WDW before or after cruise?

[KBeck28]

We are traveling from Washington State for a cruise in Jan 2013. We are planning on packing a lot into a Florida vacay! Currently we have a 7 night Eastern booked and then immediately after we will visiting my parents in Key Largo for a week. My question is this. If we want to try to fit in 4-5 days at WDW during our trip, does anyone have suggestions on whether to do that before our cruise or after our Key Largo stay. We have never been to WDW and I realize this is a short amount of time to try to see everything, so we are just going to see what we can and return another time...I have just heard that you should always do the park before the cruise...probably so you can relax on the cruise after! LOL
Any advise would be great thanks!
Kim

 

[noahsmom]

Do you want to be relaxed when you go home or tired? If relaxed, go to WDW before the cruise. WDW is fun but tiring. We prefer going there before the cruise.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We like to break things up -- two days at WDW before the cruise, and two days after.

Going to WDW before the cruise and wearing ourselves out, then relaxing on the ship.

When we get off the ship we're having serious withdrawal, and going to the parks helps us get one last Disney fix before returning to the real world.

 

[wilma-bride]

You will struggle to try and fit it all into 4 days but I would definitely do it before the cruise. That way, you can use the cruise to relax.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

We have found doing WDW prior to the cruise is the best way for us to take a vacation. The cruise is so relaxing that we like to go home that way. Going through the parks is exhausting so doing the cruise at the end of the vacation is so much better.

 

[kcashner]

There are many advantages to WDW before the cruise. As noted, the cruise is more relaxing. THe kids get spoiled--NO, I won't get up and get you a (fill in the blank) is commonly heard after the cruise! Get up and get it your self--I'm the mom, not the server!

A more important reason is that if a flight is delayed, I'd rather miss a day at WDW than be dealing with being late or missing the ship. If luggage is lost, it can catch up with me while I'm at WDW.

 

[darkwing818]

We like to break things up -- two days at WDW before the cruise, and two days after.

Going to WDW before the cruise and wearing ourselves out, then relaxing on the ship.

When we get off the ship we're having serious withdrawal, and going to the parks helps us get one last Disney fix before returning to the real world.

This what we do. We hits the parks hard for 2 or 3 days prior to our cruise. Then after the cruise, we'll stay a couple of days at a WDW resort e.g. Beach club villas (easy access to EPCOT) & usually lay out by the pool & just relax before we drive home (700 miles) to Tennessee. But if you can't do both, do the Parks before you cruise. Either way have fun.

 

[wdwlovin'family]

Well, we've never cruised before, but are going in Jan 2013 with my ds and dbil who are veteran DCL cruisers and they also have annual passes. So far, our plan is to split up the day before the cruise between Epcot and Hollywood Studios (the last time we were there was 2 years ago and the kids want to see the new re-imagined Star Tours and what will be the new Test Track -- if we don't see anything else, that will be fine). Then, the day we disembark, we are driving directly over to MK and spending the day there, ending our lovely WDW/DCL vacation with Wishes! According to them, getting off the boat first thing in the a.m. and then going home is a little depressing. Going to MK afterwards and seeing the fireworks is like getting a "kiss" goodbye. At least, that's what they say -- I'm looking forward to finding out!!

 

[helenb]

We like to do the parks after, to avoid that 'withdrawal' feeling when we disembark. Additionally, we eat like pigs on the cruise (sad but true) and running around WDW afterward really helps burn the pounds off before we get home!

 

[Zeppelin]

We like to do the parks after, to avoid that 'withdrawal' feeling when we disembark. Additionally, we eat like pigs on the cruise (sad but true) and running around WDW afterward really helps burn the pounds off before we get home!

i'm with you...we are scheduled to do WDW four days after our 7 day carribean cruise in large part because its going to be a surprise to my daughter who thinks we're traveling home...

 

[Disneyhenry]

We did 10 days WDW before, had a blast but we were totally exhausted, so we really enjoyed relaxing on the cruise. But like other have posted I think that I would have liked to hit one WDW park before we headed back home.

 

[BradyBones]

I have to agree with many of the posters here. When we did our land and sea WDW/Cruise adventure, we opted to hit the parks first and then the cruise. DW was leaning toward cruise first, but after we discussed some of the pros and cons it was a pretty clear decision.

You're more likely to get a sunburn on the cruise and the heat and humidity on the ocean can induce sleepiness - especially if you're from higher and dryer climates, like Utah. On the ship, we tend to slow down and relax. The gentle movements of the ship lull you into a peaceful meditative state.

Whereas at WDW you have X number of days to do and see as much as you possibly can. With children who've never been (In fact, I'd only ever been to WDL), you can't just walk in and stroll around. Everyone has SOMETHING they've got to see.

So doing the land portion and then the cruise was really the best option for us and it worked out wonderfully.

 

[mmouse37]

We usually prefer before.....but this time due to scheduling (have to wait for school to get out as DD and nieces are teachers) so we are going after our Fantasy cruise in June.

MJ

 

[mamaprincess]

We have done it after the cruise and are doing it that way again. We just don't want to go home after the cruise. We like to know we still have more Disney to look forward to after we are kicked off the boat so early in the morning. We always take an evening departure Ught so that we can get as much Disney as possible before we leave. I feel like we have more closure that way and aren't as sad about leaving .

 

[mickeynut1]

We will be taking our first DCL cruise in June 2013 and we are staying at Disney for a few days before as well as a few days after. We tend to split our time evenly between the parks and resort, so I know we'll have plenty of down time after our cruise. But Disney can be relaxing and doesn't have to be all out go-go-go......it all depends on how you want/like to tour. Good luck deciding and happy planning .

 

[TinksDH]

We have done it after the cruise and are doing it that way again. We just don't want to go home after the cruise. We like to know we still have more Disney to look forward to after we are kicked off the boat so early in the morning. We always take an evening departure Ught so that we can get as much Disney as possible before we leave. I feel like we have more closure that way and aren't as sad about leaving .

We have done it this way too, and will be doing it this way in 2013. Actually, we split our WDW stay on both sides of our cruises, as we want to make sure we get down to FL with enough time to ensure we don't miss the cruise. If it was our first time, I think we'd opt to do WDW first, as the first time we did WDW we got pretty worn out! It would be more relaxing to rest on the cruise after WDW, versus the other way around.

When we did WDW after our most recent cruise, I think we didn't even go into the parks every day, but just hung around the resort. We didn't want to do "gonzo Disney" and get all exhausted after our relaxing cruise!

 

[taaren]

We like to do the parks after, to avoid that 'withdrawal' feeling when we disembark. Additionally, we eat like pigs on the cruise (sad but true) and running around WDW afterward really helps burn the pounds off before we get home!

We have done it after the cruise and are doing it that way again. We just don't want to go home after the cruise. We like to know we still have more Disney to look forward to after we are kicked off the boat so early in the morning. We always take an evening departure Ught so that we can get as much Disney as possible before we leave. I feel like we have more closure that way and aren't as sad about leaving .

Agree with this. It was a no brainer for our first cruise since it ended next to DLR, but it was a great relief to know our wonderful vacation wasn't over, we were just moving on to the next part. I was almost weeping when we had to leave the ship, so withdrawal factor would definitely win for us.

This year we're doing both before & after, next year we'll probably go for after again.

 

["Got Disney"]

I always go before....

The reason is is because it helps get our vacation into full gear...it always takes a few days for your body to start relaxing and getting into your vacation....so as your doing all your running around at WDW enjoying all that Mickey has to offer...you are preparing your body for the next stage....a relaxing do nothing cruise.....you are already into the swing of things...

for me going cruising first wastes valuable cruise time because again...takes a couple few days to get into vacation mode...and no sooner does that happen that it is time to get off the ship....and your like....wow what happened !

after time at WDW and the cruise you will be ready to head home.....well almost ready....

we always do it this way...and we do a week before and a week cruise....or at least 10 days total....not counting travel time.

 

[Never to old]

I vote for before the cruise. We did 1 day after our cruise and we were miserable. We were tired, sunburned and windburned. I wanted to see the Flower and Garden show and didn't really enjoy it. We also had reservations that evening that we would have lost money on if we didn't keep It. I wish I would have said the heck with that and went back to the resort. But no, after spending all that money on admission I felt I had to get my money's worth. I would not do it again.

 

[chinarider]

This is the first year we are doing WDW before the cruise. Granted it has been 6 years since our last cruise and it's just myself and my DD17 ( so she was much younger the previous times ). We did one few days before and after and then 2 with WDW after. Last time I said that I would prefer to switch it around so that we could rest and have calm after the parks. Also, this gives us a break after being together for a week straight at WDW for mama to get adult company and for my DD to be with others her age as well. When we did the cruise first, we always stayed overnight at the airport so, there was never a concern about delays and then on our first day off ship, we always had a leisurely day at the resort, DTD and a movie .That way we were fresh for our first day at the park. Even though my DD was 11 on our last trip, she still asked if we were doing "our usual " on the day that we arrived. This will not be the case since our flight is not supposed to land until 4 pm and we still need to check in etc and have an EMH the next morning. Also, catching a flight back home straight from the cruise was a little more complicated and now we're going to be hanging at the airport until about 3 that afternoon ( not too many flights fly where we need to go ). I think there are definetly pros and cons to both.