Hi Caleb!
Thanks for stopping by planDisney! I love your vacation style as it combines three of my favorite things - Walt Disney World Resort, runDisney, and Disney Cruise Line. Thinking ahead about transportation options is smart as there are a lot of logistics to consider when
booking a land and sea adventure alongside a runDisney race!
As you may already know,
runDisney races typically have very early start times. For example, the upcoming races that are part of Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend all have 5:00 AM start times. The last 10K I ran with runDisney, I had finished my race, freshened up at the resort, and was in Disney's Hollywood Studios by 10:00 AM, so you are correct that you have most of your day ahead of you on runDisney race days.
With that in mind, let's look at transportation options for your cruise. Disney Cruise Line does offer
ground transportation (for an additional cost) from your Walt Disney World Resort hotel to Port Canaveral. However, I would be hesitant to recommend making this arrangement on the morning of a runDisney race. I chatted with a Disney Cruise Line Representative today and confirmed that transfers typically depart Walt Disney World Resort fairly early in the morning. She shared that on most occasions they depart around 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM. I think your morning would be a bit rushed to squeeze in your race and arrive back at your hotel in time to make your bus.
One option you could consider would be renting a car before your cruise. If you choose to do this, you'll be happy to know that Walt Disney World Resort offers
complimentary self-parking for overnight hotel guests at both their resort property and at the theme parks. This would give you the option to use complimentary runDisney transportation from your
Disney Resorts Collection hotel or drive yourself to the start on race morning. You could then drive from your hotel to
Port Canaveral and return your car as a one-way rental to one of the rental car locations there. I would double-check the "all aboard" time for your sailing and make sure to leave plenty of extra time with this option as well to allow for any traffic on the way to the port and navigating the rental car return and shuttle to the cruise terminal. There are also some private transportation options that you could look at booking from your resort hotel to the port.
With either of these options, you could book one-way ground transportation (at an additional cost) through
Disney Cruise Line to return to Orlando International Airport at the end of your flight. The helpful representative I chatted with reminded me that you can
call Disney Cruise Line directly to book your ground transfer or you can contact your travel agent to add transportation if you used one when booking your cruise. Any ground transfers must be booked at least three days before sailing and become non-refundable seven days before your trip.
Caleb, I hope this is helpful as you start to think about adding a runDisney race to your Disney Cruise Line adventure. If you have more questions, please stop by and see us again at planDisney - we're all ears!
See ya real soon,
Kristi