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Need help with my Disney/Cruise trip


JasonL

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We are flying into Florida from Washington state for a Thanksgiving week cruise on the Oasis. This is the same week as the RC blog cruise on the harmony, wish I could have convinced myself to pay the extra to join yall. Harmony leaves out of Orlando and Oasis out of Miami. 

So, my question is this-

I want to spend a couple of days before the cruise to do a Disney park or 2 and I hope to also squeeze my way into a RC blog meet up. Has anyone else done this? Are there usually meet ups before Group cruises and is everyone invited or just those on the cruise? Also, Should I get a hotel next to disney and then just drive(or uber) to the port on cruise morning? Rent a car for the few days or just use the ground transportation around disney then catch an Uber to MIami?  Also would love any recommendations for a good mid range hotel near or in Disney. Thanks guys

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Miami is a reasonable trek from Orlando area, might make more sense to look at Amtrak or car rental depending on the size of your party and timelines.

Again depending on the size of your group there are a couple of decent "suite" hotels near disney that let you fit a larger number of people in a single room (I use BlueHeron Beach) but there are others ... Doubeltree Downtown Disney is also nice since you get a couch in the living room to complement 1-2 beds in the bedroom.

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Whenever we cruise from Miami, we fly to Fort Lauderdale. We always rent a car to do a 2 or 3 day trip to Orlando. Takes the hassle out of looking for transportation. However, the last time, I was surprised that now, there are no toll booths so check with the rental agency for a way to get a sunshine pass for the duration of your trip. 

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16 hours ago, JasonL said:

Are there usually meet ups before Group cruises and is everyone invited or just those on the cruise?

Traditionally there has been a pre-cruise meet up. We don't usually make plans until much closer to the sail date.

All are welcome, even those not sailing.

Just like my group cruises, I want them to be as inclusive as possible. 

16 hours ago, JasonL said:

Also, Should I get a hotel next to disney and then just drive(or uber) to the port on cruise morning? Rent a car for the few days or just use the ground transportation around disney then catch an Uber to MIami? 

Renting a car will almost certainly be cheaper than ubering to Miami from Orlando.

16 hours ago, JasonL said:

Also would love any recommendations for a good mid range hotel near or in Disney

I'll defer to @Sharla or @michelle for hotel recommendations.

What I do is look for Priceline Express deals with at least 4 stars near WDW. You will almost always come out with a nice hotel.

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Florida has long been the rental car capital of the US.  In many cases it is the most logical and attractive means to get around Florida.  Some rental agencies have one-way penalties but many do not.  Shop around.

You can look at Uber to get an estimate and I think you'll find it a pretty expensive option for long distances like Orlando to South Florida.  

Amtrak does have service between Orlando and South Florida but you'll still need an Uber or some means to get to and from the train stations.  In the years ahead there are talks about better train service between Orlando and South Florida but we aren't there yet so Amtrak would be it for a train option for now.   

As far as hotels near Disney there are so many.     Pricing varies based on load factors so a good deal in a particular hotel one time may not be a good deal the next time.  

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Hi Jason, there are a lot of factors in choosing a hotel at Walt Disney World, such as on-site or off-site, distance to the parks, your party size, etc. 

I would suggest using a travel agent of course in all aspects of planning, Disney is not just a "get up and go to the parks" kind of thing anymore, and for the time being at least, you'll need theme park reservations to even get in. 

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Thanks for the info everyone. I ended up extending my stay after the cruise until Wednesday because the airfare on thanksgiving weekend is crazy expensive so it worked out better.  The Disney property hotels basically dictated itself based on my family of 5(over 4 people closes a lot of options) and prices based on availability. Ended up with Caribbean Beach Resort and bought and reserved Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios for Monday and Tuesday. 

Fly into Miami the day before and will stay at the Hilton Doubletree. Cruise. Then rented a car which is supposed to be from the Doubletree Hilton location. Drive to Orlando Hotel. Disney 2 days. Drop Rental at Orlando Airport. Cry because vacation is over.

I imagine it should be easy to get back to the Doubletree for the car rental, especially because I can check it out before the cruise?

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Sounds like a good trip.

I have stayed at Caribbean beach and have it booked for the Disney World 50th anniversary weekend later this year (pending non-cancellation of festivities due to extended springbreak 2020), I know it just got upgraded/refurbished so it should be nice and it has the skyliner access to Hollywood Studios which is something different.

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