Port Canaveral Hotels with Infant

[misseskb]

We are cruising out on August 31st with a 22 month old. My thoughts so far for pre cruise lodging are staying at an MCO area hotel, port area hotel, or downtown disney/universal studios area hotel. My main concern is staying at a location that is in walking distance to dining and some form of sight seeing. I do understand that downtown disney or universal studios will be more costly in terms of transportation. We will be arriving to MCO around 2pm. We are not swimmers and so the beach does not appeal to us. Thanks.

[cb at sea]

Look for hotels...comparisons, distance from this or that, etc....on Hotels.com....don't book through them, but it really provides lots of info.

 

Figure where you want to be, put it in the search engine, and it will tell you all of the hotels in that area, and, what amenities each have, along with pricing. Orlando is about 45 mons. -1 hour from Port Canaveral, so you will need transportation the following morning to get to the ship.

 

Or, you could just go and stay near the port...you don't HAVE to go to the beach!

[138east]

One way car rentals are very inexpensive from MCO to Port Canaveral. I flew into MCO, rented a car at the airport, and drove directly to Port Canaveral. Check the Florida departures board for car rentals - I found a Budget discount code there and the whole rental was about $50.

 

From MCO it was very easy to get on the direct road to Port Canaveral. It had a couple of dollars tolls, but it was a super easy drive. I arrived in time to meet friends at a restaurant at the port to watch the 5 pm sailaways. This might be a good activity with your young child.

 

Cocoa Beach has a ton of hotels along the main drag and on the beach. It was impossible to get lost. I Hotwired a hotel and got the La Quinta on the main drag that used to be owned by the astronauts. It was an older motels with no inside corridors and I was able to park the car right by my room door. The bed was super comfortable, the room was large, and it had a frig and microwave. I did call ahead and request a room on the first floor since this motel has no elevators. The hotel has a nice courtyard and it was full of folks eagerly anticipating a cruise the next day.

 

If you have a car you have access to all the restaurants and shops. I made a quick stop at the market for some wine.

 

The next day I returned the car to Budget and they shuttled me over to the port. When I disembarked I repeated the rental process. I would not do that again. The Budget pickup process was too chaotic - the shuttles pulled into random slots and were often full before you could get to them. I would make some other transportation arrangement to be dropped off directly at the airport.

 

IMO you'll be a lot happier with the flexibility a rental car will offer for the arrival portion of your trip. No worries about being close enough to walk to dining or sightseeing.

[Sherlock43031]

IMO. you don't have enough time to see anything in Orlando or Disney. as mentioned above head over to the port area and get yourself a nice hotel. plenty to see and do in the area. this will make your morning much more relaxed. it's been a real long time but do 22 month old babies really care/know about being entertained?

Edited February 24, 2014 by Sherlock43031

[ducklite]

Hilton Downtown Disney will be your best bet. It will give you everything you are looking for at a reasonable cost. It is walking distance to numerous restaurants and attractions.