land and cruise.......lots of questions

[Misty89]

Hello-
we are planning a vacation. we have been back and forth SO SO much over what we want to do. i want to take my kids to WDW. we all want to go to the ocean and beach...so i was pricing out the disney land and sea package ( we saw it on travel channel) and looking at march 2005 .
we have never been on a cruise.. is the food and everything all included? am i better off getting my own flight to orlando from WI than booking it through them ? ( i want to make things as easy easy as i can) we ewill not rent a car. use disney transportation 100% ( TTC from the airport if we can?)
anything else anyone wants to share with me?
seems like the price is better......we have been pricing out WDW vacations and always end around the $5,000 mark ( 5 nights at FW cabin, AF etc) the first estimate for the 7 day land sea i got was for $4,800( with AF included) something so if we added food it would be about $5,500 - which confuses me because we would be there 2 more nights???

thank you

FYI i am only checking because when i asked my DD ( 4) if she wanted to go the beach( ft lauderdale) or to see cinderellla, she said " the beach and cinderella"

so i am checking it out



thanks


Tina

 

[hydster]

I'll try to help you out a little bit. We did a land/sea in 2002 and it was fun..enough so we are leaving on a 7 day in 2 weeks (so watch it you may get addicted! LOL)

is the food and everything all included?

On the cruise the food is all inclusive unless you want to drink alcohol, drink pop outside of the main restaurants, buy candy or popcorn outside of the theatre before a show, or want to do Palo. The entertainment is all included meaning the shows and movies in the movie theatre. The arcade costs extra. The kids clubs are free unless you need Flouders (for under 2).

am i better off getting my own flight to orlando from WI than booking it through them ?

If it were me I'd price it out both ways and see which one comes out cheaper. Sometimes you can get flights to MCO cheaper and at the times you want to fly on the days you want to fly than what Disney can get you. We've done it both ways on other cruise lines and just go with whats cheaper.

( i want to make things as easy easy as i can) we ewill not rent a car. use disney transportation 100% ( TTC from the airport if we can?)

If you do the land/sea through Disney complete with air (it's my impression though could be wrong) that they would pick up you and your luggage at baggage claim and transport to your Disney hotel. They would pick you up at the hotel and transport you to the port and back to the airport. Depending on how many people you have it may be cheaper to get your own car service to do it instead. With our family of 5 it was much cheaper to get our own transportation from MCO to the Poly, the Poly to the Port, the Port to Port Orleans after the cruise (we tacked on a few extra days) and then the POR to the airport. I would also price this out seperately by getting some quotes from transportation companies as well as Disney.

One nice thing about doing the land/sea is that you can check in for the cruise at your hotel before the cruise, you get your KTTW card which also is your key on the cruise to your stateroom and all charging priveledges on the ship and in WDW. It also includes your Ultimate Park Hopper Passes to get into WDW while you are there. The only things it doesn't include are food inside the parks (but food is included on the cruise) souveniers, tipping on the ship, transportation (unless you buy it through Disney transfers) and pictures, spa reservations or excursions on the cruise. You pay the one price and you can stick to that price only if you want to and never have to pay any extra (beyond tips) or you can splurge and get souveniers, the spa or whatever else you want to add on top.

Hope this helps at least start you on the right track.
Heidi

 

[musicgirl]

When it comes to booking flights though DCL, go on your own!! I have heard of some very unhappy people with flights that get in late. It was so nice when we flew in for our land/sea, we got in by 10, to the resort around 11:30 or so and in the parks by 12. If you have a late flight, you may miss out on a good part of the day. You also have no control how many stops are included.

 

[Empire Day]

Bookiing your own air also gives you the chance to fly in the day before and stay near the airport, so you can catch the first bus to your DW hotel and use the parks
We did this our first trip and were very glad as we had a 5 hour flight delay leaving Midway and didn't get into MCO untill 1 am!
Yes the Disney Transfers are worth it if you dont have more than 4. They take care of everything for you makes for a great Vacation

 

[Cuzisayso2]

I am leaving on my first Land/Sea vacation in 2 weeks. I found that booking the air ourselves was much cheaper than thru Disney. Our plane tickets (for 3 people) cost $600 vs. $1500 through Disney. So it was quite a huge savings by booking it ourselves.

 

[CAMICKEY]

My vote goes for booking your own air. Ours cost @ 900 and DCL was charging @ 1275 (2 Adults/1DS). - Mike

 

[Cuzisayso2]

Another thing you might want to consider...if you are doing the "Land" portion of your vacation first, you should try to fly in the day before your package starts. That would mean booking an extra night at a hotel somewhere. However, this will allow you to begin using your park passes as soon as your package begins. Just something to consider.

 

[BALAMAV]

When we booked our package DCL told us to tell anyone who is flying it is in their best interest to fly in the day before. There are 20 of us going. If you have any delays on the day your trip starts you will miss that day and you have paid for it. We are driving I don't fly but I help friends find good air fare. You want to book yourself. The airlines have had great specials in the last year. Last fall you could go Cleveland to Orlando for $98 round trip. This spring they ran Cleveland to Orlando $198 roundtrip. You just have to watch the airline websites for specials. We leave in 2 weeks also. (Cuzisayso2 I got your PM sent a reply let me know if you got it.) If you have any questions before we go or after let us know. Brenda