Disney or Private Transportation To/From Port

[Ohmymonty]

Hello!

I know things have been changing a lot at Disney recently and pre-covid experiences may not be the wisest thing to base expectations on now. For instance, pre-covid I used Magical Express for a Disney World Trip. Amazing. Then, flash forward to November 2020, it was a total disaster. Checking in for the bus itself took an hour, then we waited another 45 minutes for a bus to be ready, which then took another hour to get to the park and thank goodness we were the first stop.

Pre-Covid, I stopped using third party group transportation to/from the port in favor of the Disney Transportation. I loved how seamless and stress free it was.

I have a cruise booked for April 23 on the Fantasy and I'll be going with a first-timer who still bristles when you say "Magical Express" because he shared that awful experience with me in November. I'm eager to show him the best DCL experience I can. Can anyone share their recent experiences with port transportation?

Is the Disney Transportation still the same magical level it was before covid?
Are third party transportation companies just as good?
Is it worth it to just hire a private driver and does anyone have recommendations for that?
Additionally, if you didn't use Disney transportation to get to the boat, when were you able to hand off your luggage to a porter - before or after covid testing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cruising Girl]

Have done several different ways.
1. Stayed at the Hilton at MCO and took the DisneyCruise bus the next day to the Port. This was 10 years ago but have heard it is still very easy to do. I think though you need to have your reservations in place probably as early as possible. I have heard of people not able to make reservations at the three day mark. Very seamless.
2. Flew into Sanford, rented a car and drove to the port, parked at the port, drove back to Sanford after cruise. Again, very seamless.
3. Flew into Sanford, Used Sunrise Florida Transportation for pickup at Sanford to Disney World for a few days, Disney to Port, and again from Port to Sanford. John and his wife Helen are fantastic to work with. Always have been on time. Totally Seamless!! He also picks up from MCO, other hotels--etc...
There is no more free Magical Express from MCO to Disney. You have to now arrange for your own transportation.
Whichever way you use--have a fantastic cruise!!

 

[MomOTwins]

Assuming you are talking about an airport rather than a resort pickup as those are different entirely in terms of timing and process.

For airport, how long you wait for the bus is just a function of how busy it is. Too busy, you wait in the airport. Not busy enough, you wait on the bus for it to fill. In a sweet spot, you’ll board and leave pretty efficiently.

Because of this, shared shuttles are rarely, or at least not consistently, the fastest way to the port. Private transportation involves no waiting but usually more expensive (especially once you factor in tip) unless in a larger group. They do have the nice cruise video which I enjoy, and I like that you do not need a PAT if on the DCL bus. And more importantly for me—I like that the cruise will wait for you if something goes wrong, which can be very important especially if you don’t plan to go there first thing (I have missed business travel before when my private transportation was involved in an accident or stuck in traffic for hours because of an accident—I would hate to miss a cruise and it does happen).

For luggage, if arriving by bus, shuttle, or private car service, you must leave luggage with porters before going to the testing tent. Only ways to keep you luggage until after are (a) pack all your stuff in carry ons, or (2) if in Port Canaveral, you can rent a car and park in the garage where you will be tested in you car so can skip the luggage drip off until after testing. At other ports, testing is done in terminal no matter how you arrive so (2) is not an option.

 

[mzalicia]

In the past we used a rental car, dropping off before the cruise and then a 1-day rental with pickup near the port and dropping at MCO. I was thinking of a 1-day/1-way after my upcoming cruise again.

Does anyone know which rental car companies currently have a shuttle serving the Disney cruise terminal at Port Canaveral? It seems that Hertz local office closed.

 

[Dug720]

The best thing about using the DCL transportation is IF there is something that causes a delay on the road getting to the port, they will hold the ship as long as they can. If you're in private transportation and in front of the final DCL bus, you should be ok; but if you're behind it, maybe not.

It was RCCL, but when I was on a Southbound Alaska cruise, we were departing from Seward. Most people flew into Anchorage and got down to the port. The cruise line offered multiple busses or a once per day train between Anchorage and Seward. For the busses, there is ONE road between the cities. As it happens, the day we were cruising, there was a horrible accident (not involving a bus) that required three people to be airlifted and shut down the road for hours. My bus was ahead of the wreck and not affected. Those that were on the road, they were able to stop the train and take as many people from the busses as they could - and they held busses that had not left Anchorage yet. Once the road opened, they got those busses rolling and we waited until the last one got there. Once the last bus pulled into the lot, the gates were closed. If people had done their own thing transportation-wise, they were ok if they got there before the last bus, but not after. I spoke with a couple on a school bus into the actual town near the manufactured Icy Strait Point and they had been in a private car that pushed to get ahead of the final bus and just made it.

 

[Ohmymonty]

In the past we used a rental car, dropping off before the cruise and then a 1-day rental with pickup near the port and dropping at MCO. I was thinking of a 1-day/1-way after my upcoming cruise again.

Does anyone know which rental car companies currently have a shuttle serving the Disney cruise terminal at Port Canaveral? It seems that Hertz local office closed.

In my Google searches, it looks like Avis, Budget, and Enterprise have shuttles that go to/ from Port Canaveral. We ended up booking DCL transport on the way in and have a rental car from Avis reserved for disembarkation day.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

In my Google searches, it looks like Avis, Budget, and Enterprise have shuttles that go to/ from Port Canaveral. We ended up booking DCL transport on the way in and have a rental car from Avis reserved for disembarkation day.

Enterprise is part of the Enterprise group that also owns National and Alamo. All three share a location and shuttle at Port Canaveral.

 

[peacefrogdog]

How frequently do the shuttles run to go from the Port to the car rental centers?

 

[peacefrogdog]

Ugh ...just saw that when we arrive in port, there will be a total of 5 ships docking (Norwegian Getaway, Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Freedom, Disney Fantasy, Mariner of the Seas). I assume that will impact how long we need to wait to board the rental car shuttle? For reference, our flight departing from MCO isn't until 5 pm so we would be one of the last to get off our ship.

 

[Ohmymonty]

How frequently do the shuttles run to go from the Port to the car rental centers?

I booked with Avis and it was running about every 15-30 minutes. Not 100% sure, since I wasn't checking the clock

 

[cwis]

I booked with Avis and it was running about every 15-30 minutes. Not 100% sure, since I wasn't checking the clock

Booked with Avis, missed the bus one and the next one effectively came 15-30 minutes later.