Asking for logistics help ....

[dominiondad]

My very gracious in-laws recently surprised us and is springing for a cruise in 2018. They have already booked the reservation. My wife and I are considering sticking around after the cruise and hitting the WDW parks. I can work out the getting to/from Florida logistics, but am wondering about luggage. Is there any way/place to leave our park luggage behind somewhere so we don't have to drag it all onto the ship?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My very gracious in-laws recently surprised us and is springing for a cruise in 2018. They have already booked the reservation. My wife and I are considering sticking around after the cruise and hitting the WDW parks. I can work out the getting to/from Florida logistics, but am wondering about luggage. Is there any way/place to leave our park luggage behind somewhere so we don't have to drag it all onto the ship?

Are you staying at a resort both before and after the cruise? I've read that some resorts will hold your bags for you in this case. If you are asking about just dropping off some bags while you cruise to have once you're back, or just leaving stuff behind while your cruise, to be picked up afterwards, I don't think so.

 

[dominiondad]

No resort beforehand. We will likely fly to Orlando and head straight to the ship. After the cruise, it will be on to WDW and a on-site resort.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We usually wear similar clothes in the parks and on a cruise instead of taking separate luggage for each.

Just a suggestion since I don't know your schedule, but I would rather do WDW first and wear myself out, then relax on the cruise. You can either do laundry at the end of your WDW stay and wear the clothes again, or mail your WDW clothes home before your cruise.

 

[MaleficentUK]

It is also a good idea to arrive the day before the cruise. If something happens with your flights, you want to have a buffer so you can make the cruise.

 

[RedSox68]

We usually wear similar clothes in the parks and on a cruise instead of taking separate luggage for each.

Just a suggestion since I don't know your schedule, but I would rather do WDW first and wear myself out, then relax on the cruise. You can either do laundry at the end of your WDW stay and wear the clothes again, or mail your WDW clothes home before your cruise.

THIS -- we have done this both ways and doing WDW after the relaxing cruise vacation was, for us, a big mistake. WDW just wore us out and we went home tired and frustrated. I liked going to WDW first, relaxing on the cruise and heading home after that.

Also, I highly agree with the suggestion not to arrive day of cruise -- way too risky. Even if you fly into Orlando and stay at the Airport Hyatt, you can take Disney transportation right from there and head to the port.

 

[dominiondad]

Parks first - awesome, that solves a bunch of issues. Not sure why that didn't occur to me. Thanks all!!!!!!!

 

[RedSox68]

Parks first - awesome, that solves a bunch of issues. Not sure why that didn't occur to me. Thanks all!!!!!!!

That's what we're here for

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just to give the other perspective... we did MK after the cruise. As I was getting off the cruise I surprised myself and nearly cried. What kept me together was knowing the 'magic' wasn't over for us. We've done WDW many times and we knew what we wanted to do and what we could skip. I actually found that I was able to slow my pace in the park down a bit because we'd had the majority of our vacation already. We weren't cramming in a lot of Disney, but rounding out our Disney experience.

I will also say that if you have little ones that want to meet princesses, etc, you will have already done all that on the ship, if you go to WDW after the cruise. If you go first, you might have a hard time convincing the kids to wait to see Anna and Elsa or Mickey Mouse. That eats into a lot of touring time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And to give even additional perspective: Sometimes the timing that works is WDW after the cruise, not before, and that just is what it is.

We're going to do a surprise MK day after our cruise. Not telling the kids until we drive into the gates and they realize, because I am mean.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

And to give even additional perspective: Sometimes the timing that works is WDW after the cruise, not before, and that just is what it is.

We're going to do a surprise MK day after our cruise. Not telling the kids until we drive into the gates and they realize, because I am mean.

Exactly. While I much prefer WDW before the cruise, our next one, it doesn't work out that way, so it's WDW afterwards. Oh, well.....

 

[elvispursley]

I am also a proponent of doing WDW after the cruise because we fly in from the west coast and that time zone is a killer for trying to get up early and doing the parks! We found it so much easier to cruise first and get ourselves accustomed to the time zone difference (especially since we had 2 at sea days right off the bat that it didn't matter if we slept in a bit). The first time we cruised, we flew right home and I was dying to see all the people heading off on WDW resort buses, having more vacation to enjoy, and our vacation was over. This last time, we did the parks and Universal and just took our time--it was the best time we've every done the parks. No one was overly tired because our bodies were already used to time zones (normally it's like getting up at 3am and the kids are crabby all day long and it's miserable for everyone).

 

[jdb in AZ]

It's nice to do the parks before as well as after, tho when we took the grand kids afterward, 8-yr-old DGS couldn't understand why he had to pay for food at WDW.

 

[bumbershoot]

As I was getting off the cruise I surprised myself and nearly cried. What kept me together was knowing the 'magic' wasn't over for us.

Yep. I really cannot stand getting off a cruise and going home. Actually, the one time we were going to do it, we didn't. Superbowl Sunday 2014 and when they asked for 9 volunteers, we were 3 that nearly ran up to the podium. I really liked even just having that one day (unexpected but hoped for!) in between. DH and DS didn't go to WDW; they watched the game on the big screen at the hotel, and all I did was wander Epcot with a beer, but it made all the difference.

 

[RedSox68]

And to give even additional perspective: Sometimes the timing that works is WDW after the cruise, not before, and that just is what it is.

We're going to do a surprise MK day after our cruise. Not telling the kids until we drive into the gates and they realize, because I am mean.

We had that happen on one of our first cruises because the cruise didn't start until Thursday, so we flew in ahead and spent those weekdays at WDW. I prefer pre-cruise WDW, but I can see where timing would make all the difference in your schedule if you only have so many days off.

 

[ivanp91]

THIS -- we have done this both ways and doing WDW after the relaxing cruise vacation was, for us, a big mistake. WDW just wore us out and we went home tired and frustrated.

This was my experience too, in 2014. We did a 7-night Western Caribbean on the Magic. Awesome cruise, probably still my favorite. 4 nights at POFQ, including a couple days at the parks, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, and the moment that we finally bought our DVC membership. Should be the trip that dreams are made of, right? It was kind of like getting cold water thrown on you, nothing like the cruise at all, and I was just plain miserable... which even now I don't really get as it was my 4th year in a row going to WDW, so I knew it was a happy place for me. Even two and a half years later I would love to stay at POFQ again because I feel so bad that I was so down in the dumps during that stay.