Anyone go to the parks after the 7 day?

[tbserena]

We are on 7 day Eastern Magic, and would like to see 2 or 3 of the Parks on the way home. (can't do it before the cruise) Since we are a family of five and this is out first cruise, I'm wondering if we are going to want to stay in a place where we can spread out and not feel cooped up? Like a hotel "suite"? Anyone have any advice about this? The cruise is the MAIN part of our vacation, but we couldn't leave Orlando and not see MK, AK and MGM. Trying to keep the "seeing the parks" fairly simple. (ha!)
Thanks!!
Teresa

 

[gottaluvEeyore]

Hi Teresa! We're going on the May 15th Eastern with 2tinksmom and family then going to WDW for 3 days after the cruise and staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Keeps us from kicking and screaming while getting off the ship since we'll have something else to look forward to after the cruise.

Anyway, we're not planning on staying in our rooms a whole lot so I don't think being cooped up is going to be a problem for us. Good luck!

 

[tstobb]

We did this as well and stayed at the Contemporary - we wanted to be in a monorail hotel so we could be as close to the action as possible!

 

[tbserena]

I had JUST looked at Animal Kingdom Lodge!!!! It looked like fun! How big are the rooms at Contemporary?

 

[tstobb]

The rooms at the Contemporary are large for hotel rooms. They have 2 queen beds and a day bed and a large bathroom.

 

[Masonpips]

We've done AKL after both of our cruises and after being in a Cat 9 (which is fine for our family of 4) the rooms at AKL feel like a suite. Having two queen beds, room to walk around them, a table/chair area and a balcony? Plus a HUGE bathroom (love the vanity area at AKL).

Even with 5 in there, you'd be fine and it feels incredibly spacious!

 

[tbserena]

That's what I was thinking about AKL. And it looks like alot of FUN too. What are the pools like there?
I had always said if I went back I would stay at the Contemporary, just for convenience, but we only are going to MK one day due to time : (
6 year old is driving us crazy about staying at AK!!! Maybe DH and I can go back and stay at the Contemporary someday!

 

[CACruiser]

If you consider getting more than one room or a suite....consider your kids ages. It is very exspensive to stay on WDW property.

For a nice suite, I would check out an off-site property with transportation.

I personally prefer to stay on-site. Since we qualify for military benefits, we can stay at the Shades of Green. (Military resort)

Yes, many people go to the parks after wards. On my last cruise my family did six days at all the parks and it was a blast.

That first day off the cruise, we were exausted, so I recommend your first day being a REST day!

LisaCA

 

[Goofy Girl]

Usually we go the other way (WDW for 5 days - then onto cruise), but this year we will get off the MAGIC on Saturday (the 22nd of May), go to my brother's in Ocala to gather our Mom, then on Sunday we check into Old Key West for 5 nights. Watch out Mickey! here we come! Whoohooo!

 

[shoes99]

We did the Eastern 7 Day in September, then we spent 3 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We booked a standard but were upgraded to a pool view. It was just the two of us. We love the AKL.

 

[geffric]

We stayed for another week at WDW after the last 7 day eastern in 2002 and stayed at OKW. However, We leave this Friday for the 7 day Eastern and then will stay the weekend at All Star Sports..

have you looked at OKW in a 1 bedroom or Boardwalk??

 

[Luv2Dream]

If you consider booking a DVC resort accommodation, you would need a 2-bedroom villa minimum due to having 5 people(assuming all people are over 3 years old). These can be VERY expensive so you might want to look at renting some points from a DVC owner. This would make that stay much more economical and the DVC resorts are apartments!

 

[pooh luver]

We stayed at AKL after our last DC. I think I am in the minority and don't want to sound negative but we didn't like the hotel and the pool was okay. We stayed at Port Orleans, (which I think was renamed) and liked it better and it was less expense. We are only a family of three the room size wasn't a big deal. The first trip we did WDW before and ran around like crazy. It seemed like when we went after we took more time to enjoy things.

 

[kelljacques@aol.com]

After our last cruise we book a house through hotels.com. it was wondeful We had our own pool in a screened in porch. It was a 15 minute drive to WDW but well worth it!!

We are doing it again after our trip on the wonder!!

 

[RLAlden]

We did the same thing last summer. We booked a two bedroom villa at Old Key West Resort. It was paradise...full kitchen, tons of space, washer & dryer, ... We never left the WDW property until it was time to go home. There were 8 of us.