Transportation to Cruise terminal? What's best for a party of 5?

[ChristopherFamily]

I was thinking of flying down the day before our cruise. I have read a few options of what to do but I am not sure what is best now in 2025.

Option 1 - Stay at the airport or a hotel nearby and take the DCL transportation from airport on cruise day. I read this can help us get onto the ship earlier.

Option 2 - Take Mears to WDW resort and then take DCL to cruise

Option 3 - Stay at a hotel near the cruise terminal - but how to get there?

I would like to easiest possibly most cost-effective way to do this. LOL I know Disney and cost effective don't always go hand in hand.

Thank you

 

[optstud]

We are doing a one-way car rental for our upcoming cruise.

 

[dreamer17555]

Easiest way is to stay at MCO Hyatt and take DCL transportation to the port (and yes it will come with an early boarding group).

However it is not cost effective. Transportation alone is $45 per person each way. So just from the Hyatt to the cruise terminal it will be $225- prior to hotel cost and the cost to return to the airport.

 

[starry_solo]

Stay at MCO Hyatt and take one of the other companies that do transport to Port Canaveral.

Go Port (round trip is $300) for a shared shuttle.
Cruise Control Transportation is $50 round trip, per person, so $250 for 5 people.

You can also look at Orlando Shuttle Service to see about private vans/rides for round trip. Those will likely be around $400-500, round trip, not including gratuity.

 

[Nickylv]

If you have to fly back home after the cruise and you want to take the Disney Cruise Line transportation please note, when they get to the airport they stop at Terminal B on level 1 only. No matter what airline you are flying out on, they will unload all the luggage and your on your own. There was a South West out door check in there, However if you are flying out less than two hours from then they will not except your luggage and you will have to cart all your luggage to a different terminal altogether. It was pretty crazy. Next time we would not take the DCL back to the airport after the cruise, we will hire an outside company to take us right to the terminal we are flying out of. We were 4 adults and two small children in strollers with 8 large checkin luggage, no way we could cart all that to another terminal. It was a cluster. We did however stay at the Beach Club 2 days before and took the DCL to the ship. That was very convienent. They pick your bags up from the room and you don’t see them until they are delivered to your state room. But as I said going from the ship to the airport that will never happen again.

 

[Girl of the South]

I think the MCO Hyatt will make you book a Suite for 5 people unless your kids are very young. Do a dummy booking before you make that decision. Might actually be a Florida law?

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

We are a family of 5 doing option 2. Is it the cheapest? No. Is it the most convenient / stress free? I think so. No dealing with rental cars or ride share Apps Etc. One less thing to worry about.

Boarding Group went from 13 to 3.

 

[TexasJedi]

My family of 5 just did option 2 with Mears to WDW - DCL to port - DCL to airport

For us, the convenience of DCL, peace of mind knowing that the cruise waits for DCL buses in case of a breakdown or traffic jam or whatever, and the earlier boarding were the factors that made us more willing to pay extra for it even though it definitely wasn't the most cost effective option.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

We rented a car once to drive from WDW to Port Canaveral for a non-Disney cruise. It was super easy. The car rental return location had a shuttle to the port.