DCL shuttle from MCO vs MCO Hyatt

[Cleocatra]

I’m hoping people can weigh in on advantages or disadvantages of taking the DCL shuttle from the airport or MCO Hyatt. Is the Hyatt the only airport hotel that the shuttle picks up from? If we don’t have a Disney status will we still end up having to wait a long time to get on board the ship or does taking the DCL shuttle get you onboard faster?

 

[Girl of the South]

The Hyatt is the only airport hotel you can take advantage of the direct DCL transfer. It’s different from a transfer from MCO in that you can leave your tagged luggage in your hotel room, and Disney will pick it up and transfer it to the ship for you.

If you choose the MCO Airport transfer, you will have to bring your bags to the bus check in, which is near baggage claim.

Hyatt transfer is from the Hyatt Lobby.

Be sure to check your DCL transfer to make SURE it states HYATT or AIRPORT. Also make sure you are on the Hyatt list when you check in, if you stay there.

Can’t beat the convenience but it’s an expensive hotel.

With the DCL transfer, your Port Arrival Time is given to you when you check in. Note this is different than your Boarding Group number but both are generally early-ish and won’t depend on your Castaway Cay status, or lack thereof!

 

[Cleocatra]

The Hyatt is the only airport hotel you can take advantage of the direct DCL transfer. It’s different from a transfer from MCO in that you can leave your tagged luggage in your hotel room, and Disney will pick it up and transfer it to the ship for you.

If you choose the MCO Airport transfer, you will have to bring your bags to the bus check in, which is near baggage claim.

Hyatt transfer is from the Hyatt Lobby.

Be sure to check your DCL transfer to make SURE it states HYATT or AIRPORT. Also make sure you are on the Hyatt list when you check in, if you stay there.

Can’t beat the convenience but it’s an expensive hotel.

With the DCL transfer, your Port Arrival Time is given to you when you check in. Note this is different than your Boarding Group number but both are generally early-ish and won’t depend on your Castaway Cay status, or lack thereof!

Are you given an earlier PAT time when you take the DCL transfer vs arriving on your own? I thought that people who have status get to board the ship first.

 

[auntlynne]

The system for Hyatt transfers changed this past year. Now, you get your bus time based on Castaway Status. Still probably earlier than other methods of transport.

 

[auntlynne]

If you take the “airport” transfers, I think you follow the PAT and BG you get at advance online check-in 30 days or whatever).

Especially since you are not flying in that day.

I’m doing a little research in this forum to see what the latest system is.

 

[auntlynne]

Yes, higher loyalty level = first dibs at choice of times. Not all pick earliest.

 

[Girl of the South]

Check in times days are determined by if you are Gold or Silver, etc. If this is your first cruise, your date might be a full week after all the other passengers who have taken more cruises.

They will have picked all the earlier times.

I have to honest, the first group might board at 11:15. And Open boarding might happen at 1:30. It’s a matter of a couple hours. And the cabins won’t be ready until maybe 2 or 3. In the grand scheme of life, I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about getting on the ship a little bit early, or spending a lot of extra money by staying at the Hyatt, to do so.

People sit around the pool or other common areas with their carry ons checking out the app, maybe eating some fries from the buffet, and waiting to get into their cabin, when they get on the ship a little earlier.

Nothing magical happens until the ship leaves the port, of course!

 

[auntlynne]

It is definitely easier to go the Hyatt route. I feel it’s a luxury, at a luxury price.

I managed to find a lower rate one night - after booking (directly, not through DCL) and modified my reservation. It was still around $240 + tax. I was fortunate.

I weighed many factors, including flight arrival after midnight, heat and humidity to wait for Uber to hotel (as shuttles stop at midnight) and that added cost, and then turn around after a short sleep to shuttle back to airport and get on bus.

My current feelings are shoot for 12:30 PAT. Hopefully the check-in line is shorter and they are or soon will be calling General Boarding, so Boarding Group is a moot point.

I’d rather sleep a little later. Lunch is served until 2 pm (seated) and 3+ for buffet.

But I am not a first timer, so some (not all) of the excitement from boarding is diminished. I just don’t want to stand in lines for check-in.

And look at alternate transportation if a party of more than 2.

 

[Girl of the South]

“The system for Hyatt transfers changed this past year. Now, you get your bus time based on Castaway Status“

Really? I can’t imagine them sending a half empty bus of Pearl folks . . Maybe they fill the buses in some “order” but I believe it has to be earlier than if you don’t take DCL transfer.

PS. As the previous poster mentioned, you can book the Hyatt on your own - get a AAA discount or whatever. You don’t have to go through DCL.

 

[auntlynne]

“The system for Hyatt transfers changed this past year. Now, you get your bus time based on Castaway Status“

Really? I can’t imagine them sending a half empty bus of Pearl folks . . Maybe they fill the buses in some “order” but I believe it has to be earlier than if you don’t take DCL transfer.

I’m sure it’s still fill a bus and go. But no longer an option for a newbie to be first in the line in the Hyatt lobby and be on that first bus. They are the last people with a block of time to even sign up for a bus. Unless all the veterans opt to sleep late.

 

[CanWeGoNow]

It's been a long time since I've done a Disney cruise, and seems like things have changed (no surprise). My google-fu is weak today, is there a spot someone can point me to that describes the process on the ground transfer from the MCO Hyatt as it works this summer?

I'm staying at the MCO Hyatt night before, and called DCL to add the ground transfer. We're splurging on concierge, and my kids are excited to get on board as soon as they can.

 

[Girl of the South]

"But no longer an option for a newbie to be first in the line in the Hyatt lobby and be on that first bus."

Really? Who cares??? We were ALL "newbies" once.

 

[lanejudy]

They will have picked all the earlier times.

Not necessarily. Our first cruise we still grabbed the earliest PAT. Not everyone wants to deal with the crush of people trying to board early.

Really? Who cares??? We were ALL "newbies" once.

Apparently it mattered to enough CC cruisers that DCL changed the Hyatt process last winter. There are multiple buses from the Hyatt and while I’m sure each goes out full, checkin for transfers and boarding the bus is now done by CC status.

OP - DCL Transfers from the Hyatt are very convenient, but the trade off is price.

 

[enzy65]

If you aren’t in a big hurry to be 1st on board, take the DCL transportation from the airport even if you are staying at the MCO Hyatt. You can be on your own time schedule and not have to sit around the hotel lobby waiting on a bus.
You can catch a bus from the airport and it doesn’t matter your PAT, when you arrive at terminal you get to go straight in. But you won’t be able to board until your group# is called.
We like the airport way since we can sleep in, have breakfast at McCoys and leisurely make our way down to DCL checkin. Yes you do have to take your own bags.

 

[kiford]

We did transfers from the Hyatt before they changed the process to give preference for CC status and it was waaay too early for us. We're Platinum so it would be worse for us now. The next time we stay there, we will do the transfers from the airport. We were told to be in the lobby for an 8:30 check-in, and we were on the bus before 9:30. Yeah - great, you get to the port early, but even with boarding group 6, we had to sit in the port for nearly two hours, and that's an additional two hours where I could have slept in and had breakfast. We were on the ship before 12:30, so that was another 90 minutes that I was hauling my bag around with me, trying to get food and eat before I could get into my room. Instead, I could have slept in until 9:30 am, had a long leisurely breakfast for an hour, packed calmly and relaxed in my room for 30 minutes, gone down to the airport to get the bus at 11, maybe got to the port around 12:30 pm, boarded after check-in around 1 pm and be able to sit in the Cove Cafe for an hour instead of fighting for a table at Cabanas because I had no time for breakfast.

 

[auntlynne]

"But no longer an option for a newbie to be first in the line in the Hyatt lobby and be on that first bus."

Really? Who cares??? We were ALL "newbies" once.

The term “newbie” is not a put down or derogatory word to me. It’s actually a term of fondness.

 

[WAbeachfam137]

We used DCL transfers from MCO for the first time on our trip in May this year. There were 10 of us traveling, all different castaway levels…from Gold to first time cruisers. We booked the DCL transfers about 6 months out and didn’t know how it would work with getting our boarding groups. When we all checked in at our different dates depending on our castaway status, because of the DCL transfers from MCO, none of us had to select port arrival times. It was selected for us. All 10 of us got boarding group #3. We did some research and found out they start check-in at the airport at 8am for bus assignments to the airport. So we headed to the airport from our hotel and returned our car, arriving in the waiting area by around 7:30am. By 8am they said we could line up and started checking us in, we did everything for check-in at the airport and were given a sticker for the first bus out of the airport. They loaded us on the bus around 9:45 and we left just before 10am. When we got to the cruise terminal we walked through security and straight upstairs because all the paper work had already been done. We boarded the ship less than hour later. It was a very smooth process and we will be doing this again for our cruise in January!

 

[DisneyLover83]

We did Hyatt MCO transfer late May. First time cruisers and we were the second to last people to check in with DLC in the Hyatt Lobby and we were on the last bus leaving the hotel. I know we were on the ship by 11:53am from some picture I took as we boarded. We were boarding group 3.

This was the Memorial Day weekend cruise and it was PACKED.

 

[Mommb]

I'm staying at the MCO Hyatt night before, and called DCL to add the ground transfer. We're splurging on concierge, and my kids are excited to get on board as soon as they can.

I haven't stayed at the Hyatt so I don't know the process. I think you can sign up/receive a shuttle time when you check in, so you know when to get in line to board.

If you are Concierge, you should be able to check in for the cruise as soon as you arrive at the port and will be in the first boarding group. So, it shouldn't matter which transportation you use as long as you arrive at the port before boarding begins.