Disney Cruise Shuttles

Disney’s bus transfers to and from the port are convenient, but also pretty expensive, especially for a family:

• Disney offers bus transfers between any of the Walt Disney World resort hotels and Port Canaveral, or between the airport or the Hyatt MCO and Port Canaveral. You can also do a multi-part transfer (for example airport-resort-port-airport).
• In other embarkation ports, Disney almost always offers bus transportation between the airport (or multiple airports if there are several nearby), the hotel(s) and the cruise port.
  • Only hotels that are offered as pre- or post-cruise options by Disney Cruise Line have transportation available from Disney Cruise Line. If you stay in a different hotel, you’ll need to arrange your own transportation.
  • The cost depends on the prevailing transportation rates in that city and the distances between the airport, hotel and cruise port. Remember taxis and car services charge per car, whereas Disney charges per person.
  • With a party of two, the total cost for a private car or taxi will usually be similar to the total cost of Disney’s transportation. Lyft will almost always be cheaper, if it is offered in the city in question. A party of three or more people will almost always save money using independent transportation.
  • The primary appeal of using Disney’s transportation is that it’s easy; you follow the signs to the bus and it takes you where you need to be. That said, it’s not faster, it usually involves more waiting, not less, and it’s not flexible. If you want to get where you are going as fast as possible, either a taxi, car service (Lyft) or pre-booked private car is always going to beat the buses.

Disney’s transfers must be booked a minimum of 3 days before the start of the trip through your travel agent (or Disney if you booked direct). At the airports, a Disney rep will be at the baggage claim area to help direct guests to the bus. Your luggage will go directly to your stateroom; you just need take your day bag with you to the cruise terminal.

One down side of using the Disney bus system is that you will arrive at the port with a big group of people and at a time dictated by Disney. The result is often a long wait in the check-in lines. You may also miss lunch on the ship, since the buses tend to arrive in the afternoon.