Doing Both WDW and Cruise

[sunnymom02]

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone has done the disney world and then the cruise. We were thinking about doing the Disney thing first and then the shorter cruise as our children have never been on a cruise and thought this would be a good experience to get their feet wet with cruising. Also, is it better to do a package or booking separate? Also, where would a good place to stay at WDW. I am new to the boards, so I am just learning about all of this and I am overwhelmed a little bit (sorry about all the questions). But I do have one more, my travel agency told me that she does not have the prices for March 2007??? Could this be true or is she pulling my leg. I can find cruise prices for this time, but don't know how to find a package price (for cruise and land) or just any pricing at a hotel for WDW. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Sunnymom02

 

[MrsMork]

Welcome!! We travel from the west coast, so always do both WDW and cruise. Way to far to spend the time and airfare and not do it all! We have done package of 3 land/4 sea. We added on an extra night to our package because we spend the first entire day flying. So we actually had 4 nights, 3 days at WDW. Also have done non package since becoming Disney Vacation Club members of 4 and 5 days land with 4 to 10 night cruises. I would recommend hooking up with a TA that knows Disney well (you will find some recommendations on this board) Dreams Unlimited being one we have worked with. The package is simple and lots less stressful for your first trip. I would do the 4 day cruise rather than the 3 day. Hope this helps.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

The land/sea packages are available for march 07 go to Disneys web site and you can compare prices ( www.disney.com) click on destinations and the disney cruise line....

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

We did WDW and the cruise seperate. For one we decided on the 7 day eastern and there is no package available to do WDW and a 7 day. We did 2 days at WDW then the cruise and WDW for 1 more day. I wished we would have done all of WDW prior to the cruise. After getting off the ship and then making our way back to WDW we were just exhausted. Plus we didn't have our "land legs" back yet. While we were onboard we rebooked for Nov. 2007 so the prices are out there. We went with Small World Vacations and recieved money back for booking with them. They did an awesome job in helping us with our vacation.

 

[goscudder]

We just got back last week from the 3 night land/4 night sea package and it was wonderful! We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, our favorite resort. I would also recommend flying down a day early and adding one night onto your WDW visit so you don't waste one of your park days traveling. If possible, I would also do the 4 night cruise instead of the 3 night. Even after reading EVERYTHING on this board, I still felt a little overwhelmed the first day on the ship, and it took me a day to get into my "cruising" mood. I loved having a day at sea as our last day because we really got a chance to explore the Wonder and take advantage of all the activities.

I think there's a lot of different opinions on whether to do the package or book separately. We did the package and everything was so easy! We never had to worry about our luggage (which was good since we had tons of it for six people!), and you can check-in for your cruise right from your hotel. Your key is your hotel room key, park pass, and the key for your stateroom on the ship. Very convenient!

The only drawback was that we felt like we didn't have quite have enough time at WDW, or on the ship. Next time we'll do one or the other, but for our first experience with cruising, it was the perfect choice!

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

We did WDW for 2 days, went on the 7 day cruise and then did WDW for 2 days after. I definitely recommend doing WDW BEFORE the cruise. Number 1, we were exhausted and #2, there's a chance of getting the Norovirus after the cruise and that would be awful to be stuck in a hotel room if you were planning on doing the parks. (My son got food poisoning the night before we flew home). As others said, you should do the 4 day over the 3 day....on the 3rd day of our cruise, my husband said- thank goodness we did the 7 day, I would not be ready to leave in the morning!
Your budget would make a difference in where to stay at WDW. If you can afford it the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a really neat experience with animals on site. The much less expensive All Star Sport Resorts look cool on the outside but we weren't impressed with the room, the pool areas etc. We've stayed at the Caribbean Resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, etc. and they're very nice. They all have frequent shuttles (free) to the parks. If you're experienced with using the internet to book, you can do it all yourself easily. Otherwise, a travel agent would be the way to go. I've always booked everything- cruise, parks, hotels, etc. on line and never had any problems.
Hope this helps!

 

[CJLKIM]

We did one day at WDW before the 7 night Western. Two separate resv. and I handled our airfare. ME picked us up at MCO and took us to WDW. We spent the day seeing the sights and since we'd signed up for ground transportation with DCL the next a.m. a cruise line rep. contacted us via phone to tell us what time to have the bags ready.

Once the bags were picked up we sent a few more hours touring the park, met up with the DCL rep around noon and took the bus to port.

I'm glad we did WDW before the cruise....it took me a full day to get my land legs back and I'm not sure I could have handled a post-cruise day at the park.

 

[RedFamilyLuvDisney]

We are doing WDW 4 days and 3 Days Disney Cruise and then back again to WDW after the cruise. Thank god we are DVC member. Best thing we ever did. Planning WDW and the cruise is twice the fun...

 

[Castillo Mom]

After our experience at WDW, we decided to go there before our upcoming cruise. Touring WDW takes a lot of energy while the cruise seems to be a slower pace, especially on sea days. We've booked the 7 day eastern cruise, so we'll have two full days at sea before arriving at the first port of call.

 

[amynrick]

Now I am getting nervous, we are scheduled to do the 7 day eastern cruise on Feb 3, 2007. Because of my job, I am unable to allow extra time before the cruise, but I was planning on adding extra days after the cruise to do WDW and maybe discovery cove. I thought about switching to the next sail date in Feb, but the price jumps up since presidents day is during that week. Are we going to have problems if we do them after the cruise? Would you switch to the Western Cruise on Feb 10 so we can have the days before our cruise? I really want a few days in Orlando since we already paid the airfare to get there. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

I would definitely choose to do the WDW before. It depends on how much the cost difference(?). As I said before, my main fear doing it after would be the chance of getting ill after the cruise. I know that we were really tired afterward too and ready to head home. If you don't have children those reasons probably wouldn't be as important....
Discovery Cove is awesome! We went last year and had a wonderful day. It kind of reminded me of our day at Castaway Cay- except a lot less people. They limit the amount of people allowed in. Prepare yourself for the sunscreen they make you use! It's like applying clay. It was so funny to see people walking around who had obviously gotten tired of trying to rub it in- pure white blobs of varying degrees all over their bodies...

 

[Castillo Mom]

Now I am getting nervous, we are scheduled to do the 7 day eastern cruise on Feb 3, 2007. Because of my job, I am unable to allow extra time before the cruise, but I was planning on adding extra days after the cruise to do WDW and maybe discovery cove. I thought about switching to the next sail date in Feb, but the price jumps up since presidents day is during that week. Are we going to have problems if we do them after the cruise? Would you switch to the Western Cruise on Feb 10 so we can have the days before our cruise? I really want a few days in Orlando since we already paid the airfare to get there. Any help would be appreciated.

It depends on your energy level, but again, WDW takes a lot out of you because of all the walking in the heat. I can't remember where I read it, maybe on Allears.net, but I believe a day in the parks would be the equivilent of walking 7 miles. Personally for us, there's no way we could do WDW after the cruise unless we start off by staying at the resort for a couple of days with no park touring. After returning home we were exhausted for the next several days, albeit a good typ of exhausted Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences.

 

[Hollyster2]

We vote for WDW before the cruise, and absolutely doing both if you can swing it. We have done a week at WDW and then the 7 day western, and this year we are spending 8 days at WDW, doing the 4 day Wonder, and then 3 nights at the Polynesian. We did our own airfare, and booked a package with dining plan for the first part of the trip at CBR. We added Hotel only at the end of the trip after the cruise.

Last trip we wanted to relax at a slower pace after WDW so we did the cruise on the second half of the trip. We were, however very sad to be leaving the WDW area after the cruise so this time we are going back for just a few more days. It is like, when you are down in WDW, you want to cruise too, and if you are on the cruise, you say "What about WDW?" We live in California so we try to do as much as we can when we are in Florida. We just couldn't swing so many days in WDW and a 7 night cruise in between...but that would have been ideal for us! The longer the cruise, the better and we always require at least a week in WDW. If we lived closer, I think we could handle less days at WDW. I have no interest in a 3 day cruise anymore after our first 3 day(carnival). It felt like we just got on the ship and then we had to get off! I am worried the 4 day will feel a bit like that too, but we are so excited to be on the Wonder for the first time.

Good Luck with your plans!

 

[eeyoregon]

Just got back from our 1st Disney Cruise and here are my thoughts. We cruised first and then did WDW for 2 days after the cruise. I chose to do it this way because taking a Disney Cruise has been my dream for many years. I knew that after the cruise, I would be REALLY let down and the thought of getting right on a plane and going home would have only made it worse for me. But having a few days at WDW cheered me up.

LOVED having the days in the park afterwards BUT as my fellow Oregonian mentioned the Norovirus was a BIG problem. We had 2 action packed days at the parks. Were supposed to fly out the next day when BAMM! came the Norovirus. No way could we fly that night so we had to rebook our airline tickets and hotel for another night and fly out the following day. Unexpected $$ for rebooking air tickets and another hotel night was terrible to deal with at the end of a vacation!!!

Pros and cons either way.

 

[bdink921]

We would have rather done the parks before our 4 night cruise (our first ). That being said--we are arriving in Orlando and staying at the port the day before our cruise. After the cruise we are going to WDW for 2 nights. We plan on Epcot the day we disembark (DS 8th birthday) for however long we can handle . The next day we are going to MK for MVMCP, so we'll sleep in that day and relax before the party. We'll get home Saturday early afternoon and have the weekend to recover. It's just the way it worked out best for us--I'm not gonna worry about it .

 

[ScouterJT]

We just came back from 4night WDW / 3night Cruise. Had a great time. Booked the whole package through Disney Cruise website -- transfers were wonderful (I loved not having to worry about moving my luggage). The cruise was a great way to relax after running around all the parks. We've already booked next year's 7-night cruise

 

[Steph in NC]

We did the land/sea in March and loved it. The cruise after the parks was awesome!! It wa truly a vacation. I wouldn't have wanted to go back to the parks afterwards.

As far as booking for next year. The land/sea packages for 2007 through Disney Cruise are available. However, the 2007 land only packages through WDW haven't been released yet.

 

[amynrick]

Thanks for all of your help. To change to the Western cruise would be an additional $800 for my family. We really want to do the Eastern cruise and don't want to spend the extra dollars, so we are just going to take our chances. So our plan is to do WDW and Discovery Cove after the cruise and fly home on Wed. I guess I will just have to pray we don't get sick after the cruise.

 

[goscudder]

Thanks for all of your help. To change to the Western cruise would be an additional $800 for my family. We really want to do the Eastern cruise and don't want to spend the extra dollars, so we are just going to take our chances. So our plan is to do WDW and Discovery Cove after the cruise and fly home on Wed. I guess I will just have to pray we don't get sick after the cruise.

You'll have a wonderful time either way you do it!! Don't worry about it! It's WDW, how can you not have fun?!?!

We just got back from three days at WDW and four days on the Wonder and no one in our family of six got sick. We weren't obsessive about washing our hands, but did it as much as possible. I love that they give you antibacterial wipes whenever you enter a dining room, and have the kids wash their hands whenever they go into the OC or OL. I think that helped a lot.

 

[mrstbalt]

We booked our land/sea vacation for April 30-May 6 2007 back in April thru DCL. The price that a TA gave us was the same as what DCL gave us, so we just booked thru them.