Cruise WDW combination

[tom1944]

Thinking of taking our first cruise of any kind next August 2025 in combination with a 5 or 6 day stay at WDW. Most likely cruise 3 days but might go 4.

What are the best logistics?

Cruise after staying at WDW or cruise before going to Disney

Does Disney make it easy to get you to the port and back to the airport?


Any other information is appreciated.

 

[Skippyboo]

You can get Disney cruise transfer from Disney hotels and to Disney hotels and to/from MCO for cruises going out of Port Canaveral. Before or after is up to your schedule and cruise schedule. 3 night cruises are Friday to Monday, 4 nights Mon-Fri.

 

[sponica]

I find the cruise after WDW to be more relaxing. I did a cruise before the parks on my honeymoon but we were so wiped from the wedding, I don't think a parks trip would have been good to do first.

 

[I Run Long]

We always cruise first and then stay at WDW afterwards. But there will be many who say to do the opposite - no right or wrong. We prefer before our DVC stay simply because we come from the west coast (Vancouver Island) and like to relax and adjust to the time change before hitting the parks. Also, there would be nothing more sad than getting off the ship and going directly to the airport. We do come for long stays, typically 2 weeks at our DVC resort. We also use Disney transfers to and from the port. It's kind of like the old DME in that you get luggage tags, put them on your bags the morning of your departure and leave them in your room (if you are staying at a Disney resort - we usually do a cash value or moderate stay before our cruise). They will collect them and they show up in your stateroom on board. On the return, you tag your bags and place them outside your stateroom the night before (or you can walk off with them), you collect them at the port, go through customs and board your bus to your resort.

 

[Bethislucy]

We went on a cruise last December before our park part of the trip, I wish I would have done it the other way and did the parks first then cruise.

 

[tlovesdis]

WDW before! The cruise is so relaxing and WDW is not LOL!

 

[mjkacmom]

We booked them separately, but did 6 park days before a 3 day cruise (didn’t tell the kids about either part, after WDW they thought they were going to the airport).

 

[juxtapose]

Parks first than cruise, one main reason is we have to fly in at least a night before but can fly home the day the cruise ends. A few years ago, we did 3 nights before and after the cruise and we all wished we would have done everything before the cruise and flown home the day it ended.

 

[Husker Mike]

Parks first than cruise, one main reason is we have to fly in at least a night before but can fly home the day the cruise ends. A few years ago, we did 3 nights before and after the cruise and we all wished we would have done everything before the cruise and flown home the day it ended.

If you are trying to fit the cruise in around vacation allotments, sometimes you can't help but do both. For example, the Wish is running four night cruises Monday-Friday, which means you have a weekend before and after the cruise to also use at the parks.

In an ideal world, yeah, parks first then the cruise. But sometimes that isn't the most efficient use of your vacation time.

As for getting around, Disney has options, but they are pricey for families. $45/pp each way between the parks/airport and the port. And then you have to figure out how to get from the airport to the parks. Evaluate rental car options and other private transfer options...especially if you are considering going to Universal.

 

[auntlynne]

When I get off a cruise and head to the airport to sit and wait for a flight that is more expensive than the early flights that don’t work with disembarkation times, I often think that I could be playing at WDW (half day at parks or Blizzard Beach / Typhoon Lagoon. We have really cheap leftover days for those). Or even just the big pools at a resort (that seem even larger after seeing cruise ship pools). Some time at Disney Springs.

Cruise Disembarkation morning starts too early the day, leaving me tired. A resort day of just relaxing would be nice. An opportunity to do a single night at a Deluxe resort that I want to use for more than a shower and sleep. Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge are ones I have visited.

After a day or more at WDW, I can get an early morning flight at a better price and be home around lunch.

 

[Cfabar1]

I think a lot of it depends on where you are coming from...

If you're FL based, it really doesn't make sense to double dip them... It's more fun to spread the magic throughout the year in my opinion, but once again there's a big difference between Palm Beach and Pensacola and the choices one might make!

On the other hand, if you're far away based, I would strongly advise a long WDW stay followed by a decent length cruise (at least 4, but probably 5 or 6 nights). Any flights issues have minimal impact on the WDW visit that way, and once you land from the cruise you can head straight to MCO.

My view is, if you're flying in, better to spend the time at Disney than to waste that "extra" night before the cruise day in case of travel issues.

The other nice thing about leaving from the cruise port is you could always consider a departing flight out of MLB (Melbourne International Airport) - if you're going to have to connect anyways it might save some time and dollars and will certainly save some stress compared to flying out of Orlando back home.

 

[sheilafri]

I have a similar issue, but this fall/winter. I’ve booked a repo cruise in late November to early December. I just found out we have a grand baby due right after the cruise. Yay! But I had planned to stick around for the Candlelight Procession which I’ve never done. Now I’m wondering if I should just go to the parks beforehand so we have a chance to be back for the baby’s arrival. GS#1 arrived a week early which translates to when we are on the cruise. Thoughts?

 

[mmouse37]

No right or wrong answer as to WDW or cruise first. Personally, we like to do the parks first but lately, when it is just my husband and I, we don't commando the parks. We go for a bit and then head back and relax at the resort. When the kids were young and we spent tons of time in the parks running around it was more important to relax after on the ship. Now we could do either I guess.

At the end of the month we are doing 3 nights at WDW and the 3 night Wish cruise. We are renting a car at the airport and keeping it the whole time. I priced out 2 one-way rentals, returning at WDW and taking the DCL bus, and every way came out cheaper to just keep the car the whole time....even with parking at the port.

DCL transfers are $45 pp each leg of the trip so for a family it could get costly. Its pretty seamless but the convenience does come with a cost.

We also book each segment (WDW and cruise) separately. It gives you more flexibility if discount rates come out for the parks/resort hotel or dining promos, etc.

We don't mind the drive out to the port. Just about an hour straight out on 528 to the port.

MJ

 

[kiford]

My personal preference is WDW first for 5-7 days, then a 7-day cruise just because, as others have said, it's nice and relaxing afterwards. But we've done cruise first/WDW last, WDW first/cruise last and WDW/cruise/WDW. We've done 3-day, 4-day and 7-day cruises combined with WDW for as few as 2 days and as long as 8 days. For us, it largely depends on schedules - when I can take my vacation (time of year, day of week), flight schedules and costs, cruise schedule, resort availability, stateroom availability and costs, etc. We always come in at least a day before the cruise. If it's a cruise first, then we stay at MCO Hyatt. If it's cruise last, we stay at WDW.

We have friends who live near WDW, and we like to see them when we go to Florida, but they can usually only see us on the weekends. On our upcoming vacation, our plan was to do WDW for 6 days ending with the weekend, then a cruise for 4 days. The flights leaving MCO on disembarkation day were either 11 am (too early) or 7 pm (way too late). I'd been trying to figure out if we should stay at MCO Hyatt after leaving the ship, but we'd get to the hotel way too early to check in, so we would have to sit for a few hours waiting for a room to be ready with nothing really to do. If we went to WDW for that night, we'd have barely one day in the parks and I couldn't stay longer due to work schedules. But our friends said they'd cruise with us if we did it on the weekend, so now it's 3 days at WDW, 3 day cruise, 4 days at WDW which actually works out better for us.

We once had a credit card benefit that would cover up to $250 at a hotel, and we'd lose that benefit if we didn't use it by a certain date. we tried to figure out where we would go to use it before expiry and came to the conclusion that the MCO Hyatt would work. That obviously meant we had to take a cruise followed by a few days at WDW (my story, sticking to it), so that's how that planning came about.

There is no right or wrong way to do it, and regardless of my preferences, logistics usually makes the decision for us.

 

[JM_97]

DCL is in general more relaxing than WDW. I would do Disney World first, and then the cruise. Sometimes after going to WDW you need a vacation from the vacation.