Hi there Caroline, and welcome back to planDisney!
Having that seamless transition from staying at a
Disney Resort Hotel to heading on your Disney Cruise Line voyage and then returning post-cruise to another stay at Walt Disney World Resort just feels like having bonus vacation after vacation - and as someone who did this just last year, it just felt oh so good! I had the opportunity to stop by
Disney's Beach Club Resort to ask the Cast Members there about your plans next month and here's what they had to say:
- Overnight self-parking at the Disney Resort Hotels is complimentary for guests who are actively staying there with a current reservation. They stressed that officially the policy does not permit anyone who is not staying there to leave their vehicles unattended, especially since they now know that you intend to do so for several days while leaving the country. The Cast Members also shared that parking and security Cast Members have been especially stringent on monitoring and managing the vehicles that park on Disney Resort Hotel property during this time of the year, when the holidays bring extra pressure on available parking with the massive influx of guests in December. (Offerings and policies are however subject to change without prior notice and may be ultimately at the discretion of management - so you're absolutely welcome to speak with them in person about your situation to see whether they continue to uphold this policy or have other alternatives that they can suggest.)
One of the great things about having
Ground Transportation to and from our ship meant having to worry about our luggage far less and letting someone else deal with the traffic while we were whisked away between destinations, not to mention avoiding the need to try to get a desirable
Port Arrival Time as we were among the first to embark. There are a lot of folks who choose to drive to the theme parks themselves in order to avoid waiting to use the
complimentary Disney Resort Transportation, and in this case it might seem like an odd choice to opt for Ground Transportation with Disney Cruise Line just because the process tends to involve a lot of waiting, whether it's the motorcoach picking up fellow guests from other locations or sitting at the cruise terminal waiting for guests to finish disembarking. (In my personal experience, we used the Express Walk-Off option and got off early to avoid standing around in the lines to get off the ship, only to wait for almost an hour on the motorcoach.)
With this in mind, if efficiency and getting to your destination sooner is of a higher priority like it might typically be the case when you head to the theme parks, driving yourself and leaving your car at
Port Canaveral may end up being a quicker option that solves the issue of figuring out where to leave your vehicle! In my personal opinion, this might just outweigh any convenience you might have with Ground Transportation but you'll still want to be mindful of
any applicable cancellation fees if you do change your mind.
Here's hoping you find a place to park that makes sense for your needs while you set sail!
Prince