DCL and WDW ... Is it complicated?

[Ashleyfaz]

We are already booked for a Thanksgiving trip to WDW this year (M-F). I cannot help but think about DCL. We did WDW Thanksgiving last year and DCL this past march. Loved both (the cruise a little more). We are booked for DCL Thanksgiving 2014 and I am having a hard time waiting that long.

Thinking about changing to this scenario for this year:

12/31: Arrive in Orlando (POR), spend the day and night in DTD.
1/01: MK
1/02: Character breakfast and then off to Port Canaveral for 3 nights on the Dream
1/05: depart Orlando

Is that too difficult? We will be flying from Houston and I would hate to fly to Orlando for a 3 night cruise which is why I am adding a day at Disney. I do not want to go to WDW on 12/31, so I thought we'd just hand around the resort and spend some time in DTD.

Or should I just do WDW this year and DCL next year. We will be doing DCL in 2014 no matter what, I guess I'm just trying to get on the ship quicker

 

[moonvxn]

No it's not difficult at all, land and seas are great. My clients do it all the time. Best advice I give I think is to do the land portion first which it looks like you already were planning on so it should be smooth sailing lol. It just gives you the ability to unwind and relax after the busy time in the parks. Our family personally loves the land and sea. If we do land with out sea the kids are like wait what about the cruise now??

It is easier to book them separately I have found though. Do you have questions on anything specific?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We drove in but we got a hotwire or orbitz for hotel for 2 nights, drive in a midnight and went to WDW the next day, came back to hotel, and embarked that morning. It was great.

Can't imagine a DCL without at least one WDW day. If it's feasible, it's best to combine both especially if a 3 day is all you can do (was all we could do). It brings the characters right to YOU (we never have time for photos at the parks!) and is a totally relaxed disney experience with all the Magic not to mention that Castaway if the weather is good, is like their 5th park out in the middle of the sea. Castaway Island or Kingdom or whatever. Its great!

 

[newbieva]

Not difficult at all!! Expensive, but not difficult!

 

[travelgirl06]

We did something similar last fall. We flew in the morning before the cruise and went to Epcot for Food & Wine festival that day. The next morning we went to Kona for breakfast (one of our favorites) then took the DCL transfers to PC for our 3-night cruise. Yes, it was a short trip, but it was still an awesome vacation.

We really appreciated having DME and DCL transfers/onboard check-in, we got to skip a lot of the luggage hassles

 

[starousse]

I'm glad you asked that question, I'm contemplating the same thing. I'd love to do 3 nights at the POR and then do the 7 day cruise. I'm hoping we can swing it.

 

[the_bUg]

Ughh... We're arriving in Orland 3 nights (2 full days) before our embarkation. We're likely staying at Pop Century (for cost reasons), but I'm having a helluva time justifying park tickets, given their cost. I mean, I'm looking at 500 bux for our two tickets (w/ park hopper).

We enjoyed the parks last year, but as it was our first visit and we are from a small town, POP. 5000, we were SHOCKED by the crowds during "low season" (late Jan).

This year, we'll likely just pay for entrance to Typhoon Lagoon 1 day, hit DTD another day and leave the following.

I say this now, I'll likely have a change of heart before the cruise. That $500 is a big mental hurtle. It just makes more sense to visit the parks for a week than 1 or 2 days, due to how their tickets are priced.

 

[taaren]

Ughh... We're arriving in Orland 3 nights (2 full days) before our embarkation. We're likely staying at Pop Century (for cost reasons), but I'm having a helluva time justifying park tickets, given their cost. I mean, I'm looking at 500 bux for our two tickets (w/ park hopper).

We enjoyed the parks last year, but as it was our first visit and we are from a small town, POP. 5000, we were SHOCKED by the crowds during "low season" (late Jan).

This year, we'll likely just pay for entrance to Typhoon Lagoon 1 day, hit DTD another day and leave the following.

I say this now, I'll likely have a change of heart before the cruise. That $500 is a big mental hurtle. It just makes more sense to visit the parks for a week than 1 or 2 days, due to how their tickets are priced.

If you're planning on doing land/sea vacations often, it might be worth your while to look into buying 10-day non-expiring hoppers with WP&M, then you could use them over 5 to 10 trips. A lot of DVC-ers do this because they focus on the resort part of the vacations and just go into the parks a few days out of each week-long stay.

 

[Runnergal]

If you're planning on doing land/sea vacations often, it might be worth your while to look into buying 10-day non-expiring hoppers with WP&M, then you could use them over 5 to 10 trips. A lot of DVC-ers do this because they focus on the resort part of the vacations and just go into the parks a few days out of each week-long stay.

This is something I never thought of doing. We are spending 3 nights at WDW before our cruise in November 2013, and are planning on returning in Feb 2014 for the princess half marathon. Is there significant savings in buying 7 day no-expire park hoppers vs 3 day tickets?

 

[lanejudy]

This is something I never thought of doing. We are spending 3 nights at WDW before our cruise in November 2013, and are planning on returning in Feb 2014 for the princess half marathon. Is there significant savings in buying 7 day no-expire park hoppers vs 3 day tickets?

The savings comes from the additional days - the first 3 days of a WDW multi-day ticket are the most expensive, plus it's purchasing at today's prices so avoiding the annual price increases. By the time you get to days 7-10, it's only costing about $10 to add another day. The no-expire option is expensive, but if you plan to use the tickets on 3 or more visits then the savings can pan out for you. With the WPF&M option, you'd get 10 major theme park days (MK, EP, HS, AK) as well as another 10 "minor" park entries (TL, BB, DQ or mini-golf prior to 4pm). You'd want to price it out and make sure your current budget can stretch that far, but it would save you money on later trips if you only use 1-2 days each time, especially if you mix it up with water parks as well.

Enjoy your land/sea vacation!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I know where you can purchase 5/7/10 day NO EXPIRATION hoppers with water park for the rates below. They are a ticket dealer, so they can offer savings on the longer stay WDW tickets (vs. a 1 or 2 day.) They appear to be quite reputable.

http://www.dwtickets.com/DWSavers_Tickets

You must use the promotional code 22save to get the options.
I don't believe these include sales tax either, so keep that in mind:

5 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Adult (ages 10+)
Our Price: $489.00

5 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Child (ages 3-9)
Our Price: $469.00

Premium Tickets combine the benefits of the Park Hopper option and Water Park Fun & More options. This ticket will NEVER expire.


7 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Adult (ages 10+)
Our Price: $579.00

7 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Child (ages 3-9)
Our Price: $559.00

10 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Adult (ages 10+)
Our Price: $689.00

10 Day No Expiration Park Hopper + Water Park Fun Ticket - Child (ages 3-9)
Our Price: $669.00

Premium Tickets combine the benefits of the Park Hopper option and Water Park Fun & More options. This ticket will NEVER expire.

So that is what the special is showing. It's quite an investment, but you could go for 3 days one time and 2 days and a water park or something another time. Or more depending on how many days you were to invest in.

Anyway don't know if that would help or not. This is what it is showing today, so I assume the recent rate hike is included? But probably best to order sooner than later if one decided to. MUST BE ORDERED ONLINE with this broker...

 

[pirate]

In October we will be taking our third WDW & DCL trip combined, and we love it! We are spending 8 nights at WDW, then taking a 3 night Bahamas cruise, then back to WDW for one more night! This will be our ninth WDW trip and third cruise. We take a year or two in between cruises, but we miss it when we don't do both! Have a great time!