Cruise or disney first?

[bitlerzx4]

we have done cruise and then park and never again.

we came off so relaxed and chill... all to hit the parks... next time park then cruise.

 

[Tink2182014]

Cruise last so you can relax after playing in the parks

 

[Husurdady]

...Like an old Frank / Elvis tune...."My Way". We did it our way last April in to May 2012....Did the parks for a day....Did the Magic for 5 days....did the parks for 3 more days....did the Dream for 3 days......and did the parks for 3 more days. We did it our way...... 15 days of fun.....try it you will Love it.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

I haven't read through the thread. But, IMHO, I would go to Disney first. In 2008 we did before and after, and after the cruise my girls were ready to go home.

 

[Kim1964]

We just went on our first ever cruise last week, four nights on the Disney Dream. We got off the ship and spent three nights at Universal. Putting my general apathy toward Universal aside (my kids love it so we went), I wished we'd been able to do parks first, then cruise, then head home. We booked our next cruise while still onboard for August, 2014. I am going to do three WDW park days before the cruise this time. I was very relaxed on the ship and I'd like a shot at going home feeling that way. I LOVE WDW, but I leave there exhausted every time. I'd like to come home from vacation and not need a vacation next time.

 

[pjacobi]

We've done Land and Sea, but learned that we perfer Land ***OR*** Sea. We definately prefer 7-days in one place rather then 2 seperate short stays.


-Paul

 

[ppony]

We did the parks first once. While it's a good idea in theory to expend your energy then and take the cruise to relax, we still found ourselves so sad at a day completely wasted on disembarkation day. This time, we plan to go to WDW for the day before, do the cruise and then do several days after (the while trip won't be more than a week anyway and our cruise is only a 4 nighter). I just hated leaving port only to rush off to the airport. It never feels that way (to us) going home from the resorts.

Parks before and after.
Just our feelings.

 

[sdflipside]

Just did first cruise and parks after...wished I did it before as the parks killed our relaxed feeling and cruise high....especially when you have been pampered for so many days!

 

[hamm1207]

We like to do the parks first and then relax on the cruise!

 

[MikeAndNick]

I made the mistake and did the cruise first then the park. I will never do that again. I got off the ship all relaxed and refreshed then had to run all over the park with my 15 year old son. Never again... do the park then take the cruise to get the R&R.

 

[iluvDisneyCruise]

We did the parks then the cruise. We felt it was the best way because we burnt off all the stress from home by running around the parks like crazy then we were able to totally relax and enjoy our cruise. We got home feelin so rested.

 

[Silverfox97]

Parks before and after.
Just our feelings.

We did that in 2005 for our wedding/honeymoon. Spent 5 nights at WDW (3 intensive park days & one wedding day), went on a 3-night Wonder, then back to WDW for 5 more nights. We were so relaxed from the cruise, that it was difficult to tour the parks (June, so summer crowds).

Having to do that over again, I would've done most of the the WDW before, and gone on a 4-night cruise and then had one day after the cruise at WDW.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Is it just me or is the title of this thread misleading? cruise or disney first? If you're on this board, isn't the cruise also Disney? So isn't it Disney or Disney first? Sorry - couldn't resist.

That said, we are generally only 7-night cruise people and we like to spend a few days at DVC resorts relaxing after our cruise. We might go into the Disney parks one day, but we enjoy going to our second "home" after stepping off the ship.

We've done Land and Sea, but learned that we perfer Land ***OR*** Sea. We definately prefer 7-days in one place rather then 2 seperate short stays.

-Paul

I completely agree. We did a short cruise once. Never again as a family. Too stressful. Next year, we are doing a true land/sea trip with 8-nights at BLT followed by a 7-night cruise. Hopefully, that will alleviate any feeling of being rushed either week.

To all the previous posters that say that the cruises are "relaxing," you can't possibly mean a 3-night Bahamian! We were go-go-go the whole time and only booked it because my dad was scared to cruise and we were treating my parents.

I completely agree. I've never done a 3-night, but we did a 4-night as a family once and it was far from relaxing. I prefer a minimum of 7-nights on the cruise to truly relax. That's why our WDW stay is generally a bit shorter when we do a cruise.

 

[MichelleVW]

I completely agree. I've never done a 3-night, but we did a 4-night as a family once and it was far from relaxing. I prefer a minimum of 7-nights on the cruise to truly relax. That's why our WDW stay is generally a bit shorter when we do a cruise.

Lol, we did a 4 night cruise in January and all we did was chill on deck chairs pretty much the whole time...except at Castaway Cay where we chilled in hammocks on the Adult Beach. I can relax on a 3 night cruise. We're going on a Med cruise next summer and I'm sure there will be nothing about that cruise that is relaxing!

 

[Magic-cruiser]

I traveled with a group of 7 others, most of us felt really depressed on the last day of our 7 day Western.
It was so much easier knowing we still had a week at WDW to look forward to.
(And, after a week at WDW, I felt ready to come home.)
I can't imagine walking off the ship thinking now I must head home.
It was nice to have that buffer.

 

[natandscott]

I'm always in the minority here....the only way I can bear getting off the ship is knowing we are headed to the parks!
Ps....we have done it both ways as well.

That's a great point!

We would ordinarily do the parks first, as well, but this this year we're doing the parks after just based on what the flight times are. We go to WDW pretty much every year, so we don't feel like we have to do every single ride in every single park---we're planning on just taking it easy those three days after the cruise and just visit MK on the second day, and hang out at the resort (contemporary I think) the remainder of the time.

 

[tajz90]

My kids are done with the cruise about midnight the last night. They will say its just too sad knowing it's over! Haha. So we normally do parks after. Wake up, eat, leave!

We've done both before, after and even sandwiched a cruise. That happens to be our favorite. Go to Disney, cruise and end with universal or vice versa.

Good luck. Have fun.