Land/Sea Packages Confusion

[TiggerKing]

I have searched and searched and been unable to find an answer to this question (probably just looking in the wrong place).

When you book a land/sea package, is the land portion ONLY for the hotel stay, or does it include tickets to the parks?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MB MinnieGirl]

We did the land/sea in May of this year. Stayed at the Beach Club, and were on the Wonder....LOVED IT

Yes, the "land" portion covers entrance into all parks and your resort as well....it was great - everything is taken care of and you worry about nothing....just the way a great vacatio should be

Hope that helps

Kelly

 

[TammyC]

It includes UPH passes good from the time you check-in until you leave. Depending on when you arrive, many people find it difficult to get enough use out of them, since you will only have a couple of hours in the parks on the day your cruise leaves.

 

[NCRedding]

We arrived on Saturday, before our package started on Sunday. We stayed at POR with a great code rate. Then I went very early over to the Poly and got our tickets, so we were at Epcot at opening. On the day of the cruise, we went to MK for early entry, ate breakfast at CP and then went to the ship. Got there in plenty of time for boarding and reservations to Palo.

 

[deltadinah]

NCREDDING

Did you have a car or did you get around by bus?

 

[MB MinnieGirl]

Originally posted by TammyC
It includes UPH passes good from the time you check-in until you leave. Depending on when you arrive, many people find it difficult to get enough use out of them, since you will only have a couple of hours in the parks on the day your cruise leaves.

We got a lot of use out of ours during the land/sea. We spent the morning we arrived at the resort relaxing, then headed over to Epcot for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. We were at MK the following day from open to close...day 3 was all day MGM, day 4 we headed back to MK, and our final day we arrived at AK early am and took the cruise bus from there to port - it left for the port at 12:30. Any more parks and we would have passed out. It worked out great for us....we are doing it all over again same time next year

Kelly

 

[EmmasGrammy]

We also did the land/sea package, and yes the ultimate hopper passes are included. Please know that your meals in the parks are NOT included, but the meals on the ship are included.

We flew into Fl on a Thurs. and arrived at MCO (Orlando airport) at 11:30 a.m. We had purchased the DCL transfers (Buses) and we were checking in to our resort at 1:00 p.m. Our room was not ready so they held our luggage, gave us a number to call from guest services in the park and we were in Epcot by 2:00 p.m. On the day we had to go to the port, we left our luggage at the resort to be picked up by the cruise line, headed for Animal Kingdom were we checked in with th DCL reps (who held all of our carry-ons) and we were inside the park at 9:00 a.m. We had 3 hrs. to enjoy the park and then at 12:00 we boarded the bus and were off to the port. We were on the ship at 1:30 p.m.

We felt we got a very good use out of the hopper passes!!

Hope this helps!!!

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I read on this board it might be cheaper to book the land portion and the sea portion seperately. If you take into account that the park tix are included in the price of the Land/Sea package, (as mentioned in this post), is it still cheaper to book land/sea portions seperately?

When doing a price comparison on a 4 night land/3 night sea, in my case, I am finding it is cheaper to do Disney Land/Sea Package than it is to book the two portions seperately (unless I have miscalculated).

Tink

 

[Bosjoe]

I priced the packages also. Land\sea package is cheaper then if you book it seperately. Just depends when you are going and if you need park tickets.

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by deltadinah
NCREDDING

Did you have a car or did you get around by bus?

We have done a land and sea twice, and stayed at the Poly both times without a car.

You can get to the MK and Epcot by monorail. We used the bus to get to AK. MGM, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney are also available by bus.

Honestly, I can't see getting a car. I guess you could crunch the numbers, but we found the DCL transfers very easy, convenient and fun! Everyone is in such a great mood and the buses are timely and very comfortable. It was nice not to mess with a rental.

 

[CM_Mom]

Where lots of folks save money on the land/sea by booking separately is to stay at a moderate or value resort for the land portion and have your splurge portion on the ship. If you book spearately, you stateroom choice doesn't determine your WDW choice as with the package. Also those folks with Annual Passes don't need the Park Hoppers.

Also those that want to do SEA first and then land need to book separately or if you want a 7 day cruise with land on one end or the other.

We did Hyatt, 7 day cruise and 3 day Coronado Springs with a 4 day Park Hopper pass. Can't really compare rates since we had crew discounts with DD. We used DCL transfers from Hyatt to port and port to Coronado Springs with a Van Taxi from Coronado to MCO. Van Taxi for 5 was $52.00 so much better than transfers for that leg.

 

[TiggerKing]

I think that I may end up booking separately. For one thing, I can save about a $150 on the cruise (3 nts) by booking through AAA, and I don't think they book the land/sea package.

Second is the fact that we will probably stay at one of the All Star resorts, and not have the UMP in place for the day we leave the resort and go to the Port. Since we are driving ourselves, we may use that day to go to Cape Canaveral first thing to see some of the sights.

With the money saved, I should be able to add on the Romance package to the cruise, since it will be DW's and my anniversary.

 

[erikthewise]

The Land & Sea package is great for a one-stop, hassle-free vacation, if it has the features you want.

In addition to much more flexibility, booking Land & Sea separately can save money if you get a discounted rate on the hotel stay.

We tried to book a Land & Sea in 2001 but couldn't get the resort we wanted, so we booked separately and ended up getting excellent discounts on resort (Polynesian), rental car, and even on the cruise itself. The cruise discount is now a thing of the past, but there are still definite advantages for those willing to do their own planning. Instead of a 4-3 or 3-4 plan, you can have a 4-4, 5-3, 5-4, or whatever. You can stay at any resort, choose any stateroom category, buy park hoppers or annual passes, and rent a car instead of using Disney buses if you wish.

 

[pw2pp]

I was playing with prices yesterday and I also think it is better to do it separately because I am hoping to get a discount on the Resort (at least I hope so - although we are going during "peak" season in February).
Also, I don't think it is necessary to have the "ULTIMATE park hoppers", I think the reg. Park Hoppers are enough, plus you can save them for future use.

 

[3redheads]

We're doing the land/sea in March 2005, peak season. I priced the package separately and it was more expensive to stay where I wanted to stay and have the cabin I wanted. It was a lot more expensive.

If you can get a discount on the resort (depending on the season) it may be worthwhile to book separately, but there's no guarantee of the discount.

Kim

 

[EmmasGrammy]

Just wanted to clarify you CAN book a land/sea package thru AAA. We did!! And we got a great rate too!!

 

[TiggerKing]

Did you have to call AAA to book the land/sea, or were you able to find the information online?

Thanks!

 

[Jestocost]

We booked our land and sea portions separately. In our case, it was because we wanted to do a four-day cruise and three days at the parks, but needed to do a Saturday to Saturday trip and the land/sea packages are all Thursday to Thursday. I went the lazy route and booked a Dreamaker Package for the land portion, but even so the cost was a wash with what we would have paid for a land/sea package. If you were more diligent or creative in booking the land portion, I'm sure you could save money by booking them separately.