Anyone Rotate Between Disney World and Cruise? Or just Disney World?

[Frozen2014]

We went to Disney World for the first time as a family in October and absolutely loved it. The kids and I could return tomorrow, but I think DH needs a bit more time before returning. But the trip got me thinking that our kids are growing so quickly and we had such an amazing family time that I told DH I'd like to travel more with our kids while they are 'young' and at home.

In reality though, this kind of trip is $$$ and as far as Disney World, I'm not sure DH would return too soon (but I think he'll go back). So now I'm looking at a Disney Cruise. It wouldn't be until Spring of 2016 though since it also costs $$$.

So am just curious if you Disney fans on here rotate between Disney World and Disney Cruise (or other cruise)? Or are you simply a fan of the parks and stick to that? Although both Disney, they seem like completely different trips.

 

[minnie mum]

They ARE completely different types of trips and experiences. We've been to several of the Disney Parks, and 2 of their ships. But they aren't our only vacation alternatives.

I think its great that you want to travel with your kids. We traveled extensively with both of our children from the time they were babies until they grew up and left home. But Disney vacations were far from our only trips. There is a whole (real) world out there. Why confine yourself to only a couple of tiny pieces of it? I would probably side with your husband. Even disregarding cost, there are thousands of places to explore with your children, even if you never leave the continental North America.

 

[wdwmcq]

I rotate... Parks with adults, cruise with the family. The convenience of cruising with littles can't be beat. Working out the logistics of a week at the parks with small kids seems daunting, but I'd do it time and again with my sister or mom. If I ever get time to do it again. Which is unlikely because of said children.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

We went to Disney World for the first time as a family in October and absolutely loved it. The kids and I could return tomorrow, but I think DH needs a bit more time before returning. But the trip got me thinking that our kids are growing so quickly and we had such an amazing family time that I told DH I'd like to travel more with our kids while they are 'young' and at home.

In reality though, this kind of trip is $$$ and as far as Disney World, I'm not sure DH would return too soon (but I think he'll go back). So now I'm looking at a Disney Cruise. It wouldn't be until Spring of 2016 though since it also costs $$$.

So am just curious if you Disney fans on here rotate between Disney World and Disney Cruise (or other cruise)? Or are you simply a fan of the parks and stick to that? Although both Disney, they seem like completely different trips.

We definitely rotate. Went on 3 Disney cruises last year, and will be on our 3rd WDW vacation this year in 2 weeks. Back on a cruise in April. We love both. Completely different vacations, but both are extremely addictive.

 

[DebbieB]

Disney world and Disneyland.

 

[Desnik]

We have been going to Disney World for the past 17 years every year sometimes 2 or 3 times a year! (we are DVC members) This year we took our first ever Disney cruise in Jan coupled with a Disney world trip. We loved it so much we took another Disney cruise in Nov! We are now hooked on the cruise. We will definitely cruise again and again and again... you get the point lol

Our kids are now 16 & 11 and they love the cruise. They easily gave up our Aug Disney World trip to go on the cruise instead in Nov.

 

[JimmyV]

We mix in some cruises, but not on DCL. Disney's cruises are not priced competitively with other similar lines and often have less interesting itineraries. For example, we are taking a cruise in April on Princess and paying about $3,000 less than what we would pay for a similar cabin, (299 sq. ft on DCL but 323 sq. ft on Princess) on a similar cruise on DCL. And our cruise has one extra port stop.

 

[Frozen2014]

We mix in some cruises, but not on DCL. Disney's cruises are not priced competitively with other similar lines and often have less interesting itineraries. For example, we are taking a cruise in April on Princess and paying about $3,000 less than what we would pay for a similar cabin, (299 sq. ft on DCL but 323 sq. ft on Princess) on a similar cruise on DCL. And our cruise has one extra port stop.

Maybe I should do more research. I love RCL line (have been one twice...one of those times with DH) so checked it out but Disney was a lot cheaper which is why we're opting for DCL. I didn't check out Princess line. Are they good for kids? Ours are still youngish - by April 2016 will be 10 (almost 11) and 6.5.

And yeah, it occurred to me that our kids are currently 9 and 5 and yet we've barely done 'real' trips with them. Have lost two very close people to me in the past 2 years so got me thinking about life...so want to do more with them.

PS - Just checked again and my RCL calculation was wrong...I was multiplying by # nights and not # people. So RCL is actually cheaper. Just gotta see if it would entertain our kids enough vs a Disney ship

 

[Bree]

The 1st half of DCL spring 2016 was released in October. Prices will only increase for most sailings and categories. The rest of spring 2016 should be released late winter or early spring 2015.

The kids programming is top notch on DCL. Yes, it's Disney, but it's not over the top in your face all the time. My DH can't stand Disney (I know, the horror!) and he preferred DCL over RCCL. I love the adult areas of the ships while my kids are off at the clubs. I don't gamble so I don't need a casino. I don't find their itineraries boring for NEW cruisers, but that's just me. Cruising is such a different vacation than the parks. I feel like it's GO GO GO with my kids when we go to WDW. On a cruise I find that we are moving at a slower pace.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

We alternate between Disney and All Inclusive resorts. Even the years we go to an AI we still make a quick trip to Disney for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, though.

If your H doesn't want to go you could always leave him home, lol.

 

[~Tinkerella]

We've done the "land and sea" experience doing both in one trip. We do the parks more than the cruise line, however, next year we (DH and I ~ our kids are in their 20's and 30's) are doing a cruise only; maybe staying at a WDW resort for a day or two before but not visiting the parks.

There is so much construction going on all over the place, I think it will not be the best experience ~ not that it will ruin the magic but....................I just can't see walking through construction walls, etc. So a parks trip will probably wait until most of the major construction going on is over!

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a great experience.

 

[Frozen2014]

The 1st half of DCL spring 2016 was released in October. Prices will only increase for most sailings and categories. The rest of spring 2016 should be released late winter or early spring 2015.

The kids programming is top notch on DCL. Yes, it's Disney, but it's not over the top in your face all the time. My DH can't stand Disney (I know, the horror!) and he preferred DCL over RCCL. I love the adult areas of the ships while my kids are off at the clubs. I don't gamble so I don't need a casino. I don't find their itineraries boring for NEW cruisers, but that's just me. Cruising is such a different vacation than the parks. I feel like it's GO GO GO with my kids when we go to WDW. On a cruise I find that we are moving at a slower pace.

Do you know which categories increase? We'd probably do a standard ocean view room (so a touch bigger than interior but nothing fancy).

Am now confused over DCL and RCCL. RCCL is quite a bit cheaper (calculated it incorrectly at first so I had originally dismissed RCCL) and DH loved that line from our honeymoon...but am not sure if DCL would be better for our kids (programs, shows at night, etc). We were on the Magic a couple years ago with family so do have an idea about Disney ships...but not about the others for kids.

We alternate between Disney and All Inclusive resorts. Even the years we go to an AI we still make a quick trip to Disney for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, though.

If your H doesn't want to go you could always leave him home, lol.

Lol

We've done the "land and sea" experience doing both in one trip. We do the parks more than the cruise line, however, next year we (DH and I ~ our kids are in their 20's and 30's) are doing a cruise only; maybe staying at a WDW resort for a day or two before but not visiting the parks.

That's a great compromise. For us though, I'd want to do a 7 day cruise to get the full experience...and not sure we'd have enough vacation time / plus pulling our kids out of school that long to do both.

 

[GOOFY D]

We mix in some cruises, but not on DCL. Disney's cruises are not priced competitively with other similar lines and often have less interesting itineraries. For example, we are taking a cruise in April on Princess and paying about $3,000 less than what we would pay for a similar cabin, (299 sq. ft on DCL but 323 sq. ft on Princess) on a similar cruise on DCL. And our cruise has one extra port stop.

With children though there is no comparison between DCL and others. I am not sure even without children if there is a comparison (although we are not gamblers). I agree that DCL is pricing itself out of reality.

 

[JimmyV]

With children though there is no comparison between DCL and others. I am not sure even without children if there is a comparison (although we are not gamblers). I agree that DCL is pricing itself out of reality.

That's what Disney would have you believe. Depends on the age of the children. For very young children, I would agree that Disney sets the standard. But for tweens and teens (which is what I have), the teen centers on other cruise lines are just as enjoyable for the kids. At that age, they really want to just meet kids their age, have some freedom, and hang out. At the age where organized activities become "lame" to them, then the Disney advantage evaporates. We do not cruise to go to invented private islands or hang out on the ship all the time. We cruise to see the world. When you get off the ship at 8:00 a.m. for a port stop and re-board at 5:00, and then go to dinner and then take in some entertainment, the difference between cruise lines fades. Disney's food is nowhere near as good as many other (cheaper) cruise lines, and its itineraries are often inferior. For example, if you cruise to Alaska, you absolutely, positively want an itinerary that goes into Glacier Bay National Park. Not all cruise lines have permits to do so. Disney does not. We have sailed on several cruise lines including DCL, and I can't see myself ever paying DCL prices ever again.

 

[georgina]

We did a Disney cruise once. My kids (ages 16, 13, and 11 at the time) did not like it as well as the RCL one we had done previously, so we went back to RCL after that. We are not big cruisers in general though, have only done those 3 in total.

 

[bumbershoot]

PS - Just checked again and my RCL calculation was wrong...I was multiplying by # nights and not # people. So RCL is actually cheaper. Just gotta see if it would entertain our kids enough vs a Disney ship

We've been on Disney Dream 3 times.

We've now done a 7 night Freedom of the Seas cruise (eastern caribbean itinerary) and 5 night Vision of the Seas cruise (grand cayman and nassau) with DS. He was 9 then 10 for them. He LOVES RCCL. The kid club first didn't impress him visually, but we had been sick before sailing and he was exhausted the first few days on Freedom. By the end of that cruise he was just mad for the kid clubs. In October we went directly from Vision to a 4 nighter on the Dream, and he loved Royal's kid club so much more. It's not as visually stunning, but the attention the kids get is stellar. The staff knew him and his name after the first time he was there (same on Freedom) and when they would see him around the ship they would go out of their way to greet him *by name* and talk about the next time he was going to the club. It wasn't just a "go in the room and play" situation like on Dream, but they had activities, they wanted kids to join in and they made it fun and age-appropriate, and also the kids got to know the counselors. They had pictures, names, nicknames, and a bio for each counselor outside the club. So cool.

We aren't big on shows as a family, though DS still likes Villains Tonight. On Freedom and Vision the shows aren't really family friendly, but then I don't go to them either. We did go see a magician on Vision and that was fun; the magician on our last year October Dream cruise was good, too.

Freedom and some other ships have Dreamworks characters onboard, like Po and Shrek etc. That was sort of fun for DS. He doesn't take the time to meet characters on DCL cruises, except for one time meeting Jack Sparrow and when we stay concierge on Dream he and DH will go to the special private meet&greet (which has both times been Pirate Stitch).

DS is happy to go on any cruise, but he really likes RCCL cruises and DCL is a bit below them in his eyes.

That's what Disney would have you believe.