Disney World Before or After Cruise

[ameliahyde]

We plan to be annual passholders at the time of our next cruise, so we will be likely going before and after. I like to think that a few final days at WDW will help me deal with a battle the "vacation hangover" I always feel after leaving the wonderful bubble that you float in on the cruise

 

[gumbypee]

We are doing 3 days at the parks beforehand and then a 4 night cruise. Since we did the main parks (MK, Epcot, HS) last year, this time we are focusing on spending time at the resort (AKL), Blizzard Beach and maybe one casual day at MK.

Animal Kingdom is nice too

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We must be the minority but I would prefer to go to WDW after the cruise... however we like to have a lot of down time at our resort, we do almost equal parts of resort and parks..
I just hated getting off our Disney cruise knowing we have to go home.. I was soooooo jealous of the people heading to WDW..

 

[disneybex]

Next year will be our first cruise and we thought we'd like to do WDW first followed by DCL, but as we were booking DVC we had some issues with our dates at the Beach Club so we have ended up with a week at Universal, then the 7 night Western Caribbean cruise followed by two weeks at WDW. We do take things at a leisurely pace because we normally take 3/4 week holidays so I hope this works for us

 

[huey578]

Having done both , we prefer parks first then cruise.

 

[chimo2u]

Your trip is coming up!!! I hope you absolutely love it!!

Hey! So looking forward to it it'll be here before I know it!

 

[LWILDP]

We're in the Parks before Cruise camp. Mainly because we do find the parks tiring and it's so nice to get on the cruise and relax (no ADRs, no FP). Another consideration is that since we know we'll see many of the characters on the ship we don't have to spend this time in the parks and instead concentrate on the rides.

 

[bmalonef45]

Have done it both ways and would agree with others. Parks 1st then cruise. The last days in the parks feel less sad when you know you have a cruise planned. Having 7 days to rest and recharge after a week in the parks is great too.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I am probably in the minority but I prefer cruise then parks. My DH and I sometimes work long hours and after a hectic week of work, packing, and a day of traveling, it's sometimes a bit daunting to have to wake up the next day at the crack of dawn to get to the parks before rope drop etc. Then again, we do like to do power Disney, we like to do as many things as we can, and park hop all over the place! That is just how we do Disney.

When we did our cruise on the Magic this past May, we cruised first then parks. We had such an amazing and relaxing time on the cruise and then we were recharged and ready to hit the parks! Everyone else in our party looked so sad when they had to head back home from port. We're doing the same thing next year - cruise on the Fantasy followed by a week at the parks. I was actually not that sad to leave WDW this year...a) because I knew I had another cruise booked for Feb already, and b) I was so tired and missed my bed! (we had been away for close to 2 weeks).

I can see the draw of parks first then cruise...tire yourself out then a week of relaxation. I will probably try that one year, but in all honesty I may end up sleeping for most of the cruise!

 

[afyoung]

We are bookending but doing a light trip at the World. MNSSHP the night before we leave to cruise for 7 nights, then AK the day we get back. After the relaxation and gluttony of a cruise, it would be difficult for me to motivate to tour MK at the end. But one of the smaller parks seems realistic for my vacationing style.