Comparison of DCL vs WDW purely on price?

[cadien]

If you're at WDW for a week, you could fit in resort days to relax just like on a cruise.

 

[gotomu212]

Well all of you have added to my brain, and things I had not thought about, so thank you. I know there are a ton of variables and that makes ti harder, but as some of you pointed out there are a few comparables that can make it doable for a comparison as room on DCL vs WDW. We have not been to the world in 10 years now other than a party the night before we leave on a cruise, but really thinking it is time for the kids to experience the world too, but it is hard to stray too far from the cruise, even though it is getting more pricey every time I log in it seems. It is hard to beat the combination of relaxation and Disney fix of a cruise. But if we could do the parks for 1/2 we would do it, yes I know that is not possible. Just trying to stretch vacation dollar as far as we can. We have to fly so each would be a week, and I know a week at WDW can be tiring, so that is a consideration as well. The mouse is going to get it, it is just a matter of how much for each trip and how many trips!

This was sort of us- loved cruising, hadn’t done WDW for awhile (and had never gone all out and stayed onsite). We wanted to try the Dream but never wanted to do less than 7 day cruise so kept putting it of. We decided to try both and we did 4 nights WDW with 4 nights on the Dream. We were cruising in October so pricing was fall and not summer BUT we did the cruise and 4 nights WDW (1 night delux, 3 nights moderate, regular DP, and tickets) for about the cost of a 7 day cruise. AND despite my preconceived notions we actually liked the 4 day. I think it’s because we really did WDW-full days at the parks, park hopping, different restaurants, so by the time we got on the Dream we were already fully in vacation mode and felt like we’d already had a vacation. The cruise was just “extra” and relaxing and we found ourselves “doing more” than we normally do on the cruise. I didn’t feel like 4 nights was too short in this case. Not everyone would like hag style but we were pleasantly surprised (and all agreed that more than 3 days/4 nights at WDW would be too much for us).

 

[Keyser]

They are really so different it's hard to compare - even as you mention, the "tiredness" factor: we are always exhausted from our WDW trips, but find cruises more relaxing.

I think a few things you can say for sure:

• There are ways to economize on a WDW trip that are just not options on the cruise. With the cruise, you're essentially forced to stay onsite, with a meal plan, and buying tickets (plus have an auto-gratuity). At the parks, you could choose to stay offsite, you could eat a lot more cheaply, you could choose cheaper ticket options, etc. And, if staying onsite, you have the potential of free transfers from the airport, which isn't an option for the cruise. If your goal is to do a vacation as cheaply as possible, WDW is the clear winner.
• You can certainly spend more at WDW if you want to, also. An inside cabin on a Disney cruise will almost certainly be less than the same time spent in a concierge room at the Grand Floridian with deluxe dining plan, etc.
• It's not straightforward to figure out what is apples-to-apples, and might depend on what people value: For instance, it takes a verandah cruise ship room to match the size of value-level WDW hotel rooms, but the service level in even an inside cruise ship room exceeds all but the highest-end WDW hotel rooms.
• There are discounts at both places that can change things a lot. For instance, we recently booked a cruise when the price for a *GT ended up lowering costs by almost $2000 for our family. There can be hotel and package deals at WDW that save significant amounts of money, even at busy times. Plus add in the military/Florida resident/other specials and it can be difficult to really compare; I imagine you can make any other list of things
  
• Somewhat counterintuitively to me, I think the cruise has more "hidden" costs that aren't as much of an issue at the parks. Both of them have things like souvenirs, photo packages (more expensive on the cruise than PhotoPass, "upcharge" fancier dining, etc. But it's hard to avoid some things on cruises.
  • As mentioned before, there are expected gratuities (which I would factor into per-meal costs otherwise).
  • There's the cost of getting to the port.
  • Excursions add up FAST, and even if you choose not to do an "excursion," unless you stay on the ship (or are at Castaway Cay), there's likely fees for even just taxis or basic things in the ports. Doing almost anything off the ship likely is going to cost something extra. Some of the Bahamas trips might not require doing much in the way of excursions, but if you go on, say, a Mediterranean cruise, if you skip the port excursions you've missed half the trip! Even in the Bahamas, these add up: spending a day at the Atlantis water park in Nassau costs a whole not more than a day at Blizzard Beach.
  • The ship leaving/arrival times actually put constraints on when you can travel, and this can (as it did for us) mean that you might end up having to pay for an extra hotel night, or take flights at more expensive times. With WDW, you can pretty much arrange your schedule as you choose, which can mean cheaper travel options.

Overall, if I had to guess, it's going to be pretty consistently cheaper to do WDW than the cruise. I imagine that the "peak times" (Christmas-New Years', Summer, Spring Break periods) will be similarly scaled up at both. The exception might be a time when there's a popular event at the parks (like maybe Food & Wine festival?) when there is not a similar unique draw for the cruises.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We are doing both this summer. 5 nights/5 park days staying at AKL vs 7 night eastern. Granted the eastern is 2 nights longer but it is costing about twice as much as the 5 days at WDW. If I had to pick one, I would always pick a disney cruise.