Time to Kill

[RichNY]

Our return flight is not until 5:25 pm from MCO...I was wondering how late we can stay on the ship and how can we kill some time..There will be 6 of us 4 adults and 2 children..No arrangements have been made for transportation back to MCO so we still have the option of rental or a van service...Any Ideas???

[lesters]

We are in the same situation except our flight doesnt leave until 8:00 PM! Still not sure what we're doing to kill the time but I have read that you HAVE to be off the ship by 9:00 AM!

 

HTH

[mchiasson]

Hello,

We are in the exact same situation in Feb - flight out at 5:15 for 4 adults and 2 children (1 and 3). If we go right to MCO, we will have to lug our luggage around until we can check-in (which I assume is 3 hours prior to the flight?). We looked at renting something to drive ourselves and stop along the way, but I don't know if we will be able to fit all of us and our luggage! Even if we take a shuttle, we still have to figure out what to do with all of our stuff while we try to do things (and will be dealing with 2 kids on a direct flight back to Canada at 5:15 with no nap - it won't be pretty!). We finally found a solution today that we are REALLY excited about - there is a hotel at MCO that offers day rooms for $89. You get the room from 10 am to 6 pm, and you get access to all of the hotel ammentities (e.g. pool, fitness centre, etc...). I figure those of us who want to explore more of the area can leave our stuff in the room and cab it or rent a car at the airport, and those of us who want to just chill out can hang out in the room/at the hotel for the day. The hotel is physically attached to the airport, so we can just walk over when the time comes to check-in. I believe that both the Disney bus and many of the other shuttles will drop off at this hotel.

 

Not sure if this is an option for you, but we're thrilled to have found a "slow-paced" way to kill time at the end of the vacation.

 

Good luck!

[mchiasson]

I thought I should add that I realize that with the transfers, Disney will take the luggage to the airport for you and check it in (so you don't have it with you from the minute you land at the airport), but the customer service agent at Disney couldn't tell me if they are a) able to do this for international cruisers (we're flying back to Canada), or b) for charter flights (we're flying Canjet through Transat Holidays). Anyone fly internationally post-cruise and use the Disney transfers? How did it work for your luggage?

Thanks!

[Love2cruisemom]

Disney does not offer onboard airline check in for intl or charter flights. There are about 8 airlines they offer it for and it has to be within the US. So if you use the transfers via Disney and are on a domestic flight using the airlines they work with you can check your luggage in and not have to worry about it at all until you fly into your final city.

[RichNY]

I came up with plan for us...we'll be using Beach Bound Shuttle for all our transportation...much cheaper than Disney...They will be taking us to the Raddison for one night pre cruise,,then take us to the pier the next day...on our return they will be picking us up at the ship. We still have to decide what we will do then but we'll probably go to the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp to hang out, eat and go on an air boat ride..and then we'll be taken back to MCO.....we have a few other time killer options like the Space Center...hope this helps..

[RichNY]

Hello,

We finally found a solution today that we are REALLY excited about - there is a hotel at MCO that offers day rooms for $89. You get the room from 10 am to 6 pm, and you get access to all of the hotel ammentities (e.g. pool, fitness centre, etc...). Good luck!

 

Just curious, what hotel are you talking about ?

Thanks

[mt6631]

On our last cruise we had a return flight booked at 8:00 PM and were off the ship by 9:00 AM, so we rented a car and went to Downtown Disney for the day. Between the great restaurants, Lego store, Disney store, etc we had lots to do until it was time to head to the airport. And parking is free :)

[belle907]

Just curious, what hotel are you talking about ?

Thanks

The hotel mentioned is the Hyatt at MCO.

[RichNY]

Thanks Belle

Thats what I thought..

[deltaqueen]

If you are planning on renting a car at/around Port Canaveral and driving to MCO be careful about drop off penalties.

[johnnycruise]

I rented with Thrifty last year and there was no drop charge - we dropped the car at the Tampa Airport and the price was about $45 including tax for a 300 Chrysler (plenty big for 4 adults - too small for 6 though). My only suggestion would be to call their local branch while exiting customs to expedite their shuttle service - they're about 2 1/2 miles south so it takes a few minutes for them to get there.

 

Their lot was small and they had the "no cars available" sign up, so I would definitely reserve in advance if you are interested.