My plan right now is to spend 2 nights at the boardwalk villas. We were given complimentary 1 day parkhoppers on our last trip for an issue we had so of course what I did was turn right around and add a day at the parks to the front of my cruise, lol. So we'll fly in Thursday middle of the day and hang at the resort and then Friday I have a whirlwind "4 parks one day" planned because why not? So it will be a long and crazy day.
Then Saturday I thought we could have a "late" breakfast at around 9am (that is late for my son, he is an early riser) and IDEALLY depart the resort around 11ish - I guess leave the room around 11 and make our way to the lobby etc and actually be in the car around 11:15 or so and arrive at the port around 12:30 for most efficient boarding.
OR I am CC Gold, I could probably get an early PAT and be one of the first on the ship. We could do a quick breakfast at boardwalk bakery or an early (8am) breakfast at ale and compass (chances are good my kid will be up at 6:30 anyway) and hit the road around 9:30am. I'm not going to have rolling carryon luggage, just our backpacks so carrying it around is not a big deal. We could go with bathing suits under our clothing and get an early start to our cruise. That said it will be February and whether it is swimming weather in florida is very hit or miss. This is more waiting around at the cruise terminal though but might be worth it to be one of the first on the ship?
Either of these options require I get my own transportation. I have read uber/lyft is an option and estimates are around $80 which is about 2 bus fares (not counting tip of course). If I am flexibleish on time that might be a good option. I have used lyft before in Orlando and on a recent business trip (It is not big where I live) and it worked out great. OR I can get a town car which would be double that but it would be more reliable I guess - part of me hates paying that much but then the other part of me is mentally adding up what this trip is gonna cost between airfare and cruise fare and incidentals and I'm likely gonna be in it for nearly $6k, do I really need to make a big deal over $100?
OR I could just roll the dice and show up when we show up with the Disney bus but honestly that sounds later than I am comfortable with and I don't know why. It sounds like 12:30 arriving at 1:30 is a worst case scenario (not counting any unusual occurrences) and I'd like to arrive an hour earlier at the latest. Is it worth it for me to go the lyft route (same price) to get the extra hour or the towncar route for extra reliability?
Easiest for me as a single mom would be the disney bus I think but I'm not sure I like how it potentially crushes my day. I don't want to do the car rental because of the hassle of me handling luggage and my kid with the shuttle bus etc. I need to be able to hand someone cash and have them handle the luggage for the most part (or tip the lyft driver through the app) not be dragging 4 heavy suitcases onto a shuttle bus (I know sometimes the driver helps but not always and I know there can be big crowds of people waiting for the bus - to me this is a stressful way to start vacation and only works if one adult can be dropped at the port and stays with luggage and then another deals with car and meeting up at the port).
Second easiest is a town car but it is also the most expensive option.
Lyft is probably almost as easy, about the same price as the bus, but also has the uncertainty built into it.
so I just don't know. I am CC gold but this will likely be my last
disney cruise for a while - I took 5 cruises prior to 2005 and as a single mom its a stretch for me to afford it. so I kind of don't want to skimp on this cruise but just do everything "right" for me. I am struggling to figure that out.