Now, see, that's exactly why I would do the space center before a cruise. I go on a cruise to relax. Ending my trip with a full day of walking and getting from here to there and back again, isn't the way I want to end a vacation.We did on disembark day, had a rental car, then went to hotel closer to the airport and flew home the next morning. We were pretty tired but, it was a nice day!!
This is pretty much our exact plan for before our Dream cruise next summerWe did KSC the day before our cruise. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (Sheraton Four Points), drove out there, did Fishlips for dinner and then on to the cruise the next morning. It works best if you have a car.
First, I think that we will rent a car and keep our luggage in it after disembarking (we would have DME from MCO to our WDW hotel, then in parks for 2 days, then take Uber XL from WDW to port prior to cruise). Our flight from MCO departs at 5:20 pm. So, the idea was that we get 2-day passes, since we will probably be there for 3/4 of a day after disembarking and then another 1/2 to 3/4 of a day before driving up to MCO.
I am assuming (we've never done a DCL or ever rented a car in FL before, so ANY help or advice would be great!!) that we will need to return the rental car somewhere at MCO and then check our bags, yes? I assume that DME would NOT be an option, correct? This is our first trip where we had something different than DME-to-parks-and-back-via-DME. Thanks so much!
Thank you. We are used to MDE and the 3hr rule, and this is our first time doing this return home on our own. So, given that we need to drop off rental car, check in with luggage, and then go through TSA, for our 5:20 flight, I assume that we should plan to arrive at MCO rental return no later than 3pm? Does that sound about right? Google maps lists a 45 minute drive from KSC to MCO, so round up to an hour, that means leaving KSC about 2pm. Since KSC opens at 9 am, that leaves us about 4.5-5 hours on flight day. Now the other question is about the day before - DCL disembarkation day. KSC will likely close at 6pm that day. Since we will be getting off the ship and getting our rental and then going straight to KSC, about what time should we expect to be there? It opens at 9,but I'm thinking that we might not get there till maybe 10? Or would the debarkation and rental process take longer? If we get there by 10 and KSC closes at 6, that would give us 8 hours on debarkation day and another 4.5-5 hours on flight day. To me, that would seem like enough without having to rush everything. Are there any suggestions for things that are a MUST do? Or even things that fill up super early where we might need/want to RD on flight day (assuming that debarkation day would not allow us to be there for RD)? This is our family's first time at KSC. I went once about 35 years ago, when I was about 5.This plan makes sense. You can’t take Disney transportation from Port Canaveral unless you are going directly to the Orlando airport or to Walt Disney World after the cruise.
You can easily take a rental car shuttle from the port, pick up a car, and drive to Kennedy Space Center. At Orlando International Airport, the rental car return is right across from the terminal.
We have rented from Budget at Port Canaveral and paid no additional fee to return the car at the Orlando airport; I think that’s possible with other car rental companies as well.
Since we will be getting off the ship and getting our rental and then going straight to KSC, about what time should we expect to be there? It opens at 9,but I'm thinking that we might not get there till maybe 10? Or would the debarkation and rental process take longer?
This is exactly what we did. I prefer to do the "busy stuff" before the cruise so we can relax on the ship and finish our vacation in "relaxed" mode. When we arrived at KSC, the car line-up for the entrance was REALLY long. We were there around 4-5 hours, and honestly didn't see it all. As PP suggested, we headed directly to the queue for the bus tour. (I'm guessing we waited maybe 1/2 hours in line). Glad we did, because the line got nothing but longer as the day progressed.We did KSC the day before our cruise. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (Sheraton Four Points), drove out there, did Fishlips for dinner and then on to the cruise the next morning. It works best if you have a car.
MDR??We did KSC after disembarking, taking the shuttle to the rental car place, and renting a car. We had our car by 7:57 am (I always take a picture of our rentals in case of damage claims, and I still had that one on my phone with a timestamp!) and were at KSC right around the time they opened (possibly a little before). I remember having a fairly leisurely breakfast in the MDR, and while we didn't dawdle, we didn't rush to disembark, either.