Plan Your Own Disney or Universal Cruise Excursion: 10 Facts to Know and What to Expect
- Nov 9
- 8 min read
Disney or Universal as a Cruise Excursion: 10 Facts to Know
When we sail on a cruise from New York to southern destinations, Port Canaveral is frequently a port of call. Most cruise lines offer a transfer to either Disney or Universal. A transfer means just the bus ride to the parks, not the tickets.
Cruise excursions are not sponsored by the cruise line itself. Local tour companies partner with the cruise line to offer tours for the area. What is offered can be based on a lot of factors: availability of transportation, cooperation with the local businesses or if there are a lot of ships in port.
As we stated in the introduction, if a cruise ship docks at Port Canaveral, you have an option to visit the Orlando area theme parks, quite often a great alternative to the other excursions that the cruise line may offer. This is because, currently, Port Canaveral is not developed as a shopping, dining, entertainment district (yet), so when you get off the ship, there is nothing to see or do. Secondly, the nearest area to get to quickly is Cocoa Beach, or Cape Kennedy Space Center, which is nice, but you might not want to do that again, Finally, in cooler weather (and yes, central Florida can experience cooler weather during the winter months), a theme park can be a better alternative to a beach day or water activities.
We have often been the only ship in port at Port Canaveral, and as a consequence, have been offered fewer excursions, including a bus transfer to one of the area's theme parks.
This was confusing to us when a ship has sailed from the north in winter. After all, when some schools are on holiday during mid-February, what can be more practical than to offer a ship full of winter-weary families a chance to visit Disney World, Universal Orlando or Sea World. Yet, more than one occasion, there was no transfer offered to any theme park and so here are our suggestions if you want to create your own, as well as our tips when a transfer is offered.
If you do not see the excursion offered, call the cruise line, it might be added if there is enough demand.
Before you start planning your own excursion, check to see what time your ship docks and how long you will be in port.
You can take a cab or car service to Disney World but the prices surge as soon as a ship docks, so it can cost as much as $200, each way.
You can also rent a car but be aware that the timing of your time in Port Canaveral may not coincide with the car rental's hours. Almost all of the rental car agencies are off-site. They do offer a shuttle but there may be restrictions. For example, the rental agency may close before it's time to return to the ship (cutting your time short in the parks) or it may not be open on weekends. Also, most car rental agencies have to shuttle you to their lots from Port Canaveral, so you'll waste time that way. You can also take a car service to the car rental site, which adds to you cost, but it's not a very high price.
Florida theme parks are crowded all of the time but there can be some lighter times: January and February, September and October. March and April are a gamble because Spring Break vacation times vary throughout the world. Normally, Spring Breaks start the second week in March (don't forget, we are talking about colleges and universities, too) and the last one will end when the religious holidays are over (Easter and Passover). May is interesting. Local schools take advantage of the fact that Spring Break is over and have their year end trips. Schools in southern United States end their school year in May, so families may be on vacation. Also, many events are held in May, particularly school-age sports such as lacrosse, cheerleading, etc. The parks might be a little crowded in May. June, July and August are traditional vacation months with more families. As for November and December: early November can be a nice time, before the United States Thanksgiving holiday, which is the last Thursday (and which some schools have off for the entire week). December is very popular: parents will pull their children out of school to avoid the Christmas holiday week with crowds picking up from December 20 to as late as January 4. But, it might be worth it to go to a theme park the first week in December. If you think that's crowded, try 3 weeks later.
Keep reading for our tips for making your limited time in a theme park while traveling on cruise to be more successful.
Make sure you have the My Disney Experience, Universal Orlando or SeaWorld app downloaded and ready to go.
1.Plan ahead: purchase your theme park ticket ahead of time online. You can download the voucher or have something in your email. If you have an annual pass, make sure you have it with you. Check your app as well to make sure that your annual pass is there. Again, double check when your ship docks and when you have to be back on board. If you see online that the time in Orlando is from 9AM-7PM, you most likely have to be back on board by 6:30. That means you should leave the Orlando/Kissimmee area by 5:00 (meaning pulling out of the parking lot). If you rent a car, factor in an extra half hour.
2. If you’re going to Universal Orlando, it's best to either do Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure or Epic Universe, which is at a separate location from the other parks. Volcano Bay (water park) may not be practical and there are probably free water options on your cruise ship, anyway. Remember, your time is limited. At least you’ll get on the rides. But, you will not have that much time for park hopping if you want to do a lot of attractions. Our tip is to stick to one park and enjoy it to the max. That way, you won't have to buy a park-to-park ticket. For Disney World. If you are an annual passholder, make a reservation anyway, just in case. We always do. It's best to go to Epcot or Magic Kingdom. You will park or be dropped off at the Transportation Center and then you will take the monorail for whichever park. For SeaWorld, have the app ready. For all three, you can consider the upgrades and buy the express pass (it's an add-on). You'll get on the rides, but you'll spend a fortune...
3. Factor in about 60-90 minutes from the cruise terminal to the parks and vice versa. This cuts into your time at the parks. Also, factor in how long it takes you to walk back to the parking lot while you're in the park. Many times, you will have to add in an extra 30-45 minutes just to get to your car or the cruise excursion bus. So if you have to be back at the bus at 5:00PM, start walking out of the park at 4:15PM, especially if you are at the back of the park.
4. The most important thing you need to do is to take a photo of the bus and find out what time you need to be back. Don’t wait until the last minute to try to get back to the bus. If the bus is delayed, the ship will wait for you. But if you are delayed getting back to the bus, it will not wait for you! They usually give you a phone number to call in case you truly do have a real emergency (you can’t call at the last minute just because you’re on a ride).
5. What to expect for Disney World: most of the time, you are dropped off at the Transportation Center. For trips like this, it’s best to stick to either Magic Kingdom or Epcot. A monorail will take you to either park. This will afford you the least travel time to other parks. Remember, most Disney buses or monorails run every 20 minutes so you have to deduct at least 40 minutes from your fun to travel to and from another park. At the transportation center, you go through security and then you can hop back and forth between Magic Kingdom and Epcot via monorail without the hassle of going through security again and again. When it's time to leave, figure on waiting up to 20 minutes for the monorail to take you back to the Transportation Center.
7. The parking area for cruise excursion buses will not be as close to the park entrance as the Disney buses, so factor in walking another 10-15 minutes to be back to your bus on time.
8. Sometimes, the cruise line offers a parks transfer and/or a Disney Springs transfer. Since the parks sell out faster, taking the transfer to Disney Springs is an option if you want to go to the parks. Remember, there are no theme park buses from Disney springs, only to the resorts. You can take a car service from there to the park or walk to the Saratoga Springs Resort and take a bus from there. Again, timing is very important. It’s better to get back to Disney Springs earlier and walk around there than to miss the bus back to your ship because you fooled around trying to ride Space Mountain. Travel Tip for Your Trip: the Disney Springs shopping, dining and entertainment district is free and since your time at Port Canaveral will probably be very short, you may want to just do this and save money, time and hassle in the parks and still have a bit of the Disney experience.
9. For Universal, pay attention where the bus drops you off in comparison to the Universal buses. Remember that you have to walk through City Walk from the parks to get back to the bus. The transfer to Universal is great because there is no separate bus between the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure or City Walk. Travel Tip For Your Trip: If you want, just hang out at City Walk for free and then get back on the bus to your ship.
10. Remember that you have to go through security to get back on the ship, so popcorn or cookies are about all you can bring back. No real food from one of Epcot’s festivals, for example!
REMEMBER, IF YOU GO OFF THE SHIP AND PLAN YOUR OWN EXCURSION, THE SHIP WILL NOT WAIT FOR YOU!!!!!
So, is the theme parks bus transfer off a cruise it worth it? Is it worth it to get there on your own? That depends. If you’re an annual pass holder, then this is just one more trip with your ticket within your use year and you know this is just a stop-by. We don’t expect to have a full experience because time is often very limited.
If you’ve been before, again, it’s nice to stop by and have some fun, especially if the weather is not the best in Florida and a trip to the beach would be a waste.
If you’ve never been to any of the Orlando theme parks, this can be an introduction. You certainly won’t get a chance to do everything (unless your ship is parked overnight and you buy two transfers). But you’ll get a taste of the experience and that’s what traveling can be all about: just a chance to have the experience.
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