Land and Sea cruise

[jenandkam]

Hi all...
A (possibly dumb) question for those who have done a land and sea cruise - is dining at the Resorts included or is that extra?

TIA!
Jen
Denver, CO

 

[GuardMusic]

No dining is included with Land/Sea. I believe I even heard you couldn't add the dining package, but I'm not sure. We did Land/Sea Jan. 2006; I'm happy to answer any questions you have!
Gayle

 

[jenandkam]

Hi Gayle,
Thanks - I'll take you up on that!
I'm trying to decide between the Eastern Caribbean or the Land and Sea. I'm worried that there won't be enough for my son (4 years old) to enjoy on land outside of the Magic Kingdom, of course it's been 12 years since I've been there so I can't remember.
Also, what resort did you stay in and did you like it??

Thanks again!
Jen

 

[Dina]

My son loved Animal Kingdom and Epcot (esp. The Living Seas).

 

[jenandkam]

Good to know - I was afraid that we'd get there and he would be too young/small to see or ride anything.
Now there is a difficult decision to be made.....

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

You'd be surprised how much there is to do for a 4 year old. DD4 had the best time this past November on our trip. We went to ALL the parks. Like the other post, she also loved Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Her favorite was Soarin' at Epcot and the Triceratop (flying dinosaurs) at Animal Kingdom. The kids also had fun getting stamps from all the countries in the International Pavilion. We stayed at the Beach Club resort which was within walking distance to Epcot, boat ride to MGM and a bus ride to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel.

 

[SB's Mom]

We took our DD to Disneyworld for the 1st time when she was 3. Her favorite park then and continues to be Epcot! (she is now 8) You never know what they are going to like the best. We took her on the Land/Sea package when she was 6. She loved the kids area on the boat and would only come out to go swimming.

 

[kcashner]

My DD had a blast when she was 4. THere' s lots to do at each of the parks. You are right that you can't add dining to the land/sea package--another reason that you might want to look into booking the 2 parts separately.

THere's no such thing as a bad WDW resort--it's a matter of what you want. We are DVC, so stay at the DVC resorts. I love the kitchenette even if we get the studio.

Prior to DVC, I've stayed at everything from the All Stars to the Poly and AKL. If you just want a clean room and bed, the All-Stars are fine. You can save a bunch of money. There's nothing to beat the animal experiences at AKL--DD woke me with "Get out of bed NOW" as the giraffe was as close to the balcony as it could get. The pool at AKL is "lame."

The Poly was underwhelming. They have re-done the pool since then, so it is neat...but with a 4 year old, you don't need a fantastic pool.

Advantages to booking the land and sea portions separately include that you can take advantage of any specials WDW might have on the land portion, you can add the dining plan, and you can pick whatever level of resort you'd like rather than take the one that is automatically tied to your cabin category. Magical Express gives you free transportation from MCO to WDW if you are flying in...you can then do DCL transfers from WDW to the port if you choose.

If you stay at a resort that isn't serviced by DCL bus transportation, the bellman will get you to the nearest resort that is, or you can take a cab...or you can use a towncar service to get to the port rather than DCL transfers.

The biggest advantage of doing a land/sea package is that it is booked as one package and you only have to check in at the resort.

You really have to decide which will work best for you. You can sometimes save major $ booking separately, especially if you want a lower grade of resort than is with the package for your cabin category.

So many decisions......

 

[jenandkam]

Oy...I'm never gonna get this planned - there are too many good options.

Thanks for your replies - very helpful!

Jen

 

[GuardMusic]

Hi Gayle,
Thanks - I'll take you up on that!
I'm trying to decide between the Eastern Caribbean or the Land and Sea. I'm worried that there won't be enough for my son (4 years old) to enjoy on land outside of the Magic Kingdom, of course it's been 12 years since I've been there so I can't remember.
Also, what resort did you stay in and did you like it??

Thanks again!
Jen

Jen~
Gayle here! Tough call between the 2 trips. If it were me I'd consider if you want to take your 4 year old to WDW. To consider:
-Do you want to do the parks? Can you do them justice in 3-4 days?
-When are you going? Are there weather concerns?
-On land, what will you do with transportation? Have a car or use Disney buses?
-Can your little guy keep up on all of that ground to cover?
-Are you looking for more action (WDW) or relaxation (DCL)? A mix?
-What would your son think about the kids' clubs? Is he shy or would he be up for this?
-Are you looking for a little time without your son? DCL can definitely foot the bill on this one, where WDW really doesn't.
-For the cruise, what would your son think of the ports? To be honest, the port excursions aren't really set up for little ones.


Now let's get to your concern... what will Son do outside of the Magic Kingdom? The other parks are catching up for these little ones. Just examples:
EPCOT - Turtle Talk w/ Crush, new Nemo ride, Junior Bakers (Nestle cookie baking), Journey to Imagination, Soarin' (Great for ALL ages)
MGM - Fantasmic (one scary part), Muppets, Star Tours, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Disney Animation (you get to draw a character), Beauty & the Beast, Playhouse Disney
Animal Kingdom - My belief on this park is that you have to really be into animals to enjoy it. Festival of Lion King, new Nemo show, DinoLand
Everything else! - 2 miniature golf courses, Downtown Disney (Rainforest Cafe, Legoland, etc.), water parks, Resort specific activities, such as Ft. Wilderness Backyard BBQ, etc.

Next, what resort? (You might want to grab a snack here!
I can only speak to where I've stayed:
-All Star Music - great basic hotel, can be busy & noisy depending on time of year, not a big deal if you aren't going to be in your room a lot.
- Port Orleans Riverside - (2nd favorite resort) - calm, laid-back Southern feel, but further from parks
- Caribbean Beach Resort - VERY spread-out resort, if you are at an outer building, you'll have to take the bus around to the lobby/food court, which can be a real pain
- Coronado Springs - More of a conference resort, not really designed for little ones
- Animal Kingdom Lodge - Again about your level of interest in animals, far away from all parks except Animal Kingdom, it was too dark and cave-like for us
- Beach Club/Beach Club Villas - OUR FAVORITE! Why? Location, mini-water park, dining options!
Although I haven't stayed at all the resorts, I have visited them ALL! Am happy to share anything else you are wondering about!

So in closure, I probably wouldn't do land/sea again. Why? I loved each part so much that we wore ourselves out trying to do everything. I did state on the cruise that if I'm ever blessed with a little one, I probably wouldn't do WDW until age 6-8. The cruise is simply easier - you are in a confined space, there are all of the kids clubs activities, you are get to your stateroom/dining/activities with steps instead of parking lots, traffic, etc.

My first trip to WDW was when I was 4 and I don't really remember it, except for the pictures we have. Hope I didn't bore you!

Gayle

 

[jenandkam]

Gayle - wow - excellent points! I hadn't thought about some. Thanks for taking the time to post.
I think you're right and I'm definitely leaning toward the 7 night eastern vs. the land and sea.



Jen

 

[B9erSteve]

My 2 cents. My kids (5 and 2) loved all of the parks. 7 days was a bit long for the 2 year old. She grew tired of the constant on the go vacation pace. We wanted to do both the cruise and WDW and decided to split them into different vacations in order to allow my daughter to get a bit older for the kids programs on the cruise. We're taking the cruise in Oct 2007. During the cruise, I was thinking of rebooking for another cruise onboard and getting the discount. And I, too, was thinking about a land/sea package. I've been pricing them and find that they are horribly overpriced in addition to no meal plans available. I priced the vacations separate and got 5 days in the parks with the dining plan, 3 night cruise and airfare cheaper than I got a 4 day land/ 3 day sea package for.

 

[kplatt]

Our first family Disney experience was a land/sea trip when DS was 9 and DD 7. We've never regretted waiting that long!

At WDW the kids were old (and tall) enough to ride everything they wanted. We had no nap/bedtime/food/toileting issues. They were still young enough to enjoy the characters (hey, don't we adults enjoy them?), and were physically able to keep a fast pace through the parks. Ironically, I was the one who was exhausted after our week long trip!