Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Disney World after Cruise - Port Canaveral

mistyinca

By mistyinca,
in Florida Departures

 Share

Recommended Posts

mistyinca

mistyinca

Posted
Posted

OK,

We have decided to extend our stay an extra day, so we can visit Disney World after our Carnival Magic cruise. Ship is supposed to get in at 8am on 12/3, and Disney opens at 9am. We have a rental car booked. Our flight won't be until 5:30pm on 12/4. So we have basically a day and a half.

 

I'm debating on getting the one day park hopper and trying to fit as much in as possible or 2-day hoppers. Here's the catch: We are from So Cal, so we've been to DisneyLAND a million times. So we're looking for the attractions that are unique, so we don't have to do it all.

 

So my choices are Park hopper for one day and then spend the next day on I-Drive before our flight or get 2-day park hoppers. I know the extra time would help us do more at Disney, but as expensive as it is, I hate to spend the $$ on the next day when we'll have to start making our way out of the park by 2p to get to the car, drive to MCO, get through security (we have TSA pre check) and all that.

 

So the one-day Park hopper is my preference.

 

So my question is, how far apart are the parks? We'll prolly spend the most of our time at the Magic Kingdom, and check out a few attractions at Epcot and Hollywood (we will not be visiting the animal park). How much time does it realistically take to get from one park to another, and does the monorail take you from park to park.

 

I appreciate any tips and suggestions.

Thank you,

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AdoraBelle

AdoraBelle

Posted
Posted (edited)

You may have better luck on the DISBoards, but it's a fair amount of travel time for park hopping. And if you're going to drive from one park to another, it can take 20 minutes just to get from the back of one park to your car in the parking lot, and the entire "resort" complex is very sprawly. Hopping is a bit of a misnomer. :)

 

(I know this is overly simplistic, but yeah--allow a fair amount of time to get from one park to another, probably more time than you think. And then keep in mind that if you're only going to a park for a specific attraction or two, the lines may be prohibitively long without a "Fastpass".

 

Disney is very hard to do in a compressed time frame.

Edited by AdoraBelle
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Capt_BJ

Capt_BJ

Posted
Posted

you can get the lay of the land on google earth

 

but as a general comment ....

 

Magic Kingdom and EPCOT are connected by monorail, the other places take a bus .... aka takes longer ....

 

IMO for a first timer to WDW a park hopper is a bad idea as you tend to spend more time 'tween than IN. Getting from park to park can EASILY consume 30 to 45 minutes .... (assumes using WDW transportation ... moving a car can be worse .... do I understand you'll be in DEC ..... all month BIG crowds ..... think LA gridlock on the highways ... that's the roads inside the park.

 

If I were you and know what I do, I'd pick two parks knowing that the first day gives you more time ..... skip the hopper .....

 

just the opinion of a local with EPCOT opening day memorial tickets ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
FloridaAdGuy

FloridaAdGuy

Posted
Posted

So, I'm a bit of a Disney World junkie and might be able to help. First off, I was unaware that ONE-day Park Hoppers were available to the general public. I head up a non-profit animal rescue charity and WDW donates them to us but has always claimed they are unavailable to the public.

 

Secondly, I have actually 'park hopped' to all four parks in a single day. Animal Kingdom (which you don't have an interest in going to) is the furthest and only available by Disney bus or private car. The Magic Kingdom is connected to EPCOT by monorail, Disney bus, or private car and Hollywood Studios is connected by Disney bus or private car. EPCOT is connected to Hollywood Studios by pedestrian walkway, boat, Disney bus or private car.

 

My recommendation would be to definitely spend your late morning/afternoon in Hollywood Studios for the rides and shows and your early/late evening in EPCOT as the restaurants are much better and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth is perhaps the best nighttime show that Disney puts on. I've been to Disneyland several times and the similarity to the Magic Kingdom causes me to steer you towards Hollywood Studios. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rhea98

Rhea98

Posted
Posted (edited)

This may help wdwprepschool dot com/how-to-navigate-with-disney-world-transportation/. Scroll down to the map.

Parking at Epcot is easiest, imo. We've been doing that for over 25 yrs. As FloridaAdGuy points out, everything you're interested in is connected to Epcot. The boat and walkway from HS put you at international gateway. The bus drops off in the front. Monorail is at the front entrance. Figure transfer time of about 25 minutes each except for Uber or taxi. You may not care about crowd predictions, but the longer hours at MK on Sat push totals in high mid to high range. Epcot and HS are mid-range. (Short hours on Sunday give MK a lower crowd ratings.)

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Edited by Rhea98
Link to comment
Share on other sites
bookbabe

bookbabe

Posted
Posted

One day park hoppers are definitely available to anyone via the WDW website.

 

WDW is huge. You won't believe the difference until you see it. I couldn't believe how compact everything was when we went to DLR as WDW vets. Compare the two in google maps to get an idea.

 

The other big difference from DLR is that FastPasses are electronic and up to 3 per day can be booked up to 30 days in advance (60 days if staying on-site) - you'll want to buy tickets ahead of time and register them in the myDisneyExperience section of the website so you can take advantage of that.

 

There's not a ton at Hollywood Studios that's different and worth seeing (one coaster, really) so I'd say you're safe skipping it especially if you're going with just the one day at the parks. I'd focus on MK and Epcot, which is a relatively easy monorail commute (it's longer than the monorail ride between the Disneyland Hotel and Disneyland, though, and involves changing trains halfway).

 

I'll second the suggestion of jumping over to the Disboards to do some research, or at least reading some of the planning guides online at places like Allears.net. Some things are the same as you're used to, but some are very different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mistyinca

mistyinca

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions! I appreciate the input.

 

There's not a ton at Hollywood Studios that's different and worth seeing (one coaster, really) so I'd say you're safe skipping it especially if you're going with just the one day at the parks. I'd focus on MK and Epcot, which is a relatively easy monorail commute (it's longer than the monorail ride between the Disneyland Hotel and Disneyland, though, and involves changing trains halfway).

 

Yeah, that roller coaster is pretty much all I'm interested in other than some browsing to see the park itself. I was thinking it would be our last (ish) stop before heading back to the hotel with minimal time ear-marked for it.

 

I'll second the suggestion of jumping over to the Disboards to do some research, or at least reading some of the planning guides online at places like Allears.net. Some things are the same as you're used to, but some are very different.

 

Thanks. I do have a briefly used account at Disboards. I will check it out and see if I can get some more ideas.

 

I wanted to add, we are two adults only (no kids on this trip) and a lot of what we do will be walking around and look-seeing the park more than riding rides (we WILL ride several, but our goal is not to get in as many rides as possible). I think the key to getting the most out of our visit will be a good itinerary.

 

For example, when we go to Disneyland, I have an order I follow of what rides and things we do throughout the park, and we're usually done with Disneyland proper by 2-3p ish. But that has taken a lifetime (i'm in my 40s) of going year after year to put that game plan together.

 

For this trip, I hope to glean the best of everyone else's experience! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
canyoncam

canyoncam

Posted
Posted

Not sure if you went to DISboards yet, didn't see a question like this there. My personal opinion is the 2 day hoppers. You want to experience different attractions than DL and unfortunately thise are spread throughout all four parks and with the suze of WDW not really doable on one day at a pace that actually allows you to enjoy the day. Also read up on FP+ as that is much more complicated than grabbing a FP at DL. DISboards has an entire forum dedicated to this subject. Also prioritize where you want to be at evening as AK will have its new nighttime events but EPCOT is very nice to visit after dark. But you'll only have one night. And in my opinion the 7 dwarves coaster is best in the dark (btw you will need either a FP+ 60 days in advance or to ride that rope drop or closing or possibly during parade for anything less than a 60 minute wait)

 

My opinion on the things to hit as different:

 

Animal Kingdom park itself but you only have to ride Kilamangari Safari and Expedtion Everest. Other rides there pale in comparison to their DL "counterparts". I would also recommend seeing the Lion King show as it blows you away.

 

Hollywood Studios you only need to ride Tower of Terror to see the difference in that ride as compared to CA. If you aren't a fan of ToT skip that park altogether.

 

EPCOT is fun to visit all the lands. Definately make it there for that. Soarin is a different film now, around the world so might check that out. Test Track is a sad ride for the same track as RSR.

 

Magic Kingdom is less "full" of attraction than DL. Walk around to take in the differences and as far as rides you must check out to see differences are Splash, Space and Thunder.

 

Have a great time whatever you decide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
msmayor

msmayor

Posted
Posted

Keep in mind that you have to allow the time needed to debark, clear customs, shuttle to the car rental place and then get to the Magic Kingdom. I would imagine that if you self-debark and carry all your own luggage off, AND passengers start leaving by 8am, you could make it to the rental agency by 9-9:30 (there are no rental counters at the port).

 

By the time you get the car, you're a good 45 min- 1 hour to Disney. I wouldn't expect to be walking through the gates until 11am at the earliest.

 

December 3-4 is a weekend and during the busy Christmas holiday season. Crowds will be high.

 

If I was doing this with my husband, we would only do one day hoppers for the 3rd. We would only visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot because of the ease of monorail travel, starting in MK and ending in Epcot (because its open later). We would stay on property to make it a quicker trip to bed once we finished.

 

The next day, with a 5:30 flight out, we'd enjoy a leisurely breakfast and then shop a bit at Downtown Disney before heading off to the airport to return the car and fly home. We wouldn't bother with a park knowing we need to be at the airport by 2:30 (yeah, we'd plan 3 hours ahead because security lines can be horrid at MCO.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Magellan321

Magellan321

Posted
Posted (edited)
Umm...that Dec 3/4 weekend is the start of Pop Warner at WDW, so there will be a fair number of 'energetic' teens invading then.

Yes they are....but they also spend the majority of their time at their competitions at Disney's Wide World of Sports and ESPN venues.

Edited by Magellan321
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
JohninDC

JohninDC

Posted
Posted
Has anyone done this via Uber or a taxi? We don't have a credit card so renting a car for the day seems not so do able. We have almost 12 hours to kill before our flight home and would love to spend our last day in Florida at Disney.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Uber requires either a credit card or debit card, and the cab fare from PC to WDW has to be about $150+ :eek: I would figure out how to rent a car using your debit card, or get a credit card and rent the car - usually under $50/day plus gas/tolls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...