Do you get more magical experiences on a Disney Cruise than you would get at DisneyWorld/Land

[F_abian]

I just recently went on a 4 day cruise on the Disney Magic and I must say, the Disney experience has me aching to go on another cruise as soon as possible. I am an annual pass holder at Walt Disney World and I go at least twice a month. Lately, the cast members have not been giving me that "Magical Experience" that I look for. However, on the cruise, the magic was following everywhere. I even made a few friends with my servers. (BTW if you go to Palo, please ask for Roberto, he is amazing!). I was wondering if anyone felt the same way about the customer service between the parks and the cruise line.

 

[luv2cruisedisney]

I really have very little desire to go to the parks anymore after experiencing DCL. We maybe do a day or 2 before or after a cruise but if we have more than 4 days to spend on a vacation it's a cruise for us

The parks are way too much and I don't find them to be relaxing at all. IMHO

 

[beachdrmn]

We do. Our first cruise was a land/cruise option. We stayed at the Poly and hit WDW after the cruise. BIG mistake!! I couldn't believe how poor the service at the Poly was for the price as well as compared to the cruise. We may as well have stayed at a Budget Inn. Yes, it was that bad. Nobody smiled, said Hello, etc. No extra effort was put into anything. But the cruise was AMAZING! The staff is so friendly and really will go above and beyond. We are 23 days from cruise #3 and have not given WDW a second thought.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, I agree. The service on DCL far exceeds the service at WDW!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Not entirely accurate when talking about the difference between the Parks/Ships but close enough to use.

You frequent the parks often, the newness, the uniqueness, the different - has worn off. Stuff you probably found amazingly magical the first few times you walked through the gates is now common place.

This was your first cruise and you probably won't be cruising twice a month (your park frequency). It's going to retain that newness, that uniqueness, that difference for a few cruises.

I have had many wonderful, magical experiences in the Parks and many aboard the Ships.

 

[Trera]

We live 30 min away from WDW and have been there more times than I can remember over the years but I find our time on DCL to be a superior experience. I really like the less crowded and push feeling that we always see at the parks. Also, strollers are few and far between on the boat and the parks are now overrun with them. I counted over 250 strollers in the parking area by the carousel on one occasion.

We still do the parks from time to time at the request of our daughter but would much rather be laying on the beach at Castaway Cay and eating a nice brunch at Palo.

 

[GPaLarry]

We have stayed at WDW for a week before taking a DCL cruise in the Caribbean with daughter and her family (total of 7). While the park is exhausting because of the expanse of the area (Epcot, too), we loved it. Most of our time was spent in the park, so we did not interact with the New Orleans hotel staff that much. When we did it was great. We took DCL transportation to the ship, which was fun and, of course, the Fantasy was awesome. The kids never say, "are we there, yet?" on the ship because the park is traveling with them. The ship attractions are a shorter walk than at WDW and you can go to your room to recover/time out/clean up/potty stop almost without missing a beat. However, each has it's own unique attractions. It is hard to pick one over the other, so we do both.

 

[Barbydoll8]

We too are local AP holders, DVC members & go about once every other month. I think the thing you mean here is that DCL is a much more intimate, personal experience than the parks. The parks are controlled chaos and can invoke that feeling regardless of a one time visit to a once a week visit. I still get magical touches, experience new things and meet wonderful people and cast members regardless how many times I go.
BUT, after 5 DCL cruises and another coming up in July, I can't compare the two. DCL is more intimate. More personal so CM's can take more time. There are less people than one show at WDW on the ships so the details aren't muddled.
It's just my observation but that's the difference if that makes sense.

 

[dtrain]

Yes

 

[cruiser21]

I just recently went on a 4 day cruise on the Disney Magic and I must say, the Disney experience has me aching to go on another cruise as soon as possible. I am an annual pass holder at Walt Disney World and I go at least twice a month. Lately, the cast members have not been giving me that "Magical Experience" that I look for. However, on the cruise, the magic was following everywhere. I even made a few friends with my servers. (BTW if you go to Palo, please ask for Roberto, he is amazing!). I was wondering if anyone felt the same way about the customer service between the parks and the cruise line.

What exactly is a "magical experience"?

 

[tlprice]

I go to WDW about once a year, but the magic has really worn off for me. It requires so much planning, waiting in lines, and the crowds are insane. I used to really look forward to my trips to WDW, but I don't really have any desire to go there anymore. I have a trip planned for December, but only because my daughter requested it. I find Universal and DCL to be much better vacations anymore. Just an example of the "magic" on a cruise that you'll never have at the parks, on our last cruise my daughter and I were invited to a special character meet and greet on the final night of our cruise to meet all of the characters and cast members from the shows. EVERYTHING at WDW requires planning, waiting in line, or paying extra to have any sort of possible magical experience. There is no more spontaneity.

 

[Ravenne]

I truly love the parks...or I should say, loved, but the magic has worn off for me. Overflowing trash cans, surly, worn out, overworked CMs. I find DCL CMs still have the classic Disney service more so than the parks. Granted, it's a different type of vacation. There are still great CMs at WDW, but it's much more hit or miss than DCL. I WANT to love the parks again, but I certainly miss the famous Disney service circa 2010. I will never forget one trip we took in 2008, my kid, who was a tot then, lost a battle with some ketchup and got it all over her. A CM gave her a new shirt to wear, smile on her face, and said, "no charge, don't worry about it, princess." It wasn't even that big of a deal, I would've been just fine with the ketchup stain on the shirt till we got home, or paid for the new shirt, but it really was the thought and gesture that moved me and made me want to continue to vacation there, spending more money than that shirt could've ever been worth. Nowadays, I can't even get ask a question and get an usable answer at a Deluxe resort. I was getting bad experiences before I even stepped foot in the parks, which, there's no such thing as slow season anymore. It's always a zoo. ADRs and FP+s are hard to almost impossible to get. It's just...sad. DCL on the other hand, the last time I got into a "debate" (fun debate) over Marvel characters with a DCL CM, she responded with a card, and a bag of chocolates sent to our room to "get a final say" on the matter. It's just the little things like that that I miss about the parks. DCL CMs still seem to care.

 

[Shanti]

No, I don't feel that way. Some people prefer to cruise & others prefer WDW, but we enjoy both equally. Service is not always better on the ship. The quality of service we've received has varied widely in both locations.

 

[starvenger]

What exactly is a "magical experience"?

That's something I've wondered myself. I don't think there is a single answer for that. But my take is that it's an intangible feeling of being immersed in Disney, and that varies from person to person.

Back to OP's question. A lot of what could be considered a "magical experience" on DCL for me may be tied to the fact that it's a cruise. The parks are the parks. No mistaking that it's Disney, and you can feel it all around you. At the end of the day, I'd probably lean towards DCL, with the caveat that I simply enjoy cruises more, and so am a bit biased.

 

[mevelandry]

Maybe the magic had more to do with the fact that is was a new experience for you vs the fact that you've experience WDW many times.

DH and I realized that WDW lost his magic as we were used to certain rides, etc. Even DCL lost his magic for us when we sailed with them for the 3rd time (especially with the same itinerary).

 

[mmouse37]

We have been going to WDW since 1972 and DCL since 1998. Over the years our WDW experiences have declined in Magic (but I will still go but HATE all the planning that is involved). Our service on DCL has remained consistent (wonderful) all these years later. After 40 DCL cruises you would think I would get tired of DCL (and the Magic feeling) but nope, look forward to every cruise!

I also dislike the fact that you need to plan almost every minute of WDW to get your "value/cost" ratio. If you want to eat at a certain restaurant you have plan many months in advance. I loved the good old days where you could almost just show up at WDW and still have a great time, especially in the off season. Now there is no off season....January used to be a very slow time and now you have all the Run Disney Events, October used to be our favorite slow time and now you Wine/Food events that used be a short time and now run almost 2 months. Don't get me started on the WDW app or MDE website....terrible IMO.

MJ

 

[PurplePencil]

What exactly is a "magical experience"?

Walking up to the ice cream station and a CM you met 3 years ago giving you your favorite ice cream without you telling them what flavor
A child falling asleep and being made a bed out of chairs and napkins in the dining room (years ago)
A kids club CM remembering kids year after year, treating them like royalty
A head server going out of his way to check on a table their not assigned to since they had the family on a previous cruise
A merchandise CM helping a child who is pin collecting find fun pins

The list could continue, it is experiences and events that made people happy and feel special

 

[IrishEye]

More no, Different yes. Our WDW trips have evolved with the parks since we first started going in 1977. For us it is a resort, we spend time at the pool, around the Villa, enjoying activities, walking the grounds and trails, as well as the parks. Disney Cast Members have always been very nice and friendly around us and we have appreciated what they do. We have been on 18 Disney Cruises since the Wonder came on line in 1999, loved almost every one of them. Our 1 time on the Dream was far inferior to any other DCL cruise we had taken yet still better than most of our cruises on the other 5 lines we have sailed. We have to do more planning for the cruises then we have ever had to do with WDW. On release day we are on the phone sometimes for hours to get the itinerary, date and room we want. Once booked we have to again jump on the phone at booking time in order to get a brunch reservation at Palo. Then it is the research and booking of shore excursions at the various ports of call. Now admittedly, for the Bahamas and Caribbean we do not have the port excursion planning given the number of times we have visited each, rarely do we do an organized excursion any more. In Europe however, it is especially important to plan the excursion that fits your interests. On our upcoming WBTA a number of the companies who have the better excursions have been sold out for a month or more.

I can not draw a direct comparison between DCL and WDW experiences, DCL is the cream of the crop cruising experience for us and WDW is our magical vacation resort.

However as PP just noted, the Cast Members on the ships seem to be stay longer than Cast in the Parks so it becomes more personal when you cruise a lot, having them remember you and taking time to stop and talk.

 

[Trera]

Keep in mind that many park cast members nowadays are college students working for Disney in between semesters at college. They don’t seem as willing to put forth the same effort that the DCL CMs that are looking at their job as more of a career than a part time job.

 

[diseverestfan]

I've been to WDW 15 times since 1991, and 2 cruises back in 2012 and 2013. I'm currently booked for my 3rd cruise this October. To answer the question asked, I wouldn't say that our 2 cruises were more magical; however, here are a few thoughts from a long-time WDW guest and a much shorter DCL guest:

• WDW trips over the 27 years has evolved from no planning, to fun planning, to stressful planning
• My teenage daughters smile when discussing upcoming WDW trips. They get downright giddy if we start talking cruises.
• WDW is NOT what is was back in the early 90s. The "experience" has declined notably. I cannot make a fair comparison for DCL for obvious reasons.
• I love DCL more than I do WDW. Having said that, the premium pricing of DCL is getting hard to stomach. I know that you get what you pay for to some extent, but certain DCL cruises are now triple the cost of some competitors.
• I believe WDW has taken more away from it's guests over the years than DCL. Perhaps that's merely because WDW had more perks to take away.