For those who have done a land & sea trip...question.

[RMaas1]

We are doing a day at Animal Kingdom before our 7 night cruise, then spending two days after the cruise for one of the Halloween parties.

 

[JoAnnPan]

My sister and I went on our first cruise last November (7-night). It was the absolute best feeling getting off the ship and onto a magical express bus heading to WDW for the week!!! We debated going to WDW first and thought it would be way too depressing to get off the cruise and then go home. We think both weeks are relaxing so no need to decompress for us on a cruise after a week of WDW.
As two adults WDW is not go-go-go for us. We make our FastPasses - take our time in the parks and go to nice dinners. All personal preference like you said - Enjoy!!!

 

[disneyfan888]

We have done both and a much as I enjoy the parks, hubby and I both prefer to do the parks first then the cruise. They are both two very different experiences, but one is easily worn out at the parks, especially if you are planning to be at the parks almost all day or all day. We love unwinding and relaxing on the cruise after the parks and while it is easy to have jam packed days on the ship with the activities, it is still very laid back.

I understand your wife's sentiment though. I think adding a day or two after the cruise is a great idea. We have done this too and just tried to take it as easy as possible.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[Rabb it]

We are doing this in 2018, WDW for 4 days, then a 4 day cruise.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We have done both. Our preference is cruise first followed by the land portion. We're very relaxed visitors to WDW, since we are there two or three times a year and having annual passes allows us to visit the parks at our own pace knowing we'll be back again. Our favoite cruise/land plan is at least 7 nights on a DCL cruise followed by 5 or 6 nights at WDW and then an even more relaxing 4 nights at DVC's Vero Beach resort. We actually managed to do that in January. It was a great way to avoid returning to the Illinois winter.

 

[NJMomto2]

I did a land -sea- land vacation for 15 days and hated it. Just wanted to go home after the cruise.

 

[KdKyA]

So we have gone 3 times now.
The first time we did 3 days at the parks, 3 night on the Dream, and then 1 more day at the parks.
The 2nd time we went we did 4 days at the parks and a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy, no parks after.
The 3rd time we didn't do any parks, but stayed at WDW resort, then did a 4 night on the Wonder, then went to Disney Quest the day we got off the ship.
Our upcoming 4th cruise will be 1 day at MK doing the Christmas party then 7 night cruise, then a relaxing day at Fort Wilderness then in a cabin for the night.

From our experience, doing the park right after the trip was exhausting. The first cruise I had a severe sun burn with blisters from Castaway Cay (even after loads of sunscreen) and it was in June. I was miserable, we lasted half a day before we quit and went back to the pool to swim and relax. When we did Disney Quest we were so exhausted and tried to bribe our kids with money NOT to do Disney Quest but to go to the pool and relax. They refused and hubby and I were dragging after just a few hours. We finally pulled the parent card and said forget it, we're done. We went to the hotel, ordered dinner and fell asleep by 8pm lol.

If you can manage to take the day you get off the cruise as a day to relax rather than go to the parks, then the following day do the parks, I would recommend that. It is a very early start to the day the last day, no sleeping in.

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

My last trip we did 7 nights at WDW, 4 day cruise, and 1 night at WDW all in that order. This October we are doing 7 nights at WDW, Fantasy Eastern Caribbean cruise, 1 night at WDW.

For me it's a way to stretch my legs after a cruise but not have a melt down at the thought of going home after a cruise. It's a mind thing for me.

 

[ThisIsJason]

Thanks for the input everyone! Reading what everyone said here, and talking with my wife we decided to keep it as is: WDW first, cruise second.

Once DVC is booked and I rent our the rest of my points to David's the cruise is only going to end up costing just over $200 (went with a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom). With that pricing, I might add another night or two at WDW when the cruise is over, depending on what rates are when released.

 

[bumbershoot]

I like before-cruise-after. BUT the "after" for us has been totally relaxed, and also it has either been no parks but staying at a DVC resort OR it has been Universal with our APs.

 

[RedSox68]

I have to say that the only park we have done "after" that didn't exhaust us was Universal. We just feel it's more laid back there, relaxing, not as nuts with crowds, early openings and ride passes -- and even restaurant reservations are a breeze. Plus we've always thought it was a plus that you could walk everywhere without waiting for the "dreaded" transportation