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Hello,
We are going on the Wonder in Sept. I have heard get to the port Early to enjoy?? I'm not not sure how well a 4 and 5 year old will do with waiting for 2 hours or more. Any suggestions?? Also has anyone tried the stingrays at Castaway Cay with a 5 year old? I'm thinking on trying it for her.
Thanks 95 days till we leave for Our Disney Trip!!
I guess the hard part is timing it right. Try to board fairly early as you can eat and swim and explore while others are boarding, so have what you need in your carry-on.
We got to the port around 10:30 with a 4 and 7 YO. Between checking in, getting their wristbands and pager for the labs, and walking around the terminal, there wasn't too much downtime They do have TVs and couches so you can watch Disney Classics. As well, Mickey and Minnie came out for pictures. We were in group 2 and started boarding around 11:45. Which gave us more time on the ship
ETA: Sorry, forgot about your second question. We did the Stingray adventure at CC and had a great time. I'd highly recommend it. It was me and DD (7) but they actually let DS "tag along" (he was 4) and he spent his time going back and forth between my DH who was on the beach taking pictures of us and me. They let him feed the stingrays and one of the CMs actually carried him out into the water where DD and I were snorkeling. It was a great piece of Disney magic by a very thoughtful CM
Marnie, how do they go about grouping you for boarding? Do you know? Just curious
You get the boarding card when you go thru security at the port (at least that's how it was done in August 2006). They'll start calling boarding groups as it gets closer to noon. The suites board first (group 1) and actually have their own seating area near the Mickey Ears that is all roped off. I'm pretty sure they called groups 1 and 2 together, but can't tell you what they did after that as we were already on the ship
We cruised last month. Got to the port about 10:30 or 11 a.m. - and everything slowed up at that point! Had to wait in line to drop off luggage, wait in line to park, wait in line for terminal security - all of this is managed by port employees/systems (not Disney). One of the employees did say something about "seems everyone arrived early today," so maybe our experience was unusual.
I'd guess that we got to the check-in desk by 11:30. Walked right up, registered very quickly, and were given our boarding card. If memory serves, we were group 6. But, really, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it sounds. They were boarding group 2 as we were checking in. Minnie was posing for pics. Some folks were milling around while others were lounging on sofas. (We were travelling without kids.) We waited not more than 30 minutes, TOPS, before we boarded. And I'd guess that only a couple hundred folks boarded before we did. Getting lunch and a spot at the pool were a breeze.
Even with the waiting, I would do it the same way again. If we had arrived an hour earlier at the port, we would have boarded 30 minutes earlier. If we had arrive two hours earlier at the port, we would have boarded 30 minutes earlier.
I would recommend arriving by 11am so you can be one of the first 2 or 3 groups to board...And as mentioned before, not much down time, especially if you are waiting in line for pictures with the characters!
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thanks for your input everyone. I called the Radisson we are taking the 10am shuttle to the port. and dropping the car off budget before. so we can go as a group.
I think the arrival time is a personal preference... we like to get to the port prior to 10:30 so we can be in the call for group 1/2..... But then we do wait... but we get on the ship first and go up on deck and and get a chair by the pool.... plus no one else is at the pool at that point.... like I said... all personal preference....
Generally you can't enter or even approach the terminal until 10:30. Any advantage you might get out of getting a slightly lower boarding group number is offset by the extra time you spend waiting in the terminal - the crowd that builds up in the terminal waiting to board usually boards within about 20 minutes, so, for example, arriving at 10:30 rather than 11:30 may only yield a 15 minute advantage at boarding time. For many, that 15-20 minute savings seems worthwhile (what else can you do with your morning?). Note, though, that the tradition of arriving so early began back before you could make Palo and spa reservations, and sign up for the kids clubs, online. While folks who couldn't get reservations online (or want to make modifications) still will want to get on board ASAP, most folks boarding early these days are just making a beeline for lunch. Staterooms are generally not available until 1:30pm, and soon afterwards the pools start to fill up.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
most will say arrive around 10-11:00am any earlier and you won't be allowed in the terminal till 10:00. However, we still plan to leave WDW by 8:00 and arrive at port by 9:00 or 9:30 to allow for time to park and stuff. I want as much time in the terminal as possible before they board the ship.
Like Dave mentioned, you can't even enter the DCL Terminal area/gate until 10:30 am. Also, if you are on a 7-night cruise, the parking lot is right near the terminal and you don't have access to it until 10:30 am. So, there honestly is no reason to be at port before 10:15/10:30 am.
On our first DCL cruise we arrived around 10:30 am. We checked our bags at the curb. Then, my husband went to park the car while I took our children into the terminal. We were given a boarding card after going through the metal detector before the escalator. We were in group 4 or 5. We had already checked in at our WDW resort. So, we were able to skip that line. We registered the kids for the Kid Clubs (in the back to the right near the snack bar), got our pager and their wristbands. We saw and in the terminal and then waited for about an hour and a half.
On our second DCL cruise, we left our WDW resort around 10/10:30. Along the way we stopped at Wal-Mart (we picked up a case of water, snacks for the movies/shows and any other cruise necessities). We got to port around 11:15/11:30. They didn't give us a boarding card (we were to board after all the other numbers were called). This time we didn't check-in at the resort. So, we waited in the very short Castaway Club Members line, registered the kids and saw and . Then, they started boarding the passengers. We waited about 15/20 minutes until we boarded.
We plan to arrive around 11:15 am again for our upcoming September cruise. We enjoyed a very leisurely morning at our resort and then headed out for Port Canaveral.
Once onboard, both times, we ate lunch first and then the kids swam in the pool. By the time we were done swimming, the rope was down leading to our stateroom (around 1:30/1:45 pm).
Make sure to carryon whatever items you need for the next three/four hours (bathing suits, suntan lotion, diapers, wipes, medicine, etc . . . )
Have a magical cruise!
- Jennifer
(Sorry so wordy. I am one of those people who had trouble with "under 100 words or less" papers in school.)
most will say arrive around 10-11:00am any earlier and you won't be allowed in the terminal till 10:00. However, we still plan to leave WDW by 8:00 and arrive at port by 9:00 or 9:30 to allow for time to park and stuff. I want as much time in the terminal as possible before they board the ship.
I agree with others that you won't be let anywhere near at that time of day We got there at 9:45, and were told to come back in a half hour. They wouldn't let us park (we had a rental car) and we went out and drove around, and then came back at 10:15/10:30
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I'm not not sure how well a 4 and 5 year old will do with waiting for 2 hours or more. Any suggestions?? Also has anyone tried the stingrays at Castaway Cay with a 5 year old? I'm thinking on trying it for her.
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They do have TVs and couches so you can watch Disney Classics. As well, Mickey and Minnie came out for pictures. We were in group 2 and started boarding around 11:45. Which gave us more time on the ship 
Like Dave mentioned, you can't even enter the DCL Terminal area/gate until 10:30 am. Also, if you are on a 7-night cruise, the parking lot is right near the terminal and you don't have access to it until 10:30 am. So, there honestly is no reason to be at port before 10:15/10:30 am.
On our first DCL cruise we arrived around 10:30 am. We checked our bags at the curb. Then, my husband went to park the car while I took our children into the terminal. We were given a boarding card after going through the metal detector before the escalator. We were in group 4 or 5. We had already checked in at our WDW resort. So, we were able to skip that line. We registered the kids for the Kid Clubs (in the back to the right near the snack bar), got our pager and their wristbands. We saw 
and 
in the terminal and then waited for about an hour and a half. 
We enjoyed a very leisurely morning at our resort and then headed out for Port Canaveral.
Once onboard, both times, we ate lunch first and then the kids swam in the pool. By the time we were done swimming, the rope was down leading to our stateroom (around 1:30/1:45 pm).
Make sure to carryon whatever items you need for the next three/four hours (bathing suits, suntan lotion, diapers, wipes, medicine, etc . . . )
Have a magical cruise! 
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