What time to board the fantasy when staying at the Hyatt MCO

[nj1k]

Hi everyone,
We are coming into the Hyatt MCO on Friday night and will be boarding the Disney Fantasy on Saturday. We signed up for the Disney Magical Express (Ground transfer). We were informed by Disney that the coaches run from 9:30 till 1:30.

What time should we board the bus for the ship?

My goal here is :
1) Not have to wait too long in lines to board the ship (MAIN GOAL)
2) Have enough time to check out the ship before it sets sail.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi everyone,
We are coming into the Hyatt MCO on Friday night and will be boarding the Disney Fantasy on Saturday. We signed up for the Disney Magical Express (Ground transfer). We were informed by Disney that the coaches run from 9:30 till 1:30.

What time should we board the bus for the ship?

My goal here is :
1) Not have to wait too long in lines to board the ship (MAIN GOAL)
2) Have enough time to check out the ship before it sets sail.

Well, the DCL transfer desk opens at 9:00 (in my experience) with the first bus departing when full (around 9:10-9:15) arriving at the port around 10:15.

Once at the port, you will be allowed to enter the terminal, regardless of what actual Port Arrival Time you have. But, your boarding number that you get at check in is tied to the PAT you selected.

Boarding begins, typically, around 11:30 with Concierge guests first, followed by Platinum Castaway Club members. Then they start calling boarding numbers. Once the boarding number being called catches up with the one being issued at check in Open Boarding is called (anyone holding any boarding number may board). This generally happens around 12:30-12:45. The period between 11:00-12:30 (open boarding call) can be very busy/crowded in the terminal. By 12:30 most people have boarded and you just go directly from check in onboard the ship with minimal lines.

The ship doesn't sail until 5:00, plenty of time to check things out (and attend the muster drill)

 

[nj1k]

This is AWESOME!

So maybe get on the bus by 11:30am and get there by 1pm for a hassle free boarding?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is AWESOME!

So maybe get on the bus by 11:30am and get there by 1pm for a hassle free boarding?

The "sweet spot" is around 12:30-1:00. Before that, there's still a lot of early arrival people. After that, the buses from the resorts start arriving.

 

[nj1k]

Interesting, so 11am then. I am assuming it takes 1 hour 30 minutes to get there.

 

[Dug720]

This is AWESOME!

So maybe get on the bus by 11:30am and get there by 1pm for a hassle free boarding?

Also, I don't know how long they hold a bus to see if it fills - the first ones are sent out full. If you get there at 11:30 and a bus has just gone and you are the only ones, they may make you wait a while to leave in case others come. Unless it's a case of a late-arriving flight booked through DCL, I don't see them sending a bus with one family on it. Just something to consider - if you go later in the day while you may not have to wait at the port, you may have to wait at MCO for more people to board the bus.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Interesting, so 11am then. I am assuming it takes 1 hour 30 minutes to get there.

The bus trip is about an hour. Could be longer, if there are traffic issues.

Also, I don't know how long they hold a bus to see if it fills - the first ones are sent out full. If you get there at 11:30 and a bus has just gone and you are the only ones, they may make you wait a while to leave in case others come. Unless it's a case of a late-arriving flight booked through DCL, I don't see them sending a bus with one family on it. Just something to consider - if you go later in the day while you may not have to wait at the port, you may have to wait at MCO for more people to board the bus.

The buses depart every 20 minutes, or when full. Whichever is first.

 

[Dug720]

The buses depart every 20 minutes, or when full. Whichever is first.

Gotcha. So theoretically they *could* be waiting 20 minutes at MCO if they got down right after a bus left.

Just something to consider.

 

[nj1k]

So looks like 11:30am might be the sweet spot for me. Thanks for all this great information.

 

[kiford]

This is AWESOME!

So maybe get on the bus by 11:30am and get there by 1pm for a hassle free boarding?

That's pretty much the time we had planned to catch the bus when we were staying at the MCO Hyatt last year. We hate standing in line at the terminal and don't like carrying our our carry-on bags until the room is ready. I figured we'd leave our room about 11-11:15, make our way leisurely down to the bus. In the end, some friends who live in Florida picked us up as they decided to sail with us at the last minute. That was nice and obviously inexpensive but we did have to wait outside and inside at the terminal and did have to shove our bags under the table at lunch and tripped on them a couple of times and then had to haul them around for a bit before our rooms were ready. Pretty much confirmed to me that I like to arrive later.

We usually arrive about 12:30-1:00 as we are normally coming from WDW using their transfers. We still have time to check that the excursion tickets are correct and fix if necessary (had to do this a couple of times), check at Guest Services for alcohol tastings which may still be available, have lunch, read the Navigator, unpack the carry-on, wander about a bit, then return to the room to get ready for the lifeboat drill. Sometimes our luggage arrives before the drill, so if it does we have some time to unpack that too. I consider that time the sweet spot too.

 

[hanscarlet]

We prefer to do the earliest PAT you can do and take the first or second bus out of MCO to the port, there are no lines then and you just wait around to board... sometimes lines can be bad if you arrive at 11:00am... even if you have an early PAT it will be meaningless if you're stuck in lines to check in.... we arrived in the NYC port at 11:30 and I had an 11:00am PAT, by the time we got through the check in lines, they were boarding group 16 and here I am waiting in line with boarding group #3 card.... also if you don't select the earliest PAT and you plan on getting there first thing in the morning you can still wait.... one time I could only secure a 12:00pm PAT and so they gave me group boarding #7....

but like others said we've also arrived after 12:30pm and it's more chill but we like to have lunch on the boat so that's why we go early now

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I agree with Shmoo on the timing. As a bonus to this, if you get on the boat right about 1:00 or a bit after, they will call out that the rooms are open at about 1:30, so if you can drop your carry-ons at your room and THEN head to the buffet for lunch. We observed that when they call out that the rooms are open Cabanas EMPTIES out, and you can eat in peach and comfort. We ate a late breakfast and had a few snacks with us so that we could hold out until then for lunch.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Thanks for posting your question nj1k - I was wondering the same thing. All the replies have been so helpful.
We have never done a Disney cruise (any cruise actually!) and are doing a 3-night sailing on the Dream in February. We plan to fly down the night before and stay at the MCO Hyatt too. We've been to WDW so many times I really know what I'm doing with the planning. But I know so very little about Disney cruise. It's fun learning about/planning something new!

 

[gotomu212]

Just a clarification on PAT and Disney transfers at Port Canaveral. At online check-in you are no longer selecting PATs IF you have already purchased Disney transfers from the airport. Your boarding card is assigned when you get to the port based on arrival at the port (like the old days). This only applies to those who have Disney transfers already purchased before your online booking window.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just a clarification on PAT and Disney transfers at Port Canaveral. At online check-in you are no longer selecting PATs IF you have already purchased Disney transfers from the airport. Your boarding card is assigned when you get to the port based on arrival at the port (like the old days). This only applies to those who have Disney transfers already purchased before your online booking window.

Most of the time. We've had to select at Port Arrival Time on a B2B cruise (second leg) as well as when we've gone directly from the airport (not staying at the Hyatt) to port.

GENERALLY, if you've booked the Hyatt through DCL, you won't select a PAT during the online check in process. If you booked the Hyatt yourself (directly), you will be prompted to select one.

It's a good "rule of thumb" to go ahead and select a time, if you are prompted to do so.

 

[Charlies_Mommy]

I booked hyatt privately using points and booked the DCL bus thru my TA. We did *not* have to choose a PAT. FYI.

 

[Starwind]

We booked the Hyatt through the Hyatt website. We booked DCL transfers with DCL prior to PIF, from the airport.

When we did online checkin it did not ask us and did not allow us to choose a PAT.

Our intention is to be on the first or second bus leaving MCO. It will be interesting to see what boarding group we get.

SW

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We booked the Hyatt through the Hyatt website. We booked DCL transfers with DCL prior to PIF, from the airport.

When we did online checkin it did not ask us and did not allow us to choose a PAT.

Our intention is to be on the first or second bus leaving MCO. It will be interesting to see what boarding group we get.

SW

We are more or less in the same situation. Hoping to get on ship before the crowd to sure a gingerbread house (going in December).

 

[RedStars]

We booked our PAT before adding DCL transfers. Originally we had a 1145a PAT but after I booked the transfer (we're staying at the Hyatt) our online checkin wouldn't show the PAT anymore.

 

[RedStars]

We booked our PAT before adding DCL transfers. Originally we had a 1145a PAT but after I booked the transfer (we're staying at the Hyatt) our online checkin wouldn't show the PAT anymore.