orlando. According to Google maps it's around 4.25 to 4.5 hours if we avoid tolls by taking 192 to 95 south. The turnpike to 95 would also be an option might save us a little time.

[MCC retired]

Cars break down , a traffic accident on the FL Tpke or I95 can cause hours of delay ,

Spending 2 nights in Orlando not to visit the Parks (too short) is a waste .

Miami is not as bad as you fear it is .

You paid for First to the Fun , shame if you miss it ?

[Joebucks]

Since you're going in October, if you like haunted houses, I can't recommend Universal enough. Those are the best ones I have ever been to. I went on a Wednesday, hoping traffic would be light. Nope, slammed. You need a fastpass to experience it all.

 

I went to Magic Kingdom last year, we were able to see about 80% of the park in one day, including the rides. It probably also helped that we went off peak season in October. There were a few things that were a waste of time too. I couldn't imagine spending two days there, but to each their own.

 

My favorite was actually SeaWorld. Great coasters, and I could never get sick of the all of the marine life.

[Herfnerd]

To be honest, if you aren't planning on going to any of the theme parks and are looking for things like beaches and mini golf, you'd be better off staying on the coast.

 

The nearest beach to Orlando is an hour and a half away. Staying on the Atlantic coast, you could have your choice of towns from Jupiter (hour and forty five minutes from MIA) to West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Pompano Beach, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Any of those places will have beaches, mini golf and interesting things to do as well as being closer to the PoM. Main thing is that you will cut your drive to less than half